Shadowing Practice: Cambridge IELTS 16 Listening Test 4 with answer | #ieltslistening - Learn English Speaking with Video

Cambridge 16 Listening Test 4.

You will hear a number of different recordings.

All the recordings will be played once only.

The test is in four parts.

You will have 10 minutes at the end of the test to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.

Now turn to Section 1.

First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6.

Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.

Hello?

Oh, hello.

I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage.

I'm his wife, Shirley, and we own the cottages together, so I'm sure I can help you.

Great.

My name's Tom.

Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year, and they thought it was great, so my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week.

What date did you have in mind?

The week beginning the 14th, if possible.

I'll just check.

I'm sorry, Tom, it's already booked

that week it's free the week beginning the 28th though for

seven nights in fact that's the only time you could have it in May oh well we could manage

that I think we'd just need to change a couple of

things how much would it cost that's the beginning of high season

so to be 550 pounds for the week ah that's a

bit more than we wanted to pay i'm afraid we've budgeted up to five hundred pounds for accommodation

well we've just finished converting another building into a cottage

which we're calling cherville cottage sorry what was

that again cherville c h e r v for victor i

l oh that's a herb isn't it that's right it grows fairly wild around here you could have

that for the week you want for four hundred

and eighty pounds okay so could you tell me something about it please of course

the building was built as a garage it's a little smaller than granary cottage

so that must sleep two people as well that's right there's a double bedroom does it have a garden Yes,

you get to it from the living room through French doors, and we provide two deck chairs.

We hope to build a patio in the near future, but I wouldn't like to guarantee it'll be finished by May.

OK.

The front door opens onto the old farmyard, and parking isn't a problem.

There's plenty of room at the front for that.

There are some trees and potted plants there.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10.

Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10.

What about facilities in the cottage?

It has standard things like a cooker and fridge, I presume.

In the kitchen area, there's a fridge freezer, and we've just put in an electric cooker.

Is there a washing machine?

Yes.

There's also a TV in the living room, which plays DVDs too.

The bathroom is too small for a bath, so there's a shower instead.

I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays anyway.

It's more environmentally friendly, isn't it?

Unless you spend half the day in it.

Exactly.

What about heating?

It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year.

There's central heating, and if you want to light a fire, there's a stove.

We can provide all the wood you need for it.

It smells so much nicer than coal, and it makes the room very cosy.

We've got one in our own house.

That sounds very pleasant.

Perhaps we should come in the winter to make the most of it.

Yes, we find we don't want to go out when we've got the fire burning.

There are some attractive views from the cottage which I haven't mentioned.

There's a famous stone bridge.

It's one of the oldest in the region and you can see it from the living room.

it isn't far away the bedroom window looks in the opposite direction

and has a lovely view of the hills

and the monument at the top well

that all sounds perfect i'd like to book it please would

you want to deposit yes we ask for thirty percent to secure your booking so that'll be

and when would you like the rest of the money you're coming in may

so the last day of march please fine excellent could i just take your details

so that i can that is the end of part one you now have half a minute to check your answers

Now turn to part two.

First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14.

Now listen and answer questions 11 to 14.

Right, next on the agenda we have traffic and highways.

Councillor Thornton.

Thank you.

Well, we now have the results of the survey carried out last month about traffic and road transport in the town.

People were generally satisfied with the state of the roads.

There were one or two complaints about potholes which will be addressed,

but a significant number of people complained about the increasing number of heavy vehicles using our local roads to avoid traffic elsewhere.

We'd expected more complaints by commuters about the reduction in the train service

but it doesn't seem to have affected people too much the cycle path

that runs alongside the river is very well used by both cyclists

and pedestrians since the surface was improved last year

but overtaking can be a problem so we're going to add a bit on the side to make it wider

at some stage we'd like to extend the path so

that it goes all the way through the town but

that won't be happening in the immediate future the plans to

have a pedestrian crossing next to the post office have unfortunately

had to be put on hold for the time being we'd budgeted for this to be done this financial year

but then there were rumors that the post office was going to move

which would have meant there wasn't really a need for a crossing now they've confirmed

that they're staying where they are but the highways department have told us

that it would be dangerous to have a pedestrian crossing where we'd originally planned it, as there's a bend in the road there, so that'll need some more thought.

On Station Road, near the station and level crossing, drivers can face quite long waits if the level crossing's closed,

and we've now got signs up requesting them not to leave their engines running at that time.

This means pedestrians waiting on the pavement to cross the railway line don't have to breathe in car fumes.

100

We've had some problems with cyclists leaving their bikes chained to the railings outside the ticket office, but the station has agreed to provide bike racks there.

101

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20.

102

Now, listen and answer questions 15 to 20.

103

So, next on the agenda is proposals for improvements to the recreation ground.

104

Councillor Thornton again.

105

Well, since we managed to extend the recreation ground, we've spent some time talking to local people about how it could be made a more attractive

106

and useful space

107

if you have a look at the map up on the

108

screen you can see the river up in the north and the community hall near the entrance from the road.

109

at present cars can park between the community hall and

110

that line of trees to the east but this is quite dangerous for pedestrians

111

so we're suggesting a new car park on the opposite side

112

of the community hall right next to it we also have a new location for the cricket pitch

113

as we've now purchased additional space to the east of the recreation ground beyond the trees trees.

114

We plan to move it away from its current location, which is rather near the road, into this new area beyond the line of trees.

115

This means there's less danger of stray balls hitting cars or pedestrians.

116

We've got plans for a children's playground, which will be accessible by a footpath from the community hall, and will be alongside the river.

117

We'd originally thought of having it close to the road, but we think this will be a more attractive location.

118

the skateboard ramp is very popular with both younger

119

and older children we had considered moving this up towards the river

120

but in the end we decided to have it in the

121

southeast corner near the road the pavilion is very well used at present by both football players

122

and cricketers it will stay where it is now to the left of the line of trees

123

and near to the river handy for both the football

124

and cricket pitches and finally we'll be getting a new notice board for local information

125

and that will be directly on people's right as they go from the road into the recreation ground

126

that is the end of part two you now have half a minute to check your answers

127

Now turn to part three.

128

First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.

129

Now listen and answer questions 21 to 24.

130

Now that we've done all the research into bike -sharing schemes in cities around the world, we need to think about how we're going to organise our report.

131

Right.

132

I think we should start by talking about the benefits.

133

I mean, it's great that so many cities have introduced these schemes,

134

where anyone can pick up a bike from dozens of different locations and hire it for a few hours.

135

It makes riding a bike very convenient for people.

136

Yes, but the costs can add up, and that puts people on low incomes off in some places.

137

Hmm, I suppose so but

138

if it means more people in general are cycling rather than driving then

139

because they're increasing the amount of physical activity they do it's good for their health.

140

Okay but isn't that of less importance?

141

I mean doesn't the impact of reduced emissions on air pollution have a more significant effect on people's health?

142

Certainly in some cities bike sharing has made a big contribution to

143

that and also helped to cut the number of cars on the road significantly

144

which is the main point exactly

145

but i'd say it's had less of an impact on noise pollution

146

because there are still loads of buses

147

and lorries around right shall we quickly discuss the recommendations we're

148

going to make in order to ensure bike sharing schemes are successful yes okay well Well,

149

while I think it's nice to have really state -of -the -art bikes with things like GPS, I wouldn't say they're absolutely necessary.

150

But some technical things are really important, like a fully functional app so people can make payments and book bikes easily.

151

Places which haven't invested in that have really struggled.

152

Good point.

153

Right.

154

Some people say there shouldn't be competing companies offering separate bike -sharing schemes, but in some really big cities, competition's beneficial.

155

And anyway, one company might not be able to manage the whole thing.

156

Right.

157

Deciding how much to invest is a big question.

158

Cities which have opened loads of new bike lanes, at the same time as introducing bike -sharing schemes, have generally been more successful.

159

But there are examples of successful schemes where this hasn't happened.

160

What does matter, though, is having a big publicity campaign.

161

Definitely.

162

If people don't know how to use the scheme, or don't understand its benefits, they won't use it.

163

People need a lot of persuasion to stop using their cars.

164

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.

165

Shall we look at some examples now and say what we think is good or bad about them?

166

I suppose we should start with Amsterdam, as this was one of the first cities to have a bike -sharing scheme.

167

Yes, there was already a strong culture of cycling here.

168

In a way, it's strange that there was such a demand for bike -sharing, because you'd have thought most people would have used their own bikes.

169

And yet it's one of the best -used schemes.

170

Dublin's an interesting example of a success story.

171

It must be because the public transport system's quite limited.

172

Not really.

173

There's no underground, but there are trams and a good bus network.

174

I'd say price has a lot to do with it.

175

It's one of the cheapest schemes in Europe to join.

176

But the buses are really slow.

177

Anyway, the weather certainly can't be a factor.

178

No, definitely not.

179

The London scheme's been quite successful.

180

Yes, it's been a really good thing for the city.

181

The bikes are popular and the whole system is well maintained, but it isn't expanding quickly enough.

182

Basically, not enough's been spent on increasing the number of cycle lanes.

183

Hopefully that'll change.

184

Yes.

185

Now, what about outside Europe?

186

Well, bike -sharing schemes have taken off in places like Buenos Aires.

187

Hmm.

188

They built a huge network of cycle lanes to support the introduction of the scheme there, didn't they?

189

It attracted huge numbers of cyclists where, previously, there were hardly any.

190

An example of good planning.

191

Absolutely.

192

New York is a good example of how not to introduce a scheme.

193

When they launched it, it was more than ten times the price of most other schemes.

194

More than it costs to take a taxi.

195

crazy i think the organizers lacked vision and ambition there i think

196

so too sydney would be a good example to use i

197

would have expected it to have grown pretty quickly here yes

198

i can't quite work out why it hasn't been an instant

199

success like some of the others it's a shame really i know

200

okay so now we've thought about all the

201

that is the end of part three you now have half a minute to check your answers.

202

Now turn to part four.

203

First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

204

Thank you.

205

to forty one of the most famous cases of extinction is that of a bird known as the dodo

206

in fact there's even a saying in english as dead as the dodo used to refer to something

207

which no longer exists but for many centuries the dodo was alive

208

and well although it could only be found in one place, the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

209

It was a very large bird, about one metre tall, and over the centuries it had lost the ability to fly,

210

but it survived happily under the trees that covered the island.

211

Then, in the year 1507...

212

The first Portuguese ships stopped at the island.

213

The sailors were carrying spices back to Europe

214

and found the island a convenient stopping place where they could stock up with food

215

and water for the rest of the voyage, but they didn't settle on Mauritius.

216

However, in 1638 the Dutch arrived and set up a colony there.

217

These first human inhabitants of the island found the dodo birds a convenient source of meat,

218

although not everyone liked the taste.

219

It's hard to get an accurate description of what the dodo actually looked like.

220

We do have some written records from sailors and a few pictures, but we don't know how reliable these are.

221

The best -known picture is a Dutch painting in which the bird appears to be extremely fat, but this may not be accurate.

222

An Indian painting done at the same time shows a much thinner bird.

223

Although attempts were made to preserve the bodies of some of the birds, no complete specimen survives.

224

In the early 17th century, four dried parts of a bird were known to exist.

225

Of these, three have disappeared, so only one example of soft tissue from the dodo survives, a dodo head.

226

Bones have also been found, but there's only one complete skeleton in existence.

227

This single dodo skeleton has recently been the subject of scientific research,

228

which suggests that many of the earlier beliefs about dodos may have been incorrect.

229

For example, early accounts of the birds mention how slow and clumsy it was,

230

but scientists Scientists now believe the bird's strong knee joints would have made it capable of movement which was not slow,

231

but actually quite fast.

232

In fact, one seventeenth -century sailor wrote that he found the birds hard to catch.

233

It's true that the dodo's small wings wouldn't have allowed it to leave the ground,

234

but the scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance while going over uneven ground.

235

Another group of scientists carried out analysis of the dodo's skull.

236

They found that the reports of the lack of intelligence of the dodo were not borne out by their research,

237

which suggested the bird's brain was not small but average in size.

238

In fact, in relation to its body size, it was similar to that of the pigeon, which is known to be a highly intelligent bird.

239

The researchers also found that the structure of the bird's skull suggested

240

that one sense which was particularly well developed was that of smell.

241

So the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit

242

and other food in the island's thick vegetation so it looks as

243

if the dodo was better able to survive

244

and defend itself than was originally believed yet less than 200

245

years after europeans first arrived on the island they had become extinct

246

so what was the reason for this for a long time it was believed

247

that the dodos were hunted to extinction

248

but scientists now believe the situation was more complicated than this

249

another factor may have been the new species brought to the island by the sailors these included dogs

250

which would have been a threat to the dodos and also monkeys

251

which ate the fruit that was the main part of the dodo's diet these were brought to the island deliberately

252

but the ships also brought another type of creature rats

253

which came to land from the ships

254

and rapidly overran the island these upset the ecology of the island not just the dodos

255

but other species too however they were a particular danger to the dodos because they consumed their eggs.

256

And since each dodo only laid one at a time, this probably had a devastating effect on populations.

257

However, we now think that probably the main cause of the bird's extinction was not the introduction of non -native species,

258

but the introduction of agriculture culture.

259

This meant that the forest that had once covered all the island, and that had provided a perfect home for the dodo,

260

was cut down so that crops such as sugar could be grown.

261

So, although the dodo had survived for thousands of years, suddenly it was gone.

262

that is the end of part four you now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet .

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Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

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