Key
Exercise 1:
- A12
- Peter
- C16
- Hot Air
- Car park
- C
- B
Exercise 2:
1.vegetarian
2. Wednesford
3. 7/seven o’clock I 7.00 I 7 pm
4. covered market
5. Coffee Club
6. free/nothing I £0
7. 2/two hours
8. 10%
9. (an) email
10. celebrity chefs
Exercise 3:
- Kuala Lumpur
- Three/3
- 3. 603 2169 2266
- 4. B
- 5. C
Exercise 4:
1.thieves 2. locking device 3.4,000 BC 4. steel springs
5. precise construction 6. brass 7.strong/ steel/ curved bar
8. pushed down 9. pins 10. (combination) dial(s)
Exercise 5:
- B.
- B.
- A.
- C.
- A.
- F (They discuss several ideas before agreeing on one.)
- T (The Crown Jewels are still used for royal ceremonies.)
- F (They consider it, but reject it.)
- F (Student 2 thinks weapons won’t appeal to everyone.)
- T (They choose the Crown Jewels because of its broad appeal.)
Exercise 6:
- Royal Family
- Queen
- Buckingham Palace
- State Rooms
- poppies
- scariest
- A
- B
- C
- C
Exercise 7:
1.C 2.E 3.B 4.D 5.G 6/7 B, D
Exercise 8:
- David Cottenham
- DV12 8HA
- 7.30 pmI 19.30 /half past seven
- £60,000
- 244 510
- we-move-u
- B
- C
- C
- B – To evaluate the previous festival and suggest improvements for the next one
- C – To be well-prepared if the main artist is not able to perform
- B – Scheduling a local band that can step in if needed
- C – Focus more on clothes and reduce other crafts.
- A – Promote student performances, including international students.
- B – Improve display methods by using digital screens.
- £3,000
- Indian themes
- digital screens
Exercise 10:
- C
- C
- B.
- professional organisers
- open windows
- sponsor events
- Former students
- Paintings
- Finance
Exercise 11:
- B
- A
- C
- B
- C
- international
- other languages
- trouble
- former students
- trust
Exercise 12:
- Graeme
- Mount Hill
- 770 464
- 10
- 15
- 15
- B
- B
- C
- B
TRANSCRIPT
Exercise 1:
Claude: Hi, I was wondering if you could help me. This is my first week here and I’d like to find out about any societies that could be good for me.
Woman: Of course. Well, we have literally hundreds of socs here – ‘soc’ is often what we call societies. What sort of thing are you interested in joining?
Claude: I’m really into health and fitness.
Woman: Oh, there are a number of socs that might suit you. Let’s start with the ones closest to where we’re standing now. A12, that’s where you’ll find the Vegetarian Soc, which is run by Paul, and two rooms along you’ll be able to find Peter, who’s in charge of the Vegan Soc, so that’s in A14. Peter and Paul are actually brothers. Both of them are really nice.
Claude: I don’t think either of those socs are for me – I like meat too much, I’m afraid.
Woman: Maybe the Healthy Eating Soc then? If you go down the corridor and past the library, then you’ll come to room C16, where you’ll find Catherine, who can fill you in about their events and activities.
Claude: Thanks, I may well do that. But you mentioned fitness – that’s more like the kind of thing I’m looking for. What about societies for doing some sort of cardiovascular exercise?
Woman: All of the main types of exercise are covered here. What exactly are you looking for? Cycling, rowing, swimming?
Claude: Mm, none of those are really my kind of thing – I’m more of a runner.
Woman: In that case, definitely head for the gym. Go through the main building, and on your way you’ll probably see the Push and Pull Soc, but if I were you, I’d steer clear of that. The people in it are all a bit weird. So carry on past them and you’ll find Sarah, who runs the Hot Air Soc.
Claude: Sounds intriguing. What do they do – organise races and running events?
Woman: They do, yes, and other sports as well, like rowing in the inter-university boat races. That’s a lot of fun. The whole university turns out to support them. But if it’s only running that you want to do, go and see the Road Running Soc out in the car park. The person running their stall today is Siobhan. I’ll spell that for you – it’s an old Irish name – S-1-0-B-H-A-N.
Claude: Never heard that one before. Great. Well that should keep me busy, lots of interesting stands to visit.
Woman: Yes, there’s so much to choose from.
Exercise 2: You will hear a student, Claude, asking for information about the Healthy Eating Society. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5. [pause} Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.
Claude: Hello, is that the Healthy Eating Soc?
Catherine: Yes, it is, Catherine speaking. How can I help?
Claude: I was given one of your leaflets and am interested in joining. I know you go out for dinner twice a week, but what else do you do?
Catherine: Well, we don’t do anything on Sundays, Mondays or Tuesdays, but every Wednesday is our first restaurant visit of each week. It’s not always the same place – sometimes we’ll go to The Red Tomato, other times we go to Herbs and Flowers – but it’s always somewhere that serves vegetarian food. We meet at half past seven on the High Street.
Claude: Sounds good. What about Thursdays?
Catherine: Well, on Thursdays, we usually go off to my aunt’s house. She lends us her kitchen and we all prepare a meal together – a big curry, or something. There’s a limit of twelve people, so you need to put your name down. We get there for eight o’clock. She lives in Wednesford, so you’ll need money for the bus fare.
Claude: Wednesford? That’s funny, it’s like, ‘When’s the food?’
Catherine: Ha! No, it’s spelt W-E-D-N-E-S-F-0-R-D. It’s a village a few miles out of town. Anyway, Friday is our other restaurant evening, not vegetarian this time. We usually meet around 6 o’clock in a juice bar, and once everyone has arrived, we’ll head off to a fantastic restaurant in town that serves European food. We always sit down to eat at 7.00.
Claude: And that’s in town, is it?
Catherine: It’s right in the centre, so you get the bus to Central Square, which is where the juice bar is. It’s right next to the little theatre. The restaurant we go to is round the corner in the covered market. It’s opposite the cinema.
Claude: OK, I think I’ve got that. And do you do anything over the weekend?
Catherine: Not a lot. It gets busy in town on a Saturday night, so the only thing we do is meet at midday for what we call Coffee Club, just in the canteen in the Students’ Union. They do good pastries.
Before you hear the rest of the conversation you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.
[pause] Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.
Claude: Well, it all sounds lots of fun. How much does it cost to join?
Catherine: It depends. If you go to all of the activities every week, believe me, I know – it can cost you around £40 or more. I originally thought about charging people something like £5 per week as a membership fee, but it takes so much time to collect that it’s not worth it. So it’s actually free to be a member.
Claude: Mm, £40 is a bit above my budget.
Catherine: Oh, don’t worry. You don’t have to come to everything, and you don’t have to come every week. It’s entirely up to you.
Claude: How long do you usually take to have dinner?
Catherine: We’re usually in a restaurant for two hours having dinner, so the whole evening lasts about three hours, if you include the drink in the juice bar beforehand.
Claude: And what about the service charge at the end of a meal? Do people in this country usually give something extra for the waiters?
Catherine: In general, people often leave a tip of about 12-15% of the total bill. On the other hand, if the service or the food has been bad, they may leave nothing. We always try to make sure we give our waiters 10%. We’d like to give them 15 or 20%, but we’re not very rich. We’re only students, after all.
Claude: So how do I book a place on these trips? Shall I give you a call?
Catherine: No, I don’t always answer my phone. Some of our members send me a text message, which is fine, but I get so many that I might forget yours. The most reliable way to contact me is to send an email.
Claude: Great. So is there anything else I need to know?
Catherine: No, I don’t think so. Oh, there is one more thing. It’s really important.
Claude: What’s that?
Catherine: Well, a lot of the people have very strong opinions about which is the best restaurant in town, which is the best national dish, which country has the best cooks. All of those things are fine, but if you want to fit in with the group, try to avoid talking about celebrity
chefs. That’s when the arguments really start!
Exercise 3:
R: Hello, Omarox Engineering.
O: Hello, Richard. This is Omar.
R: Hello, Omar. Where are you?
O: I’m in Kuala Lumpur.
R: Great. What time is it there?
O: Er, it’s three o’clock.
R: Is that three in the morning?
O: No, in the afternoon. I’ve just arrived but my mobile isn’t working. I’m calling from a telephone at the hotel.
R: I see.
O: So I want to give you the number for my hotel for the next two days. It’s the Ancasa Hotel.
R: One moment. I need a pen. OK. Sorry, was that the Encasa Hotel?
O: No, the Ancasa Hotel. A for apple.
R: Oh sorry. Ancasa.
O: And the number is six oh three, two one six nine, double two double six.
R: So that’s six zero three, two one six nine, two two, six six.
O: That’s right.
R: Is there anything else?
O: Yes, one thing. Have you called our colleagues about tomorrow?
R: Yes, I have. They can meet you at three.
O: Good, thanks. I also need the designs, but my email isn’t working.
R: I know, I tried to email them, but the email came back three times this morning.
O: Erm, can you put them on the company website and I can download them?
R: Yes, I’ve done that.
O: Oh, great. Thanks. Bye for now.
Exercise 4:
You will hear part of a lecture about the history of locks. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10. {pause] Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 10.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back, as we continue our lecture series on currency, from ancient times to the modern day. For today’s talk, we’re going to discuss a need that emerged from an age-old, negative side to human nature. When wealth is portable – particularly when it can be easily compressed into thousands of individual items of coinage – it inevitably becomes more attractive to a certain group of people. Even in ancient times, the wealthy, people of status, traders and so on, realised that, to discourage thieves. their money would need to be either hidden or protected. And to do that, they had a choice. They could either keep their riches safe by keeping them in temples which were guarded twenty-four hours a day, or they could find a way to store their assets somewhere closer to home, where access was more convenient. And so the ancient Egyptians came up with a locking device. This was a mechanism similar to what is known today as a deadbolt that required the insertion of a key. The key operated a series of pins, and allowed a long metal bolt to be withdrawn from its locking position, which in turn gave the owner access to their valuables. How long ago did this happen? We’re a little vague on this. but definitely at some point later than 4,000 BC. Since the Egyptians wanted their locks to be very strong, these locks suffered from one notable problem – their size. Some of the bigger examples we have found are over half a metre long, and weigh around 30 kilos. The Romans later adapted these Egyptian locks to make them more functional and available for use in regular homes. They took the Egyptians’ designs, made them smaller, and added their own inspired invention. one that enabled them to create a more sophisticated locking system: steel springs. One negative side-effect they did suffer from was that, by using a spring instead of a bolt, it was relatively easy for a particularly dedicated and powerful thief to damage or remove the lock using brute force. However, the Roman locking mechanisms made it difficult to actually force the lock open, thanks to their precise construction. For their time, it’s hard not to be impressed
by such technology.
[short pause]
The examples we have talked about so far are key-based locks, but next I’d like to look at a variation on this – the combination lock. The combination lock is the basis of many modern safes. As we will see, the combination lock shares many features of those used by the Egyptians and Romans. For the purposes of this explanation I’ll begin by looking at a combination padlock, which is easy to grasp. One of the most important aspects of any locking system is protecting the lock itself. In the case of the padlock, there’s a secure outer casing to protect the delicate lock mechanism inside. This casing is usually constructed from a hard metal, such as brass. Having this strong outer casing prevents a potential thief from simply breaking the padlock with a tool, such as a hammer. The main moveable part of the lock, the part which opens and closes, is a strong bar, often made of reinforced or galvanised steel. As you can see, the bar is curved, almost u-shaped, but much longer on one side. At the end of this longer side is a metal spring, which is pushed down when the Qadlock is locked. So how is a combination lock unlocked? The metal bar has four pins on it, which prevent it from being opened. However, each of the pins can be released by moving a combination dial. These are circular and numbered from 0 – 9. Move all the dials into the correct position, and the spring is released, forcing the lock to open. Now that is a very simple combination lock. The lock of a safe, on the other hand …
Exercise 5:
Student 1: So, what are we going to focus on for our Tower of London presentation?
Student 2: There are lots of aspects we could talk about, but we’ve only got eight minutes, remember. Our topic needs to be simple and attention-grabbing. What about a time line? I mean a brief history of the Tower, you know, covering all the major events.
Student 1: Do you think we can really cover nearly a thousand years of history in eight minutes? I don’t.
Student 2: No, I suppose not. You’re right.
Student 1: We need to be specific and focus on one aspect of the Tower only. We could, say, talk about the history of the Beefeaters and the ravens. For example, I don’t think many people realize that it’s actually the ravens who are the ones that eat the beef, not the guards.
Student 2: That’s worth considering, though I’m not sure there’s enough for an eight-minute talk. Surely there isn’t that much to say about them?
Student 1: OK, I take your point. … I’m also interested in military history, so the Fusilier Museum fascinated me. We could actually do a whole presentation on the weapons in there.
Student 2: Not everyone’s interested in weapons and war. We need to think of a topic with broader appeal.
Student 1: All right …um …Well, don’t they conduct special ceremonies in the Tower, like the Ceremony of the Keys, every evening, when they close up the Tower for the night? It’s a bit like the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, only better. That should have more general appeal.
Student 2: But it doesn’t have that wow factor, does it? Oh wait. Speaking of wow factor, we haven’t mentioned the Crown Jewels.
Student 1: Yes! There’s so much history associated with them and they still get used for state occasions like coronations and royal weddings. I can’t see anyone being bored by that topic.
Student 2: Hey! We could ask the other students to guess the value of some of the jewels as part of the presentation? We could give a prize for the closest guess!
Student 1: But the jewels are priceless really, so it would be impossible to put an accurate value on them. Not one of your best ideas!
Student 2: OK, so summing up based on what we’ve talked about then, it should be either the Beefeaters, the Ceremony of the Keys or the Crown Jewels. I would go for the last one myself.
Student 1: I’d still like to do the Fusilier Museum personally speaking, but OK, let’s settle on the Crown Jewels. It would probably have the most universal appeal. Shall we meet after lunch and start planning the presentation?
Exercise 6:
Harry: So Olga, how did your visit to London go? Did you get to see everything on your list?
Olga: Well, on the whole pretty well, though I didn’t get to do everything I wanted. I’d love to go back and do it again.
Harry: Did you manage to get into Madame Tussauds this time? I know you didn’t last time you were in London.
Olga: Oh, yes. No problems with long queues or exhibits being closed this time around. I loved seeing the waxworks of the Royal Family again. Did you know that they change the waxwork of the Queen every few years, as she gets older? And it’s the same with Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry. It’s scary how life-like they look. They even recreate their clothes.
Harry: Well, you’ve always been fascinated by the British Royal Family so you were bound to enjoy that. Speaking of which, did you get on that tour of Buckingham Palace? I know it was top of your list of places to see.
Olga: Oh, yes, I did, and I wasn’t disappointed. My favourite part was the State Rooms. They were so impressive. I loved the interior design. There are so many masterpieces there from some of the world’s most famous painters: Rubens, Van Dyck …
Harry: When I went, they had an exhibition to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. It was called ‘Fashioning a Reign’ and it showed outfits the Queen has worn from the 1930s right up to the present. And after Buckingham Palace, where was next?
Olga: Westminster Abbey.I had to see that. So many famous people are buried there. Kings, queens, prime ministers, the list is endless. And let’s not forget Prince William and Kate got married there, like many royals before them.
Harry: I can tell from your voice that you loved it there. How about the Tower of London? Now there’s a place full of royal history. Think of all the executions that took place there. They say it’s a terrifying place.
Olga: I wouldn’t know. On the day we went there, there was some kind of event going on to do with poppies- red flowers- and we couldn’t even get close to the entrance. It felt like the whole of London was there, standing in line.
Harry: Oh yes, I read about that. Hundreds of thousands of ceramic poppies decorating the building. I saw photos online – it looked very impressive.
Olga: It was. The flowers looked amazing from the outside, but I didn’t have the patience to wait for hours and hours. Instead we went to a newer attraction called the London Bridge Experience. It’s supposed to be ‘The UK’s scariest year-round attraction’, so I thought it would be fun. It didn’t disappoint. I can’t remember how many times I screamed.
Harry: Doesn’t sound very historical to me.
Olga: Maybe not, but certainly worth a visit.
Exercise 7:
You will hear a student discussing his dissertation with his tutor. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5. [pause} Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.
Adrian: So, I’d like to talk to you about my dissertation. I have to do something about the city of Petra, you know, in Jordan. But I’m not sure which aspect to look at.
Jayne: Oh, OK, yes, there’s plenty to write about there. What topics have you thought about?
Adrian: Well, there’s the historical angle. Petra dates back to prehistoric times, but there’s a lot of information available from about 2,000 years ago.
Jayne: OK, so you’d have to concentrate on sometime in the last 2,000 years. But that’s still a long time with a huge number of changes happening. That’s really too wide a focus. You need to narrow it down. Why did Petra become well known at that time, do you think?
Adrian: Well, because of the trading routes mainly. Its location made it an ideal place for traders to stop when they were travelling between East and West.
Jayne: True, and the trade route is interesting. But …you wouldn’t really be talking just about Petra itself, as it was only one of many places on the trade route. I would rule that one out because your topic needs to concentrate on one place.
Adrian: OK. I’m also interested in the various conflicts that took place as people started to travel and mix with very different cultures.
Jayne: Right, but to be honest, that’s going to be a lot of research. For such a small sub-topic, there’s a surprisingly large amount of material to read on this. I think it might take too long.
Adrian: Yes, I had noticed that. So, I guess that leaves Petra’s architecture, though it might be seen as rather an obvious choice.
Jayne: Well, there’s a lot of potential there. You could talk about the unique style of half building and half carving into the rocks.
Adrian: That is really fascinating, but I’m worried that it might require some specialist knowledge of building techniques and so on. I’m interested in architecture, but my background is more history and social studies.
Jayne: Understood. So any other thoughts?
Adrian: Actually I’m very interested in the buildings in the context of the present day community of Petra. Apparently, people go and sleep in the cave dwellings, even though they’ve been given modern houses to live in. Living in caves is very much part of their culture.
Jayne: Well, I agree it’s interesting, but I think you would get drawn into talking about tourism and that’s not really suitable for your degree. I think some kind of focus on the past would be more relevant for a dissertation.
Before you hear the rest of the discussion you have some time to look at questions 6 and 7. [pause] Now listen and answer questions 6 and 7.
Jayne: OK, Adrian, so you’ve finally decided to focus on one aspect of Petra, which is the water management systems. What have you found out so far?
Adrian: Well, mainly that the people of Petra had a really good understanding of how to make use of every bit of groundwater and rainwater they had access to.
Jayne: Can you give me some examples of that?
Adrian: Well, agriculture was one of the most important uses of water. Petra is located in the middle of the desert, so keeping their plants well-irrigated was essential and they developed systems to do that.
Jayne: You mentioned that you haven’t studied much science. Do you think this area is going to be too technical for you?
Adrian: Well, actually the water supply process is fairly simple to grasp. They used clay pipes and thought about the height of different areas so they could make use of gravity. You don’t need a degree in engineering to understand it.
Jayne: OK, that’s good. And what about the storage of water?
Adrian: They built huge reservoirs – as simple as that.
Jayne: And is there anything else that’s particularly noteworthy?
Adrian: There’s an aqueduct in Petra which is around 2,000 years old. That’s a bridge which carries water. It was unbelievably ahead of its time. Other similar regions were uninhabitable at that time because of the lack of water management.
Jayne: OK, and what other aspects do you want to focus on?
Adrian: Well … the social history angle – apart from the benefits of irrigation, initially it was the elite – that is the rich – who gained from all this technology. Ordinary people didn’t have the luxury of baths and running water, for example.
Jayne: Hmm, and that’s still the case with any new technology, isn’t it?
Exercise 8:
You will hear a conversation between an employee at a removals company and a man who is planning to move to London. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6. [pause]. Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.
Woman: Good afternoon, We-Move-U, how can I help you?
Man: Hello, there. I’d like some help with my move to London. I’m currently living a long way away in the southwest of the UK. Is that an area you cover?
Woman: Yes, we cover all of the UK, so that’s no problem. Can I take your name first, please?
Man: Yes, it’s Mr David Cottenham.
Woman: C-0-T-N-A-M?
Man:No, it’s C-0-T-T-E-N-H-A-M.
Woman: OK, Mr Cottenham, you said that you live in the southwest …
Man: Yes, at 4 West Cottages in Humblington. It’s a small town near Exton. Well, it’s more of a village really.
Woman: Mm-hm, and the postcode there, please, so I can look up exactly where you are?
Man: DV12 SHA.
Woman: OK, I’ve found your home on the system here. My goodness, that’s very much in the countryside, isn’t it?
Man: Yes, it is. London’s going to be a bit of a shock for me. It’s so crowded.
Woman: Well, it can be, but it depends where you live. What address are you moving to?
Man: Sb Greenend Road, El9 4RR.’Greenend’ is one word.
Woman: Well, that area’s one of the quieter parts of London, at least. Not as busy as other places, certainly. When are you looking to move?
Man: 30th August.
Woman: That’s good for us. People are on their summer holidays, children aren’t at school … so there’s less traffic on the roads. What sort of time are you thinking of leaving?
Man: Around half seven would be good.
Woman: That may be difficult, because our staff need a lot of time to pack your things into the lorry. They’ll need to start in the middle of the night if you want to leave that early.
Man: No, no, I mean half seven in the evening.
Woman: Oh, I see. We can do that. And do you want to take out insurance, in case there’s any damage to your property?
Man: Yes, I think so. I’ve looked at everything I own, and I think that it’s all worth about £40,000 in total.
Woman: Shall we say a little bit more, just in case? I know you probably think it’ll be much more expensive to take a higher amount, but the difference in what you pay for 40,000 or 50,000 in insurance is actually just a few pounds.It’s £10 higher for 50,000, and £15 higher for 60,000.
Man: Yes, OK. Make it 50,000.No,on second thoughts 60,000. So, how much do you think the relocation will cost in total?
Woman: Let me check … I think we can do everything for approximately £2,000. That figure may change, of course – it’s just an estimate for now – but it gives you a good idea of the price you’ll have to pay.
Man: That’s pretty good, actually. I was expecting a lot more.
Woman: Would you like to book now? Or shall I take your mobile number? l can call you back tomorrow, after you’ve had some time to think about it, maybe?
Man: Sure. It’s 0-7-2-3-8-2 double 4-5-1-0.
Woman: Great. I’ll speak to you tomorrow. And if you have any other questions, either call us back on the number you first dialled, or have a look at our website.
Man: What’s the website address, please?
Woman: www-dot, we-hyphen-move-hyphen-u,(that’s the letter u, not the word ‘YQu’.l dot-co-dot-uk.
Man: OK, thanks for your help. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.
Before you hear the rest of the conversation you have some time to look at questions 7 to 9.
{pause] Now listen and answer questions 7 to 9.
Woman: Hello, Mr Cottenham, it’s Maria here from We-Move-U. How are you?
Man: Oh, hi there. Yes, I’m very well. I’ve actually been thinking about our conversation yesterday. You said that the total cost of the package with insurance would be around £2,000. Does that insurance cover everything?
Woman: It depends what you mean by ‘everything’. That’s how much our ‘Silver’ package would cost, and as well as insurance for anything that gets broken or damaged, it also covers your costs if our delivery drivers are late getting to London.
Man: Are there any other packages?
Woman: Yes, our ‘Economy’ cover is the same as ‘Silver’, but without the cover for late arrival, and that would cost you around £1,800. Our ‘Premium’ package has the same insurance as ‘Silver’, but on top of that our removals team men come and pack all your things, put everything into boxes for you.
Man: And that’s the ‘Premium’? Hm, I guess that’s quite a benefit. How much is that?
Woman: It would be £2,500 for this job….So shall we agree on the ‘Premium’?
Man: Hm …no, let’s stick with ‘Silver’. I’ll have plenty of time to do the packing. Actually, I’ve been looking at some reviews of your company online. Generally very good – the thing that seems to impress most people is the cost.
Woman: Well, yes, I think most people are surprised by our low prices. Others believe that our level of customer care is the best thing about us, and I’ve also seen some reviews where people are most impressed by how quickly we complete the job. I agree with everything they say, of course, but I’m probably most proud of our reputation for customer care and satisfaction.
Man: Great. Well, I think that’s everything. Oh, one final question once I make the booking, will I have to pay more if I need to make any changes?
Woman: In most cases, there’s nothing extra that you’ll need to pay once your initial payment is completed. Unless, that is, you decide to cancel the booking completely – in that case, there will be a charge of 10 percent of the total fee if you cancel less than 15 days before the date of the move. And if you need to move the date. for any reason. we’ll usually do that for a very low cost.
Man: Fantastic. Great. Well, I think I’m ready to book.
Exercise 9:
Dr Reynolds: So, first of all, we need to look at the events and see what should be included in next year’s festival and what changes should be made. Dr Saunders mentioned that there were issues with the music and crafts. What are your feelings on those two issues? Do you want to start, Sangita?
Sangita: Well, as regards the music, I think we need to have another artist in reserve in case the main act can’t perform, like in this year’s festival. It doesn’t have to be a well-known band. It could be a small act, like a student band. What do you think, Lawrence?
Lawrence: You have a point, but I’m not really sure if any artists would be happy to perform only if the main act lets us down. In any case, how often does that happen? This was the first time, and I don’t see it happening again in the future.
Dr Reynolds: I’m not sure we can take that for granted, Lawrence. If you look at what happened, we lost £3,000 as we had to return money to the audience. I don’t think anything bad would have happened, but I think we need to bear in mind that our visitors are the most important aspect of the festival and we have to make sure we keep them happy at all costs.
Lawrence: How about we arrange the programme so that on one night there isn’t a famous headline act but a good local band, so that we can change the programme to make them the main act if anyone else isn’t able to perform. We could put them on the last evening, and tell them that they may be needed on the other evenings, just in case. That way, we’re helping good local talent and making sure that our visitors are happy.
Sangita: Yes, I can see that working. Then we could use the student band to play the last night if we have to switch the local band from the last night to an earlier night.
Dr Reynolds: OK … good ideas. I’ll make a note so that we can take it back to the organising committee. Now, let’s move on to the question of crafts. As we heard, the event didn’t go very well and lacked visitors. What do you think we should do, Sangita?
Sangita: Well, I have a personal interest in this. I’ve been creating my own fashion designs and I had some clothes on display mixing Western and Indian themes. Actually, I spent some time watching the visitors and I thought they liked the clothes a lot. I think we have to be careful to distinguish the clothes from the other crafts.
Lawrence: Yes, I noticed that. I spent the third day in the craft section helping visitors and I noticed that the clothes exhibition was the most appreciated. I think the glass and ceramic section had hardly any visitors when I was there. Perhaps we should just have the clothes on display, maybe even extend that section?
Dr Reynolds: Yes, that could be a good solution. I don’t think we should get rid of the glass and pottery altogether, but I certainly think we should promote the clothes section more.
Lawrence: Well, here’s a suggestion: we could even think of turning that into a separate fashion show. What do you think of that?
Sangita: Good idea! I was thinking about that anyway. Can we put that to the committee?
Dr Reynolds: Of course. I’ve made a note of it. Regarding the theatre and poetry, do you think we need to make any changes?
Lawrence: Nothing major, I don’t think, but perhaps we should use at least one day to present new plays and poems by our own students. It’s wonderful putting on plays by well-known playwrights and readings of well-known poets, but perhaps we should promote our own talent here in the university. It would certainly help the performing arts students to expand their coursework, and we could have a competition for the best new works.
Dr Reynolds: Excellent idea, Lawrence. What do you think, Sangita?
Sangita: Yes, but let’s not limit it to just English. We could also have performances from our international students in their languages. I think that would really help promote the festival as an international event.
Dr Reynolds: Fine. We can propose that as well. And as far as the photography and cinema sections are concerned, they’ll keep expanding.
Lawrence: Well, personally, I don’t think the quality of the photography exhibition was very high. I think there are issues with digital photography being presented as a printed exhibition. You can never really capture the true meaning of the photograph like that. I would suggest just having digital displays, you know, tablets that visitors can use to see the photographer’s collection. That way, it’ll encourage photographers to develop their ideas and think about their exhibits almost as films with a story. I think that’s the way photography is going these days.
Sangita: I don’t agree. I think each image should be appreciated in its own way, as the photographer intends. I don’t think we should push photographers into one direction. That said, I think the idea of having tablets and digital screens is a good idea if we can afford it. Perhaps we could have two sections – digital displays and nondigital displays.
Dr Reynolds: Sounds good, Sangita. I can certainly put that to the committee and see if they’ll consider it. So, if that’s all about the events themselves, I’d like to discuss the organisation of the festival …
Exercise 10:
Dr Reynolds: Now, the next thing I think we should discuss is the accommodation situation. It seems clear that the number of visitors is set to grow, so we need to have a suitable plan in place to deal with the increased numbers. We don’t want a repeat of this year. What do you think, Lawrence?
Lawrence: Actually, I saw the accommodation that we used at the city college, and it was pretty basic, though it was clean and tidy. There was only a bed and a desk in each room. Another thing the visitors complained about was the lack of Wi-Fi in the rooms, especially as they’d paid for rooms with Wi-Fi. It certainly wasn’t ideal.
Dr Reynolds: Do you have anything to add, Sangita?
Sangita: Yeah … I can understand why they weren’t happy. I’d have felt the same in their position.
Dr Reynolds: Well, there’s that new holiday development at Elm Park, quite close to the university. Perhaps we could use their rooms. After all, it won’t be the holiday high season, so there should be plenty of empty rooms that we could use.
Sangita: That’s true. How about taking over some of their rooms and advertising them as accommodation specifically for families with children? They’re going to have an outdoor and an indoor adventure area for young people. We had quite a few teenagers this year coming with their parents. If we can attract more by offering them the facilities at the holiday park in a special package, they can go there if they get bored with the festival.
Lawrence: Excellent idea! They’ll be around 15 or 16 years old and when they come to the festival, they’ll get an idea of what it’d be like to study here. I’m sure it’ll help our future prospects as a university.
Dr Reynolds: I agree. I’ll be happy to present those ideas to the committee. Moving on to the catering, it seems clear that the idea of theme days with different kinds of national and regional dishes went down very well. I’ll recommend repeating it next year, but do you have anything else to say about the catering?
Sangita: Not really … one thing is that maybe we could tell the students about the festival earlier in the year and invite them to suggest themes and also to volunteer their own cooking skills to help with it. I think that’ll make sure that we vary what we offer from year to year, so that we don’t just repeat the same dishes each time.
Lawrence: But we should always have fish and chips on the menu! We can’t do without that! Seriously though, I agree.
Dr Reynolds: OK. I’ll make a note of that as well. Moving on to the helpers, you were both directly involved in that. Do you think it was a good idea to get professionals for the organising?
Lawrence: In a word, no. I think the ones that I worked with didn’t really know what they were doing. We were paying them a lot to do their work, but I don’t think they really took it as seriously as they should have. They were thinking it was just a student event. On more than one occasion, some of the volunteers had to take charge and make sure that the events went smoothly.
Sangita: Yes, you’re right. That was my experience as well. We ended up paying them a lot of money for poor service. It was one of the reasons why there were too few volunteers at some events – because the organisation was so poor. I think the idea of bringing back former students is a good idea. At least then we can be more certain that they know about the university and they’ll probably be more committed to doing a good job.
Dr Reynolds: I think you’re both right. I was disappointed and I think former students will be a great improvement, so I’ll note that as well. We need to talk about finance, but before that, I just want to mention the issue of security. Thinking about the stolen paintings, what do you think we should do about that?
Lawrence: I’m not really sure. I mean, we had the university security guards on duty the whole time, so I don’t think we can really add to that.
Sangita: Well, I noticed on more than one occasion that there were windows open in some rooms which made it easy for people to climb in and steal things. I think the main thing is to remind students and volunteers that it’s their personal responsibility to be careful and took out for any security issues. So if one of us sees an open window, we should either check with security why it’s open, or simply close it.
Dr Reynolds: You’re right, Sangita. I’m sure the committee is aware of this, but I’ll note it just to show that we’ve given it some thought. Now finance – what are your feelings on Dr Saunders’ suggestions about sponsorship?
Lawrence: I don’t think that will go down too well with most students. I mean, personally, I’m not against it, but I think students generally won’t be very keen to have businesses involved in what they see as their arts festival. I’m sure they’ll be happy to take part in more events to raise money throughout the year before the festival, but they won’t be happy about big businesses taking over and having their names all over the university.
Sangita: Well, I think it’s going to happen anyway. Everything is commercial to some extent these days. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, as long as it’s done in good taste. I think any businesses that do want to sponsor us or advertise should be aware that they need to work closely with us and respect the spirit of the festival.
Lawrence: Perhaps we could involve local businesses as well as national ones that don’t just put their name on the festival, but can actually sponsor specific events, award prizes, and so on. So, for example, a local cinema could sponsor the short film event and even send along a representative to judge the films, that sort of thing.
Dr Reynolds: Yes, I see what you mean. In that way, they’ll be directly involved in the festival, which will encourage them to take an active part and build up their reputations for supporting the arts. Well, thank you both. We have a lot of useful suggestions to take back to the committee.
Exercise 11:
Dr Reynolds: Hello Dr Saunders. I just want to tell you about the suggestions that Lawrence and Sangita made during our discussion and see what you think.
Dr Saunders: Thanks, yes. Please do.
Dr Reynolds: First of all, regarding the music, they think that it might be a good idea to have a good local band who can replace the main act if it has to let us down at the last minute, which is what happened this year. The band could be scheduled for later in the week on the understanding that they might have to play on an earlier night. We could also have one evening with a student band.
Dr Saunders: Well, it sounds good in theory to plan a rearrangement, but I think it would be too complicated to arrange. We would depend too much on all the bands being able to play on any of the nights. I think it’s simpler just to give the audience a refund if it happens again. But I’m happy to have one evening supporting local bands and student bands, as that’s the main point of the festival – to encourage people to take part.
Dr Reynolds: The next thing is the crafts. They felt that a fashion show would be a good way of expanding the clothes exhibition, and that perhaps we should reduce or even get rid of the glass and pottery exhibition.
Dr Saunders: Well, first of all, I think that the fashion show is a good idea as it can help the international students to get involved in more activities and develop their ideas with clothes. But I’m not keen to get rid of the glass and pottery exhibitions completely, as it’s important for the university to be seen to encourage all forms of art and not just the most popular ones, so we should keep that for the time being.
Dr Reynolds: OK …now … regarding theatre and poetry, they felt that it would be good for students to write and perform their own plays and poetry, as well as those by famous playwrights and poets.
Dr Saunders: That sounds like an excellent idea! It’d help a lot to raise standards in writing and performance. I’d love to see that taking place.
Dr Reynolds: Also on that topic, there was a feeling that works in other languages should be encouraged.
Dr Saunders: Most certainly. That would help the international students feel far more at home and valued as part of the university.
Dr Reynolds: There was one other event we discussed, and that was photography. It was felt that we should have both digital and non-digital exhibits.
Dr Saunders: I don’t think we could manage that, at least not yet. High-quality tablets and screens would be too expensive, especially with the number we’d have to buy, so it’s not an option for next year because of the high cost.
Dr Reynolds: OK … as for the accommodation and the catering, they felt that we could use the holiday park that’s being built nearby, and we should encourage students to take a greater part in cooking and helping with the catering.
Dr Saunders: Well, first, I know for a fact that the new holiday park is not likely to be completed by festival time next year as they’ve run into trouble with the building, but we could certainly think about it in the future. I do like the idea of the students having a greater role in the catering and cooking, as it will clearly be helpful for their all-round development.
Dr Reynolds: OK. The next thing is the professional organisers. They felt that the standard was quite low and that the volunteers didn’t experience good leadership from them. They think it would be better to ask former students to work as organisers, as they’d be more familiar with the university and more committed, too.
Dr Saunders: I appreciate that, but unfortunately that wouldn’t work. It’d be too much trouble trying to find them and get them employed. However, I think we should review the organisers that we used this year and have a much better selection system in place for the next festival.
Dr Reynolds: Now the last two points are about security and finance. As far as security goes, they think we should do more to encourage the students to take it seriously.
Dr Saunders: I agree. If we can encourage students to be more aware of security, not just during the festival, it’d really help to increase trust among all our students because they’ll be looking out for each other.
Dr Reynolds: As for finance, they thought that, first, we could encourage students to help raise money throughout the year, and, secondly, we could encourage businesses to sponsor the events and advertise more, though it needs to be handled with care.
Dr Saunders: Well, regarding sponsorship and advertising, the committee is already looking at the possibilities as it will encourage more interest in the activities that we do and also help our reputation generally. Unfortunately, I don’t think asking the students to raise more money during the year is a good idea as we already have a programme in place for that, and if the students are involved anymore, they’ll spend less time on their studies and I don’t want anything to disrupt those.
Exercise 12:
Museum employee: Hello, the Museum of London Life. How can I help?
James: Oh, hi. I was wondering if you could send me some information. I’ve been looking on your website and can’t seem to find what I need to know.
Museum employee: Certainly, sir. Can I take your name first of all?
James: Yes, it’s James Graeme.
Museum employee: Ah, OK … so that’s G-R-A-H-A-M, correct?
James: No, it’s G-R-A-E-M-E.
Museum employee: OK, great. Got there in the end. So, how can I help?
James: Well, it says that I can print off some vouchers for reduced entry, but I haven’t got a printer. Could you send me some through the post?
Museum employee: Sure. What’s your address?
James: 16. Mount Hill Road, – that’s M-0-U-N-T Hill Road, London, ElS 2TP.
Museum employee: OK. Can I take a contact number for you for our records?
James: Yes, it’s double 7-0, 3-6-4. Sorry, I mean double 7-0,4-6-4.
Museum employee: OK, great. I’ll get some vouchers sent out to you.
James: Thanks. Could you just clarify what the discount structure is?
Museum employee: Of course. So, for groups of four or more there’s a ten percent discount applied. If you manage to get together a larger gang of people – ten or more, to be precise – then that figure goes up to 15 percent.
James: And what about students like me? Anything extra?
Museum employee: Yes, all students get that same 15 percent discount automatically, but in groups of four or more that goes up by another 5 percent to 20 percent. Would you be coming with friends?
James: No, I think the likelihood is that I’ll be on my own. So how much exactly would that cost me for entry?
Museum employee: That’s four twenty-five.
James: So with the discount that makes … three pounds sixty-one, doesn’t it?
Museum employee: No, sorry, that price was with the discount already applied.
James: Oh, OK. And are there any special exhibitions at the moment? I’ll book tickets for that as well today, provided there’s something special that I’m particularly interested in.
Museum employee: There is, actually. You’ve just missed a really popular one that took in the Viking period, and coming up we’ve got the period known as ‘The Industrial Revolution’, but the one we’re currently running is called ‘Underground London’, which looks at the tunnels, sewers and catacombs beneath the streets of the city.
James: Great! Ideally, I’d like to visit on my birthday, the 13th July.
Museum employee: Let me check …No, that’s a Monday. We’re closed on Mondays.
James: Ah, that’s a shame. Never mind, I’ll come the day before. Can I book over the phone now?
Museum employee: Certainly, so that’s one student ticket for the 12th. Let me take your payment details.