Appendix C: Listening Tasks and Texts

AppendixC:ListeningTasksandTexts

ListeningTask1:

Listentothefollowingreportofasalesmanageranddrawasaleslineinthechartbelow.

ListeningText1:

Goodmorning,ladiesandgentlemen!Now,I'dliketoreportonthisyear'ssalesofcomputersbyourcompany.AtthestartoftheyearIfeltveryoptimisticforourcompany.Ifeltwehadagoodchanceofhavinganexcellentyear.ButsaleswerenotquiteasIexpected.

Overallitwasn'tabadyearforsalesbutourperformancewasveryuneven.Wehadsomegoodperiodswhensaleswereexcellentandsomebadperiodswhensalesweremuchweaker.Iamgoingtoreportonouroverallsales.Thatis,Iwon'tgivesalesseparatelyforthedomesticmarkethereinChinaandourinternationalsalestooverseascountries.I'lljustreportontotalsales.

Thefirstquarterwasnotverygood.Salesactuallydroppedduringthefirstthreemonthsoftheyear.Therewasabigdecline.InJanuary,wesoldatotalof500computersbutinMarchweonlysold100computers.Thustherewasabigfallinsalesduringthisperiod.Thefallwasabrupt—ittookplaceoverjustthreemonths.Theproblemherewasourcompetitor—theJohnsonCompany.Thiscompany'spriceswereverycompetitiveinthefirstquarteroftheyear—theywereabletoselltheircomputersatamuchcheaperpricethanwecouldsellourowncomputersbothoverseasintheinternationalmarketandathomeinthedomesticmarket.Anotherproblemwefacedwasthattheinterestrateswewerepayingonourloansfromthebankwereveryhigh.

However,byApriloursaleshadstoppedfallingandsaleswereatthesamelevelinthesecondquarterasinthefirstquarter.SalesinJunewerethesameasthesalesforMarch—100computers.Thiswasnotaverygoodperformancebutatleastwehadstoppedthedeclineinsales.

Theninthethirdquartertherewasanabruptimprovement.SalesstartedtoimproveinJulyandbytheendofSeptemberhadreachedthesamelevelasJanuary—wesoldatotalof500computersinSeptember.

InthefourthquarterwewereabletomaintainsalesattheSeptemberlevel.Infacttherewasagradualincreaseoverthisperiod,reachingatotalof550computersinDecember.Asyoucanseebytheendoftheyearwehadbecomemuchmorecompetitiveagain.ThisisbecausewewereabletolowerthepriceofourcomputerswhereasJohnsonCompanyhadactuallyincreasedtheirs.

Soyoucanseethiswasadifficultyear.ButweendedwithstrongersalesthanweexpectedandIamveryoptimisticfornextyear.Iexpectsalestogoonincreasingbyandby.

(Total:455words)

ListeningTask2:

Listentothefollowingdialogueandfillintheregistrationformbelow.

ConferenceRegistrationFormforStudent

ListeningText2:

Student:Goodmorning!

Woman:Goodmorning!CanIhelpyou?

Student:Yes,please.Isthiswhereweregisterforthe5thInternationalConferenceofLanguageStudies?

Woman:Yes!What'syourname?

Student:Well...Actually,Ihaven'tregisteredyet.Myfriendstoldmetheregistrationformisavailablehere.AndIjustarrivedthismorning,soIhopeIcouldgetregisteredhere.

Woman:Well.Wehaveadvisedeveryoneattendingtheconferencethattheyshouldregisterbeforehand.Thisisimportantsoweknowwhataccommodationtheywant.Weneedtoknowwhethertheywanttostayattheconferencecentreorjustattenddaily.Wealsoneedtoknowwhethertheywantlunch.

Student:Oh,I'msorryIdidn'tknowaboutthis.Isitpossibletoregisternow?Iwon'tneedanyaccommodationattheconferencecentre.

Woman:AreyouaLanguageStudiesstudent?

Student:Yes,Iam.MymajorisLinguistics.

Woman:OK,thenIguesswecanregisteryoualright.

Student:Ah,that'sgreat!Thankyou.

Woman:Now,I'llneedtotakeyourdetails,sothatIcanfillinthisform.So,canIhaveyourfullname?

Student:Yes,sure.It'sDavidLi.

Woman:Yes,D-a-v--id,David,andL-e-e,Lee.

Student:No,it'sL-i,Li.

Woman:OK,L-i,Li.Andwheredoyoulive?What'syourpermanentaddress,David?

Student:I'mastudent.Iliveintheuniversity,soIdon'thavealong-termaddress.MyaddresswillchangewhenIgraduate.SoIdon'thaveapermanentaddressrightnowexcepttheuniversity.

Woman:OK,then.Givemeyourcurrentdormitoryaddress,please.

Student:Yes.MypresentaddressisRoom426,DormitoryBuildingNo.3,ShenyangJianzhuUniversity,Shenyang.

Woman:Room426,DormBuildingNo.3,ShenyangJianzhuUniversity.Whyisthenameoftheuniversity“Jianzhu”?Whatdoesitmean?

Student:JianzhuinChinesemeans“construction”.Moststudentsinmyuniversitystudyarchitecture.

Woman:Really?SoIguesstherearealotofbeautifulbuildingsinyouruniversity.

Student:Yes,indeed!AndmanyofthebuildingswereactuallydesignedbythestudentsfromtheArchitectureDepartmentofmyuniversity.

Woman:Wonderful!Butyouarenotinthatdepartment.YousaidyouwerestudyingLinguistics.

Student:Yes,that'sright.IamintheDepartmentofLanguageStudies.Iamveryinterestedinlanguageandmyuniversityalsospecializesinthissubjectaswell.

Woman:Right!Now,Ineedyourstudentnumbertomakesurethatyou'reastudentthatisstillatschool.

Student:Yes,sure.Hereitis.Mystudentnumberis24690685LS.

Woman:24690685LS.Now,theConferencefeeis$65,David.

Student:OK.Hereyouare!

Woman:Thankyou,David.That'sfine.Now,I'msorrybutwehavejustrunoutofconferencebags,butonewillbeavailablelaterifyouwanttocomebytheregistrationdesk.

Student:Okay.

Woman:Themainlectureroomisrightdownthehallthereonyourleft.Enjoyyourtimeherewithus!

Student:I'msureIwill!Thankyouverymuch.Bye!

Woman:Bye-bye!

(Total:475words)

ListeningTask3:

Youwillhearamantelephoningasportscenter.Fillinthecustomerformwithwhatyouhear.

ListeningText3:

Woman:Goodafternoon.AceSportsCenter.CanIhelpyou?

Man:Ihopeso.We'remembersofthesportscenter,butI'vejustseenfromthenewspaperthattheopeningdatehasbeendelayed.

Woman:Oh,er...couldyougivemeyourname,please?

Man:Yes,mynameisCharlesBaker.

Woman:CharlesBaker.Andyouareanindividualmember,sir?

Man:No.I'mnotjustspeakingformyself.Actually,I'mphoningonbehalfofagroupofuswhohavejoinedthecenter.I'mtheHumanResourcesmanageratRKSCompany.

Woman:That'sthelettersR-K-S?

Man:Yes,that'sright.We'vegottwentymemberswhohavejoinedyourSportsCenter.

Woman:Wereyougivenamembershipnumber?

Man:Yes,ourmembershipnumberis6-4-4-5-3.

Woman:6-4-4-5-3.Yes.I'vegotyouhereinmycomputer.

Man:ButIneedtoknowwhenwecanstartusingyourfacilities.Iamright,aren'tI—theseincludetheswimmingpool,basketballcourt,andgym?

Woman:Yes—wehaveallthesefacilities.We'resosorryaboutthedelay,Mr.Baker.Butwe'rearrangingtoshowregisteredmembersaroundthecenter.

Man:Oh,wellthat'sgood—weareallalreadyregistered.Wegaveournamesandpaidourmembershipfeesthreeweeksago.

Woman:Okay,we'llarrangeforallyourmemberstotourtheSportsCenterthismonthandshowyoutobasketballcourts,swimmingpoolandgym.

Man:Whenwouldthatbe?

Woman:ThereisonetouronthisThursday...CouldsomeofyoucomeonThursdaythe17th?

Man:Thatwouldbedifficult,butnextThursdaythe24thwouldbeokwithus.

Woman:Er,whataboutthe25th?

Man:The25thshouldbefine.ButIshallhavetospeaktoourindividualmembersfirst.

Woman:Pleasetrytocomeinagroup.

Man:Isee.

Woman:IsitOKifwestartthetourat6pm?

Man:I'llhavetocheckifthattimeisokay.ThenIwillgetbacktoyoutoconfirmthedateandtime.

Woman:Iamsorryforthedelayinopening,andI'dliketoofferyouareductioninthemembershipfee.

Man:Doyoumeanyouwillofferadiscount?

Woman:Yes.I'dbehappytoofferyouadiscount.

Man:Doyouhaveanexactamountinmind?

Woman:Well,howaboutafifteenpercentreductionfromthefullfee?

Man:Thatseemsveryreasonable...thanks.

Woman:CanIjustconfirmyournumbersoIdon'tcallthewrongtelephone?Isit136-229-829-87?

Man:Pleaseusemydirectline.It's239-874-13.I'malwaysinmyofficeduringtheday.

Woman:Ormaybeemail?

Man:Yes,that'sbetter.It'sinfo-at-cullers-dot-com.

Woman:Atcullers?

Man:Yes,C-U-L-L-E-R-Sdotcom.

Woman:Verygood.Thankyou,Mr.Baker.

Man:Thanks.

Woman:Onceagain,I'msorryforthedelayinouropeningdate.

Man:It'sok.

Woman:Bye!

Man:Bye!

(453words)

ListeningTask4:

YouwillhearaTVprogram.Completethetablebelowwiththeinformationfromtheprogram.

ListeningText4:

Welcometothisweek'sprogramofAnimalWorld.Todaywewilltakealookatsomedifferenttypesofworkingdogs.

Formanyyears,dogshavebeenpopularwithpeoplebecausetheyareextremelyobedienttotheirowners.Theywillalmostdoanythingtheirownersaskthemto,sotheycanbetrainedtodoanumberofveryvaluablejobs.

Perhapsthemostwellknownofworkingdogsisthesheepdog.Sheepdogsaresmartandobedientinnature.Workingtogetherwiththeirmasters,theycanherdsheep.Theycollectthemtogetherandthenprotectthembywatchingoverthemcarefully.Somefarmerssaythattheirdogsaresosmartthattheynotonlyherdsheeptogether,theycancountthesheep,too.

Anothermuch-lovedworkingdogistheguidedog,trainedtoworkwiththeblindpeople.Guidedogs,usuallyLabradors,needtobewell-trainedenoughtoleadtheirownersthroughtrafficandcrowds,buttheymustalsobeofagentlenature.

AnotherkindofcommonworkingdogistheGermanshepherddog.Germanshepherddogsmakeveryexcellentguarddogsandalsoserveassearchandrescuedogsworkingindisasterareasafterearthquakes.Thesedogsmustbetoughandbravesothattheycancopewiththeharshconditionsoftheirwork.Theyareusedtoworkinginsuchdifficultconditions.Theycanbesentanyplacewherethereisadisastertosniffoutlivesandhelpsavethem.

Manycountriesprohibitpeoplefromimportingthingslikedrugs,freshfruitormeat.Thisiswhyyouwillfinddetectordogsinmanyairports.Thesedogshavegreatsenseofsmellandsoaretrainedtosniffoutdrugs,freshfruit,meatandevenliveanimalshiddeninpeople'sbags.AtSydneyairport,forexample,therearetendetectordogsworkingfulltime.

Anotherfamousworkingdogisthehusky.Huskies,whichcamefromSiberiaalongtimeago,havebeenusedformanyyearsasameansoftransportonsnow,particularlyinAntarcticawheretheyhaveplayedanimportantrole.Huskiesareknownforbeingabletoliveunderharshconditionssuchasplacesthatareverycoldorsnowy,andtheyenjoyworkinginateam.ButthehuskieshaveallleftAntarcticanowbecausetheInternationalAntarcticaTreatyprohibitstheirusebecausetheyarenotnativeanimalsintheregion.

Workingdogscanhelppeopleinsomanyways;nowondertheyhavealwaysbeenaclosefriendtous.Ok,somuchfortheAnimalWorldthisweek.Thankyouforwatching,andI'llseeyounextweek.Bye!

(439words)

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