test 4 you will hear a number of different recordings and you will have
to answer questions on what you hear there will be time for you to read the
instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work all the
recordings will be played once only the test is in four sections at the end of
the test you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer
sheet now turn to section 1 section 1 you will hear a woman telephoning a car
rental company to ask about car renting services first you have some time to
look at questions 1 to 5
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you will see that there is an example which has been done for you on this
occasion only the conversation relating to this will be played first hello first
choice car rental how may I help you oh good morning I'm calling for some
information about your car renting services and I will be going on a family
holiday to your city from Ohio next month the woman says that she is an
American so American has been written in the space now we shall begin you should
answer the questions as you listen because you will not hear the recording
a second time listen carefully and answer questions one to five
hello first choice car rental how may I help you okay no problem it's our
pleasure to serve you could you please tell me your name and contact
information first okay I've got that and how can I send you our quotation if
you are satisfied with our arrangement his email all right or should I send it
by post that's no problem I think it should be within my budget of $50 you
know we have various caravans at different renting prices according to
the class of vehicle facilities inside mileage etc I'd recommend the Explorer
taking your budget into consideration which is of good value and will cost you
$39 per day is that okay I'm glad that you like it so do you have any
particular requirements about your room in the van one twin bed no problem for
the facilities I think a kitchen is the most important and of course the stove
before you hear the rest of the conversation you have some time to look
at questions six to ten
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now listen and answer question six to ten in our vans such as Explorer there
are all the basic bedding materials you need like pillows and blankets as well
as some equipment for daily life and many things can be added into your room
according to your needs such as a coffee maker alright
I've taken notes of all these things actually all our vans should be taken
from our company which is not too far from the city center so we can pick you
up from the Center for free yes that's okay picked up from the airport as we
are foreigners in your country and not familiar with the transport system
that's all right yes it is no problem with that comes the information for the
insurance I need the drivers name and age that is
my daughter Chris 19 the youngest driver amongst us three I'm sorry but our
company only accepts Caravan drivers age 25 or over according to our regulations
so and where was your driving license issued I mean the country your country
yes that might be better so your registration number is
the end of section 1 you now have half a minute to check your answers
now turn to section 2 section 2 you'll hear a talk between a host and a
professor called Allison downing about cocoa beans first you have some time to
look at questions 11 to 16
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now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16 hello and welcome to
today's talk here with me is the famous botanist professor Allison downing so
Allison tell us something about cocoa beans cocoa beans also called cacao
beans are the primary constituent in making chocolate grown in tropical areas
in South and Central America West Africa and Asia the cocoa tree is often raised
on small family-owned farms when the harvested pots are open to expose the
beans the pulp and cocoa seeds are removed and the rind is discarded the
pulp and seeds are then piled in heaps placed in bins or laid out on grates for
several days during this time the seeds and pulp undergo a process called
sweating where the thick Pope liquefies as it ferments the fermented pulp
trickles away leaving cocoa seeds behind to be collected this is when the beans
are harvested and then the bags holding them are ready to be transported but the
most important step in processing the cocoa bean is cleaning it once the beans
are unloaded from the railroad cars the packages are opened and then weighed by
machines then the pods are split and the seeds or beans are covered with a sweet
white pulp or mucilage on arrival at the factory the cocoa beans are sorted and
put in a hopper to be cleaned more rigorously the wet beans are then
transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried they are fermented
for four to seven days and must be mixed every two days they are dried for five
to fourteen days depending on the climate conditions the fermented beans
are dried by spreading them out over a large surface and constantly raking them
then the beans are ready to be roasted now roasting takes place at a high
temperature and there the beans are boiled in a heated chamber
during the roasting process the beans will be expanded and cracked but prior
to this the beans are trodden and shuffled about using bare human feet
during this process red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to
obtain a finer color polish and protection against molds during shipment
to factories in the United States the Netherlands the United Kingdom and other
countries now back to what I was saying after the beans are cracked they need to
be cooled then the roasted beans are sealed in pockets before you hear the
rest of the talk you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20
now listen and answer questions 17 to 20
well that is not a simple process is it but someone told me that different
roasting levels of coffee can lead to different kinds of flavors yes roasting
coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee
beans into roasted coffee products the roasting process is what produces the
characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change
in taste unroasted beans contain similar if not higher levels of acids protein
sugars and caffeine as those that have been roasted but lack the taste of
roasted coffee beans due to the may lard and other chemical reactions that occur
during roasting the vast majority of coffee is roasted commercially on a
large scale but small-scale commercial roasting has grown significantly with
the trend toward single origin coffees served at specialty shops some coffee
drinkers even roast coffee at home as a hobby in order to both experiment with
the flavor profile of the beans and ensure the freshest possible roast so
here I'm going to introduce some of these roasted coffee beans and their
special flavors now the first crack is lighter bodied and has a higher acidity
level with no obvious roast flavor and is popular for its special mild taste
this level of roast is ideal for tasting the full original character of the
coffee the green beans are raw unroasted coffee beans they are strictly hard
beans with a smoky flavor and a slightly acidic we've also got French Roast
and the flavor that comes across in French roast coffee usually has more to
do with the roasting process than the actual quantity of the beans by the time
the beans are dark enough to qualify as French most of their original flavor has
dissipated in its place come the flavors of caramelizing sugar bitter sweet
coffee and often a bit of chocolate and finally espresso
smokey that is coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water
under pressure through finely ground coffee beans espresso is generally
thicker than coffee brewed through other methods has a higher concentration of
suspended and dissolved solids and has creamer on top as a result of the
pressurized brewing process the flavors and chemicals in a typical
cup of espresso are very concentrated espresso is also the base for other
drinks such as cafe latte cappuccino cafe macchiato cafe matcha flat white or
Caffe americano that is the end of section 2 you now have half a minute to
check your answers you
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now turn to section 3 section 3 you will hear two students talking about the more
with the lecturer first you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26
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now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26 thank you all for
coming here today to hear about the mower a kind of animal which has been
extinct for a long time well first of all we look at what the mower are the
mower our nine species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand they were
the dominant herbivores in New Zealand's forests shrubland and subalpine
ecosystems for thousands of years but around five hundred years ago they all
went extinct when I mention extinct animals during ancient times you may
immediately think of dinosaurs which disappeared around 66 million years ago
fossils of dinosaurs which we used to study a large and number but not many of
those of MOA remain though both animals appeal to people today so the MOA sound
more mysterious now but Sir I've got a question about these flightless birds
how can we distinguish them from other birds that's a good question birds are
commonly characterized by being warm-blooded having feathers and wings
usually capable of flight and laying eggs while a flightless MOA until their
extinction were the largest birds in the world their heads are relatively small
in relation to their bodies and they are the only wingless Birds lacking even the
vestigial wings and substantial tail bones in their family that's impressive
but were they born to be like that I mean when they were chicks yes
absolutely so let's move on to the chicks the eggs
of MOA were laid in nests and incubated for about two months the chicks would be
well developed upon hatching and probably would be able to leave the
nests to feed on their own almost immediately I've heard that the male MOA
are thought to have incubated the eggs is that true I think there is a
possibility for that I've read somewhere that the sex specific DNA recovered from
the outer surfaces of eggshells suggested that these eggs were likely to
have been hatched by the but we still need to consult more but I
have a question there has been some occasional
speculation that the mower was still alive because someone said they had
caught sight of them in New Zealand in the late 19th century or even the 20th
do you think it's possible I'm not amazed by that since that kind of thing
has been claimed several times but I find it funny because no reliable
evidence of mower tracks has ever been found and experts still contend that
mower survival is extremely unlikely so what was the reason for the mowers
extinction I wonder if it was global warming or some other factors related to
their living environment well before the arrival of human settlers in New Zealand
the mowers only predator was the massive Hass Eagle then the Maori arrived some
time before seee 1300 and all mower general was soon driven to extinction by
hunting what a horrible thing before you hear the rest of the talk you have some
time to look at questions 27 to 30
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now listen and answer questions 27 to 30
all right now let's look at the features of some species of MOA
the South Island giant MOA may have been the tallest Birds ever known and the
second tallest of the nine MOA species is the North Island giant MOA with the
females being markedly larger than males both in weight and height and I've heard
that the smallest of the MOA birds are the coastal MOA is that right yes you
were right and have you heard about any other kind of MOA before I know the
crested MOA the egg stay late may be larger than others as they mainly lived
in the remote interior of the southern island their fossils are rare or absent
in archaeological sites and no egg remains have yet been identified
are there any species of MOA that have got more fossils yes of course a
considerable amount of remains of the stout legged MOA exist due to the well
preserved properties of their habitat their skulls reveal relatively bad
vision a good sense of smell and a very short bill then there is the eastern
moan they were remarkable in having very long
and narrow wind pipes which probably enabled them to make louder more
resonant calls than those of other MOA and had the greatest vocal abilities so
they could communicate when they could not see each other in the forest or at
night they used a range of sensors apart from sound in their search for food such
as their sense of smell and vision
that is the end of section 3 you now have half a minute to check your answers
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now turn to section four section four you will hear part of the lecture about
time measurement first you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40
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now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40 good morning everyone
today I'm going to talk about the research project I've been involved in
on time measurement do you know how time is measured consider how we measure
length and how with time we encounter a difficulty before we could grasp it it
would slip through our fingers in fact as we can see we are forced to have the
resource to measure something else the movement of something in space or a set
of movements in space all the methods that have been employed so far really
measure time by a motion in space the measurement of time is no easy
matter a scientific unit only arrived at after much thought and reflection as the
most primitive form of measurement the Sun seems to be natural ever since man
first noticed the regular movements of the Sun and stars
we have wondered about the passage of time prehistoric people first recorded
time according to the sun's position to start off let us take noon which is when
the Sun is on the meridian at the highest point of its course across the
heavens and when it casts the shortest shadow but this measurement which was
regarded as a major one in ancient times was less important than the natural
events that occurred the earliest natural events that had been recognized
were in the heavens but during the course of the year there were many other
events that indicated significant changes in the environment seasonal
winds and rains the flooding of rivers the flowering of trees and plants and
the breeding cycles or migration of animals all led to natural divisions of
the year and the further observation and local customs led to the recognition of
the seasons years later precise measurements were invented because the
passage of time was extremely important for astronomers and priests who were
responsible for determining the exact hour for daily rituals and for important
religious festivals a part from the connection with religion
accurate time measurement was also related to the government since they
divided the day or the night into different periods in order to regulate
work and various events for thousands of years devices had been used to measure
and keep track of time the current sexagesimal system of time
measurement dates back to approximately 2000 BCE from the Sumerians it was found
that the earliest ancient timekeepers were mainly invented and used in
Mesopotamia where the water clock was introduced from as well as in North
Africa especially in the area of ancient Egypt so now I'd like to introduce you
to some of the most well known ancient timekeepers as well as the disadvantages
of them for which they were replaced by various new forms of clocks that were
used afterwards a sundial is a device that tells the time of day by the
apparent positioning of the Sun in the sky in the narrowest sense of the word
it consists of a flat plate and a Norman which casts a shadow onto the dial as
the Sun appears to move across the sky the shadow aligns with different hour
lines which are marked on the dial to indicate the time of day however it was
quickly noted that the length of the day varied at different times of the year
therefore there could have been a difference between clock time and
sundial time in addition the sundial was of no use at night so a water clock was
invented the water clock or CLEP Sidra appear to have been invented around 1500
BCE and was a device which relied on the steady flow of water from or into a
container measurements could be marked on the container or on a receptacle for
the water it was reliable but the water flow still depended on the variation of
pressure and temperature from the top of water in the container as the technology
of glassblowing developed from sometime in the 14th century it became possible
to make and glasses originally they were used as
a measurement for periods of time like lamps or candles but as clocks became
more accurate they were calibrated to measure specific periods of time the
drawback however as you can imagine was the limited length of time they could
measure the last time keeper to be introduced is the fire candle clock
candle clocks took advantage of a simple concept the slow and consistent nature
of a burning wax candle by utilizing this process our ancestors were able to
keep steady track of the time the clocks were created by engraving the length of
the candle with evenly spaced markings each marking represented a single unit
of time and as the wax burned down each hour would disappear however the drafts
and the variable quality of the wax mainly influence the time of burning
like oil lamps candles were use to mark the passage of time from one event to
another rather than tell the time of day
that is the end of Section four you now have half a minute to check your answers
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that is the end of the listening test in the IELTS test you will now have 10
minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet
you