IELTS General Training Volume 1

Published on: 06 Jan 2017
Tests taken: 3,894,501

Answer Keys:

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Part 1: Question 1 - 10

1 Janeson
2 Forest Avenue
3 13th of May
4 6249 7152
5 1 – 5/1 to 5

6 4:30pm
7 1 hour/one hour
8 the cliffs
9 2.00pm
10 (a) sweater

Part 2: Question 11 - 17

11 mean sea level
12 concrete and granite
13 (about) 79
14 800/ eight hundred

15 falling off
16 (postage) stamps
17 20 D,F,G,J

Part 3: Question 21 - 28

21 chatting/ talking
22 too expensive
23 take too long
24 1000/thousand people

25 statistically significant
26 500/five hundred
27 5/five
28 30 A,D,E

Part 4: Question 31 - 40

31 E
32 A
33 D
34 B
35 A

36 C
37 B
38 B
39 A
40 B

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Review & Explanations:

Part 1: Questions 1-10

Questions 1-5

Complete the form below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR SOME NUMBERS for each answer.

**BUS PASS APPLICATION FORM**
Example: PASS APPLIED FOR	Answer: 1 month
NAME	Nathalie 1
ADDRESS	45 2 Newlands Adelaide
POSTCODE	8490
DATE OF BIRTH	3 , 1982
TEL NUMBER	4
UNIVERSITY CARD SHOWN	Yes
ZONES REQUIRED	5

1 Answer: Janeson

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q1 is “name”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be a name.
The answer for Q1 is quite noticeable as the woman directly tells and spell us her surname, which is Janeson.

Note: The only obstacle is candidate’s personal.

2 Answer: Forest Avenue

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q2 should be “address”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be numbers or names.
The woman 2’s question “And what’s your address?” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
The women 1 answer is “ins , Newlands, Adelaide” and the women2 asked:” Is that forest with 1 R or 2 Rs” Since no more than three words and/or numbers are allowed in each question, the candidate may get baffled a little bit.

However, candidates with good listening skills and average concentration can easily solve the trick.

3 Answer: 13th of May

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q3 is “date of birth”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be a date.
The answer for Q3 is quite noticeable as the woman 1 directly tells us her birthday which is the 13th of May.

4 Answer: 6249 7152

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q4 is “your telephone number”.

From the question, we can assume that the answer must be a group of number.

The answer for Q4 is quite noticeable as the woman 1 directly spell us her telephone number, which is six two four nine seven one five two.

Note: The only obstacle is candidate’s personal confusion because of the long, unexpected line. Nonetheless, the woman 1 has taken a break before moving on to the next sentence. For that reason, candidate is expected to pass Q4 with ease.

5 Answer: 1 – 5/1 to 5

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q5 should be “zones”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be a range of numbers.
The woman 1’s answer predict that the woman 2’s decide is 1 to 5
The sentence “The nearest bus stop is in Zone 5. That’s lucky” is the first clue.
Zones 1 – 6 is the distracted detail that might make the listener wrongly think. However, candidates with good listening skills and average concentration can easily solve the trick by find out the difference between the voice of woman1 and the woman 2.

Questions 6-10

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR SOME NUMBERS from the audio for each answer.

Adelaide Day Trips on the Bus
The MacDonald Nature Park
Outward Journey Leaves	8.00am
Length of Journey	2 hours
Return Journey Leaves	6
Things to do/see	Walk nature trails + MacDonald River
Bring	A camera
Pearl Bay
Outward Journey Leaves	9.00am
Length of Journey	7
Return Journey Leaves	4.00pm
Things to do/see	Walk along 8 + see view Lie on the beach + swim
Bring	Swimming gear + a towel
The Huron Gold Mine
Outward Journey Leaves	9.30am
Length of Journey	Half an hour
Return Journey Arrival time	9
Things to do/see	Go round the museum and tunnels, find some gold!!
Bring	10

6 Answer: 4:30pm

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

Before turn into the next section, listener has about 30s to take a quick scanning to the form.
You can see the similar between 3 different locations in the listening. Thank to that, we can assume that the answer must be a specific timeline.
The keywords concerned in Q6 are “leaves for the return”. The answer of the woman 1 is told in order and go straight to the point. Nonetheless, the candidate is expected to pass Q6 with ease.
Hence, the answer for Q6 is 4.30 in the afternoon or 4.30pm

7 Answer: 1 hour/one hour

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q7 are “How far is that”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be numbers or amount of time.
The answer of the woman 2 is went straight to the point: “It’s an hour”
Thus, the answer for Q7 should be “an hour”.

8 Answer: the cliffs

Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q8 should be “Things to do/see”.
From the hint in the question, we can assume that the answer must be locations.
The woman 2’s introduction line :“walk along” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.

The student’s answer is “the cliffs” and it’s the “ s “ in the answer.The candidates with good listening skills and average concentration can easily solve the trick.

9 Answer: 2.00pm

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q9 is “Return Journey Leaves”.
From the sample of the previous locations, we can assume that the answer must be a specific time.
The woman 2’s introduction has paraphrased the word “ return ” to “ arriving back ”
The answer is 2.00pm. Since the trip has started at 9.30 am, and it’s a half day trip so obviously the ending time must be in the afternoon.

10 Answer: (a) sweater

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q10 is “Bring”.
From the sample of the previous locations, we can assume that the answer must be nouns.
This is a thing that suggested to bring, so the person who provide the informations must be the woman 2. For that reason, be focusing on the woman 2’s lines.
By catching the woman 2’s advice “the mines can be quite cold ”, the candidates can predict the answer will revolve around clothes, scarf, etc.
The answer is a sweater.

Part 1

Part 2: Questions 11-20

Questions 11-16

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.

The highest point of the bridge is 134m above 11

The two pairs of pylons are made of 12

13 % of the steel for making the bridge came from the UK.

Approximately 14 families moved without compensation to accommodate the construction of the approaches to the bridge.

People 15 was the main cause of death of workers while constructing the bridge.

Three 16 were made to mark the opening of the bridge. One is worth several hundred dollars today.

11 Answer: mean sea level

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q11 are “134m above” and “increase by as much as 18 centimeters on hot days”.
The keywords “measure + above” are frequently used to talk about the sea level.

even if you missed the answer “mean sea level“ you still can guess the answer by catch the next explanation of George.

Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earth's oceans from which heights such as elevation may be measured.

View more here at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level so you have to write the full definition "Mean sea level". The answer "sea level" is NOT accepted.

12 Answer: concrete and granite

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q12 is “made of” and “two pairs of pylons”
From the keyword, we can assume that the answer can be a noun or a noun phrase.
The speaker has taken a break between 2 sentence, so the listener cannot wrongly think the answer of the Q12. The answer for Q12 must be concrete and granite.
Listener might wrongly think the steel is the answer of Q12, but if you listen carefully, this is used for the bridge, not pylons.

13 Answer: (about) 79

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q13 is “came from the United Kingdom” which is mentioned in the question.
From the root sentence, we can assume that the answer must be a number.
The answer for Q13 must be About 79 percent eight hundred.

14 Answer: 800/ eight hundred

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q14 are “without compensation”.

From the question, we can assume that the answer could be a number or an adjective as it is followed by the noun "families".

Following the speaker, we can hear clearly that "eight hundred families move without compensation". Thus, you should write the answer "eight hundred" or "800" in the blank space.

15 Answer: falling off

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q15 is “died” and “construction “ which is paraphrased in the question.
From the root sentence, we can assume that the answer can be a noun phrase or adjective.

The answer for Q15 must be falling off.

16 Answer: (postage) stamps

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keyword concerned in Q16 is “three” and “One of these stamps“which is mentioned in the question.
The keyword “issued to commemorate” is paraphrase of “made to mark”
From the root sentence, we can assume that the answer can be a noun or noun phrase.
The passive sentence is used in the sentence, for that reason, we can assume that the answer must be a thing.
The expression of quantity is “ three”, so the answer should be in plurals form.

From above analysis, the answer for Q16 must be postage stamps.

Questions 17-20

Previous Next

Part 2

Part 3: Questions 21-30

Questions 21-27

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.

While waiting for Phil, Mel and Laura were 21

A telephone survey was rejected because it would be 22

A mail survey was rejected because it would 23

The best number of people to survey would be 24

If their survey only included 100 people, it would not be 25

The number of people that Laura, Phil and Mel agree to survey was 26

The number of questions in the survey was agreed to be 27

21 Answer: chatting/ talking

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q21 are “Mel and Laura”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer must be verbs.
Since this is an explanation for Mel and Laura's actions, we need to focus on the dialogue of one of these two.

Therefore, the answer for Q21 must be “chatting”.

22 Answer: too expensive

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q22 are “a telephone survey” and “the phone one”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can be an adjective.

Before showing the answer, the speaker has listed the survey options “a telephone survey, a street survey and a mail survey” which are mentioned in the question. Thanks to that, we can predict that the answer will soon appear.

Therefore, the answer for Q22 must be “too expensive”.

23 Answer: take too long

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q23 are “a mail survey” and “the postal one”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can be an adjective.
“postal” relating to post or to the public service that collects and delivers the post. For that reason, “the postal one” is paraphrase of the mail.

Therefore, the answer for Q23 must be “take too long”.

24 Answer: 1000/thousand people

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q24 are “The best number” which is paraprhase of “the ideal figure”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can be a number.
The listener might wrongly think the answer is “100” since it’s appeared as a number form. However, if the listeners take a quick look to the after question, Q25, you can easily eliminate the answer “ 100 “ for the Q24.

Therefore, the answer for Q24 must be “a thousand/ 1000”.

25 Answer: statistically significant

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q25 are “100 people” and “won’t be” which are mentioned in the question.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can be an adjective or a noun phrase.

Therefore, the answer for Q25 must be “statistically significant”.

26 Answer: 500/five hundred

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q26 are “The number of people” and “Laura, Phil and Mel agree to survey”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can be a number.
In the conversation, we can catch the answer for the question after hear the sign of Mel and Phil’s agreement to Laura’s opinion, “ OK ”
When you hear the Mel said “Still too many “ for the Phil’s question “What about 600? “, and Laura said “ Let’s split the difference” for the Mel’s opinion “ 400”, you can assume that the answer will range from 400 to 600.

Therefore, the answer for Q26 must be “500”.

27 Answer: 5/five

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q27 are “The number of questions” and “was agreed to be”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer must be a number.
In the conversation, we can catch the answer for the question after hearing Laura question “And how many questions?”
They said that their professor suggest having no more than 10 questions. Then Phil suggested having 8 questions. This number is still not the answer, because after that, Laura said they should be 3 fewer questions, which means there would be 5 questions in total (a simple subtraction can be made here: 8 - 3 = 5). And all of them agree with that idea. Therefore, 5 or five is the correct answer.

Questions 28-30

Circle THREE letters A – G.

What are the three locations that Laura, Phil and Mel chose for their survey?

A The town square
B The train station
C The university cafeteria
D Dobbins department store
E The corner of the High Street and College Road
F The bus station
G The corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road

28-30 Answer: A,D,E

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

In these questions, you must be aware that Q28 to Q30 only concern about Three locations that Laura, Phil and Mel chose for their survey.
By hearing the line of Phil and Laura “the square is great but the people at the train station will be traveling and often in a hurry” and “ the bus station will have the same problem as the train station”, we can eliminate the option B and F and circle letter A as the first answer.
By hearing the line of Mel and Laura “The High Street corner with College Road will be good but the corner with Wilkins Road is too far out” and “We should use Dobbins department store instead.” We can select D and E for the last options.

Previous Next

Part 3

Part 4: Questions 31-40

Questions 31-34

Complete the table below by matching the individual with their role (Questions 31-34) in the lecture on the coelacanth.

Write the approprate letters (A – F) on your answer sheet.

NB There are more roles than individuals so you will not need to use them all.

INDIVIDUAL	ROLE
Dr. J.L.B. Smith	31
Marjorie Courtney-Latimer	32
Dr. Mark Erdmann	33
Captain Goosen	34

	ROLES
A	Paid fishermen for unidentified finds.
B	Caught a strange looking fish.
C	Contacted scientists in Indonesia.
D	Photographed a coelacanth seen by accident.
E	First recognised the coelacanth for what it was.
F	Bought a specimen of a coelacanth in a market.

31 Answer: E

Listen from here Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q31 is “Dr. J.L.B. Smith”.
The phrase “ “paid fishermen “ is paraphrase of “bounties to fishermen”
We also have catched the phrase “unfamiliar fish” which is mentioned in the
The fish is the generic term for the coelacanth which is introduced in the first lines.

For that reason, the roles E “First recognised the coelacanth for what it was” is the remaining answer for Q31.

32 Answer: A

Listen from here Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q32 is “Marjorie Courtney-Latimer”.
The phrase “ “initially identified “ is paraphrase of “First recognised”

For that reason, the roles A “Paid fishermen for unidentified finds.” is the remaining answer for Q32.

33 Answer: D

Listen from here Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q33 is “Dr. Mark Erdmann”.
The phrase “ “snapped a picture “ is paraphrase of “Photographed”
The listener might wrongly think option F “Bought a specimen of a coelacanth in a market” is the answer for Q33. “ spot” means to see or notice someone or something. For that reason, we can eliminate the option F.

The roles D “Photographed a coelacanth seen by accident.” is the remaining answer for Q33.

34 Answer: B
Listen from here Explain Report
The keywords concerned in Q34 is “Captain Goosen”.
For that reason, the roles B “Caught a strange looking fish.” is the remaining answer for Q34.

Questions 35-40

Choose the correct letters A – C.

The coelacanth was…

A well known to Indonesian fishermen.
B unknown to Indonesian fishermen.
C a first in the market.

Answer: A

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q35 is “Indonesian” and “market”
There are 2 clues leading to the option A. One is “an American scientist discovered a Coelacanth population in Indonesia “ and “had a name for it, raja, ‘king of the sea”.

For that reason, the option A “well known to Indonesian fishermen.” is the remaining answer for Q35.

The only difference between the Comoros coelacanth and the Sulawesi coelacanth is…

A their intercranial joint.
B their paired fins.
C their colour.

Answer: C

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q36 is “Comoros” and “Sulawesi”

The answer of Q36 is not given directly. The sentence “Both Sulawesi and Comoros coelacanths are quite different from all other living fish “can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.

The following sentences have distorted the mind of the listener by listing a list of Coelacanth’s characteristics.

For that reason, the option C “their colour.” is the remaining answer for Q36.

Coelacanths seemed to have their greatest population…

A 360 million years ago.
B 240 million years ago.
C 80 million years ago.

Answer: B

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q37 is “Coelacanths” and “greatest population”

The sentence “Coelacanths are known from the fossil record dating back over..” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
“greatest population” has paraphrased as “peaked in”

The following sentences have distorted the mind of the listener by putting on the numbers “360 million years” on the listening.

For that reason, the option B “240 million years ago.” is the remaining answer for Q37.

Modem coelacanths probably left no fossilised remains over the past 80 million years because…

A of too much clay sediment.
B conditions where they lived were not favourable for fossilisation.
C volcanoes are needed for fossilisation.

Answer: B

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q38 is “80 million years” and “fossil”

“80 million years “ can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
The speaker said that "coelacanths [...] inhabit caves and overhangs in vertical reefs, [...], environments not conducive to fossil creation".
"not conducive" means not helpful. In this context, it can be interpreted that the environment where coelatcanths live is not suitable to form fossil.

For that reason, option B is the answer for Q38.

Scientists had a better understanding of the coelacanth after 1991 because…

A the French government had previously limited study on the Comoros coelacanth.
B the Comoros were far away and difficult to reach.
C the Comoros opened an airport.

Answer: A

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q39 is “In 1991”,” scientists” and “understanding of the fish”

The year “ 1991” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
“ restriction” means an official limit on something.

For that reason, the option A “the French government had previously limited study on the Comoros coelacanth.” is the remaining answer for Q39

On the 1991 expedition, scientist studied the coelacanth…

A only from fishermen’s specimens.
B through the windows of their submarine.
C from diving down.

Answer: B

Listen from here Locate Explain Report

The keywords concerned in Q40 is “In 1991”,” scientists
The year “ 1991” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
The listener might wrongly think the option A “only from fishermen’s specimens “ as the answer of Q40. But this option has used before 1991.
The phrase “ but this time” has referred to the time of 1991. For that reason, the option B “through the windows of their submarine.” is the remaining answer for Q40

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Part 4

Change Audio Sources

Section 1

You will hear a conversation between two women as one of the women buys a bus pass.

Woman 1: Good morning. I’m here to get a student passport please.

Woman 2: Of course Madam. Do you want to buy a month passport , a six-month passport or a year pass?

Woman 1: Oh, just a month passport please.

Woman 2: Right then. I’ll just have to take a few details .

Woman 1: Yes. Of course.

Woman 2: First of all, what’s your name?

Woman 1: Nathalie Janeson .

Woman 2: And how do you spell Janeson?

Woman 1: J-A-N-E-S-O-N.

Woman 2: Thank you. And what’s your address?

Woman 1: 45 Forest Avenue, Newlands, Adelaide.

Woman 2: Is that Forest with 1 R or 2 Rs?

Woman 1: Just 1.

Woman 2: And what’s the postcode please?

Woman 1: Oh yes… It’s eight four nine oh.

Woman 2: Thanks. Now what’s your date of birth … If you don’t mind me asking?

Woman 1: Not at all. It’s the 13th of May, 1982.

Woman 2: I also need to know your telephone number here in Adelaide.

Woman 1: OK. I just need to check that as I only moved here last week. Now, where is it. Here we are. It’s six two four nine seven one five two Do you need a code or anything?

Woman 2: Oh no, that’s OK thank you. Can I see your university card please?

Woman 1: Yes, here it is.

Woman 2: Good. That’s fine. Now, for which zone do you need a pass?

Woman 1: Well, I’m not sure. I was hoping you’d be able to help me as I don’t really know my way around here yet. As you know, I live in newlands and I have to get to the university campus ir the centre of town every day.

Woman 2: Well, the university is in Zone 1 and Newlands has 2 zones. The side nearer to the town centre is owned five but the far side is owned six . What road is it you live in again?

Woman 1: Forest Avenue.

Woman 2: Let’s see on this map. There it is. The nearest bus stop is in Zone 5. That’s lucky. Zones 1 – 6 are six or fifteen dollars more expensive

Woman 1: Great! Make the pass out for Zones 1 – 5 then please.

Woman 1: I’ve got some other questions too if you don’t mind.

Woman 2: Sure. Go ahead.

Woman 1: Well, this weekend my friend and I aren’t doing anything so we thought we’d take a trip out of town and visit somewhere new. Does the bus service run any trips like that?

Woman 2: Yes, we’ve got a selection of trips. I’ll tell you about some of them.

Woman 1: Thanks.

Woman 2: Right the first one goes up to MacDonald Nature Park. The bus leaves at 8 o'clock and takes about 2 hours to get there and leaves for the return at 4.30 in the afternoon. Once there you can walk around the nature trails . It’s really nice and the Macdonald River runs through there and that’s really beautiful so take a camera with you. Then there’s the Pearl Bay trip. The bus leaves at 9:00 a.m. and goes up the coast to Pearl Bay.

Woman 1: How far is that?

Woman 2: It’s an hour away. Once there you can walk along the cliffs up to Rocky Point, which has a famous view up the coast, or you can just lie on the beach and swim. Don’t forget to take your swimming gear and a towel! The water’s pretty safe there and there are always lifeguards . The bus arrives back in Adelaide at 5:00 .

Woman 1: Mm. That sounds nice. What else?

Woman 2: Well there’s the Huron Gold Mine. It’s just a half-day trip leaving here at 9.30am and arriving back at 2.00pm. It only takes half an hour to get there which is good. It’s an old worked out mine that has been changed into a sort of museum . They have all the old equipment and a guide takes you round some of the tunnels and shows you some of the techniques they used to use. You might even find some gold they missed .

Woman 1: Yeah. I could do with that.

Woman 2: It’s pretty interesting but the mines can be quite cold so take a sweater . So, how do those three sound?

Woman 1: Quite interesting. I really like the idea of going up the coast and spending a day on the beach but my friend Karen will like the idea of the nature park. I’d better wait and check outwith her what she wants to do before booking.

Woman 2: No problem at all. You just need to pop in some time during the week and we’ll make the booking.

Woman 1: Thanks very much. You’ve been very helpful .

Woman 2: No problem. See you later.

Section 2

You will hear a radio presenter interviewing a man about the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Anne: Well, good morning again everyone and welcome to “perspective ”, the weekly New South Wales Radio programme on subjects of general interest from our local area. Today I have in the studio Mr. George Symonds. Good morning George.

George: Good morning Anne.

Anne: So, what are you going to talk to us about today George?

George: Well, for people from New South Wales and particularly Sydney, this will be of great interest – I hope. I’m going to tell you a little about Sydney Harbour bridge .

Anne: Wow. That’ll be so interesting.

George: I think so. To start with I’d like to tell you a little about the size of the bridge. The arch span is five hundred and three metres and the weight of the steel arch is thirty-nine thousand tonnes . The summit is 134m above mean sea level, though it can actually increase by as much as 18 centimeters on hot days as the result of steel expanding in heat. The two pairs of pylons at each end are about 89 meters high and are made of concrete and granite . The steel used for the bridge was largely imported. About 79percent came from the United Kingdom but the rest was Australian-made. The granite was quarried in Moruya down the coast, and the concrete is also Australian.

Anne: So, most of the steel used to make our great bridge actually came from England?

George: Yes, I’m afraid so. However the work force were all Aussie!

Anne: Thank God for that. When was the bridge actually built?

George: The bridge was opened in 1932 but work first began in 1924, with the construction of the bridge approaches and spans, with two separate teams building the arch on each side working towards each other. The arch was successfully joined on august the 19th 1930 . I’m afraid that working practices weren’t very fair in those days and the local government demolished 438 homes which were in the way of the approaches, and as many as 800 families living there were displaced without compensation. The standards of industrial safety were inadequate too. 16 workers died during its construction, mainly from falling off the bridge.

Anne: I didn’t realise that.

George: Yes. The bridge was formally opened on the 19th March 1932 by the Premier of New South Wales, Mr Jack Lang. When it was opened, it was the longest single span steel arch bridge in the world and it was one of the greatest engineering pieces of its time. Several songs were also composed in advance for the occasion but these have now been largely lost or forgotten. However, three postage stamps were issued to commemorate the opening of the bridge and these still exist. One of these stamps, with a face value of five shillings , is now worth several hundred dollars today.

Anne: So, that’s the history of the bridge. Is the bridge still the same today as when it was built?

George: No, it’s quite different. The basic structure is the same of course. Originally the bridge was constructed to carry a road, two sets of tram lines and railways . In 1957, the two tram lines were removed when Sydney abolished its trams, thus giving the bridge two more traffic lanes.

Today it carries eight traffic lanes, two railroad lanes and a footpath along its eastern side. One of the eastern traffic lanes is now a dedicated bus lane. The bridge is often crowded and in 1992 the Harbour Tunnel was opened to help carry the traffic load. More than 160,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day. Before the Harbour Tunnel was opened, this figure was as high as 182 thousand and would be much higher today if it were not for the Tunnel.Pedestrians, horses and push bikes are not allowed on the bridge anymore .

Anne: Wow. The bridge actually carries that much?

George: Oh yes. Actually, before the Harbour Bridge opened, it was completely packed with railway carriages , trams and buses to stress test its load bearing capacity. While it has had many traffic jams since and half a million people walked across it on its 50th anniversary , it has probably never been asked to carry that much of a load since.

Anne: Amazing. And I suppose the toll for crossing the bridge has changed a bit too?

George: I’m afraid so!! The initial toll charged for a car was 6 pence while a horse and rider was charged 3 pence. Today the toll costs three dollars but is only charged when travelling to the South as an efficiency measure to speed up traffic flow.

Section 3.

You will hear 3 students discussing a survey they are going to do

Phil: Hi Mel. Hi Laura. Sorry I’m a bit late. I got held up by the bus. It just didn’t come for ages.

Mel: Don’t worry. You’re only a couple of minutes behind and we’ve only just been chatting.

Laura: Right then. We’re here to organize the survey that we’re going to do. Mel, you said that you’d discuss with Professor Donald Walker what type of survey we were going to do.

Mel: Yes. I spoke to Professor Walker two days ago and I told him that the surveys that we were considering were a telephone survey, a street survey and a mail survey. He thought that the phone one would be too expensive for us and the postal one would take too long so we decided we should do the street one.

Phil: I think that’s right. If we do the street one then we can get the whole thing done in one day and we can get on with analyzing the results.

Mel: Yes, that’s right. Now, there are some other things that Professor Walker wanted to know about. How big should the survey be?

Laura: Well, the ideal figure for a survey such as this should be about a thousand people but that will take us about a month to get that many people and we just don’t have that much time. On the other hand, if we just choose 100 people, the survey won’t be statistically significant.

Phil: So, what about something in the middle. What about 600 ?

Mel: Still too many. That’ll take us ages. 400?

Laura: Let’s split the difference and say 500.

Mel/Phil: OK

Laura: And how many questions? If there are too many we’ll just have the same problem.

Mel: Professor Walker said we should have no more than 10 or people get bored ten . 10 then?

Phil: I think even fewer. 8.
Laura: I think 3 fewer again to make sure we can get the numbers done quickly okay .

Phil: OK, I agree with that.

Mel: I’m not sure but I suppose so.

Mel: Now, Professor Walker asked where we were going to do the survey.

Laura: Does he want to avoid that area then?

Mel: Probably! Now we can either all stay together or split up and do different locations .

Laura: Well, if we split up then I think we’ve got a better chance of getting more people surveyed .

Phil: Yes. I agree with Laura.

Mel: OK. Now, I made a list of the possible locations in Westley where we could station ourselves . There’s the town square, at the entrance to the train station, at the University cafeteria, outside Dobbins department store, on the corner of the High Street and College road, the bus station and the corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road. What do you think?

Phil: I think the square is great but the people at the train station will be traveling and often in a hurry.

Laura: I agree with all that and I think the bus station will have the same problem as the train station.

Mel: OK, that’s those two out then.

Laura: I think the other ones in town were good too. The cafeteria will have too many students and that will create too great a bias to our survey . We need a good cross section of the population and anywhere too close to the university won’t give us that.

Phil: Laura’s right. So, out of the other town ones, I think that the two on the High Street corners are good.

Mel: I don’t agree. The High Street corner with College Road will be good but the corner with Wilkins Road is too far out. Not enough people will come by there.

Laura: Yes, Mel’s right there. We should use Dobbins department store instead.

Phil: I can see your point. OK, that’s settled then. All three of us will be stationed in town then but not the Wilkins Road position.

Section 4.

You will hear part of a further education marine biology lecture.

Good morning everyone and welcome to this further education lecture on marine biology. Today we are going to look at the coelacanth . The discovery of the coelacanth has been compared to finding a dinosaur walking around today over 85 million years after it went extinct.

The story began a few days before Christmas in 1938 when the first living coelacanth was discovered off the east coast of South Africa, at the mouth of the Chalumna River. The fish was caught in a shark gill net by captain Goosen and his crew who, recognising the bizarrenature of their catch, alerted the local museum in the small South African town of East London.

The Director of the East London Museum at the time was Miss Marjorie Courtney-Latimer after whom the Coelacanth was eventually named. Miss Courtney-Latimer offered bounties to fishermen for unfamiliar fish. It was Miss Courtney-Latimer who alerted the prominentSouth African exci Dr J.L.B. Smith, who initially identified the fish, and subsequentlyinformed the world about this amazing discovery. This first coelacanth led to the discovery of the first documented population, off the remote Comoros Islands, between the mainland of Africa and madagascar . For 60 years this was presumed to be the only coelacanth population in existence .

Originally it was a concern that the Coelacanth might have a very limited range and that over fishing along the Comoros Islands might wipe it out. However, scientists were amazed when, on july the 30th 1998 , an American scientist discovered a Coelacanth population in Indonesia. Dr. Mark Erdmann was on a honeymoon trip to the area investigating a coral reef research site when he spotted a strange fish being wheeled into the fish market. He recognized the fish as a coelacanth and snapped a picture before it was sold.

Dr. Erdmann’s subsequent research revealed that the people from Sulawesi had a name for it, raja, ‘king of the sea’. The Sulawesi coelacanth colony is about 10,000 kilometers east of where the Coelacanths were previously known to occur in the Western Indian Ocean.

Both Sulawesi and Comoros coelacanths are quite different from all other living fish. But perhaps the most interesting feature of the Coelacanth is that it has paired, lobed fins, which move in a similar fashion to our arms and legs. Coelacanths also have an extra lobe on their tail and a vertebral column that is not fully developed. They are the only living animal to have a fully functional inter-cranial joint, a division that separates the ear and brain from the nasal organs and eye, and allows the front part of the head to be lifted when the fish is feeding. The brown Sulawesi coelacanth and the steel blue Comoros shared share these unusual characteristics.

The discovery of the Coelacanth in 1938 is still considered to be the zoological find of the century. This living fossil comes from a lineage of fish that was thought to have been extinct since the time of the dinosaurs. Coelacanths are known from the fossil record dating back over 360 million years, and peaked in abundance about 240 million years ago. Before 1938 they were believed to have become extinct approximately 80 million years ago, after mysteriously disappearing from the fossil record.

How could the Coelacanth disappear for over 80 million years and then turn up alive and well in the 20th century? The answer seems to be that fossil Coelacanths appeared to live in environments with clay sedimentation with plenty of volcanic activity. Modern coelacanths, both in the Comoros and Sulawesi inhabit caves and overhangs in vertical marine reefs, at about 200 metres , environments not conducive to fossil creation.

In 1991 scientists got a better understanding of the fish when the Comoros got their independence from France and French restrictions on research were lifted. This allowed scientists to study the fish off the Comoros Islands. As the animal hides in underwater caves some 300 to 700 feet down during the day and comes out at night to feed, diving is not an option and previously only fisherman specimens had been available for study. But this time the scientists had their own submarine so they could study the coelacanth in its natural habitat through portholes .

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