Recording script

Unit 1 I Right. So, where did you live previously?

Track 2 M I’m from New Zealand. I lived there all my life before I came to
You will hear an interviewer asking a member of the public for his Britain.
views on the city. I Oh, really? I haven’t met anybody else from your country before.
First you have some time to look at Questions 1–5. You will see that
there is an example that has been done for you. On this occasion M No? Well, there are a few of us here.
only, the conversation relating to this will be played first. I OK, perhaps I’ll meet some more while I’m doing this. Now, the
Interviewer Hello, we’re conducting a survey about what people next question is ‘occupation’ – did you say you came here for
think of this city. I wonder, would you mind answering a few work?
questions? M Yes, that’s right. I’m a lawyer. My firm has sent me here to gain
Man I’m in a bit of a hurry. some experience of practising law in an international context.
So, I’m here to learn really.
I Well, it won’t take long, just a couple of minutes of your time ...
I Sounds very interesting.
M Well, OK, but I haven’t been living here for long, so I might not
be able to answer some of your questions. M Yes, I’m already learning a lot. Things are very different here
from back at home.
I That’s not a problem, we’re looking for views from a range of
people. Could I just get a few details first? I Now, what area of the city are you living in?
M OK, I guess. M I’m in an apartment in Waterfall Road, that’s in Coundon.
I Well, first of all, which age group do you fit into? 18 to 24, 25 to I Oh, OK, let’s see, how’s that spelt, C-O-U-N-D-O-N, that’s
34, 35 to 50? right, isn’t it? It’s O-N at the end, not E-N, isn’t it?
M I’m 28, so that’s the middle one of those, what was it, 25 to 34? M Yes, that’s right.
I Yes. I And your postcode, if you can remember it. Just the first part
will do.
M OK, that’s me.
M That’s CV26.
The man is aged 28 and in the 25 to 34 age group, so 25 to 34 has
been written in the space. I OK, thanks.
Now we shall begin. You should answer the questions as you listen Pause
as you will not hear the recording a second time.
I Now I want to ask you for your views on various aspects of
I Hello, we’re conducting a survey about what people think of living here. First of all, public transport. Is the public transport
this city. I wonder, would you mind answering a few questions? system adequate for you?
M I’m in a bit of a hurry. M Mm, well, it’s hard to say. When I’ve used it, it’s been fine, but
I Well, it won’t take long, just a couple of minutes of your time ... I don’t use it all that often. I cycle to work every day and that’s
usually how I get around in my free time, too. So, I’m not sure I
M Well, OK, but I haven’t been living here for long, so I might not can comment really on that particular issue.
be able to answer some of your questions. I No improvements to suggest then?
I That’s not a problem, we’re looking for views from a range of
people. Could I just get a few details first? M No, I don’t have enough experience to do that.
M OK, I guess. I OK, now sports facilities. Do you do much sport?
I Well, first of all, which age group do you fit into? 18 to 24, 25 to M Yes, I do, it’s my main interest outside work and I’ve got no
34, 35 to 50. criticisms there. As soon as I arrived I joined a cricket club – a
friend back home who’d lived here for a while told me about it –
M I’m 28, so that’s the middle one of those, what was it, 25 to 34?
and I’ve made lots of friends there already.
I Yes. I Apart from that, do you think there are enough facilities?
M OK, that’s me. M Yes, as far as I can see. I use the public swimming pool
I And how long have you been living in this city? regularly, I’ve found some very good tennis courts and the
fitness centre is fine, too. I’ve been able to carry on doing all the
M I’ve only been here for three weeks and it’s my first experience sports I’m used to doing at home.
of this country at all. I’ve come here to work on a six-month I What about entertainment? Is this adequately provided or is the
contract. city lacking in something?
I Right, so it’s all pretty new for you?
M Yes, I’m still getting used to it.

54 Complete IELTS Bands 5–6.5

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M Well, coming from a pretty small town, I’ve been amazed at psychological factors, and there is considerable evidence that
what’s on offer here. There are so many things to choose from a fit and healthy person does their job better than someone
in the evenings and at weekends. I don’t think I’ll have time to who doesn’t maintain a good level of health and fitness. If you’re
go everywhere I’d like to while I’m here. I’ve already been to emphasising these things at your workplace, you’re creating an
some excellent restaurants, I’ve been to the cinema a few times, atmosphere that enables you to get the very best out of your
I’ve been to all sorts of places. There seem to be loads of things people.
to do. We’re very much hoping that our programme here at the
I What about cleanliness and litter? Do you have any views on conference will be both informative and entertaining. The emphasis
that? here is going to be not so much on the theory but on the practical
M Well, to be honest, I’ve been pretty surprised about that. Before side. What can you do in your roles to promote health and fitness in
I came, for some reason I’d had the impression that it would your workplace? Now, some of you may think you’re already doing
be a pretty dirty place, certainly compared with where I’m as much as you can, but I promise you that you’re all going to learn
from. You know, I was expecting a crowded city with litter and something new. We’ve got speakers here who are going to tell you
rubbish all over the place, and sure there is some litter and it things you’ve never heard before and you should leave here at the
could all be a bit cleaner, but actually it’s not at all bad in that end of the conference with all kinds of ideas for things you can
respect. introduce at your workplace.
But we’re not going to be just talking to you and telling you things.
I OK, now, what about crime and the police force? What are your
One of the great things about an event like this is that it’s a great
views on that aspect of life in this city?
opportunity to share information, so in every session there will be
M Well, I haven’t been here long enough to form much of a view. a slot for people to talk about their own practices and experiences.
A colleague at work had her car broken into and some things What initiatives have worked for you and which ones haven’t been
stolen, and she reported it to the police but there wasn’t much so successful? We can all learn from each other, and that’s one of
they could do about it, apart from give her a crime number the aims of this conference.
so that she could claim on her insurance. I don’t know how
common that sort of thing is here. Nothing’s happened to Pause
me so far, that’s all I can say. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky or OK, now let’s move on to some details about the conference and
perhaps crime isn’t a major problem, I don’t know. But there’s what will be happening where. Let me just briefly take you through
crime everywhere, isn’t there, all over the world and in the the map that you’ve all got in your welcome pack. Right, here on
countryside as well as cities. the map, we’ve marked all the sessions that are taking place this
I OK, well I’ve got all the information I need for the survey and morning, and you’ve already indicated which ones you’ll each be
I’ve ticked the right boxes. Thanks for taking the time to answer attending. For those of you going to the session on Setting Up a
the questions. Fitness Centre at work, you go out of the Main Hall here through
those doors, turn right at reception and go along the corridor to
M No problem. the Taylor Room, which is on your left. You’ll get lots of good advice
there on the possibilities and costs of a workplace fitness centre.
Unit 2 The talk on Healthy Eating Schemes is in the Martin Suite. For that,
Track 3 you need to go out of this hall the other way, through the doors at
You will hear a speaker introducing a conference. First, you have that end, and that takes you straight through to the Martin Suite. If
some time to look at Questions 1–10. you’re keen to introduce healthy eating schemes in your canteens
and restaurants, or to improve ones you’ve already got, you’ll get
Pause lots of really good ideas from that session.
Now listen and answer Questions 1–10. Now, those of you attending the session on Transport Initiatives,
Hello, and welcome to the conference. As you know, it’s called you’re in the Fender Room. To get there, you need to go out of
Health & Fitness in the Workplace, and the name speaks for itself. those doors that bring you out opposite reception, turn left and left
We’re here to discuss issues that can affect employees and of again into a corridor. The Fender Room is the third door on your
course therefore, the companies and organisations they work for. right. The session will cover everything from how to encourage
In planning the programme for this conference, we’ve taken into people to walk or cycle to work to car-sharing schemes.
account the answers that you gave us in our questionnaires. Of For those of you who have signed up for the workshop on Running
course, some of the issues we cover will be more relevant to some Sports Teams, that will take place in the Gibson Suite. The whole
of you than to others, but we think we’ve included all the main ones issue of organising company teams, recruiting people for them,
that you indicated are important to you. encouraging people to take part in them whatever their sporting
Now, the whole subject of health and fitness in the workplace ability, taking part in competitions – all that will get covered in
is something that didn’t get much attention not that many years the workshop. You’ll find that if you go out of here, turn right at
ago. Companies and organisations focused purely on the jobs reception and then right again. The first door you come to on the
that people were doing, and any assessment of them concerned left is the Gibson Suite.
how well they were doing their jobs, and how their work fitted into Finally, if you need any more information or have any queries while
the overall operations of the organisation. Anything that might the conference is going on, you’ll find me in the Conference
be regarded as a personal issue wasn’t part of the company’s Coordinator’s Office. From here, that’s to the left of Reception and
relationship with its people – it was ‘none of their business’. Well, of along the corridor past the Entrance Hall. If you keep going along
course, that’s all changed and companies and organisations have the corridor, you’ll find my door at the end on your right. Please
come to realise that its people’s health and fitness are very much come and see me if there’s anything you want to ask or find out.
their business. And that’s not just in the obvious ways, such as the
number of days off sick that employees have. There are also OK, let’s get started. I hope that you all enjoy ...

Recording script 55

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Unit 3 T Yes, that comes across. It would be fascinating to get data on
Track 4
the outcomes of these interactions too, whether the desired
outcomes were achieved.
You will hear a student talking to her tutor about a piece of work she
has done. First, you have some time to look at Questions 1–10. B I know and that would be something I’d love to look at if I knew
how to go about it.
Pause
Pause
Now listen and answer Questions 1–10.
Tutor Right, Beth, let’s have a look at your dissertation. Well, I T Now, looking at the content of your dissertation, I felt your
think it’s a pretty good piece of work. division into sections was the right one, focusing on specific
types of interaction in these contexts.
Beth Thanks.
B Thanks.
T Communication Skills in the Workplace. Good choice of topic.
T Now, your first section is on Dealing with Complaints. This is an
B Thanks. obvious area for something on this subject, but I felt that this
section had some really original thinking on your part.
T Now, I see that you decided to focus on certain sectors ...
B Yes, I tried to ignore the standard points that are usually made
B Yes, I felt that jobs involving interaction with the public would and come up with something fresh, and my research led me in
be my main area. So obviously, the retail sector had to be in those directions.
there ...
T The Collaborating with Colleagues section made for interesting
T Sure. But you didn’t just focus on the obvious ones like that, did reading too, but I didn’t feel that your conclusions there were
you? really backed up by the research you did.
B No, I wanted to look at a variety of sectors. I felt, for example, B Oh? I felt that they were. I tried to illustrate everything with
that banking would probably lead to the same sort of results as examples. Perhaps some weren’t as relevant as others ...
retail.
T Yes, I think that’s right. You made some pretty strong assertions
T And what about call centres? but I wasn’t sure they could be justified by the examples.
B Yes, of course that seemed like an obvious place to go initially. B Oh, OK. But the evidence for my conclusions in the Interacting
But I decided to spread the focus away from interactions with Managers section was pretty powerful, wasn’t it?
involving customers and the goods and services they buy. T Yes, and most of the research in this general area doesn’t focus
T Seems sensible. So, that led you to the idea of tourist guides ... on this particular issue. I think your conclusions there point to
something that causes all sorts of trouble in organisations and
B Yes, that’s a very specific area of communication, dealing with companies but that isn’t given enough attention.
different nationalities ...
B I agree. It’s something that training programmes should be
T The skills involved in that are very interesting, as you describe covering, but they don’t.
them ...
T Now the Giving Instructions section was very well put together,
B Yes, and that led me to think about the work of translators and I thought ...
interpreters ...
B Yes, this is one where language accuracy and coherence are
T Well, that might be the starting point for a whole other piece of the main issues ...
work.
T ... and you came to very clear conclusions on that. This is a
B Yes. really effective section, with general points illustrated by lots of
T Now, the research you did for this was generally very examples and a conclusion that made logical sense.
impressive ... Pause
B Thanks. T Now, finally, let’s have a quick look at your overall conclusions.
T ... though a bit more on the academic research that’s been done B OK.
into this area would have been good.
B Well, I went more for a ‘personal’ approach here, rather than T Now, you’ve included quite a bit in the main body about Writing
rehashing other people’s work or focusing mainly on the Skills but in fact you see Listening Skills as being a much bigger
theories about how people communicate. issue.

T Yes, and it worked well. It would have been good if you could B Yes, as I say there, people don’t pay enough attention to
have filmed people in action and then analysed the videos. what other people say to them and this leads to all kinds of
communication problems.
B I know, but there were practical issues there. So I settled for
watching people in action and making notes on what they were T And the other big issue is Grammatical Accuracy, isn’t it?
doing, and of course there were the interviews too. B Well, up to a point, but as I say, there are lots of instances
T Yes, it’s very interesting to compare what people think they’re where this is less of an issue than Formal Language. When
doing with the way they’re actually communicating. I was very people are in situations where this is required, they’re often at a
struck by that aspect. And your analysis from watching people loss and end up not making much sense.
in action was very effective, too. T Yes, as you make clear. Well, Beth, this is a good piece of work.
B I found it fascinating to do that. Well done.
B Thanks.

56 Complete IELTS Bands 5–6.5

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Unit 4 When you’ve completed the post, add some tags. If you don’t have
the kind of software that enables you to build them into the post,
Track 5
add them at the bottom. Tags are really important for searchability
You will hear an expert giving a talk about blogs and blogging. First, – they can get you new readers who find your blog via the tags.
you have some time to look at Questions 1–10.
If you think this is a particularly good post and you’re really proud
Pause of it, announce it by sending links to it on social networking sites,
Now listen and answer Questions 1–10. together with a very brief summary of what it’s about.
OK, I’m going to talk today about blogs and blogging. Though Then check your blog statistics to see how many people are
I’m assuming you’re all familiar with what a blog is, let’s just start reading and responding to your blog. Find out who’s blogged about
with a definition. Perhaps the simplest definition is that a blog is your post and reply to them, and give them a proper reply rather
a type of website in the form of a journal of one sort or another. than just saying thanks.
It consists of posts – new material, or entries – that are arranged After you’ve done all that, get off your own blog and comment
in chronological order, with the most recent post at the top of the elsewhere. Remember that you’re not the only person blogging and
page. putting out new material – there are lots of others doing the same
Now, what are the typical characteristics of a blog? Well, blogs and you should show them some respect by giving them comments
are usually written by one person, they are usually updated and feedback on their posts where you feel it’s appropriate.
regularly and they are often, though by no means always, about Well, that’s just some advice on being a good blogger. Blogging’s
one particular topic. That topic might be the blogger’s own life, as obviously a major thing now in the world of electronic media and
many blogs are personal diaries. But there are blogs on just about it’s anybody’s guess how it will develop in the future.
any topic you could think of – there are political blogs, news blogs,
blogs about a particular hobby, etc., etc.
Unit 5
Now, most blogs are not monologues, because they allow readers
to make their own comments on what appears in the blog, or to Track 6
add their own information to it. In this way, people get into contact You will hear a man who is interested in doing voluntary work
with each other, learning from each other, sharing ideas, perhaps connected with the environment talking to a woman who works for
making friends or even doing business with each other, wherever an organisation that runs environmental projects. First, you have
they are in the world. some time to look at Questions 1–10.
Although blogs are very much part of modern life and there are Pause
literally millions of blogs on the web, the history of blogging is a Now listen and answer Questions 1–10.
pretty short one. There is some disagreement over what the first
Hannah Hello, how can I help you?
blog was, but many people reckon it was an online diary started
by a student called Justin Hall in 1994. His site was called Justin’s Ryan Well, I’ve come in because I want to volunteer for one
Home Page, and he later called it Links From The Underground. of your environmental projects. I read something about
At that point, the word ‘blog’ didn’t exist. More websites like your organisation in the paper a few days ago and I
his started to spring up, in the form of regularly updated online thought I’d like to get involved.
journals on various subjects, with links to other websites and H OK, that sounds good. What’s your name?
forums for people to contribute their personal opinions.
R Ryan.
In 1997, someone called Jorn Barger first used the term ‘web log’ to
categorise this kind of website, when he launched his own website, H OK, Ryan, thanks for coming in. I’m Hannah. Now, let me start
Robot Wisdom. In 1999, a blogger called Peter Merholz jokingly by telling you something about our organisation and then we
broke this word up into ‘we blog’ and therefore invented the term can have a look at a few projects that might interest you, after
‘blog’. Pretty soon, everyone called the sites ‘blogs’ and the people I’ve found out a bit about you.
writing them ‘bloggers’. R Fine.
Pause
H Right, well as you know, we’re called The Volunteer Agency
OK, now let’s move on to how to run a blog, and what I’m going to and that pretty well explains what we do. We recruit people
do now is to tell you what I think is the best approach to workflow for a wide range of projects. A lot of our work concerns
with a blog. First of all, you need to decide on the frequency of your environmental projects and at the moment we’ve got 130,000
blog posts. Some people do several a day, which is great if you volunteers working on these projects.
can keep it up, others one a day. Once a week might be enough,
R What sort of environmental projects are they?
but the key question is what the readers of your blog expect. They
need to know when they can expect to see a new post on the blog, H Well, for example, if you wanted to go abroad, one of our big
so whatever schedule you decide on, it’s important to stick to it. projects involves gathering information that is used for the
When you’re going to do a post, start by reading material to find protection of marine and forest environments. Volunteers on
out what’s being discussed in friends’ blogs, or in other blogs that do diving or collect biodiversity data on tropical rainforest
related to the topic of yours. That way you can take these things species.
into account to ensure that your blog is bang up to date. R Sounds exciting. But I think I’d rather stay here, at least to start
Then start composing your blog post. If you’re doing one that off with.
involves research and links, open a file for storing the sources of H OK. Well, here in our own country we’ve got a big project
your information and the links you’re going to put in the post. Also aimed at clearing up litter in rural areas. The aim of this is to
consider using pictures. These can make your blog much more get everyone involved in making sure their local environment is
attractive than one that’s just text. If you use photos from the web, clean and tidy.
make sure you cite the source in your blog.
Recording script 57

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 R Yes, I’ve seen adverts for that. H OK, look, I’ll give you some leaflets and contact information, and
you can have a think about it all.
H Another project involves looking after the National Cycle
network, keeping the routes safe and attractive for cyclists. R That sounds like a good idea. Thanks.
This is part of a bigger scheme concerned with developing
sustainable transport systems all across the country. Unit 6
R Interesting ... Track 7
H Now, if you want to do something in the city, rather than the You will hear a manager in a museum talking to the staff about
countryside, within cities we also have the City Farms projects, machines that are going to be put into the building. First, you have
which involve working with people, plants and animals. some time to look at Questions 1–10.
R Oh, what are those? Are they real farms? How do they work? Pause
Now listen and answer Questions 1–10.
H Well, yes, they’re real farms and they’re an example of a project
that relies almost entirely on volunteers. On other projects, you OK, now what we need to discuss next is vending machines. Now
might be working alongside salaried people, but with these, that the building has been completely refurbished, and we’re going
almost everyone is unpaid. In fact, many of our projects have to be reopening, we should think of what kind of machines we
very few, if any, paid staff. need. These have two functions, of course – they provide services
for visitors and they raise money. Every time someone buys
R Yes, that’s what I thought. something from the machine, we raise a little more money.
H Well, do any of these things sound particularly appealing to Well, first of all a cash machine seems like a good idea, so that
you? people can get some money to spend while they’re in the building,
R Well, as I say, I wasn’t thinking of going abroad, and I’m not sure and this will help to keep down queues in the gift shop if everyone
that any of those is exactly the sort of thing I’m really looking is paying with cards. That can go in the entrance hall – we thought
for. Sorry! about putting it in on the front wall outside the building but
decided against that.
H That’s OK, there are lots more things I can tell you about. I’m
sure we’ll find a project that’s right up your street. Now, we’ve also decided to install a ticket machine for the
individual exhibitions in the various parts of the building. This will
R Yes, I hope so. take some pressure off the ticket office and reduce the number of
H OK, well, let’s have a look at a few other possibilities. people hanging about in the entrance hall. It’ll be a simple device –
you select the exhibition and then pay for it in cash or by card and
Pause it’ll be right next to the reception desk, with a sign above it so that
people can clearly see it when they arrive.
H Right, well one thing that might suit you is a scheme called
Wildlife Link. There are 47 branches of this around the country, Now the next machine lots of people might not approve of – a
with over 24,000 active volunteers, and it’s involved in all games machine for children to use. I know that this might not seem
aspects of nature conservation. Its aim is to protect wildlife like the right sort of thing to have in a museum, but a constant
in all habitats across the country. Things you can do there complaint we get from visitors is that their visit is spoiled by the
include looking after nature reserves, taking part in community sound of bored children running around the corridors and shouting
gardening and carrying out surveys of wildlife species. Tell me, and generally disturbing the atmosphere. If we put a couple of
are you keen to be outdoors? these in the Visitor Centre, well away from the Exhibition Halls, it’ll
keep some of them occupied.
R Yes, I am, and that does sound like the sort of thing I might be
really interested in. Then there’s the question of a drinks machine. Well, we want as
many people as possible to buy our own food and drink in the
H OK. Well, here’s another project that you might like the sound cafeteria and restaurant, but at the same time visitors will want
of. This one’s aimed at young people. something to drink when they’re going round the museum and are
R Right, tell me about that one. not near to either of those places. We thought a good place for this
would be by the lifts on the first floor as people go up and down
H It’s called Wildlife Watch, and involves organising groups for
from one exhibition to another and, of course, that’s also right at
young people, getting them to explore and learn about their
the top of the stairs.
local environment. There are over 300 groups and around
150,000 members of those groups. As well as running those Pause
groups and going out with them, there is a need for volunteers Now, the last thing is the drinks machine that we’re putting in
with administrative skills. Is that the sort of thing you might the staff room. As you’ll be using this brand new state-of-the-art
fancy? machine pretty frequently, I thought I’d just run through with you
R Maybe, but I think I’d probably prefer to be more hands-on, how it works. So, here on the screen I’ve put up a picture of it and
doing physical work. I’ll just tell you all how it works. Well, it’s pretty big and you may be
H OK. Well, then the organisation called Action Earth might be the surprised to hear that it can store as many as 495 drinks products,
one for you. They’ve got a total of 908 projects, involving over so there’ll be plenty to choose from and it won’t need refilling too
18,000 volunteers. They do all sorts of things, from planting regularly.
trees to constructing fences and walls and collecting litter, their Right, well, it’s got a glass front here and behind it all the drinks, of
aim being to improve the local environment in all sorts of ways. course. The drinks come in bottles and cans and they’re, of course,
How does that sound? refrigerated. Now this machine has an interesting feature that I’m
R I might well be interested in that. sure will entertain you all. When you’ve chosen and paid for your
drink, there’s a special rapid pick-up mechanism that grabs your
drink and places it into the receiver, here, which is illuminated. So
58 Complete IELTS Bands 5–6.5 you can see your drink even if it’s dark in here. And that’s not all.

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 Through the glass front you can actually see the mechanism M Well, it didn’t work out too well. I kept asking for them back and
working – there’s a visible moving arm that gets and delivers the they kept saying they hadn’t had time to do them or hadn’t quite
drink and you can see that happening. Now, that’s not just to make finished them, and eventually one or two of them admitted that
the machine interesting to look at while you’re buying a drink, it’s they were having trouble knowing what to put.
got a serious advantage too. What it does is to quickly and safely J Oh, why’s that?
move the drink without it being shaken at all. So it won’t bubble up
or spill when you open it. M They just couldn’t analyse their friendships in that ‘cold’ way,
Now to the business of how you buy a drink. How it works is that on paper, in nice, neat little paragraphs or by ticking boxes. I
you choose the drink you want from the menu here and then type realised then that they all felt that way, so I had to abandon that
in the code for that drink – you’ll see the code in front of each approach.
drink. Then the price of the drink will be displayed here and you J What did you do instead?
pay for it. You can do that with coins or by card. And you can order
up to ten products at a time, for example, if you’re getting drinks for M Personal interviews. I adapted my questionnaire and sat down
a group of visitors or colleagues. with each person and talked to them. I got them to agree to my
recording these interviews – that way I could focus on the way
So, as I say, it’s the very latest in drinks machine technology and I the interview went rather than having to write notes all the time
hope you’ll all be pleased to have it. – and then I went through the recordings.
Right, next I’m going to move on to talk about ... J And that worked out well?

Unit 7 M Yes, I got all the information I needed. It was a small sample, as
I say, but it was possible to get some general conclusions from
Track 8 them about their lifelong friendships.
You will hear two students talking about a presentation that one of J And then you compared this with research data?
them is going to give. First, you have some time to look at Questions
1–10. M Yes, there’s not a lot of that, but I managed to locate some
Pause academic research in the area.
Now listen and answer Questions 1–10. J And how did that compare with your findings?
Jack Hi Maya, how are you getting on with your presentation? M Remarkably similar actually, so my sample proved to be pretty
representative. There were one or two disparities here and
Maya Oh, hi Jack. It’s going really well after a slow start. there, but in general the research I was able to locate pretty
J What’s it about again? much confirmed what I found myself.
Pause
M Well, the general topic area is Human Relationships and we had
to choose a specific area within that. J Now, when you do your presentation, how have you organised
J So, what have you chosen? it?
M Well, obviously I’ve given that a lot of thought, and the various
M Lifelong Friendships. stages of the presentation are linked to the aspects I focused
J Interesting. What led you to choose that? on when I was talking to my subjects. So, obviously, I start with
how the friendship was first formed, for example, how old the
M Well, it occurred to me that there’s been a lot of research on people were, where they met, how they met, that kind of thing.
how people form friendships, and even more on marriage and
J How will you present that?
partnerships, but there’s not much on this particular topic. So, I
thought I could do something a bit different by focusing on this M I’ve created a table, with the various headings and the
particular aspect. percentages of my subjects whose friendships started in the
J Sounds like a good idea. How have you been doing your various ways.
research? J OK, what comes next?
M Well, mainly by personal contact. I realised that my parents have M Well, I’ve looked at the effects on the friendship of various
a number of lifelong friends, and of course, I’ve known them for developments in the friends’ lives. The first category I’ve called
years, so I thought I’d start off by seeing what they had to say. ‘Change of Location’, and that deals with what happens in the
J Sounds reasonable, but that’s only a very small sample, isn’t it? friendship if one or other of the friends goes to live somewhere
else.
M Yes, but I thought I’d collate the results from that small sample
so that I could compare them with more general conclusions J What about if they don’t change the place where they live but
from research in the area. go to work or study somewhere else?
J Good idea. How did you get on when you tried to get M Well, that’s included in my data in that category, in a couple of
information from your subjects? separate tables.
M Well, I started off by giving them a questionnaire. I spent quite J What then?
some time working that out, deciding what aspects of their M OK, well then, I’ve looked at what happens to the friendship
friendships I wanted them to focus on and then I handed it out when one or both of the friends get married. I got the subjects
to them. to say simply whether marriage meant that friendships got less
J And? close, closer or stayed much the same.

Recording script 59

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 J How have you presented that data? To start with, the cloth for both of them was a mixture of things. By
the 18th century, however, it was made completely from cotton.
M That’s a pie chart. And it was dark blue because it was dyed with indigo, which
J OK. What other aspects of the friendship have you focused on? was taken from plants in the Americas and India. Denim and jean
remained two very different fabrics and by the late 19th century it
M Well, the next one concerns ‘Personality’. I asked people to tick was denim that had emerged as the most popular and widely worn.
boxes for their friend’s personality when they first met, and then Denim was used for workers’ clothes, for example, those worn by
how they would describe the same person now. workers on plantations, because it was very strong and it lasted for
J How did you compare the answers there? a long time. Jean was used for lighter clothes. Eventually of course,
the word ‘jeans’ would come to be used for clothes made from
M Yea, that was tricky to work out. I looked for patterns of denim, but that’s much later.
change. One finding from that was that many people who were
A key event in the history of jeans was the 1848 Gold Rush, when
described as ‘relaxed’ at the beginning of the friendship got
gold was found in California and thousands of gold miners rushed
categorised as ‘stressed’ right now. So, for the presentation, I
there to find it and make their fortunes. They wanted clothes that
picked out the most extreme changes that I found, not every
were strong and didn’t tear easily. Enter a man called Strauss.
single change.
He moved to California from New York and started a business
J Sounds interesting. Any other categories? supplying work clothes. His first name was Leob, that’s L-E-O-B.
Later, he changed it to Levi.
M Yes, two more. I thought it would be interesting to compare
how much people had in common in terms of political opinions Now, the miners in California were experiencing a problem with
as their friendship progressed over the years. Did they both their work clothes. The pockets tore away from them very easily;
change them, or did one person change and if so, did this they just weren’t strong enough or well enough attached. In 1872,
cause tension or disagreement between them? I’ve constructed a man called Jacob Davis wrote to Strauss about an idea he’d had.
another pie chart for that.
This was for metal rivets to hold the pockets and the rest of the
J And the other category? garment together, and he offered Strauss a deal to use this idea
M Yes, I thought another key area concerned what the people in the clothes he was supplying. Strauss accepted the offer and
have in common and whether they continue to have those started to make work clothes with these metal fasteners, made of
things in common. I’ve categorised this as ‘Shared Interests’, copper. They weren’t called jeans at this time, that term didn’t come
and I’ve looked at any changes that tend to happen over the into being until the 1960s – they were sold as ‘waist overalls’ and
years. One thing I found, for example, was that men’s shared made with denim.
passion for certain sports doesn’t change at all over the years, In 1886, Strauss added another feature to these clothes, a leather
whereas their musical tastes do. label. To emphasize how strong the garments were, this showed
J All sounds great. I’m sure it’ll go well when you do the a pair of these trousers being pulled between two horses. The
presentation. message was that they were so strong that even this could not
cause them to tear. By the 1920s, because of their reputation for
M Thanks. I hope so. toughness, Strauss’s waist overalls were the most widely used
workers’ trousers in the U.S.
Unit 8 Now, up until the 1930s, jeans were purely and simply work
Track 9 clothes. But Hollywood changed all that and they made the journey
to being fashion items. The roots of this lie in the cowboy movies
You will hear part of a lecture about the history of jeans. First, you
of the 1930s. Cowboys often wore jeans in these movies, and
have some time to look at Questions 1–10.
American men wanted to dress like them in their free time. At this
Pause point, jeans are a wholly American thing.
Now listen and answer Questions 1–10. The Second World War in the 1940s took them abroad, as
OK, today we’re looking at contemporary fashion ‘icons’ as part American soldiers wore them when they were off duty. This
of the module on the history and development of fashion. And introduced them to the wider world. But their real popularity as a
perhaps the best place to start with this is with a garment that fashion item really starts in the 1950s, when they caught on with
everybody in the world knows about and either wears or has worn young people. This was because they became the symbol of the
– jeans. teenage rebel. This completely new type of young person emerged
Now, of course, jeans are often synonymous with the word ‘denim’, in American films and TV programmes that were enormously
for the material they’re made from. Where do both these terms popular with teenagers. Teenagers didn’t call the clothes ‘waist
come from? Well, there isn’t universal agreement on either of these overalls’, they gave them a new name – ‘jean pants’. And pretty
things, but the story begins in Europe in the 1500s. The general soon, this got abbreviated to jeans.
belief is that the word ‘jeans’ comes from Genoa in Italy, where In the 1960s, jeans were the standard kind of trousers worn by
sailors wore clothes made from a material called jean. students in Western countries and they were the top fashion item.
The word ‘denim’ is generally considered to come from France at Young people adapted them in all sorts of ways, turning them into
roughly the same time. It is thought to have evolved from ‘serge de embroidered jeans by sewing brightly coloured designs on to them,
NÎmes’, a kind of material produced in the French town of NÎmes. and all sorts of styles emerged, one of the main ones being flared
These two fabrics were different in important ways. Denim was jeans, with bottoms that got wider and wider as they went down.
stronger and more expensive than jean. And denim was woven Right, now I’m going to move on to look at what jeans symbolised
with one coloured thread and one white thread, while jean was both in Western countries and in non-Western countries at that
woven with two coloured threads. time. But first of all, does anyone have any questions?

60 Complete IELTS Bands 5–6.5

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