PART 1
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06:32
MAN Good morning
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WOMAN Hi, this is Michelin Meyer. I’m renting your house on
Archwood Avenue. I’m due to move in next week.
MAN Oh, yes. Hello, Ms. Meyer. What can I do for you?
WOMAN When I viewed the house, I told you I’ll most probably need to
rent some furniture, at least until I know whether my temporary work
contract is going to be made permanent.
MAN Yes, of course. I remember. And I said I could give you some
information about furniture rental companies in the city.
WOMAN That’s right.
MAN Well, the biggest company is called Peak Rentals. I’ve
recommended them to other people and have always heard positive
reports about them.
WOMAN Could you give me an idea of their costs?
MAN Sure. I actually have one of their brochures here. It says the
monthly price per room starts at $105 and goes up to $239. That
depends on which rooms you need furniture for, of course.
WOMAN Sure. It’s just to get a general idea of how much it’s going to
cost. And you said you had some positive feedback about this company?
MAN Yes. People have mentioned that the furniture from Peak Rentals
is more modern than any of the other companies. And also, once you
place an order, the furniture will be delivered to you in just one or two
days.
WOMAN That would be really helpful.
MAN Oh, and the brochure says that there’s a special offer at the
moment. If you rent living room furniture, I believe that’s a set of chairs
and a TV table, you’ll also get a lamp at no extra cost.
WOMAN Okay, but you know, that price range you gave is more than I
was hoping to pay.
MAN Then you could try Aaron and Oliver.
WOMAN Sorry, what and Oliver?
MAN Aaron, double A-R-O-N
WOMAN OK, are they cheaper
MAN I say they are a mid company But if you chose them you need to
be aware that they charge an extra 12 every month in case of damage
WOMAN Oh, I see. I’d have to do the math carefully then.
MAN Right. But one helpful thing is that they also do cleaning for
customers.
WOMAN For the furniture?
MAN For the house.
WOMAN Oh, I see. I probably won’t need that.
Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.
MAN There’s another company called Larch Furniture. It’s quite new,
and it has the lowest prices in town. That’s for both furniture and also
electronic equipment.
WOMAN Well, that would be good. I’m not bringing much with me, and I
won’t have much time to go shopping after I start my job.
MAN There are two things you need to know about large furniture. First
of all you have to take out insurance on the furniture and you need to
organize that yourself
WOMAN That wouldn’t be too hard.
MAN Also you can take out a contract for less than six months but I
figure that might not be a problem for you. You’re renting the house for
12 months after all, aren’t you?
WOMAN Yes, okay. Well, I…
MAN Sorry to interrupt. I just thought of another furniture rental
company. It’s called Space Rentals, and it’s located very near to the
house.
WOMAN Okay.
MAN I don’t have any information about their charges, so it’s best to
use their app to find out what it would cost you to use them.
WOMAN Okay, thanks. I’ll do that.
MAN One good thing about that company is that if you don’t like the
furniture once it’s delivered, you can request exchanges, as long as you
do that within a week of receiving it.
WOMAN That sounds really great. Okay, well, thanks very much. That’s
so helpful
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PART 2
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00:00
Hello, I’m Hayden. I’m one of the archaeologists investigating the site
here at Bidcuster. This is the third summer for this community project,
and most of the people digging here are volunteers. I’m a full-time
archaeologist for the town council, but I was asked to join the project by
NHA, a charity which sets up projects like this up and down the country.
As you can see, we’re next to Bidcaster Castle, which is great because
the owners let us use their facilities. So, how did we get to where we are
today?
Many archaeology projects happen when an ancient object is found, and
in our case that object was a gold coin. Coins are often found by people
using metal detectors to look for things buried in the ground or coins are
uncovered when wild animals like rabbits have been digging tunnels.
Here, a walker found it on the ground after a rainstorm washed away
some of the earth and sand. When the story of the gold coin hit the
news, Peter Swift, an amateur historian, contacted me to say he
believed there had been a village on this site, centuries before the castle
was built. Just by chance, the team found some old maps and
documents in our library, which showed 500-year-old drawings of ruined
buildings on the grassy area between the outer stone walls of the castle
and the river. We knew then we were onto something. Over the three
summers the team has been here, we’ve found the remains of several
buildings, and more broken pots than you can count. Normally you’d
expect to find brooches and other jewellery, but we’re still waiting to
uncover any such items. The people who once lived here were skilled at
making tools from animal bones, as you’ll see when you visit the
exhibition. Besides the discovery of the village, we’ve also found
evidence of human activity on the other side of the river. No other
houses or huts so far, but we can see the borders of an ancient field
system. At one point we found a long wall and thought it was an ancient
palace, but it turned out to be a modern wall. This summer’s work will
end soon, but we’ll be back next summer. In the meantime, we’re putting
on a series of guided tours for school groups this autumn. Oh, and
maybe you saw the TV documentary about our project. That suggests
the objects we’ve found are going to the town’s museum, but we don’t
know that for sure yet.
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.
When you enter the site, please make sure you keep to the paths at all
times. There are a few other things, the highlights of the site if you like,
that I want to mention. Take a look at the map. Our present location is
marked at the bottom. This year, we’ve identified the foundations of an
ancient bridge, and it’s really exciting today because a team of divers are
in the river searching for lost objects. To reach the bridge, take the main
path ahead of you, go straight on, and keep going till the path bends to
the left. You’ll see a smaller track leading off to the right. Follow that to
take you to the river, where the divers are. You might be interested to
see the rubbish pit. This is very near the castle walls in the north-west
corner of the site. It actually dates to the time of the castle and not the
ancient village. We found oyster shells and fish bones, and we assumed
they were thrown from the castle kitchen above. One area we excavated
in the first summer uncovered the site of a meeting hall. We knew it was
an important building because it had two rows of post holes, deep
enough to support a large roof. It is the largest structure in the central
area of the site next to the current excavation area. Last year we
discovered a fish pond in the ancient village. Normally these were beside
a river. The pond here is further away, but it’s possible the river has
moved slightly. Anyway, to get there from here, you turn right at the first
information board you come to and follow the path into the trees. Before
you come out of the trees, you’ll see it on your right. If you reach the
river, you’ve gone too far. So, does anyone have…