Transcript for test 18

Section 1

You are about to hear a conversation between a man and a woman who are having a
discussion about enrolling in a university course. First, you have some time to look at questions
1 to 7.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 7.

Woman: Registrar’s office. This is Pam.

Man: Yes. Hello, I’m calling about enrolling to study at the university. This is the right number?

Woman: Yes. This is Michford University admissions, what would you like to know?

Man: Well, basically I need to know what I have to do to be enrolled as a student. You see I'm
currently studying education at another school. I've just finished my first year, but I'm not really
enjoying it. I think I'm more interested in accounting. My dad teaches maths, so I thought it
might be a good choice. Well, better than business anyway.

Woman: Okay. Okay. Have you received a registration pack?

Man: No. How can I get one of those?

Woman: Well, you've got to have one to register. You can enroll at the university at any time
after you receive a registration pack. These are usually available from September for first-year
and transferring students and from November for returning students. On the basis of the
information contained in the registration pack, you should attempt to make a firm choice about
which courses to study, before completing your form.

Man: I see. So, I’ve only got a month to get my registration packing. Can you send me one?

Woman: Sure. If you’re close to a high school, the registration pack and university prospectus
are available from the careers adviser. Would that be helpful?

Man: Well the closest school is too far away and I haven't got a car. Are there any other ways
you can send it to me?

Woman: Well, for prospective students who have already left school, the registration pack and
prospectus are available from the university information line, but that might not be of help for
you?

Man: No, not really.

Man: Okay, sounds good.

Woman: Right. Firstly, what's your name?

Man: Richard Dreyfus. That’s D-R-E-Y-F-U-S.

Woman: Your address there, Richard ?

Man: Unit 12, 15 Sportsman Avenue. That’s S-P-O-R-T-S-M-A-N, Ave Mermaid Beach, 4554

Woman: And your telephone?

Man: Yes, I won’t give you my home. Mobile’s best. 0414. Hang on a minute. I don't call myself,
usually. I think it's O four one four, six five eight, three three nine. Yes, that's it.

Woman: Okay. Now, do you have an email?

Man: Yes, I do. It's Dreyfus. My last name at igo. That's igo.com. All lower case letters, of
course.

Before you listen to the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 8 to
10.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 8 to 10.

Woman: Okay. That looks fine. Now, do you have any questions for me?

Man: Yes, I've got a friend who is interested in studying at the university. I'm not sure what
would be best. The best way for him to register. Can you give me some suggestions?

Woman: Sure. There are three ways to register. Option one is tough on registration. Before you
telephone, fill out the registration form included in your pack. This will ensure you have all the
information that you require. The number is in your registration packet. Don't forget to hold onto
a copy of your registration form for future reference.

Man: Yep. Okay

Woman: Option 2 is registration by post. All you’ve to do there is complete the relevant sections
of the registration form and post the completed form together with all documentation required in
the envelope provided.
Man: Alright

Woman: The third way is to simply come in, visit the student information center in the
information services building and your friend will receive personal assistance on how to
complete his forms.

Man: Thanks very much. You've been most helpful.

Woman: You're welcome. Good luck with your future studies.

Section 2

Guide: Thank you everybody for your attention. I hope you're all looking forward to arriving in
the town. I thought you might like to know a few things while we're still on the coach - and it'll
help to pass the time on our journey! OK, as you know, we're staying at the Park Hotel. It's
comfortable and friendly. We're booked in for three nights. Now, I'm aware that not everyone
wants breakfast there, so if you do want it, you should tell the Hotel that you do the night before.
We're making our own arrangements for dinner each evening, and there's a café open at the
Hotel most of the time if you want a drink or a snack. There's also a very pleasant lounge on the
ground floor, with a collection of fascinating paintings. And then I hope you're going to enjoy the
various activities that are lined up. However, I do have to tell you that there have been some
changes since the original programme. For one, because it's been restored and is therefore
closed to the public, we won't be going to the castle after all, I'm afraid. However, there's plenty
else to see, and the gardens are still open. Something we've been able to add to the
programme is for Saturday, when a local historian will give us a lecture on famous people from
the town. I don't know who that includes yeti So, to free up the time for that, we've made another
little amendment, and changed the trip to the antiques show, that was due for then on to Sunday
- actually, I think that'll make for a more relaxed programme, anyway. We're leaving the rest of
Sunday free for you to wander around as you wish. One place you might like to try is the art
gallery, because it's got a huge display of plci postcarde - you can't really send them home to
your family and friends, but it's interesting, and sometimes funny, to see what people used to
send. Well, that's the lot on changes.

I thought it could be useful to try and get your bearings now, before we actually arrive, so I'll
give you a few pointers on your maps. OK, first things first - the Park Hotel, because I assume
you'll want to deposit your luggage before anything else. We'll be driving into the town from the
west, and stopping at the bus station. To get to the hotel lust go straight down the High Street
towards.the railway bridge, and after the bridge, if you are on left you'll soon see it on the right.
As I say, it's a nice place. You can check in, see your rooms, relax a little. There are a couple of
interesting little shops nearby. There aren't any Internet facilities at the hotel, I'm afraid, so if you
want to send any emails, you'll need to get yourselves to the Internet cafe. In fact, if you want to
do that first, it's easy, because it's near the bus station, on the Corner towards the right. of
Curtis Lane and Cramer Street. So, once you've done that - if you do that - then I suppose you'll
be ready to do a bit of exploring. You've got your basic maps, but you may want to get more
information, and the Tourist Information Office is the place to do that. It's up around the train
station area. From the bus station, you could go up any of the streets to the left - Cadogan
Road, Earl Street or Duke Street. The Office is directly facing the train station, ong_ei _comer
with Earl street. They've got all sorts of brochures and leaflets about local attractions, and
tickets for sale. They even sell some locally-produced jams and chocolates. And a last pointer at
this stage is our venue for dinner tonight the Royal House Restaurant. This is conveniently
located in the very centre of town. In fact, you'll no doubt pass it as you're walking around
beforehand. In relation to the bus station, it's not far. Going down the High Street if you pass the
corner with Cromwell Road, then the next junction crossroads with Duke Street and Runton
Road. and it's there -you'll be able to see its rather grand entrance over on the left corner. The
food and the service there are both excellent, so it promises to be an enjoyable evening. Well,
we're just coming into the town now, so …

Section 3

Paul: Hello Gloria!

Gloria: Hi Paul. I just heard that you’re studying psychology

Paul: At the moment that’s true. But to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what to study. You’re in
your third year University. Do you have any advice for me?

Gloria: Well, it is a difficult question for me to answer. But I do have some ideas based upon my
personal experience that may be of help.

Paul: Anything would be helpful at this point. I’m feeling a little worried about what I should do.

Gloria: Well, there are a few things that I would recommend. Firstly, ask yourself what do you
really enjoy studying? For example, Maths, English, Science. This will help you decide what
course you should do. The University handbook lists all the courses available. You should take
some time to look at it. A couple of my friends spoke with recent graduates of courses which
took up a lot of time. Another thing which took a lot of time was an interview at the Dean of
Academic affairs office. They’re always so busy there. I must have got a lot of time, I wouldn’t
bother with either of those ideas.

Paul: Okay. Oh! Yeah. I understand there are some excellent publications that I can look at,
which will help answer my questions, but the trouble is I’m having a real hard time locating
them. Do you know where I might be able to go?

Gloria: Yes. I encountered this very same problem when I was deciding on what to study. I
managed to locate a few excellent books that really helped me to decide what was best for me.
Now some of the details will be a little inaccurate.
Paul: That’s no problem. If you could just remember the titles I’ll be able to look them up at the
University library. Now, let me just get my pen. Okay, Ready.

Gloria: Alright. The first book I found was “What should I do?”. It was written by Paul Smith and I
believe it was published in 2000 by Smith brothers. I think this was the best book I’ve read,
although Judy Newton’s “Choosing University courses” was awesome and excellent help for
me.

Paul: Can you remember what year that one was published?

Gloria: Hmmm. Let me see. Most of the books I read were published around the same year
2000, I think. I cannot remember who published it. I think it was Printers limited. You’ve to check
that one out yourself.

Paul: No problem. This is just what I’ve been looking for. Anything else you can recommend?

Gloria: Yes. There was one other book I could remember because my cousin works for the
publishers “Brown and Tate”. He started there in 2002. Anyway, the book is called “Surviving
University” and was written by July White. It’s an excellent book which came out in 2004. I
certainly recommend it.

Paul: Oh! Yeah! This discussion has been so helpful. I wonder if I might ask one more question?

Gloria: Sure. What would you like to know?

Paul: I’m wondering why you finally decided to study psychology?

Gloria: Well. What helped me to decide was my interest in working with people. I think that’s
what you’ve got to really decide in your own mind. Do people give you energy or do they drain
you of energy? I asked my friends what they thought of my idea and most of them thought it was
a good choice.

Paul: Yeah. You know, I think my parents or family members who know me well, would be a
good place to start.

Gloria: Mmm.. I think if you like to research subjects you might work by yourself. That could help
you to decide what area you should study. For me, I like working with numbers. And I knew
psychology involved a lot of this. So that also helped me to choose my course of study. The
bottom line is you really got to know what you naturally like to do. Once you work that out, you
simply choose areas of study that relate to those things.

Paul: Well. Gloria I can’t thank you enough for your time. Would you be interested in joining me
for a coffee?
Section 4

Lecturer: So, I'm now going to say a few words about the various different kinds of writing you
may want to consider. Each has its own challenges and rewards, and it's really a question of
seeing what suits you best. There are no rights and wrongs here. Let's start by considering the
short story. Remember that a short story isn't just a very concise novel. There are three basic
styles, the story itself, the slice of life section and the surprise type, and all of them are equally
valid as treatments of the genre. When producing a short story, you don't have time for a slow
build up of interest, so you need to get in there straightaway and begin with a crisis. Then
there's non-fiction, which can sell very well, with biographies in particular frequently hitting the
best-seller lists. It's important, however, to be sure your chosen topic is genuinely interesting to
people and you know enough about it to do it justice, so when you're submitting your idea to a
publisher, it's worthwhile to give them details of specialist knowledge you have. What about
articles? Now, this is a very wide area, of course, going from the very learned and obscure to
the populist gossip type. Articles based on giving advice are a proven area, and to give them a
sufficient focus, you should produce your article for a definite market - that will help to define
your purpose. Turning to something different, there's the question of poetry. It's often hard to
define what poetry is exactly -maybe it's easier to say what it isn't! But it should be subtle, so the
message of a poem oughtn't to be overly obvious. True poems let the ideas sit there, for the
reader to ponder. What they must do is sound good, like singing, so I recommend reading what
you write aloud to yourself, to check the melody. Well, then there's plays, which are basically
novels but told only through conversation. A playwright includes minimal instructions for actions
- but not for every small action the actors will perform - things such as 'moves towards sofa' and
so on are for the dirt to come up with. If you're thinking of trying your hand at a play, a good
starting point would be to educate yourself a little in the art of acting, so that you know what the
people who deliver your work can and can't do with it. What next? There's radio, of course.
Radio uses an enormous range of material, and the BBC Writing for Radio Handbook contains
information about all of this. To begin with, I suggest regional stations for sending your stuff to -
the competition for national radio is extremely high. OK, another interesting area is children's
literature. Now, very few, if any, children's books are published without pictures, but this doesn't
mean that you, as writer, have to draw them - that's for the illustrator. What you do need to do is
be clear who you want to write for, so fix on one age group and then aim your stories at that.

Right, I've saved what I consider to be the best - and the hardest • till last. The novel. Very long
and very difficult to do well. But certainly not impossible, as any bookshop's shelves will confirm.
One of the first things to decide is from what point of view you will tell your story. A popular
choice is the first person, and this technique certainly gives a sense of immediacy for the
reader, while many new writers find it easier to project themselves into their main character if
they can write in his or her name. But that assumes, of course, that the main character is
somehow like the writer, which may or may not be the case. Meanwhile, if your book is all
narrated by 'I', you can only put into your story things which are experienced by that character
which may prove to be rather restricting. Now, there are all sorts of pitfalls for the novelist, and
many of them relate to the issue of providing a balanced narrative. Every time you introduce a
character into the story, you have decisions to make. Of course you want to populate your
landscape with a variety of people to maintain interest, but don't feel you have to decorate every
one of them in elaborate detail. The same goes for irony. All too often, an inexperienced writer
will create a strong ironic situation. and then spoil it by spelling out what they mean by it, as if
readers were too stupid to understand. A few contrasting details should serve to make the point
clear. A big challenge for new novelists is dialogue. What is the relationship between
conversation as people really speak and as it is in novels? Well, it depends. If you recorded
actual conversations and copied them straight into your narrative, readers would get confused
and bored - all those unfinished sentences going nowhere. On the other hand, you don't want to
write out page-long utterances by characters, as these will seem unrealistic to an extreme - but
you can insert minor descriptions and actions to vary the pace and add interest. Well, I hope
what I'm saying is encouraging and not too off-putting about the various difficulties. Are there
any questions at this point?