Part 1
You will hear a conversation between a woman called Jessica and a letting agent about renting an apartment in Sydney.
Agent: Hi Jessica, nice to meet you, have a seat.
Jessica: Thanks.
Agent: So you're looking to rent an apartment in Sydney.
Jessica: That's right, like I said on the phone, I'm going to be working in a bank here for the next year.
Agent: Well, I've had a look around for you and there's one apartment I think might just suit you. It's in central Sydney, not out in a suburb.
Jessica: Ok, so what sort of apartment is it?
Agent: Well, it's a studio, so basically it's designed for a single person or a couple. You're looking at a total area of about 34 square metres.
Jessica: Right.
Agent: And then every two apartments in the building share a separate laundry. So that's almost as if you've got your own. But it means that's not using up space in your apartment. And of course you don't have the noise of the machines.
Jessica: Is it a modern building?
Agent: Sure, and the apartment's nearly at the top of the building. I think it's on the 12th floor. No, the 14th.
Jessica: Oh, you must get a good view from up there.
Agent: Yeah, and the great thing about this apartment is that you look right out over the harbour. It's a pretty awesome view. And the apartment's got huge windows, so you really appreciate it.
Jessica: One thing I'd really like is a garden so I can sit outside. Does the apartment block have one?
Agent: No, but your apartment has a balcony, so there's room to sit out there.
Jessica: OK, well, it all sounds good. Now does the apartment block have any special facilities for tenants, like a gym?
Agent: Yeah, it does. That's on the first floor, and all residents have access to that free of charge. And if you like swimming, you've got an indoor pool.
Jessica: Great.
Agent: And one special feature of the building is it even has a couple of cinemas. They're on the ground floor, so you can even take in a movie without leaving the building. Of course, they're open to the public, but I think residents get a reduction.
Jessica: Right. And what happens about parking? Is that underground?
Agent: That's right. Do you have a car?
Jessica: Not yet, but I'll probably need one, I suppose. I'm wanting to do a bit of travelling while I'm here.
Agent: Well, one big plus of this location is the fact that it's in an excellent situation as far as transport is concerned, so a lot of residents don't bother to run a car. You can always hire one if you're planning a trip. You can save a lot of money that way.
Jessica: Yeah, that's not a bad idea. But talking of money, you haven't mentioned the rent yet. So from the description of the property, I guess it might be quite expensive. I did say I didn't want anything above $600 a month.
Agent: Well, I'm going to surprise you because this comes in at $580. So you're within your budget there and I have to say you're getting a bargain.
Jessica: Well, I'd have preferred to pay a bit less, but I suppose in this location.
Agent: Yeah. And when you're looking at the rent in a lot of places, you have to add on the cost of electricity, but in this case it's all included. So you're saving money that way.
Jessica: Right. Well, I'd definitely be interested in the property. When's it available from?
Agent: Well, the current tenant moves out on the 8th of August, so let's say it'll be free from the 13th. I'll need to get the cleaners in on either the 10th or the 11th.
Jessica: Right, and what's the address?
Agent: It's number 220 ...
Part 2
You will hear a telephone conversation between a caller and a woman at the Safety Driving Center.
Woman: Safety Driving Center, hello?
Caller: Hello. Can you give me some information about driving lessons?
Woman: Yes. There are two courses, one on theory and one practical course, and most people do the two courses simultaneously.
Woman: The first part of the theory course consists of a series of lessons, and you can do these either at the center in one of our classrooms or via the internet. You work through the material at your own pace, but there's a tutor on hand to help whenever you need it. At the second stage we review what we've covered so far. We do this in the classroom, we don't deliver it online, so you have to come into the center. At the end of this lesson there's a test, but this is just for practice. It's not a proper RTD test. If you're satisfied with your performance on this, you can go on to the next stage, and if you're not, you can go back to stage one and follow the lessons again. The third stage is the real test, the one set and administered by the RTD. That's the road traffic department. Provided you pass that test, you then get your provisional driving license, which you need before you can venture on to public highways.
Woman: The practical course starts off here at the test center, and it consists of training and assessment on our specially designed circuit. This allows you to get driving experience immediately, but in a safe environment. At the next stage, you continue with training and assessment, but on public highways. Obviously, you can't do this until you've obtained your provisional license to show that you've got some knowledge of traffic regulations and road safety. Then, when both you and your instructor think you're ready, you do a trial test, and if that goes well, you go straight on to do the official test run by the RTD. Finally, provided that you're successful in both parts of the course, the theory and the practice, you get your driving license. You're then on probation for a year, and as long as you don't have any problems in that time, your license will be endorsed for future use.
Caller: Can you tell me how to enroll?
Woman: Yes, it's quite easy. For the theory course, there's no need to book, and if you're going to do classroom-based lessons, you can just turn up here at the center and pay as you go. We run six sessions a day, and if you go to our website, you'll find the start times for each session. If you don't have internet access, you can pick up a leaflet from the center here with that information.
Woman: As for the classes themselves, all our theory classes are run by experienced tutors, and they're offered in a number of different languages, as well as in English. We deliver the content using PowerPoint, but there's still a place for pen and paper tasks, and we ask you to bring your own students to the library. You choose the particular stage of the course that you want each time. Some people attend more frequently than others, and so they progress through the course at a faster rate.
Caller: What about enrolling on the practical course?
Woman: That's a bit more complicated, and you do have to book in advance. But you can do that via our website, or at the customer service desk here at the center, or at the customer service desk. Or you can book at one of our self-service kiosks. You'll find them in some of the big stores in the city. So it's very convenient, whatever your situation is. You can attend between one and seven sessions a week, so you can decide whether you want to do the course intensively, or spread it out more. Some driving schools allow you to drive your own car, but for safety and insurance reasons, we don't.
Woman: You can cancel lessons in the same way that you book them, but in order to avoid incurring a penalty, you have to do that at least 72 hours in advance of your appointment. When you make a cancellation in less than the required period, you can try and transfer your session to someone else. If another trainee then agrees to take the session over, your payment for the cancelled session can be credited back to your account. Otherwise, we can't give a refund for any reason, and even a medical certificate isn't accepted as grounds for granting one.
Part 3
You will hear a student called Edward talking to his tutor about a presentation on product development.
Tutor: Hello Edward, sit down.
Edward: Thanks. I need some advice on my presentation about product development.
Tutor: Right. Have you decided what to focus on?
Edward: Yes, the product I've chosen is a particular type of mosquito net.
Tutor: Any reason for choosing that?
Edward: I spent last summer travelling around Africa with a friend. He's studying medicine so when we're in a region where mosquitoes cause malaria we visited a medical centre. I chatted to an administrator while my friend talked to one of the doctors and I found out they've had far fewer cases of malaria since these mosquito nets became available locally. That made me interested in them.
Tutor: Okay. Mosquito nets have quite a long history, don't they? I believe they've been used in Japan for centuries.
Edward: That's right. Though apparently Queen Cleopatra slept under one in ancient Egypt. That was probably where they were invented and much later nets were used in China. So perhaps they were invented there independently. Originally, they were made of silk but later cotton was used and nowadays they're mainly synthetic. It wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that they developed nets treated with insecticides for use by the military and that was a major step forward. They used an insecticide called DDT but it was later found that this could be harmful to people as well as mosquitoes.
Tutor: Is that still a problem with modern nets?
Edward: Oh no. The chemicals used nowadays are safe even if people sleep under them every night and the nets work and they're odor free. But they have to be treated fairly often with the chemical which the owners need to do themselves.
Tutor: Presumably distribution of the chemical can be a problem in remote areas. I mean people may not be able to get hold of it easily.
Edward: That's right.
Tutor: Okay. Tell me about this net you're going to talk about.
Edward: Well, the brand name is Oly Set and the product was invented by a Japanese company. These nets are an improvement on the alternatives because the insecticide is contained inside the fibre and released gradually. It's not coated on the outside as with ordinary nets.
Tutor: So the chemicals don't have to be replaced?
Edward: Right. And Oly Set nets are also tougher and don't tear as easily. They give protection for at least five years compared with a year or two for other nets.
Tutor: Well it sounds interesting but for your seminar presentation will you provide the bigger picture as well?
Edward: Yes. It'll be a case study of product development.
Edward: I thought I'd introduce my presentation by describing the background to the new product, the general context.
Tutor: You mean the business context? Where the investment's coming from and that sort of thing?
Edward: Well, I was thinking I'd talk first about insect-borne diseases particularly malaria and why there's such an urgent need for new ways of fighting it. Some people might not know much about it.
Tutor: Yes that's a good idea.
Edward: I've got some statistics about the numbers of people worldwide who get the disease each year. I thought I'd show those. They're quite staggering.
Tutor: I can imagine. It's one of the world's biggest health problems after all. It'd also be useful if you could find some statistical information on how malaria affects countries' economic output and present that too.
Edward: Okay I'm sure I can find something. After that I'll talk about mosquito nets. First the historical development just briefly and then I'll introduce the OlySet mosquito net.
Tutor: Yes. Keep it simple. You could just present a bulleted list of its characteristics, the things that make it different from other types of net and talk that through.
Edward: Right. Then I thought I'd outline the production process.
Tutor: Fine.
Edward: Should I give some information about where the money for the project has come from? There are lots of government and private sponsors.
Tutor: Definitely. That's a very important aspect of any product development. Where are the nets being manufactured by the way?
Edward: Over half are made in Tanzania by a company called A to Z. They got an interest-free loan to buy in the necessary machinery.
Tutor: Well, I'd say a bit about the company profile as well and then present figures about numbers of staff and the kinds of people they're employing on the OlySet project if you can find the details.
Edward: Okay I haven't included any information about marketing. I've got a lot of notes about it but I'm not sure how to present them.
Tutor: I wouldn't mention that if I were you. You've only got a short time for your presentation and you've got quite a lot of material here already but you should provide some figures about output. Have you found out from the company's website how many nets they actually produce?
Edward: Yes, it's over 30 million a year. Then I'm not sure how to finish off. What do you think about including something on potential ...
Part 4
You will hear a student giving a presentation on earth-sheltered housing.
For my presentation on ecological environmental planning, I have chosen to talk about how underground housing, or earth-sheltered housing as it's more commonly known, can meet the demands of ecological environmental planning both in terms of building and energy resources and in terms of sensitivity to the landscape.
Perhaps the greatest merit of this building technique is the low impact it has on the environment since houses built underground can hardly be seen from the surface. If earth sheltered homes are perfect for environmentally-sensitive sites, they are also remarkably efficient when it comes to energy use. This is because this kind of housing makes greater use of alternative technologies to improve energy efficiency as I shall explain in more detail later.
Many earth-sheltered housing projects use natural non-toxic resources for building materials such as rammed earth which are surprisingly durable. Some of these houses have a predicted lifespan of 500 years or more.
The extra protection offered by this type of housing means less exposure to the elements which keeps maintenance to a minimum as there aren't any outside walls to paint or gutters to clear for example.
Living underground also brings the advantage of a quieter environment eliminating disturbances caused by traffic, an enormous problem these days and one of the most common reasons for people to consider moving home.
And lastly, despite the misconception that underground houses must be very damp earth sheltered housing offers significant health advantages. The sophistication of the ventilation systems installed in earth sheltered houses brings enormous benefits to people suffering from asthma and other chest conditions.
I'd like now to turn to the situation in the UK where despite all the obvious advantages earth sheltered housing still isn't a popular option for most homeowners as the statistics prove. The British Earth Sheltering Association says that people shouldn't be put off by fears of too much red tape as it is getting easier to get planning permission. There is quite a lot of evidence that building development offices are more sympathetic to earth sheltered projects, especially in conservation areas. Special consideration has been given to several underground homes on sites where conventional development would not normally be allowed. And there are hopes that one day Britain's coastline will no longer be dominated by mobile homes and instead the job of providing this type of accommodation will be done by earth sheltered housing.
I'd like to finish by looking at two quite different projects, Mole Manor and the Hockerton project. When it was first built, Mole Manor generated international media interest and was voted one of the 12 most desirable places to live in the world in a national newspaper poll. Hockerton also attracted wide publicity, winning several awards for its innovative environmental design.
As is the case for all earth sheltered homes, running costs at Mole Manor are substantially lower than for conventional homes because of its effective insulation, its heating bills are approximately 75% lower than for conventional houses. However, at Hockerton, solar energy, wind power and rain are used to generate enough warmth, electricity for light and cooking and water for washing and drinking for all the needs of the five families who live there. Their aim of living a holistic lifestyle in harmony with the environment has been realized.
Hockerton also proves that earth sheltered houses can be built on a modest budget. Each of the families contributed 80,000 pounds, the cost of an average family house in this area. Style, rather than cost, was more of an issue in the design of Mole Manor. The homely terraced cottage style at Hockerton contrasts with the grandeur and space of Mole Manor, which today is worth over 800,000 pounds.
What projects like Mole Manor and Hockerton demonstrate is that earth sheltered housing can provide comfortable, stylish eco-friendly homes for a diverse range of needs. The combination of architecturally sensitive designs with new energy saving technology satisfies all the criteria for ecological environmental planning.