IELTS Basic - Listening - Lesson 6
1. oval
Keywords: overall design, round
first of all, at the overall design of a traditional Samoan house. Now, these days, houses in Samoa have become more modern and are usually rectangular, but traditional designs were round or sometimes they were oval in shape
2. blinds
Keywords: wind, rain
If the occupants want shelter there are several blinds made of coconut leaves that can be lowered during rainy or windy weather
3. (river) stones
Keywords: floor, control temperature
However, the floor of the house was usually covered with river stones. Today, we have a range of methods for balancing the temperature inside a building, but the stones on the floor of a Samoan home are ideal for cooling the building on hot days.
4. sugar cane / sugar(-)cane
Keywords: roof, dome-shaped, thatched
let's have a close look at the roof. This, as you can see in the picture, is dome-shaped and traditionally thatched, or covered with leaves from the sugar cane
5. steep
Keywords: sides, prevent dampness
the sides are quite steep so that the rain falls straight to the ground without moisture going through the leaves and causing leaks or dampness inside the house.
6. heat
Keywords: high top, loss
Then, you'll notice how high the top of the roof is - this is a way of allowing heat to rise on sunny days and go through the thatching, thereby cooling the house.
7. forest(s)
Keywords: supporting posts, wood, from, around, village
These posts are produced using local timber from the surrounding forests.
8. status
Keywords: show, chiefs, speakers, meetings
When there were meetings, people sat with their back to certain posts depending on their status in society. So there were posts for chiefs according to their status and posts for speakers and so on
9. old people
Keywords: attached, rope, made by, village
coconut fibres were braided into rope to fix the beams and posts together. The old people of the village usually made and plaited the rope.
10. (complex) pattern
kw: pulled tightly, form, around beams and posts
the rope was pulled very tightly and wound round the beams and posts in a complex pattern.
1. surface
Keywords: effects, processes, earth
we learn a great deal about all the processes that have affected and that continue to affect the earth's surface.
2. environment
Keywords: dynamic, between, population
studying geography also informs us about the different kinds of relationships that develop between a particular environment and the people that live there.
3. impact(s) / effect(s)
Keywords: human lifestyle
there's the study of the ways in which we choose to live and of the impact of those on our planet.
4. urban
Keywords: specific study areas, histotical
Next comes historical geography - … - and urban geography
5. problems
Keywords: key point, understand, surroundings, associated
we now have our key answer . . . studying this subject is important because without geographical knowledge, we would know very little about our surroundings and we wouldn't be able to identify all the problems that relate to them.
6. image(s)
Keywords: collect information, form, computer
We also need images of the earth's surface which we can produce by means of computer-generation technology
7. patterns
Keywords: analyse, indentify
After we've gathered our information, we must analyse it! We need to look for patterns
8. distortion(s)
Keywords: maps, BUT, two-dimensional, always have
But there is a drawback. You can't exactly replicate something that is three-dimensional, like our planet, on a flat piece of paper, because paper has only two dimensions, and that means there'll always be a certain degree of distortion on a map
9. traffic
Keywords: aerial photos, show vegetation problems, density
We can also use aerial photographs… You can easily illustrate areas of diseased trees or how much traffic is on the roads at a given time
10. weather
Keywords: landsat, monitoring
Then there are Landsats… can provide a mass of information - you'll all be familiar with the information they give us about the weather, for example.
1. two structures
Keywords: Chinese ceramics, consists of, not physically connected
They studied Chinese ceramics, … The stadium is actually two structures, which are completely separate from each other.
2. 90,000 spectators
Keywords: hold
there's the seating area, which was originally designed for 100,000 spectators, but this had to be reduced to 90,000
3. beams
Keywords: 110000 tons, stell, horizontal
Around this area is the frame, which is made of 110,000 tons of steel in horizontal beams and vertical columns
4. 423 million
Keywords: cost
the building still came to an incredible $423 million
5. distance
Keywords: ideally seen, shape and size
the best place to look at it is from a distance…that's where you'll really get an impression of what it looks like and how big it is.
6. low hill
Keywords: built on, emphasize, size
This is not just because of its size - and it is big - but also because it stands on a low hill which helps make it higher than any other buildings in the area.
7. unusual shape
Keywords: Bird’s Nest
Then there's its unusual shape, which has helped to give it its nickname of the Bird's Nest.
8. moving
Keywords: impression
you also get the impression that this structure isn't standing still, that it's moving in different directions
9. (magical) forest
Keywords: feel like, entering
as you enter, you get the impression that you're walking into a forest
10. coloured light
Keywords: clear roof panels
coloured light comes through the clear roof panels
1. tide/tides
Keywords: common, change quickly
this type of event is a frequent occurrence in some of the locations that you'll be travelling to, where sometimes the tide goes out suddenly, confusing the animals.
2. hearing/ear/ears
Keywords: parasites, affect, navigation
The first is that the behaviour is linked to parasites. It's often found that stranded animals were infested with large numbers of parasites. …Since marine animals rely heavily on their hearing to navigate, this type of infestation has the potential to be very harmful.
3. IN EITHER ORDER; BOTH REQUIRED FOR ONE MARK
plants/animals/fish/fishes
Keywords: toxins, from, consumed by whale
Another theory is related to toxins, or poisons. These have also been found to contribute to the death of many marine animals. Many toxins, as I'm sure you're aware, originate from plants, or animals. The whale ingests these toxins in its normal feeding behaviour
4. feeding
Keywords: accidental, Thurston, unlikely, not
In 1995 David Thurston monitored pilot whales that beached after following squid ashore. However, this idea does not seem to hold true for the majority of mass strandings because examination of the animals' stomach contents reveal that most had not been feeding as they stranded.
5. noise/noises
Keywords: human activity, from military
Noises such as those caused by military exercises are of particular concern and have been pinpointed as the cause of some strandings of late.
6. healthy
Keywords: Bahamas, 2000, all
One of these, a mass stranding of whales in 2000 in the Bahamas…This led researchers to look for a new cause. For one, all the stranded animals were healthy.
7. group
Keywords: not in
In addition, the animals were spread out along 38 kilometres of coast, whereas it's more common for the animals to be found in a group when mass strandings occur.
8. social
Keywords: group, more, most
A final theory is related to group behaviour…since the whales that are thought to be most social - the toothed whales - are the group that strand the most frequently.
9. leader
Keywords: 1994, dolphin, only, ill
The theory is also supported by evidence from a dolphin stranding in 1994. Examination of the dead animals revealed that apart from the leader, all the others had been healthy at the time of their death.
10. network/networks
Keywords: Marine Mammals Ashore
I recommend John Connor's Marine Mammals Ashore as an excellent starting point if you're interested in finding out more about these networks, or establishing one yourself.