Instructions for this test. I shall introduce each part of the test and give you time to look at the questions

PAUSE 
8”
FX 
***
M: 
Yeah, they’re great. The colour is actually very popular this year – hardly what I’d 
choose but that’s all there was. They’re made of some kind of tough linen-type cloth, 
which is just what I need for work. I might even go back and get another pair when I’ve 
worn them for a couple of days or so. If they’re comfortable, that is. I wouldn’t say they 
make me look particularly good, but then again they’re not too awful either. The main 
thing is that they should stand up to the kind of treatment that anything gets when I’m 
wearing it all day in the workshop! And they were cheap ... [fade] 
PAUSE 
2”
FX 
***
TAPE REPEAT
PAUSE 
2”
That is the end of Part One. 
Now turn to Part Two. 
PAUSE 
5"

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6
You will hear a student called Lucy Brown talking about her experience of volunteering 
with dolphins in Australia. For questions 9 – 18, complete the sentences with a word or 
short phrase.
You now have forty-five seconds to look at Part Two. 
PAUSE 
45"
FX ***
F: 
Hello everybody, my name’s Lucy Brown and I’m here to tell you about an amazing 
place I visited when I was a student. I was in Western Australia on holiday, thinking 
about my future at university and deciding whether or not to change course to biology – 
I’d been doing chemistry but not really enjoying it much. I did change when I got back, 
by the way, and it was definitely the right decision. 
While I was in Australia I discovered that it was possible to volunteer at a dolphin 
research station in a place called Monkey Mia. While I was travelling around I’d made a 
lot of great friends who’d done all sorts of interesting things. But when I read in my 
guidebook that you could actually help scientists study dolphins, I knew immediately that 
that was what I wanted to do. I made a phone call and everything was soon arranged. 
The distances in Australia are huge, and the research station was a long way away. I 
couldn’t afford to hire a car, but I managed to find a coach that went there – though it 
took several hours! If you can afford it, I’d say go by plane instead. 
When I arrived, I was surprised to see how many other visitors there were. I realised I’d 
been very lucky to get a position as a volunteer. There were a lot of different places for 
people to stay, including luxury hotel rooms and a youth hostel. I had a tent so that’s 
where I stayed, and there were also lots of people in motor caravans. 
I was impatient to know what exactly I’d be doing there. I’d met a couple of other 
volunteers, who told me all about the exciting time they’d had going to feed the wild 
dolphins that visit the beach early every morning. I did that later on in the week, but was 
actually asked to film them on my first day. 
I was standing ankle-deep in water when twelve dolphins arrived – eight mothers and 
four babies, known as calves. Some of them swam really close to me, and although the 
water was crystal clear, I was so busy looking at them that I almost stepped on a little 
starfish. I thought at first it was a little stone! Luckily I managed to avoid making a fool of 

---

7
myself on my very first morning! 
Families of dolphins have been visiting the beach at Monkey Mia since the nineteen 
seventies, long before scientists started to come and study them. They would swim in 
every day alongside the fishing boats returning to the small community that lived by the 
beach at the time. The mothers passed on the habit to their young, so members of the 
same dolphin families have been coming there ever since. 
In this part of Australia the sun shines 320 days a year, and at Monkey Mia you need to 
wear a hat and plenty of sun cream to protect yourself during the day. The beach the 
dolphins visit is in a large bay called Shark Bay, facing north and sheltered from the 
wind, whatever the season. This is one reason why it’s so popular with both sea 
creatures and humans all year round. 
I spent the day helping at the research centre or patrolling the beach, but there were 
plenty of things to do in my free time in the evenings, too. I went swimming, of course, 
and some people went sailing. You could go horse riding, but I saved up for a ride along 
the beach on a camel, which is something I won’t forget in a hurry! 
I had to leave and come home after two weeks, but it’s an experience I’ll never forget. I 
wrote a blog while I was there, so my friends and family back home could see what I 
was up to. And through that I discovered another great pleasure: writing. So I’m working 
on a play at the moment about everything that happened to me that summer – I’m 
hoping I’ll finish it before I have to start on my university dissertation!