Welcome to our blog dedicated to Cambridge English Placement Test practice with a unique twist - daily devotions. In this blog, we combine the essential task of honing your English language skills with the nourishment of your soul through insightful and inspiring daily devotionals. By integrating these two elements, we aim to create a holistic learning experience that enriches your mind and spirit.
- Enhancing Your Language Skills
- Daily Devotions for Spiritual Nourishment
Hi Nadia. Just wanted to talk to you about my birthday party on Saturday. We’re all going to the Mansion Restaurant, as you know, and I’ve booked for twelve. Well, Helena has just said she can’t come and I was wondering about inviting Niki instead. She’s fun but you know what I mean, don’t you when I say she can be a bit loud and not everyone gets on with her. I think I know what you’ll say but let me know what you think. Ring me back as soon as you can, won’t you? Hope you can still come.
You will hear a tutor talking to a group of students about a geography trip to New Zealand. For questions 1-10, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
New Zealand was chosen because of the range of (1) _________ which can be seen.
The first week concentrates on changes in (2) ________ over the last thirty years.
The second week is spent studying the (3) _______ on the west coast.
There is a limited chance of seeing a particular kind of (4) _______ on the boat trip.
People are often not prepared for the (5) ________ on the west coast.
Students should try to take a photograph of the (6) _________ if possible.
Students need to write a (7) _________ before they leave for New Zealand.
Most students choose to go (8) _________ on their free weekend.
Everyone needs to bring at least one (9) _________ with them.
Accommodation will be in (10) _________ for most of the trip
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Good morning. I know you have a folder with all the information about our geography trip to New Zealand but I want to go over the main points. As you know, our flight departs at 10.30 so we need to be at the airport at 8.30.
Firstly, why New Zealand when it’s so far away? We could of course go to the European Alps to see mountains, but in New Zealand we can see a huge variety of landscapes, not only mountains but also volcanoes, and of course it’s surrounded by oceans. So that’s why we’ve chosen it – there’s plenty to keep us busy.
During our first week we’re staying in a very rural area on the South Island which has stayed much the same over the last thirty years – there is some tourism now but agriculture remains the main employer although the emphasis isn’t quite the same. Where most farmers used to keep sheep, there are now more cows and recently also deer. So we will be looking at why that has happened.
We are spending our second week in an even more remote part, on the west coast. There, our main focus will be the beaches. Many of them are surrounded by forests and are quite difficult to get to but there are roads or tracks down to all the ones we want to study.
While we are in that part of the island we’re going on a couple of boat trips. You’ll be able to see the amazing trees which cling to the cliff sides, and the birds of course. You might be lucky and catch sight of a penguin – the yellow crested ones which live round there and are not often seen.
The weather on the west coast is very changeable so it’s important to have clothes for every season – hats and sunglasses as well as waterproofs as I expect we’ll have some rain – but most people are aware of that. What they don’t expect is the insects – they’ll be waiting for us so you need a very good repellent to stop them biting. We’ll be working all day and we’ll go for a walk every evening. If it’s fine I hope you’ll get some good shots of the sunset – it’s one of the best places in the world for that. And if you’re interested in bird watching you’ll have time for that too. Maybe we’ll see some of the fishing boats too as they return after a day at sea.
Our last week is in Queenstown. It’s really important that you have a questionnaire ready so make sure you prepare that this week before we start travelling. You’ll be going out talking to visitors and businesses and when you get back you’ll write a report, which you can use as the basis for a dissertation about tourism later on.
There’s a free weekend when we arrive in Queenstown which is a very active place. Most tourists have a go at some of the extreme sports like sky diving and river surfing but our students usually decide to go walking, probably because it’s cheaper but also the scenery is stunning and you really get to see more of it on foot than if you’re jet skiing at top speed.
You all have a list of essential equipment. We’re staying in fairly remote areas so we probably won’t get a chance to buy much. Bring comfortable walking shoes and make sure you have a bag to carry everything in. You need a minimum of one notebook – ideally, one with a hard cover that won’t fall apart if it rains. And of course plenty of pens and pencils. We’re hiring everything we need for our overnight stays, the majority of which will be spent in tents – four people in each – but we are also spending the odd night in hostels and basic hotels.
You hear a woman talking about her job. How does she feel about it?
A It’s boring.
В She likes it.
С She finds it difficult.
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AUDIOSCRIPT
Before I came here I worked in sales and really I found the monotony getting to me. Every day was essentially the same. So I took a complete change of direction, retrained and here I am. It’s been almost 4 years now and I can honestly say that no day is like the one before. What’s particularly rewarding is that I’m helping people who find themselves in difficult situations, due to any number of reasons... health problems, unemployment, to name just two. What’s great is that, more often than not I can make some sort of difference to their lives.
