PTEA B2 Progress test audio script

Track 1, Progress test 1, Exercise 4

If you designed an almost perfect anti-brain learning environment, it would look something
like a typical classroom. And if you were to design an almost perfect anti-brain working
environment, it would look something like a typical office cubicle. Why? Because tiny
proteins, called BDNFs, are actually created when you exercise and these help the brain to
develop. So exercise boosts brainpower. The problem lies in the fact that we measure
distance today in terms of the space between the refrigerator, the bathroom and the couch.
Says Robert Hutchins, ‘Whenever I feel like exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes.’ Our
ancestors, on the other hand, walked an average of twelve miles a day and hence the brain
developed as a survival organ that was designed to solve problems in an unstable
environment in almost constant motion. If our ancestors had lain around, well, let’s just say
that survival didn’t favour the sedentary types. So, what are we to do? If I were an employer,
I’d want the workplace environment to encourage exercise, to boost my employees’
brainpower.

Track 2, Progress test 2, Exercise 4

Consumers make buying decisions every day. But how do they make these decisions? What
is going on in their minds? How do companies understand these points? Do the people who
are employed in marketing just have a good instinct for consumers’ thinking or are there
more systematic ways to find the answers to these questions?
In fact, these topics are researched in great detail by most large companies, in order to
answer questions about what consumers buy, where they buy, how they buy, how much they
spend, as well as when and why they buy. Of those questions, marketers can look at the
what, where, when and how much questions by studying actual consumer purchases. But
learning about the whys of consumer buying is not so easy – the answers are often locked
deep within the consumer’s head.
Penetrating the dark recesses of the consumer’s mind is no easy task. Often, consumers
themselves don’t know exactly what influences their own purchases. One consumer
behaviour expert, Brad Weiners, has claimed that 95 percent of the thought, emotion and
learning that drives purchasing decisions occurs in the unconscious mind – that is, without
our awareness.
The central question for marketers is: How do consumers respond to the various marketing
efforts that the company might use? This is not something that can be worked out just by
instinct. Research is necessary.

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Track 3, Progress test 3, Exercise 4
1: While there may be disagreements about the impact of different family
structures on children, there is widespread agreement, amongst most experts,
that families continue to play a critical role in the lives of their members.
2: There’s a popular myth that the American family is falling apart, it’s in decline,
it’s a vanished species and, actually, I think the family’s here to stay, although
it’s transforming itself in many ways that fit the challenges of our times.
3: Some have argued that the family has become a bit obsolete in the eyes of
children and children look at parents as a bit old-fashioned and start looking to
other media and other models for guidance.
4: Families are always changing. There are many indicators that show that
families are no worse off and that people spend no less time with their kids
than they used to. I think what we have is an evolving family system that
meets the demands of people. There seems to be a lack of fit between some
of our nostalgic ideals and the practices of everyday family life.

Track 4, Progress test 4, Exercise 4

To understand what extinct animals such as dinosaurs ate, we can compare their tooth types
to the range of tooth types that we see with modern animals, such as carnivorous and
herbivorous animals. So when we look at a tiger skull, we can look at aspects of its dentition,
or its teeth, to understand what it ate. So when we see pointed and sharp teeth, we can see
that they are very well adapted for slicing, shearing and cutting flesh.
Unlike the tiger, when we look at a herbivorous animal, a horse, we can see that its teeth are
arranged in a nice flat grinding surface and so when the top and lower teeth fit together, they
actually grind up plant material.
When we look at fossils like this one, which belongs to an allosaur, we can see teeth that are
conical and re-curve backwards with sharp points and serrated edges. These kinds of clues
tell us that this animal was a meat-eating animal.
Now we’ll look at the jaw of a hadrosaur. On one side you can see many of its teeth. When
we turn it around, you can see a long flat grinding surface. By comparison, we can infer that
this animal was also a plant eater, just like the horse that showed us a very similar kind of
dentition. This animal also ate plants and other tough fibrous material.

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Track 5, Progress test 5, Exercise 4
Nanorobotics is the emerging field of building tiny machines whose dimensions are
measured in nanometres. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre or, to put it another way, a
millionth of a millimetre. Generally, nanomachines are still only theoretical; with current
technology we cannot as yet make these machines. Even the physics and chemistry of
machines of this size is still being studied, though rapid gains are being made and these may
soon prove fruitful.
Most proposed applications of nanorobots are medical. People have suggested that
nanorobots could enter the body and work from the inside to repair damaged parts such as
the heart or deal with disease. Nothing like this has yet been produced, but this still remains
one of the most likely products of nanotechnology, with huge amounts of money being spent
on research and development. Other approaches involve combining nanorobots with
naturally occurring bacteria.
In summary, there is a lot of potential for this technology. How it may change our lives in the
next ten, twenty or thirty years will be exciting to watch.

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