TRANSCRIPT BÀI TẬP DẠNG FLOWCHART IELTS LISTENING (PHẦN 16)

Bên cạnh hướng dẫn CÁCH HỌC IELTS LISTENING HIỆU QUẢ, IELTS TUTOR cũng cung cấp transcript bài tập Flowchart IELTS Listening.

They call illustration that shows all the possible relationships between sets. Look at this Venn diagram and you will see that the geographical terminology is in bold while the political terms are in italics. See here the British Isles in bold and the British Islands in italics.

The aim of this lecture is to explain the meanings of and relationships among those terms. In geographical terms, you will see that the British Isles is an archipelago made up of the two large islands of Great Britain and Ireland and including many smaller surrounding islands. Of course, you can’t tell from the Venn diagram the true comparative size of these islands - you’ll need to look at the map for that - but, take my word for it, Great Britain is the largest island of the archipelago followed by Ireland which, in reality geographically, lies to the west and there are over a thousand smaller islands.

Now in political terms, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the constitutional monarchy which includes the island of Great Britain, some small nearby islands (although not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland. Thank goodness it is generally shortened to United Kingdom, the UK, Great Britain or Britain or even the abbreviation GB, although none of these are strictly correct of course.

You’d better listen carefully to the next part because I warn you, it is very confusing. Ireland is the name of the sovereign republic occupying the larger part of the island of Ireland. But to distinguish it from the name of the island itself, and most importantly from the other part which belongs to the UK, it is called the Republic of Ireland or its Irish-language name, Eire - that’s E-I-R-E, even though Eire directly translates as ‘Ireland’. The smaller portion of the island is called Northern Ireland, the partition of Ireland took place in 1922 after a great history of struggle that we won’t go into here. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are legal jurisdictions within the United Kingdom but Great Britain refers to the countries of England, Wales and Scotland as a unit. The British Islands contain the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands (made up of Guernsey and Jersey) and Isle of Man which all have the British Monarch as head of state. Interestingly, the Isle of Man, although governed as a British Crown dependency, has its own parliament but relies on the UK for defence and in matters of external relations…

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10. Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.

Receptionist: Is there anything else I can help you with?

Guest: Actually, there is. The conference is in a building called Chancery Chambers but I don't have any idea how to get there.

Receptionist: Oh, that's the funny-shaped building on the corner of King and Richard streets. It's quite straightforward really and only a few minutes walk. Look, I'll show you on this map.

Guest: Good. A map. I like to follow a map if possible.

Receptionist: Right, well, step out the front entrance of the hotel and you're on Hobb Street. Head south on Hobb Street toward Gorse Lane and take the second on the left onto Vickers Street West. Go all the way down the hill, past the Mexican café on your left, the Rebel Hostel on your right, and the big church on the corner of Allen Street.

Guest: Oh, I think I know the one. It has a huge steeple.

Receptionist: Yes, you're right. When you get to the bottom of the hill, you'll have to cross over the main street.

Guest: What's the name of the main street?

Receptionist: Mill Street?

Guest: Mill Street, ah yes, there it is.

Receptionist: Cross the main street and continue onto Vickers Street East. There's a big bank next to a bookshop on the corner. Go up the hill towards the entrance to the park...

Guest: I've heard it's very beautiful.

Receptionist: Oh, yes, well worth a look when you've got some free time. Anyway, don't go in the park - turn left into Kitchen Street - you'll walk past Bowen's Bistro. Actually, probably the best place to get a good lunch at a reasonable price. After Bowens take the second left into Baker's Lane - it's a very short street, then take the first on your left onto King Street, and you should see the art - deco Chancery Chambers building, a bit further along on the corner of Richard Street.

Guest: Oh, thank you for that. I'm most grateful.

…plants work. Well, a dam is built across a river which captures water to form a reservoir and raises the water level to create "Head". Think of Head as the vertical distance that the water falls as it passes through the dam, in other words, the difference in water level between the reservoir behind the dam and the river below. Water from the reservoir flows through an intake gate into a penstock. This is a kind of narrow channel which lead to the turbine below. The force of the water causes the turbine to rotate rapidly which in turn drives the generator to spin and produce electricity. The electricity is carried the long distances from the powerhouse to substations on the outskirts of cities via power lines.

Can you build a hydropower unit on any river? Well, no. Just having water in a river isn't enough. A good dam site must have enough streamflow as well as enough head. A fast-flowing river on the plains is probably not suitable because a dam couldn't be built high enough to provide the Head needed for efficient production of electricity. On the other hand, dams in arid high country may have plenty of Head but insufficient streamflow. The perfect spot for a hydropower plant is where the right combination of streamflow and Head exists.

What about the environment? Surely, the construction of large dams has an environmental impact. Well, yes, it does. Certainly, dams and reservoirs are built to improve the lives of people living in towns, farming communities and cities, but there must be a balance between development and preserving the natural environment.

Needless to say, the natural river environment is changed which leads to changes in river ecology and aquatic habitat. Sometimes, for example, dissolved oxygen levels below dams get so low in summer that there is a negative impact on aquatic life. These levels can be improved however by using special aerating turbines and or injecting oxygen directly into the streamflow.

In order to protect and improve the habitat for endangered and other species of birds, fish and water life, there needs to be a thorough review of operating plans to see if a better balance can be achieved. Hydropower plant design and operation must not only meet the needs of consumers for electricity but work hand in hand with agencies whose concern is for the fish and wildlife water quality and water supply.

Now, listen and answer questions 17 to 20.

Now, are you all set for the tour? We'll leave the car park and walk in an easterly direction towards the administration building with the parking spaces outside. We won't go into the admin building because there's nothing much to see there, instead, we'll walk in a north-easterly direction towards the museum. But before we get to it, we're going to turn right, walk past it, and go into that enormous building to watch how the avocados are graded and packed. Well, what did you think of that? Those packers have to work very fast as you can see.

Now, as we come out of this building, we'll go to our left and around the back towards the cool room. Of course, this is where all the fruit is stored after packing - there are a lot of boxes of fruit in there - nothing very interesting to look at, but we will stop at the other building to see how they make the cardboard cartons. See how everything is mechanized so there is very little labour involved? I'm intrigued by how those machines operate just like clockwork. It does get very hot in there, though, doesn't it? Which makes the thought of a peek inside the cool room quite attractive. But, no, we'll skip that and make towards the building in the far north-eastern corner of the facility where they take the husks off the macadamia nuts. It's quite noisy but absolutely fascinating.

Now, we'll take a shortcut heading west through the orchard to the wood crafters' workroom and shop and I'll give you a few minutes to browse. Take note of where this is because I'm sure you'll want to come back here later this afternoon in your free time.

Is everyone still with us? Right, let's go south now and take a leisurely walk through the picnic and playground area with the water feature, but we want to end up over at the garden shop at the northern end of the car park. We'll have to walk through the little gift shop first to gain access to the garden shop and I'm sure you won't be able to resist getting some nice little presents for the folks at home.

Are you ready for lunch now? I know it's been a whirlwind tour but the restaurant has us booked in for 12.30 and after that, you're free to take your time wandering around until the bus leaves at 3 p.m.

Listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.

Lecturer: Good morning Annie, Tony. How are you?

Annie: Fine, thanks.

Lecturer: Well, tell me what you have here.

Annie: We thought we'd look at different methods of hydroculture.

Lecturer: Uh huh.

Tony: In the true hydroponics method, the roots are bathed with water and nutrient solution while support for the plant must be provided above the container.

Lecturer: And...alternatively?

Annie: Alternatively, the plants can grow with their roots in a substratum such as sand, vermiculite, or L-E-C-A granules.

Tony: LECA stands for Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate and vermiculite is...

Lecturer: Thank you, Tony. I know what vermiculite is...but you should be prepared to give details about all these things to the visitors. Can you explain what the advantage of LECA is over traditional soil?

Tony: It's a natural product...manufactured from clay...it's colorful, lightweight and... perfect for allergy sufferers.

Lecturer: That's right. Now tell me why.

Annie: Because it's clean and hygienic, bacteria and soil diseases don't get a chance.

Lecturer: Well, you could say that on this chart here..."Ideal for household plants".

Annie: And we'll point out that the growing medium itself makes no contribution to feeding, which is provided in solution with the water.

Lecturer: Good, now tell me what you've got here.

Annie: This is a simple version of the first method, using a wide-necked jar which we've filled with water and nutrients, leaving space at the top. As the roots need to be in darkness we'll cover the sides of the glass with brown paper later.

Lecturer: How did you get the plant through the cork?

Tony: We made a hole through the centre and cut the cork in half so we could fit it around the plant stem and we padded the hole with cotton wool.

Lecturer: That's a good demonstration of the principle involved, and ideal for a house plant but many people will want to see a wider application. What about more plants?

Annie: We haven't quite finished the preparation yet, but over here you can see a bigger container - in fact, any wide container can be used - with the nutrient solution in the bottom, air space above...and then we've made a rigid lid and we've covered that with a layer of litter.

Lecturer: What have you used for litter?

Annie: We've used wood shavings...

Lecturer: Untreated?

Annie: Definitely. That's most important. You can use a variety of materials for litter but obviously, nothing toxic and treated timber contains some nasty chemicals. So, if you're using sawdust or wood shavings, they have to be from natural timber.

Lecturer: A good point...

Tony: Yes, we'll make a note of that when we list possible ingredients for litter.

Lecturer: Be sure to explain the purpose of the rigid lid, it's wire mesh, isn't it? And why the litter layer is important too.

Annie: Well, the mesh is just a platform to keep the litter out of the water and the primary function of the litter is to exclude light from the root space...

Listen and answer questions 27 to 30.

Woman: Okay, at this point I think we should look at mangroves, they're important for nutrient removal.

Man: I think nutrient recycling is more accurate and biological productivity because wetlands are really very productive ecosystems.

Woman: Should we do a food web, then?

Man: We should do a diagram of some sort showing the importance of mangrove trees, but maybe not a food chain.

Woman: How about you explain it while I try and sketch it?

Man: Right. Well, let's start with the mangrove trees. They're very special because of their aerial roots that allow them to breathe even when the tide is high and their roots are underwater. They can live in saltwater and the salt enters through the roots, travels up to the older leaves, and then these die and drop back into the water. A unique feature of mangroves is their ability to develop leaves on their seeds while they're still on the tree and the seedlings drop down planting themselves directly into the mud underneath.

Woman: Mmm, got that. What happens to those older leaves that fall?

Man: The fallen leaves, or litter, decay in the water and form a rich mud that feeds bacteria, worms and small crustaceans.

Woman: You mean things like prawns and crabs feed on the decomposed leaves?

Man: Yes, and even little fish do as well.

Woman: And bigger fish feed on them.

Man: Eventually the remaining organic matter - which is now just very tiny particles - is taken up through the root system providing nourishment for the mangrove trees.

Woman: And the cycle begins all over again.

Man: Yes, that's exactly it, that's what we'll call it "the nutrient cycle of mangrove litter".

Woman: Great. I'll go home and work on this and we'll meet again tomorrow.

Man: Okay, see you then.

Cloud formation takes different shapes and they mostly get their names from Latin roots. Now, let's look at the five most basic.

We'll start with Cumulus, which is a low cloud with a white, puffy appearance and most often composed of water droplets. It gets its name from “cumulo” meaning “heap” for its typical piled-up appearance.

Now, let's move on to Stratus from “strato” meaning “layer”. These are the gray, horizontal ones, often with a flat base that you see on an overcast day, and they too are mostly made up of water droplets.

At this point, I should mention Fog, which you probably don't even think of as clouds, but Fog consists of very low Stratus ground-hugging clouds.

The high-altitude Cirrus cloud, on the other hand, is mostly made of ice crystals and appears wispy and thin - almost hair-like, in fact, that's where they get their name from the word “cirro” meaning “wisp of hair” . They are generally fair-weather clouds.

Not so the Cumulonimbus - the tallest of all clouds. They extend way up into the troposphere and these are the ones that produce lightning, thunder, heavy rain, strong winds and tornadoes.

Man 1: Our system is based on the principle that power is distributed across three branches of government: the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary.

Woman: But Parliament makes the law, doesn’t it?

Man 2: That’s right. So, what’s the point of the other two?

Man 1: Well, you need a body to administer the law – that’s the Executive, made up of the Ministers of the crown. And the Judiciary interprets the law through the courts.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 14 to 20.

If we start here at the bottom, you can see Parkside Street where the main entrance to the park is on the left of the entrance, in the bottom left-hand corner of the plan, there will be a block of 40 studio flats, on the other side of the entrance, there will be some workshops for local businesses. There will also be another entrance here on the top right, which leads into Pear Street. Here in the centre of the park, we will have an ornamental lake with paths radiating north south east and west, to the different areas of the park. In the top right-hand corner, just by the Pear Street entrance, there will be a large sports area with two football pitches and four tennis and volleyball courts. Just here beside the pitches, on the same side of the path, will be an outdoor swimming pool. Now in the top left-hand corner, a walled flower garden is planned with a rockery and a water feature with walkways, seats, and lots of shady areas for the summer. Next to this, a sculpture garden is also planned.

Now let's see, just here below the walled garden, there will be a grassy amphitheatre with a permanent covered stage for open-air concerts. We hope that local schools and colleges will use this theatre to showcase student work. In the bottom left-hand corner of the plan, you can see that above the block of flats there will be a play area for children, and directly to the right of this, just near the main entrance, there will be a wild area. More trees will be planted here, and in the middle will be built an educational centre for you by local schools, to encourage children to take care of the wildlife and look after the trees and plants. And finally, in the bottom right-hand corner of the park will be a café opening on to Pear Street.

And now for questions, if anyone would like to ask anything, I and my colleagues are only too happy to oblige. Yes, the lady in the front row if I...

… Answer questions 8 to 10.

Man: Do you have a map I can take?

Woman: Yes, of course. We've usually got lots of them here… somewhere, ah yes, here we are.

Man: Thanks. Could you show me where we are, exactly?

Woman: Umm, let me have a look. Ah yes, this is our street here - Avenida Constitucion, the biggest hotels are marked, so let me just see which one is us? Um, here. Yes, here. This is Hotel Columbus, just before you get to the museum. I say just before because that's the way most people get here. I mean coming from the main square where all the buses stop or from the station.

Man: Yes, that's the way that taxi came in from the airport. I thought we drove past the museum though, just after we went through that big square you mentioned.

Woman: Aha, you probably mean here. That's actually an Art Gallery. It's worth having a look round, but the museum's more interesting. I think so, anyway.

Man: Thanks for the tip. I hope I get time. Right, well, tomorrow I've got to be at the conference center, they told me they'd put me in a hotel that wasn't too far away.

Woman: Oh yes. The conference centre's not too far at all. Let me see, er… yes, down here. You can walk there in 7 or 8 minutes, just cross over the road and go straight down this street here - that will take you towards the newer part of the city, walk on for a couple of blocks and then when you get here, you just have to go right a very short distance and then you'll see the conference center above the other buildings, it's quite big.

Man: I see. That all looks quite straightforward. Thanks very much.

Woman: My pleasure. Have a nice evening, Sir.

Now, listen to the next part of the talk and answer questions 18 to 20.

Now, I'm going to show you a typical allotment from the site closest to here on Finley Road. Let me just get this image up ... that's it ... can everyone see?

So, as you can see here, each plot has a fence around it and its own gate. Between the beds are grass walkways. That means you can walk in and around comfortably, and not get your boots too muddy. There are soil beds on either side. This plot, in fact, has two smaller flower beds opposite a much larger area for vegetables. And there's also a glass house for growing tomatoes or anything that needs more warmth and protection. Here you can see one of those at the front near the gate.

Most allotments have their own shed at the far end, as you can see. Allotments do need a water source though and there are stone sinks outside the sheds. A hosepipe can be attached to the tap for easy watering. Some of the plots have a pond, though they're not always popular as they tend to attract insects. And this plot has a compost bin at the end opposite the shed for recycling organic waste. Right, so, how to ...

 Now, listen to the rest of the talk and answer questions 15 to 20.

Right, can everyone see the plan now? Good. Let's start at the Balfour Road entrance since that's where most of you come and go from. The Farley Road entrance and lower playground won't be affected at all. Now, as you come into the top playground the two new classrooms will be on the right. There'll be a new gate and the steps down will be rebuilt. There'll be a ramp for disabled visitors too.

On the plan here, only the parts of the building affected by the plans are shown. I'll explain why the hall is marked on later. So, as I said, the new classrooms will be to the right of the entrance, and as you can see, will take up very little of the playground space. We feel the year six children need their own area away from the younger children. So, this one on the left of the two rooms will be the new year 6 classroom. As you can see there's no direct entrance from the playground. The plan is to include a small entrance area here from the playground for coats and boots and so on. Entrance to the classroom will be from that area. There'll also be an additional entrance to the hall from this cloakroom - so children will be able to get to the hall from two different directions - from inside the main building and from the new entrance area. I hope that's clear.

Now, as you all know, the hall doubles up as the cafeteria at lunchtime. One of the rumors I heard was that we're planning to dispense with the cafeteria and open up a snack bar. I can categorically state that replacing healthy school meals with a snack bar is not remotely in our thoughts.

The other new classroom - that's the one with the playground entrance here - is going to be an exciting new venture for us. That's because its principal use will be for the pre-school and after-school clubs. More and more parents want that facility outside school hours and we need a dedicated space to run these activities.

I think there were also worries about the nursery school, though I'm not really sure why, to be honest with you. I can tell you now that the whole area on the other side of the main school building will be totally unaffected. The nursery will continue operating as it does now.

There will be a couple of smaller constructions - modernization work really, down here on the other side of the top playground. Cycling into school is getting more and more popular so we're replacing the old bike sheds with a brand new bicycle bay. There'll be space for sixty bikes.

The children's toilets will also be modernized and the children will be able to enter them from inside the school building rather than from the playground as they do now. They'll be brand new staff toilets in that part of the building too, I'm pleased to say. So, I hope that's at least started to allay a few fears. Take a few minutes to look at the plan - I'll get out the way. Then, I'll answer a few questions if you have any. Does that ...

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20. Now, listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

Okay, when the torques are finished, there'll be various things that you can do and people you can meet around this area of the school.

Here in the main hall, in the far left-hand corner, as you look behind you, there are teachers from the music department who tell you all about what they've been doing in that department, and you can find out about instruments your children can learn and concerts they can take part in.

In the opposite corner, you'll find information about our healthy eating scheme with details of the meals and snacks that we provide. As you leave the main hall, through the doors at the back, on your right when you're outside the hall, you'll find a variety of refreshments, and while you're there, you'll be able to chat to other parents.

If you continue along that area of the school, on your left, you'll find a number of notice boards with all sorts of displays about what's going on at the school, future events and lots of interesting news and information to look at. At the far end of that area, you'll find a reception desk where you can get information and ask questions about the administrative aspects of the school and get to know the staff that you're in touch with when you contact the school by phone or email, for example, to report that your child is ill and can't come to school. There you can also register your interest in volunteering to help at the school, perhaps with the organization of events to raise money through the parents association, and you can have a chat with Helen Graham who runs that, she'll be very happy to welcome any new volunteers.

If you turn left before you get to the reception desk, you'll be going into the corridor where the majority of the teaching staff will be waiting to greet you and answer questions about their subjects. On the left of that corridor, you'll find maths, science and IT in that order. And on the right, you'll find languages, history, and geography and art again in that order. And at the far end of that corridor, the headteacher and various senior members of staff will be waiting to discuss any issues you may want to raise or any queries you may have.

Okay well, that's more than enough from me. I'd now like to ask Mrs. Forrester - our headteacher to tell you...

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20.

Now, let me give you some idea of the layout of the farm. The building where you bought your tickets is the New Barn, immediately to your right, and we’re now at the beginning of the main path to the farmland – and of course, the Car Park is on your left.

The Scarecrow you can see in the car park in the corner, beside the Main Path, is a traditional figure for keeping the birds away from crops, but our scarecrow is a permanent sculpture. It’s taller than a human being, so you can see it from quite a distance.

If you look ahead of you, you’ll see a Maze. It’s opposite the New Barn, beside the Side Path that branches off to the right just over there. The maze is made out of hedges which are too tall for young children to see over them, but it’s quite small, so you can’t get lost in it!

Now, can you see the bridge crossing the Fish Pool further up the Main Path? If you want to go to the café, go towards the bridge and turn right just before it. Walk along the side path and the Café’s on the first bend you come to.

The building was originally the schoolhouse, and it’s well over a hundred years old. As you may know, we run skills workshops here, where you can learn traditional crafts like woodwork and basket-making. You can see examples of the work, and talk to someone about the courses, in the Black Barn. If you take the side path to the right, here, just by the New Barn, you’ll come to the Black Barn, just where the path first bends.

Now, I mustn’t forget to tell you about picnicking, as I can see some of you have brought your lunch with you. You can picnic in the field, though do clear up behind you, of course. Or if you’d prefer a covered picnic area, there’s one near the Farm Yard: just after you cross the bridge, there’s a covered picnic spot on the right.

And the last thing to mention is Fiddy House itself. From here you can cross the bridge then walk along the footpath through the field to the left of the farmyard. That goes to the house, and it’ll give you a lovely view of it. It’s certainly worth a few photographs, but as it’s a private home, I’m afraid you can’t go inside. Right. Well, if you’re all ready, we’ll set off on our tour of the farm.

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20. Now, listen and answer questions 17 to 20.

Now, a word about the layout of the building. The auditorium, stage, and dressing rooms for the actors are all below ground level. Here on the ground floor, we have most of the rooms that the public doesn’t see. The majority are internal, so they have windows in the roof to light them.

Standing here in the foyer, you’re probably wondering why the box office isn't here, where the public would expect to find it. Well, you might have noticed it on your way in - although it's part of this building, it’s next door, with a separate entrance from the road.

For the theatre manager's office, you go across the foyer and through the double doors, turn right, and it's the room at the end of the corridor, with the door on the left.

The lighting box is where the computerised stage lighting is operated, and it’s at the back of the building. When you’re through the double doors, turn left, turn right at the water cooler, and right again at the end. It’s the second room along that corridor. The lighting box has a window into the auditorium, which of course is below us.

The artistic director’s office is through the double doors, turn right, and it’s the first room you come to on the right-hand side. And finally, for the moment, the room where I’ll take you next - the relaxation room. So if you’d like to come with me ...

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20. Now, listen and answer questions 17 to 20.

OK, that was something about the collections, and now, here is some more practical information, in case you need it.

Most of the museum facilities are downstairs, in the basement, so you go down the stairs here. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you'll find yourself in a sitting area, with comfortable chairs and sofas where you can have a rest before continuing your exploration of the museum.

We have a very good restaurant, which serves excellent food all day, in a relaxing atmosphere. To reach it, when you get to the bottom of the stairs, go straight ahead to the far side of the sitting area, then turn right into the corridor. You'll see the door of the restaurant facing you. If you just want a snack, or if you'd like to eat somewhere with facilities for children, we also have a café. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you'll need to go straight ahead, turn right into the corridor, and the café is immediately on the right.

And talking about children, there are baby-changing facilities downstairs. Cross the sitting area, continue straight ahead along the corridor on the left, and you and your baby will find the facilities on the left-hand side.

The cloakroom, where you should leave coats, umbrellas and any large bags, is on the left-hand side of the sitting area. It's through the last door before you come to the corridor.

There are toilets on every floor, but in the basement, they're the first rooms on the left when you get down there. OK, now if you’ve got anything to leave in the cloakroom, please do that now, and then we’ll start our tour.

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Now, listen and answer questions 15 to 20.

Well, here we are at the top of the tower, and we're going to look at the view from each direction. Out to the east, the large buildings about a kilometer away are on the Olympic site. There's an indoor arena for gymnastics, a stadium for track and field, and a swimming pool for races and synchronised swimming and also diving. If you look carefully down there, you can see the train lines. The Olympic site has its own station to encourage the use of public transport. There is also a car park, but it only holds a limited number of cars.

The formal park has some specially-created water features. If you look out here to the south, you can see a circular ornamental pond. And around to the west, you can relax and sit on a bench to smell the flowers in the rose garden, and finally up to the north, if you look in front of you now, there's a lake with a small island in the centre. You can hire rowing boats at the boat shed, which you can't see from here, but if you look through the trees, you can see the cafe, which has lovely views across the water.

OK, let's climb down now. We will go now and have a look at the nature reserve section of the park, which has opened up natural wetland to the public. The mangroves have been made more accessible to visitors by the boardwalk built during the park's upgrade. You’d think that people would come here to look at the unusual plant life of the area, but in fact, it’s more often used for cycling and it is very popular with the local clubs.

This is the far end of the park, and over there you can see the Frog Pond – a natural feature here long before the park was designed. Just next to it, we have our outdoor classroom, a favorite spot for school parties. The area is now most often used by primary schools for biology lessons.

And finally, let’s pass by the waterbird refuge, this area is in a sheltered part of the estuary. That’s why the park's viewing shelter is a favorite spot for bird watchers who can use it to spy through binoculars. You can watch a variety of waterbirds but most visitors expect to see black swans when they come to the shelter. You might spot one yourself right now. Well, here we are back at our starting point, the visitors…

Now, please look at the map I’ve given you of the house and gardens. We’re here, at the Information Centre. Follow the path marked with the arrow and the first area you come to is the orchard, on your left. As you go further down the path, there’s the kitchen garden on the right; and as you go round the first sharp corner, you will find to your left an area where different types of pear tree have been planted as well as some lovely flowers, and this is known as Pear Alley - designed by George himself.

Next to this is the greenhouse where some exotic plants and fruits are grown. Follow the path round the second corner and on your right, you will see the entrance to the Mulberry Garden with its 500-year-old tree.

Pass the Mulberry Garden, follow the path until you reach the front of the house. I suggest you spend a good hour wandering around this lovely building. A guide takes visitor groups around every two hours.

If you would like to purchase any of George’s books or other souvenirs, then leave the house by the side entrance, where you will find our shop, which is situated between the house and the garage which contains the magnificent old Rolls-Royce car which used to belong to George.

I expect by this time you may also be in need of a rest and some refreshment. Most visitors are, so why don’t you visit the Tea Room on the far side of the garage?

Now, listen and answer questions 14 to 20.

Now I’m going to give you a plan of the site and I just like to point out where everything is and then you can take a look at everything for yourself. I’ve already pointed out the river which is on the left and of course, running along the bottom is Woodside Road. Got it? Okay, now we’re standing at the entrance. See it at the bottom and immediately to our right is the ticket office. You won’t need that, because you’ve got your group booking, but just past it, are the toilets - always good to know where they are.

In front of us is the car park as you can see, and to the left by the entry gate is the gift shop. That’s where you can get copies of the guide like this one here. Now, beyond the car park, all the buildings are arranged in a half-circle with a yard in the middle. The big stone building at the top is the main workshop. That’s where the furnaces and where all the metal was smelted and the tools were cast, as you’ll be able to see. Now, in the top right-hand corner, that building with bigger windows is the showroom where samples of all the tools that were made through the ages are on display. In the top left corner is the grinding shop where the tools were sharpened and finished. And on one side of that, you can see the engine room, and on the other is the cafe which isn’t an antique - you’ll be pleased to know - though they do serve very nice old-fashioned teas.

The row of buildings you can see on the left are the cottages. These were built for the workers towards the end of the 18th century and they’re still furnished from that period, so you can get a good idea of ordinary people’s living conditions. Across the yard, from them, you can see the stables where the horses were kept for transporting the products. And the separate building in front of them is the Works office and that still has some of the old accounts on display. Right, if anyone wants a guided tour then I’m starting at the engine room. If you’d like to come along this way, please ladies and gentlemen.

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