Science, Nature & Agriculture – B2 English Listening Exercise
Listening 1
You will hear an olive farmer called Leo Rossi describing the reality of his inaugural harvest and the subsequent oil-pressing process. For questions 9-18, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
Olive farming
Leo was surprised when his olive trees were damaged by (9)……………………… in his first year.
Leo found that the biggest threat to his olive crop was a flock of (10)……………………… rather than insects.
Leo decided to use (11)……………………… instead of machines to harvest the fruit.
Leo placed (12)……………………… on the ground to catch the falling olives.
Leo says that the most tedious job was removing the (13)……………………… from the harvested olives.
Leo was annoyed because the olives left (14)……………………… all over his hands and clothes.
At the olive press, Leo was unexpectedly asked to fill in a (15)……………………… before proceeding.
Leo and his wife thought their first batch of oil tasted strongly of (16)……………………… .
Leo realised that his mistake was harvesting the olives when they were (17)……………………… .
Next year, Leo hopes to supply his olive oil to a (18)……………………… .
ANSWER KEY
9 heavy snow 10 birds 11 wooden rakes 12 plastic nets
13 small branches 14 purple marks 15 registration form
16 bitter almonds 17 too green 18 local restaurant
AUDIO SCRIPT
Leo Rossi: Hi everyone, my name is Leo Rossi, and I’m here to share my experiences of starting out as an olive farmer. My wife and I bought a small farm in the south a couple of years ago, and I want to tell you about the reality of our very first harvest.
When we first moved, the locals warned us about the unpredictable weather. I was mentally prepared for a severe drought during the summer, or perhaps strong winds in the autumn. But what actually caught us off guard was the heavy snow that arrived late in the winter. It caused several of the older tree branches to snap, which was devastating.
As the olives began to grow, I kept a close eye out for pests. Most olive farmers will tell you horror stories about the olive fly, or tiny worms that ruin the fruit. Fortunately, we didn’t see any of those. Instead, our main problem was birds. A massive flock of them decided our orchard was the perfect dining spot, and they took a fair portion of our crop!
When autumn arrived, it was time for the harvest. There are various ways to do this. Large commercial farms use tractors that literally shake the trees, but that felt too aggressive to me. I initially considered just picking them individually by hand, but with five hundred trees, that would take forever. Ultimately, we compromised and used wooden rakes to gently comb the branches and detach the fruit.
Of course, you need a way to collect them as they fall. I’d seen pictures of traditional farmers letting them drop into woven baskets, which looks very romantic. However, the modern and much more practical approach is to lay out huge plastic nets beneath the trees. We did this, and it made gathering the fallen fruit so much easier.
The next stage is sorting and cleaning the olives. You’d think this would be simple, but it’s incredibly tedious. We didn’t have to worry about removing the olive stones, as the press does that later. But picking out all the leaves and, even worse, the small branches that had fallen into the mix was absolutely mind-numbing work. Every single one had to be removed by hand.
By the time we finished sorting, our kitchen looked like a disaster zone. I had expected a bit of dirt, but the freshly picked olives seep a dark liquid. They left purple marks completely covering our hands, our clothes, and the kitchen floor. It took days of scrubbing to get things looking normal again.
Next came the exciting part: taking our crop to the local olive press. I had called ahead and booked a specific time slot, so I assumed we’d just drive in and dump our fruit. But to my frustration, the manager handed me a lengthy registration form to complete before they would even weigh my truck. It took thirty minutes to fill out!
Finally, the pressing was done and the oil was bottled. We rushed home, toasted some bread, and poured our fresh oil over it. We were expecting that classic, rich, peppery flavour you get from premium oils. Instead, we took a bite and looked at each other in dismay. It had an overpowering taste of bitter almonds, which was definitely not what we wanted for a salad dressing!
So, where had we gone wrong? I spoke to a neighbouring farmer who tasted our oil. He explained that timing is everything. We had been so eager and worried about autumn storms ruining the crop that we didn’t wait for the fruit to mature. We had picked them when they were too green, which resulted in that harsh, unpleasant flavour.
Well, it was a steep learning curve, but we are much better prepared for this year’s harvest. The trees look healthy, and if we get the timing right, we should produce some fantastic oil. We don’t plan to sell it in supermarkets. Our goal for the upcoming season is to partner with a local restaurant that appreciates high-quality, organic produce. Wish us luck!
Listening 2
You will hear a man called Lance Arbury telling a group about his job at a zoo. For questions 9-18, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
Lance Arbury: working at a zoo
Lance’s official job title at the zoo is (9)……………………… keeper.
The subject which Lance studied at college is (10)……………………… .
During his internship, Lance had a job looking after (11)……………………… .
When Lance arrives at work each day, his first task is usually to go to a (12)……………………… .
Lance’s favourite part of the day is when he gives the animals their (13)……………………… .
Lance says that he tends to regard the animals as his (14)……………………… .
Lance says that for his job he has to be (15)……………………… as well as physically fit.
Lance disagrees with people who think that rhinos are (16)……………………… by nature.
Lance invites his audience to attend what’s called a (17)……………………… at the zoo.
Lance recommends those wishing to attend to (18)……………………… to be sure of a place.
ANSWER KEY
9 large mammal 10 zoo biology 11 snakes 12 briefing meeting 13 breakfast
14 family 15 observant 16 aggressive 17 Career Discovery Day 18 register online
AUDIO SCRIPT
Lance: Hi, my name’s Lance and I work as an animal keeper at the local zoo. I’ve come along today to tell you about my job and about an upcoming event at the zoo for young people.
So what do I do? I am an animal keeper, and I am responsible for one group of animals at the zoo. I’m lucky enough to have the elephants under my charge, but I’m not just an elephant keeper because I also look after the rhinos and hippos. In fact, I’m officially called the large mammal keeper, because the zoo actually has quite a few different types.
Now you might be wondering what qualifications you need to be a keeper. Well I didn’t go to university, so I don’t have a degree in zoology, nor did I study veterinary science. The subject I studied is known as zoo biology and I’m a graduate of zoo-keeping college.
On the course I did, you learn about a range of animals – you only specialise once you get a job. So you learn about looking after birds, fish and insects as well. In my case, I got an internship looking after snakes immediately after I qualified. Although it was interesting, I knew I didn’t want to do that as a career, and I was glad to get my job here.
So what does my job involve? Although you’d think my first job would be to check out the animals and make sure they’re all OK, in fact the night keeper will do that as his last job before going home. So a typical day for me begins with a briefing meeting. That’s when I get together with my co-workers to discuss the day’s activities.
After that, I go to say good morning to the animals in my charge. They are fed and cleaned all day, but I like to be the one to give them breakfast. For me that is the best part of the day. Other meals will be distributed by my assistants. Another favourite activity is giving the elephants their daily shower – that’s always a laugh.
I try to make a difference to the lives of each one in my care, and you form strong bonds with them. For me they are more like family than friends. I guess that’s because I deal with big animals that all have characters – perhaps you wouldn’t grow so fond of insects or reptiles.
Zoo-keeping is physically demanding, so you have to be fit. In my particular job, you also need to be observant, because I am dealing with intelligent animals, and you never know what they are going to do next. I look out for signs of nervousness or anger and try to find out what’s wrong.
Rhinos, for example, have a reputation for being aggressive, but this is not generally true. They are very perceptive intelligent animals and can be trained in much the same way as dogs and horses, to follow commands and so on.
So, if you’re interested in a job like mine, the zoo is holding what’s known as a Career Discovery Day on November sixth, and anyone over the age of sixteen is welcome to come along. Younger kids can come too – but they need to be accompanied by an adult. There’ll be a tour of the zoo and talks from various people who work there. Check-in will begin at 12:30 and the events will start at around one a clock and go on till four.
Our zoo gets lots of people coming to these events, and numbers are limited, so be sure to register online if you’re interested. I’m afraid I can’t take applications now because there’s a fee of £25 to pay and that has to be done with a credit card. So I guess you’ll need to discuss it with your parents. OK, so before I go on to …