Field Trips – B2 English Listening Exercise

9  coastal reserve    10  height    11  jellyfish    12  projector

13  microplastics    14  microscope    15  wind speed

16  seagull    17  glass trophy    18  inspiring

Liam: Hi everyone. My name is Liam, and I’m going to tell you about the culminating day of our recent science field trip. Everyone initially thought we were heading to the mountains for our data collection, and some of my classmates were hoping for the forest. Actually, though, our destination was a coastal reserve, which was perfect for marine biology.

On the final day, we had to present our research findings to the rest of the class. Usually, the teachers just go through the class register in alphabetical order, or sometimes they draw names out of a hat. However, our teacher, Mr Davis, has a great sense of humour, so he announced that we would be presenting in order of our height, starting with the shortest student and working up to the tallest. As I’m pretty tall, I was relieved to be near the end!

The first speaker was a girl called Sarah. I thought she would focus her research on seagulls or perhaps the crabs we found in the rock pools. Instead, she did a brilliant study on jellyfish, which was absolutely fascinating.

Unfortunately, her presentation was interrupted by a technical glitch. The laptop we were using was working absolutely fine, but without warning, the projector suddenly shut down and wouldn’t turn back on. We had to wait ten minutes for a replacement to be brought in.

When it was eventually my turn, I presented my own research. I didn’t want to look at plant life, and for a while, I considered doing something on water pollution in general. In the end, though, I finally settled on investigating microplastics along the shoreline. It’s a huge environmental issue right now.

To gather my data, I didn’t just rely on a standard magnifying glass or a notebook. Because the fragments are so tiny, I actually relied heavily on a microscope back at the field centre to accurately identify the different types of materials in my sand samples.

There were so many great talks, but one really stood out. Another boy did his project on the local weather conditions. I fully expected him to show us endless graphs about rainfall or temperature changes. Rather surprisingly, it focused entirely on wind speed, which actually has a massive impact on the coastal erosion there.

After the morning session, we sat outside to eat our packed lunches. A stray dog came sniffing around our bags, but it was actually a sneaky seagull that swooped down and snatched my sandwich right out of my hand! I couldn’t believe it.

Once we returned to the classroom, Mr Davis gave us some feedback on all of our hard work. He usually hands out a book or some chocolates to the best speaker. This time, however, he presented a rather beautiful glass trophy to the student with the most creative research method.

My parents had warned me that the trip sounded stressful, and to be honest, I felt it was very tiring at times. For me, however, the whole experience was incredibly inspiring, and it’s definitely made me want to study marine biology at university.

9 scale 10 software 11 mineral supplement 12 water pollution

13 veterinary experts 14 profit margin 15 ventilation system

16 welfare standards 17 disease threats 18 processing plant

Leo: Hi everyone, my name is Leo, and I’m here to give a presentation on our recent geography field trip. We visited a modern dairy farming operation to analyze the inherent challenges of the industry today. When we arrived, I expected to see a small, traditional setup, much like the pictures in our textbooks. However, the sheer scale of the operation was the first thing that struck me. It was practically an industrial village!

One of the first areas we toured was the milking shed. I thought the farmer would spend hours milking the cows by hand or with basic machines. Instead, it’s all completely automated with robotic milkers. But it’s not without its drawbacks. The farmer explained that while maintaining the traditional tractors is relatively easy, repairing the software for the robotic milkers is a major headache, often requiring expensive specialist technicians.

Next, we looked at animal nutrition, which is highly scientific nowadays. You’d assume they mostly just eat grass from the fields, but actually, a specific mineral supplement is added to their diet to keep them healthy. This additive is incredibly expensive and represents a huge portion of the farm’s budget.

We then moved on to discuss the environmental impact of dairy farming. We often hear in the media about carbon emissions being the big issue for agriculture. In reality, managing the water pollution caused by farm waste is their most immediate daily struggle. They have to strictly control runoff to protect local rivers, which requires massive holding tanks and careful planning.

I also asked about job opportunities and the local rural economy. The manager said finding people to do heavy lifting or drive machinery isn’t the problem anymore. Instead, hiring reliable veterinary experts to monitor herd health is a constant challenge, as fewer graduates want to live in such remote rural areas.

Financially, it’s a very tough business. People constantly complain about rising supermarket prices for milk and cheese, yet the actual profit margin the farmer receives has been shrinking year on year. They are squeezed between high production costs and the low prices dictated by major retailers.

Because of these financial pressures, farmers have to make difficult choices about where to invest. They originally planned to build a new barn this year to house more cows. Instead, investing in a modern ventilation system took priority to keep the cows cool during the increasingly hot summer months.

This ties into consumer demands. Consumers are demanding more ethical practices. While organic milk is increasingly popular, the farmer noted that fulfilling strict welfare standards is what really drives up their daily operational costs. They have to provide more space, better bedding, and constant health checks.

Looking to the future, I figured extreme weather events like droughts would be their main worry regarding climate change. However, the farmer is most concerned about new disease threats that warmer temperatures might bring to the region, potentially exposing the herd to illnesses they’ve never faced before.

Overall, this trip completely changed my view of the agricultural sector. It’s far more complex than I ever imagined. Next term, rather than visiting an arable farm as originally planned, we’re going to focus on a processing plant to see what happens to the milk after it leaves the farm gates. Thanks for listening!