A woman phones the organiser of a conversation club.
Questions 1–10 · Note completion
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Northgate Conversation Club — Enquiry Notes
1Name: Megan ______
Thorley. "It's Megan Thorley … T, H, O, R, L, E, Y." Why: the surname is spelled letter by letter. Trap: Josh asks "Is there an N in there, after the R?" — "No, there's no N", so Thornley is wrong.🔑 বাংলায়: নামের বানান অক্ষর ধরে বলা হয়েছে — Josh "N" আছে কিনা জিজ্ঞেস করলেও Megan বলেন N নেই, তাই Thornley লিখলে ভুল।
2Language she wants to improve: ______
Portuguese. "it's Portuguese I need to get better at." Why: "need to get better at" = wants to improve. Trap: Italian is mentioned first ("I still love it") but "that's not really the priority"; Lisbon/Portugal are places, not the language word you need.🔑 বাংলায়: প্রথমে Italian আসে, কিন্তু সেটা এখন priority না — কাজের জন্য তাঁর Portuguese উন্নত করা দরকার।
3Current standard: ______
elementary. "My first instinct is to call myself a complete beginner, but that's not quite fair. I passed an elementary exam last spring." Why: she corrects her own description. Trap:beginner is said first and rejected.🔑 বাংলায়: প্রথমে নিজেকে "beginner" বলতে চান, তারপর নিজেই শুধরে নেন — তিনি elementary পরীক্ষা পাস করেছেন।
4First learnt of the club from a ______
colleague. "I did see one of your posters in the library … but that wasn't the first I'd heard of you. A colleague of mine went along…" Why: "first I'd heard of you" = first learnt of the club. Trap: the poster came later, so poster or library is wrong.🔑 বাংলায়: library-র poster তিনি দেখেছেন ঠিকই, কিন্তু প্রথম শুনেছেন একজন colleague-এর কাছ থেকে — "first" শব্দটা খেয়াল করুন।
5Cost for each term: £ ______
45. "The full rate is forty-five pounds a term." … "There's a reduced rate of thirty pounds, but that's only for students and the over-sixties, so I'm afraid it wouldn't apply to you." Trap: £30 is the LAST number heard, but she is neither a student nor over sixty.🔑 বাংলায়: শেষে শোনা £30 হলো discount rate, যা শুধু student আর ষাটোর্ধ্বদের জন্য — Megan কোনোটাই নন, তাই তাঁর ফি £45।
6Meets on: ______ evenings
Monday. "Until the summer we always met on Wednesdays, but a choir has taken over the room … so since September we've been meeting on Mondays instead." Trap: Wednesday is the old day; "midweek" is when Megan does yoga.🔑 বাংলায়: আগে Wednesday ছিল, এখন রুমটা একটা choir নিয়েছে — তাই September থেকে Monday।
7Paired speaking starts at: ______ p.m.
7.15. "They run from seven … Well, I say seven. The doors open then … but the paired conversations themselves don't get going until a quarter past." Why: "don't get going until" = starts; a quarter past seven = 7.15. Trap: 7.00 is when the doors open; 9.00 is the finish.🔑 বাংলায়: সাতটায় শুধু দরজা খোলে; আসল paired conversation শুরু হয় সাতটা পনেরোতে (a quarter past)।
8Venue: Castle Street, on the floor over a ______
bookshop. "we're in the room above the bookshop … There's a café right next to it … newcomers often go in there by mistake." Why: "above" = on the floor over. Trap: the café is next door, not underneath the club.🔑 বাংলায়: club-টা bookshop-এর ওপরে; পাশের café-তে নতুনরা ভুল করে ঢুকে পড়ে — ওটা উত্তর না।
9Members must supply a ______ for drinks
mug. "don't worry about dictionaries, and we hand out name stickers at the door. The one thing we do ask is that everyone brings a mug." Trap: a dictionary and a name sticker are both mentioned but not needed; paper cups are no longer used.🔑 বাংলায়: dictionary বা name sticker আনতে হবে না — শুধু নিজের mug আনতে বলা হয়েছে, কারণ paper cup আর দেওয়া হয় না।
10Text Josh if absent — mobile: ______
07700 900326. "oh seven seven oh oh, nine oh oh, three six two. Sorry, I've got the end the wrong way round. It's three two six." Trap: the final group is corrected from 362 to 326 ("oh" = 0; spaces between the groups don't matter).🔑 বাংলায়: শেষ তিনটা digit প্রথমে 362 বলেন, তারপর শুধরে 326 করেন — "oh" মানে 0।
Section 2 · Questions 11–20 · a tour of a new community sports centre
🎧 Recording — Section 2 1 speaker · welcome talk
The manager of Ashgrove Community Sports Centre talks to local residents.
Questions 11–16 · Plan labelling
Label the plan below. Write the correct letter, A–I, next to Questions 11–16.
Ashgrove Community Sports Centre — ground floor (an original, exam-style plan).
11Café
D. "the reception desk here on your right … the café is the room immediately on your left as you come through the doors." Why: facing north from the entrance, left = west of the lobby = D. Trap: "the room beyond the reception desk" with big windows (G) is the first-aid room.🔑 বাংলায়: ঢুকে ডানে reception, আর café ঠিক বাঁ দিকে (D)। reception-এর পরের বড় জানালাওয়ালা রুমটা (G) first-aid room।
12Crèche
E. "it isn't the first door you come to on your right as you enter the foyer. That's just a storeroom. Instead, follow the corridor that curves away to the south-east … the crèche at the very end of it." = E. Trap: B is the first door on the right — the storeroom.🔑 বাংলায়: foyer-এ ঢুকে ডানের প্রথম দরজা (B) storeroom; দক্ষিণ-পূর্বে বাঁক নেওয়া corridor-এর একদম শেষে crèche (E)।
13Changing rooms
A. "On the opposite side of the foyer, to the west, are the changing rooms … everyone heading for the sports hall passes through them, since the hall itself lies directly beyond." = A, between the foyer and the hall.🔑 বাংলায়: foyer-এর পশ্চিমে, foyer আর sports hall-এর মাঝখানে changing rooms (A) — hall-এ যেতে এগুলোর ভেতর দিয়ে যেতে হয়।
14Dance studio
I. "take the narrow corridor that runs northwards along the western wall. You'll pass a small room on your right just before the hall begins, which is the coaches' office, and then keep going right to the end … in the north-west corner." = I. Trap: "It isn't part of the hall"; F is the coaches' office you pass on the way.🔑 বাংলায়: পশ্চিম দেয়াল ধরে উত্তরে গেলে পথে ডানে coaches' office (F) পড়ে; একদম শেষে উত্তর-পশ্চিম কোণে dance studio (I)।
15Climbing wall
C. "The climbing wall is beyond the far end of the pool, in the north-east corner … through the glass panel at the end of the pool corridor." = C.🔑 বাংলায়: pool-এর দূরের প্রান্ত পেরিয়ে উত্তর-পূর্ব কোণে climbing wall (C) — pool corridor-এর শেষে কাঁচের panel দিয়ে দেখা যায়।
16Physiotherapy room
H. "In our old building it was upstairs, so regular visitors sometimes head straight for the lift. There's no need. If you stand in the middle of the foyer and face north, it's the room directly ahead of you, squeezed in between the hall and the pool." = H. Trap: the lift/stairs are a red herring — it is on the ground floor.🔑 বাংলায়: পুরনো building-এ এটা ওপরতলায় ছিল, তাই অনেকে lift-এর দিকে যান — কিন্তু foyer থেকে উত্তরে মুখ করলে ঠিক সামনের রুম (H)।
Questions 17–20 · Multiple choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
17Originally, the land under the building was
A. "this whole area used to be the playing fields of Ashgrove High School." Why: playing fields = land used for games. Trap: the bus depot is "right next door" and the car park is "across the road" — both are guesses people make, not the history.🔑 বাংলায়: bus depot পাশে আর car park রাস্তার ওপারে — এগুলো মানুষের ভুল ধারণা; জায়গাটা আসলে একটা school-এর playing fields ছিল।
18Which statement about the pool is correct?
B. "install a floating barrier, so at busy times we can split the water into a lane-swimming section and a family zone." Why: split into a section and a zone = divided into separate areas. Trap: warmer water "simply wasn't affordable" (A); members-only evenings were proposed but the council refused (C).🔑 বাংলায়: গরম পানি খরচের কারণে হয়নি, members-only সন্ধ্যাও council মানেনি — শুধু floating barrier দিয়ে pool ভাগ করা যায়।
19Climbers aged below 16 are required to
A. "anyone under sixteen has to complete our forty-minute safety course before they climb." Why: safety course = training session. Trap: the parent-or-guardian rule "has been dropped" (B — an old rule); "Harnesses, helmets and shoes are all provided" (C).🔑 বাংলায়: বাবা-মা সাথে থাকার নিয়ম এখন বাদ, equipment-ও দেওয়া হয় — ষোলোর নিচে হলে আগে 40 মিনিটের safety course করতে হবে।
20Which improvement is certain to go ahead?
C. "What is definitely happening, in November, is that we're putting up lights around the football pitches … so that teams will be able to train after dark." Trap: the car park plan "was turned down" (A); the café terrace — "nothing has been decided yet" (B).🔑 বাংলায়: car park-এর আবেদন বাতিল, café terrace এখনো ঠিক হয়নি — নিশ্চিত শুধু football pitch-এ আলো লাগানো।
Section 3 · Questions 21–30 · a project on supermarket packaging waste
Two environmental science students, Rosie and Ethan, review their project.
Questions 21–25 · Multiple choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
21Why did the students decide to focus on supermarkets?
B. Rosie: "if the manager at the Hillside store hadn't agreed to let us spend time on the shop floor and look at their figures, I don't think we'd have gone ahead with it at all." Ethan: "That really was what made it possible." Trap: Ethan expected "loads of published research", but there is "surprisingly little on supermarkets specifically" (A); Dr Marsh "wasn't exactly enthusiastic" (C).🔑 বাংলায়: research কম ছিল, tutor-ও উৎসাহী ছিলেন না — Hillside store-এর manager সাহায্য করতে রাজি হওয়ায় project সম্ভব হয়েছে।
22What do the students regard as their most significant finding about shoppers?
A. "When we asked people to guess the weight of the packaging in their basket and then actually put it on the scales, they'd guessed roughly half the real amount." Ethan: "I'd put that at the centre of the report." Trap: both expected an age gap, but "the figures were almost identical across every age band" (B); "Most people said they'd happily pay a few pence more" (C).🔑 বাংলায়: বয়সভেদে পার্থক্য পাওয়া যায়নি, দামও সমস্যা না — আসল বড় finding হলো মানুষ packaging-এর ওজন আসলের প্রায় অর্ধেক ভেবেছিল।
23Which trial measure do the students conclude was the most effective?
C. Rosie: "taking the plastic off the fruit and vegetables cut the packaging in that whole aisle by nearly a third." Ethan: "If we go by the actual figures, you've got a point." Why: Ethan changes his mind. Trap: Ethan starts by calling the refill station "the big success", but "fewer than one in fifty customers used it" (A); bags are "a tiny proportion of the total weight" (B).🔑 বাংলায়: Ethan প্রথমে refill station-কে সফল বলেন, কিন্তু Rosie-র সংখ্যা শুনে মত বদলান — সবচেয়ে কার্যকর ছিল fruit ও vegetables থেকে plastic সরানো।
24What is the manager's main worry about selling loose produce?
B. "What does concern him is that loose produce gets handled and bruised, so more of it ends up being thrown away." Why: thrown away = discarded. Trap: slower checkouts "only lasted a couple of weeks" (A); "he wasn't worried about people helping themselves without paying" (C).🔑 বাংলায়: checkout ধীর হওয়া কয়েক সপ্তাহেই ঠিক হয়েছে, চুরি নিয়েও চিন্তা নেই — আসল চিন্তা হলো ফল-সবজি থেঁতলে গিয়ে বেশি ফেলে দিতে হয়।
25What do the students agree to do next?
C. "we get comparable figures from another chain, so we're not just reporting on one shop." Ethan: "Okay, let's do that." Trap: repeating the survey in spring — "there's no way we'd have time" (A); the film — "Maybe, if there's time at the end. But the comparison comes first" (B).🔑 বাংলায়: আবার survey করার সময় নেই, film পরে সময় থাকলে — তারা ঠিক করে আরেকটা supermarket chain-এর তথ্য নেবে।
Questions 26–30 · Matching
What do the students say about each type of packaging? Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A–G, next to Questions 26–30.
Comments
A It is no longer used by the store.
B It is often disposed of incorrectly at home.
C It extends the life of the product.
D It is more expensive for the store than the alternatives.
E Its weight increases fuel consumption.
F It is popular with customers.
G It is made largely from recycled material.
26plastic film on cucumbers
C. "A wrapped cucumber stays in good condition for well over a week longer than an unwrapped one." Why: stays in good condition longer = extends the life of the product. Trap: A — "Hillside haven't any plans to drop it."🔑 বাংলায়: শসার plastic মোড়ক শসাকে এক সপ্তাহেরও বেশি ভালো রাখে; store এটা বাদ দেবে না, তাই A না।
27glass jars
E. "The problem is the weight. All those lorries carrying heavy jars up and down the motorway burn far more diesel." Why: burn more diesel = increases fuel consumption. Trap: D — the manager says "plastic is actually dearer for them now"; G — glass "can be recycled again and again", which is not the same as being made from recycled material.🔑 বাংলায়: store-এর জন্য এখন plastic-ই বরং বেশি দামি; সমস্যা হলো ভারী হওয়ায় lorry বেশি diesel পোড়ায়।
28compostable bags
B. "Most people we asked hadn't realised they were any different from ordinary plastic bags, so at home they throw them in with their recycling, and that can contaminate the whole load. They're supposed to go in with food scraps." Why: put in the recycling instead of with food scraps = disposed of incorrectly. Trap: F — Ethan says "Shoppers seem to really like them", but Rosie disagrees: "I'm not sure they do."🔑 বাংলায়: Ethan ভাবেন ক্রেতারা এগুলো পছন্দ করেন (F), কিন্তু Rosie একমত না — মূল কথা হলো বাসায় মানুষ এগুলো ভুল bin-এ (recycling-এ) ফেলে।
29cardboard egg boxes
G. "They're mostly old newspapers and other waste paper that's been pulped and pressed into shape." Why: mostly old/waste paper = largely recycled material. Trap: D — Ethan "assumed the cardboard ones cost more", but "apparently the price is exactly the same."🔑 বাংলায়: দাম বেশি — এটা Ethan-এর ভুল ধারণা ছিল; আসল কথা হলো egg box বেশিরভাগই পুরনো কাগজ থেকে তৈরি।
30black meat trays
A. "Used to is right … Hillside replaced every one of them with clear trays last year." Why: replaced every one = no longer used. Trap: B — the recycling problem is with sorting machines, not with what shoppers do at home.🔑 বাংলায়: "Used to" শব্দটাই clue — Hillside গত বছর সব কালো tray বদলে স্বচ্ছ tray দিয়েছে, মানে এখন আর ব্যবহার হয় না।
Section 4 · Questions 31–40 · a lecture on early mapmaking
A history lecture on European maps from the 13th to the 16th century.
Questions 31–40 · Note completion
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Early European Mapmaking
31Mappa mundi: the Hereford example (c. 1300) is drawn on ______ (a type of treated animal hide)
vellum. "it's drawn on a single sheet of vellum, a kind of specially prepared animal skin … Because the Latin word 'mappa' originally meant a cloth or a napkin, students often assume it must have been painted on fabric, but it wasn't." Why: specially prepared animal skin = treated animal hide. Trap: cloth/fabric is the wrong assumption the lecturer rejects.🔑 বাংলায়: 'mappa' শব্দের মানে কাপড়, তাই অনেকে ভাবে এটা কাপড়ে আঁকা — কিন্তু আসলে vellum (বিশেষভাবে তৈরি পশুর চামড়া)-এর ওপর আঁকা।
32______ was positioned at the head of the map, where Eden appears
east. "North isn't at the top. East is, because that was where medieval Christians located the Garden of Eden." Why: at the top = at the head. Trap: north — what modern readers expect.🔑 বাংলায়: আমরা উপরে north আশা করি, কিন্তু এই map-এ উপরে east, কারণ সেখানে Garden of Eden ধরা হতো।
33its function: a pictorial ______ rather than a guide for travellers
encyclopaedia. "It certainly wasn't for finding your way … It's better to think of it as a kind of encyclopaedia, one huge picture bringing together history, geography, religion and the natural world." Why: one huge picture = pictorial. Trap: its use for planning a journey is explicitly denied.🔑 বাংলায়: এই map দিয়ে পথ খোঁজা যেত না — এটা ছিল ছবিতে আঁকা এক ধরনের encyclopaedia (US বানান encyclopedia-ও চলবে)।
34Portolan charts: earliest known chart named after ______, the city in which it turned up
Pisa. "It takes its name from the Italian city of Pisa, where it was discovered, although experts now think it was probably drawn in Genoa." Why: discovered = turned up. Trap: Genoa is where it was probably MADE, not where it was found.🔑 বাংলায়: chart-টা সম্ভবত Genoa-তে আঁকা, কিন্তু পাওয়া গেছে Pisa-তে আর নামও সেখান থেকে — প্রশ্ন "turned up" (পাওয়া গেছে) নিয়ে।
35on charts used at sea, the interior was mostly ______
blank. "Yet on the working charts, the land away from the shore is almost entirely blank. Some luxury copies made for wealthy patrons did fill the interior with rulers, tents and flags, but those were for display." Trap: the decorated interiors belong to luxury display copies, not working charts.🔑 বাংলায়: ধনীদের জন্য বানানো সাজানো কপিতে ভেতরের জমিতে রাজা-পতাকা আঁকা থাকত, কিন্তু নাবিকদের আসল chart-এ ভেতরটা প্রায় ফাঁকা (blank)।
36names of major ports were marked in ______
red. "the most important harbours were written in red, and lesser ones in black." Trap: black is for the less important harbours.🔑 বাংলায়: গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বন্দরের নাম লাল (red) কালিতে, কম গুরুত্বপূর্ণগুলো কালো কালিতে।
37no lines of latitude; distances were measured against a ______ on the chart
scale. "You won't find any grid of latitude and longitude on them, though. To measure a distance, the navigator set a pair of dividers against a scale, marked off in miles and usually tucked into the margin." Why: set dividers against = measured against. Trap: the grid is absent; dividers are the instrument, and the ruler (mentioned earlier) was for finding direction — neither is the thing marked on the chart.🔑 বাংলায়: এই chart-এ latitude-longitude-এর grid নেই; দূরত্ব মাপা হতো dividers দিয়ে chart-এর কোণায়/margin-এ আঁকা scale-এর সাথে মিলিয়ে।
38Mercator (1569): routes keeping one unchanging ______ are drawn as direct lines
bearing. "so that any course with a constant compass bearing appears as a perfectly straight line." Why: course = route; constant = unchanging. Trap: "compass" is also heard, but it is the instrument, not what stays unchanged.🔑 বাংলায়: Mercator-এর map-এ একই compass bearing (দিক) ধরে চলা পথ সোজা লাইনে দেখায় — compass শব্দটা যন্ত্র, উত্তর bearing।
39distortion: Greenland seems as big as ______, although that landmass is 14 times larger
Africa. "Greenland appears bigger than Australia and roughly as large as Africa, when in fact the African continent is about fourteen times its size." Trap: Australia — Greenland looks BIGGER than it, not the same size, and no 14× figure is given for it.🔑 বাংলায়: Greenland-কে Australia-র চেয়ে বড় আর Africa-র সমান দেখায়; অথচ Africa আসলে প্রায় 14 গুণ বড়।
40he named his bound volume of maps an 'atlas' after a legendary ______, not the figure who supported the sky
king. "he called it an atlas. Interestingly, he wasn't thinking of the giant from Greek myth who holds up the sky, but of a legendary king of Mauretania, famous for his learning, who was said to have made the first globe of the heavens." Trap:giant is the figure he was NOT thinking of; atlas is the name itself, not the person it honours.🔑 বাংলায়: আকাশ কাঁধে ধরে রাখা গ্রিক giant-এর নামে নয় — Mercator 'atlas' নামটা দেন Mauretania-র এক কিংবদন্তি জ্ঞানী king-এর নামে।