SOURCE + TRANSCRIPT

SPEECH 1: https://www.ieltsjacky.com/ielts-listening-online-sample-6.html
How can you understand your teen better? Meet Emily and Matthew. They are Generation Y
parents or Millennials. Both are in their mid 30s, work as middle managers and worship
Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian and Eminem. And meet Ava their Generation Z
daughter. She is a middle school student whose icons are Jaden Smith, Zara Larsson and
George Mateus. Overall, a typical present-day family with its honours and oddities.

But there's something hazy too. Like her peers, Ava feels that her parents just don't
understand her well. They often feel the same way about their beloved girl. The root cause
behind this is the generation gap, a contrast in attitudes between people of various age
groups.
Here are the three major mindset differences between Gen Z kids and their Gen Y parents.
Matthew bought himself a dumb phone when he was 18. Ava got her first Internet-enabled
smartphone as a present when she just turned 11. Gen Z's are true digital natives. For them,
gadgets are not a luxury but indispensable tools. Your mission as a parent is to set reasonable
usage limits and meaningful purposes.

Emily dreamed of becoming a singer or a movie star when she was little. Ava is all about
self-development, startups and earning a buck while having fun. Gen Z's are very money
conscious and entrepreneurial. They are unlikely to chase unicorns but instead learn and
work their way up step by step.

Matthew and Emily hang out on Facebook and use it to showcase the brightest sides of their
lives to everyone. Ava's social media experience goes far beyond that. She shares her
innermost feelings and thoughts, but she does that via anonymous platforms like Snapchat or
Yukia. Although Gen Z's literally live in social media, they favour peer-to-peer social media
and online anonymity. Teens actively seek so-called ‘pockets’ where they can be unfiltered
and worry less about making mistakes.

Here we come to the essence. The described differences in attitudes are crucial when it
comes to understanding and raising your Gen Z kid. Simply put, don't take kids gadgets
away. They really need them. Don't “Because I said so!” on them. Try to explain and
convince. Don't hold them back from following their ambitions. It's their inspiration. Respect
to their privacy, including online. Everyone needs some space. And please don't bore them
with long talks. Their attention span is 8 seconds. Lecture any longer and they're (snoring
sound). After all, parents just want their kid to be well and live a happy life. Understanding
your child by learning about their motivations and values is the eminent step towards this
noble goal. So, go on and step up.

SPEECH 2: https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy
00:00
How often do we hear that people just don't care? How many times have you been told that
real, substantial change isn't possible because most people are too selfish, too stupid or too
lazy to try to make a difference in their community? I propose to you today that apathy as we
think we know it doesn't actually exist; but rather, that people do care, but that we live in a
world that actively discourages engagement by constantly putting obstacles and barriers in
our way.
00:30
I'll give you some examples of what I mean. Let's start with city hall. You ever see one of
these before? This is a newspaper ad. It's a notice of a zoning application change for a new
office building so the neighborhood knows what's happening. As you can see, it's impossible
to read. You need to get halfway down to even find out which address they're talking about,
and then further down, in tiny 10-point font, to find out how to actually get involved.
Imagine if the private sector advertised in the same way -- if Nike wanted to sell a pair of
shoes --

00:59
(Laughter)

01:00
And put an ad in the paper like that.

01:02
(Applause)

01:06
Now, that would never happen. You'll never see an ad like that, because Nike actually wants
you to buy their shoes, whereas the city of Toronto clearly doesn't want you involved with
the planning process, otherwise their ads would look something like this, with all the
information laid out clearly. As long as the city's putting out notices like this to try to get
people engaged, then of course people aren't going to be engaged. But that's not apathy; that's
intentional exclusion.

01:32
Public space.

01:33
(Applause)

01:36
The manner in which we mistreat our public spaces is a huge obstacle towards any type of
progressive political change, because we've essentially put a price tag on freedom of
expression. Whoever has the most money gets the loudest voice, dominating the visual and
mental environment. The problem with this model is there are some amazing messages that
need to be said, that aren't profitable to say. So you're never going to see them on a billboard.

02:00
The media plays an important role in developing our relationship with political change,
mainly by ignoring politics and focusing on celebrities and scandals, but even when they do
talk about important political issues, they do it in a way that I feel discourages engagement.
I'll give you an example. The "Now" magazine from last week: progressive, downtown
weekly in Toronto. This is the cover story. It's an article about a theater performance, and it
starts with basic information about where it is, in case you actually want to go and see it after
you've read the article -- where, the time, the website. Same with this -- it's a movie review.
An art review. A book review -- where the reading is in case you want to go. A restaurant --
you might not want to just read about it, maybe you want to go there. So they tell you where
it is, the prices, the address, the phone number, etc.

02:47
Then you get to their political articles. Here's a great article about an important election race
that's happening. It talks about the candidates, written very well, but no information, no
follow-up, no websites for the campaigns, no information about when the debates are, where
the campaign offices are. Here's another good article, about a new campaign opposing
privatization of transit, without any contact information for the campaign. The message
seems to be that the readers are most likely to want to eat, maybe read a book, maybe see a
movie, but not be engaged in their community. You might think this is a small thing, but I
think it's important, because it sets a tone and it reinforces the dangerous idea that politics is
a spectator sport.

03:28
Heroes: How do we view leadership? Look at these 10 movies. What do they have in
common? Anyone? They all have heroes who were chosen. Someone came up to them and
said, "You're the chosen one. There's a prophecy. You have to save the world." And then
they go off and save the world because they've been told to, with a few people tagging along.
This helps me understand why a lot of people have trouble seeing themselves as leaders --
because it sends all the wrong messages about what leadership is about. A heroic effort is a
collective effort, number one. Number two, it's imperfect; it's not very glamorous, and
doesn't suddenly start and suddenly end. It's an ongoing process your whole life. But most
importantly, it's voluntary. It's voluntary. As long as we're teaching our kids that heroism
starts when someone scratches a mark on your forehead, or someone tells you you're part of a
prophecy, they're missing the most important characteristic of leadership, which is that it
comes from within. It's about following your own dreams, uninvited, and then working with
others to make those dreams come true.

04:30
Political parties: oh, boy. Political parties could and should be one of the basic entry points
for people to get engaged in politics. Instead, they've become, sadly, uninspiring and
uncreative organizations that rely so heavily on market research and polling and focus groups
that they end up all saying the same thing, pretty much regurgitating back to us what we
already want to hear at the expense of putting forward bold and creative ideas. And people
can smell that, and it feeds cynicism.

04:59
(Applause)

05:05
Charitable status. Groups who have charitable status in Canada aren't allowed to do
advocacy. This is a huge problem and a huge obstacle to change, because it means that some
of the most passionate and informed voices are completely silenced, especially during
election time. Which leads us to the last one, which is: our elections.
05:23
As you may have noticed, our elections in Canada are a complete joke. We use out-of-date
systems that are unfair and create random results. Canada's currently led by a party that most
Canadians didn't actually want. How can we honestly and genuinely encourage more people
to vote when votes don't count in Canada? You add all this up together, and of course people
are apathetic. It's like trying to run into a brick wall.

05:46
Now, I'm not trying to be negative by throwing all these obstacles out and explaining what's
in our way. Quite the opposite -- I actually think people are amazing and smart and that they
do care, but that, as I said, we live in this environment where all these obstacles are being put
in our way. As long as we believe that people, our own neighbors, are selfish, stupid or lazy,
then there's no hope. But we can change all those things I mentioned. We can open up city
hall. We can reform our electoral systems. We can democratize our public spaces.

06:20
My main message is: if we can redefine apathy, not as some kind of internal syndrome, but
as a complex web of cultural barriers that reinforces disengagement, and if we can clearly
define, clearly identify what those obstacles are, and then if we can work together
collectively to dismantle those obstacles, then anything is possible.

06:41
Thank you.

SPEECH 3 (part 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rwag4GtdDU

JANE: Hello, Jane Fairbanks speaking

FRANK: Oh, good morning. My name’s Frank Pritchard. I’ve just retired and moved to
Southoe. I’d like to become a volunteer, and I gather you co-ordinate voluntary work in the
village

JANE: That’s right.

FRANK: What sort of thing could I do?

JANE: Well, we need help with the village library. We borrow books from the town library,
and individuals also donate them. So, one thing you could do is get involved in collecting
them – if you’ve got a car, that is

FRANK: Yes, that’s no problem.

JANE: The times are pretty flexible so we can arrange it to suit you. Another thing is the
records that we keep of the books we’re given, and those we borrow and need to return to the
town library. It would be very useful to have another person to help keep them up to date.

FRANK: Right. I’m used to working on a computer – presume they’re computerised?

JANE: Oh yes

FRANK: Is the library purpose-built? I haven’t noticed it when I’ve walked round the
village.

JANE: No, we simply have the use of a room in the village hall, the WestRoom. It’s on the
left as you go in.

FRANK: I must go and have a look inside the hall.

JANE: Yes, it’s a nice building.

FRANK: Do you run a lunch club in the village for elderly people? I know a lot of places do

JANE: Yes, we have a very successful club.

FRANK: I could help with transport, if that’s of any use.

JANE: Ooo definitely. People come to the club from neighbouring villages, and we’re
always in need of more drivers.

FRANK: And does the club have groups that focus on a particular hobby, too? I could get
involved in one or two, particularly if there are any art groups.

JANE: Excellent. I’ll find out where we need help and get back to you.

FRANK: Fine. What about help for individual residents. Do you arrange that at all?

JANE: Yes, we do it as a one-off. In fact, there’s Mrs Carroll. She needs a lift to the hospital
next week, and we’re struggling tofind someone

FRANK: When’s her appointment?

JANE: On Tuesday. It would take the whole morning.

FRANK: I could do that.

JANE: Oh, that would be great. Thank you. And also, next week, we’re arranging to have
some work done to Mr Selsbury’s house before he moves, as he isn’t healthy enough to do it
himself. We’ve got some people to decorate his kitchen, but if you could do some weeding in
his garden that would be wonderful

FRANK: OK. I’d enjoy that. And presumably the day and time are flexible.
JANE: Oh yes. Just say when would suit you best, and we’ll let Mr Selsbury know.

FRANK: Good

JANE: The volunteers group also organises monthly social events, which is a great way to
meet other people, of course.

FRANK: Uhuh

JANE: So next month, on the 19th of October, we’re holding a quiz-a couple of residents are
great at planning unusual ones, and we always fill the village hall.

FRANK: That sounds like fun. Can I do anything to help?

JANE: Well, because of the number of people, we need plenty of refreshments for halfway
through. So, if you could provide any, we’d be grateful.

FRANK: I’m sure I could. I’ll think about what to make, and let you know

JANE: Thank you. Then on November the 18th, we’re holding a dance, also in the village
hall. We’ve booked a band that specialises in music of the 1930s – they’ve been before, and
we’ve had a lot of requests to bring them back.

FRANK: I’m not really a dancer, but I’d like to do something to help

JANE: Well, we sell tickets in advance, and having an extra person to check them at the
door, as people arrive, would be good – it can be quite a bottleneckif everyone arrives at
once!

FRANK: OK, I’m happy with that.

JANE: We’re also arranging a New Year’s Eve party. We’re expecting that to be a really big
event, so instead of the village hall, it’ll be held in the Mountfort Hotel

FRANK: The …?

JANE: Mountfort. M-O-U-N-T-F-O-R-T Hotel. It isn’t in Southoe itself, but it’s only a
couple of miles away. The hotel will be providing dinner and we’ve booked a band. The one
thing we haven’t got yet is a poster. That isn’t something you could do, by any chance, is it?

FRANK: Well actually, yes. Before I retired I was a graphic designer, so that’s right up my
street

JANE: Oh perfect! I’ll give you the details, and then perhaps you could send me a draft …

FRANK: Of course