What does the politician say the government will do in the following areas? A increase expenditure B maintain the same level of expenditure C reduce expenditureW: Can you tell us, minister, what your government plans to do if they are returned to office after the next election? Particularly in the areas of health, research and education. M: We certainly plan to raise the level of funding for public hospitals, including providing funds to create more hospital beds. W: So that means building more hospitals? M: Yes. That is definitely on our agenda. W: And would your health package include an increase to the subsidy on prescription drugs? Many essential medicines are terribly expensive and some people can’t afford them at all. M: We already have a very high level of subsidy for prescription medicines, and negotiations are currently taking place with the major drug companies to try to get them to improve efficiency and lower their prices. We see this as a more useful approach, which should result in less government money being spent on this. W: Oh. OK. Education is another very important area. Do you anticipate allocating more money to build schools, in particular primary schools, some of which are now very old? M: Yes, we do of course see education as important, but we feel that the current level of funding is appropriate and we hope that by closing some schools in areas where the population has dropped, that we’ll be able to find the money to subsidise schools that are in need. W: And what about R&D, research and development? Compared to many other countries, the amount of money provided for scientific research in this country is extremely low. So much so that many of our best scientists are forced to go overseas. M: This is an area of serious concern, and we are planning to allocate over 3 billion dollars in university research grants over the next five years. We accept that this is an area that has been under-funded. W: Finally, minister, let’s look at our road transport system. The current trend seems to be for the government to seek private funding for the construction of major roads... which the drivers then pay to use. Do you see this as fair? M: Basically, it makes sense. If a road or tunnel is built by a private company, then that company must be entitled to charge motorists to use it. This allows us to have a safe, modern road system at no additional cost to the state, which in turn means that we, as a government, don’t have to set any additional funds aside for public work of this nature. W: I think there are many drivers who would disagree with you there, minister, but we’ll have to leave it there for this evening. I’m afraid. Thank you for coming into the studio. M: Thank you.

What did the woman find difficult about the different research techniques she used? Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter A-G, next to questions 1-5. Difficulties A obtaining permission B deciding on a suitable focus C concentrating while gathering data D working collaboratively E processing data she had gathered F finding a suitable time to conduct the research G getting hold of suitable equipment Research techniquesM: So, let’s look in detail at how you gathered your data. Let’s start with lesson observation. W: Well, it generally went quite smoothly. I chose my focus and designed my checklist. Then teachers allowed me into their classes without any problems, which surprised me. It was afterwards that the gruelling work started! M: Yeah, it’s very time consuming, isn’t it? Making sense of... analysing... your observation notes. W: Absolutely. Much more so than interview data, for example... that was relatively easy to process, though I wanted to make sure I used a high-quality recorder... to make transcription easier and I had to wait until one became available. M: Right. And did you interview some kids as well? W: In the end, yes, I talked to ten, and they were great. I’d imagined I’d be bored listening to them, but... M: So it was easy to concentrate? W: Sure. One of the teachers was a bit worried about the ethics, you know, whether it was right to interview young pupils, and it took a while for him to agree to let me talk to three of the kids in his class but he relented in the end. M: Good. What other methods did you use? W: I experimented with questionnaires, but I really regret that now. I decided to share the work with another student but we had such different agendas it ended up taking twice as long. M: That’s a shame... it might be worth you reflecting on ways you might improve on that for future projects. W: You’re right, yeah. M: OK. W: And the other thing I did was stills photography. I didn’t take as many pictures as I’d hoped to. M: Lack of time? W: It’s pretty easy just snapping away... but I wanted each snap to have a purpose, you know, that would contribute to my research aims and I found that difficult. M: Well, that’s understandable, but remember...

Who thinks the following? A Katya B Peter C both Katya and PeterW: OK, Peter, we need to decide about our presentation next week. M: Er, yes, Katya. I was thinking maybe we could do something on the Internet. I’d say the Internet was really important in terms of globalisation. W: I think anyone on the planet can get hold of all that information, and all you need is a computer, a modem and a phone line. Peter. And apparently, I was reading, the Internet and mobile telephones allow developing countries to leapfrog steps in the development of their infrastructure. M: What does that mean? W: Well, for example, the Philippines has a poor landline telephone system, but with a mobile phone and computer, you don’t need to use it. M: I don’t even know anyone here who uses a computer with their mobile! W: But in my book, the Internet has moved too far from its non-commercial roots. When it was created it was meant to be a tool for people to communicate with each other. These days it’s dominated by big business which is only interested in selling you yet more stuff. I get so much junk mail, and all those pop-ups! M: Oh, that doesn’t bother me. I rather like to know what’s on offer. W: The Internet could also be seen as divisive. M: In what way? W: Well-off countries have much greater access to the Internet and communication services in general. What we are witnessing is an information revolution and less well-off countries are getting left behind. M: Up to a point. Yes, not everyone has, access to the Internet at home. But many places have shared communal access - some villages in Africa, for example. But on the whole, it’s such a great way of exchanging ideas. W: Ha! I think you’ll find it’s a one-way street. The vast majority of websites are in English and western values dominate. M: I know, I know. You think it’s a kind of cultural imperialism. W: I think that’s a fair assessment, don’t you? M: I think you’ve exaggerating the situation there, Katya. For me, and millions of other people, it’s just an easy way of keeping in touch with family and friends, even when you are thousands of miles away. W: Ah, that reminds me. It’s my mum’s birthday today. I forgot to send her a card! M: Why not send her an electronic card? W: Great idea! Where would we be without the Internet?

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C. Quarantine at Australia’s international airports and seaportsWe live in an age of travel and a country of travellers. Australians love to travel overseas and there are also millions of overseas tourists visiting Australia each year. This means a huge task for Quarantine. Here are just some of the quarantine tasks that happen at international passenger terminals around Australia each day. To begin with, incoming luggage is X-rayed to check for quarantine risk items. Then passengers who may have these items are interviewed. In addition, we have detector dogs sniff luggage from high-risk flights and passenger ships. The main purpose for performing the quarantine tasks is to educate about the importance of quarantine. People will not be fined or punished, but any items that pose a potential risk to Australia’s plants, animals or people need to be inspected and possibly treated to make them safe - or destroyed if the risk is too high. A total of 414 people work at the Quarantine and Inspection Section at the Sydney airport at the moment. They are kept busy every day by the quarantine tasks mentioned above and the assistance of sniff dogs does make their lives easier. Beagles were chosen as the most suitable breed for the ’friendly’ image of detector dogs working around the public at international airports. Beagles have an extraordinary sense of smell - said to be at least 100 times more acute than our own. They’re relatively small dogs and are co-operative and gentle with people. They can remain calm even when surrounded by the commotion of baggage collection areas, which is the main reason why they’ve been chosen for the programme. The beagles are trained to simply sit when they detect a target odour, and await their food reward from their handler. This is the kind of passive response regarded as acceptable around passengers.

hospitals

prescription drugs

schools

research and development

public works