Multiple choice

Narrator: Part 2. You will hear a volunteer giving a talk to visitors at a community garden open day.

Guide: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Millbrook Community Garden open day. My name's Helen, and I've been a volunteer here for six years. Before you explore, I'll give you a quick idea of where everything is. Please look at the plan in your leaflet.

Guide: Just a couple of practical points first. The toilets are in the small brick building just outside the gate, next to the bike racks, and they're accessible for wheelchair users. Most of the paths inside the garden are wide and flat, although the ones around the pond can be a bit muddy after rain, so do take care there. And if you have small children with you, please keep an eye on them near the water – the pond is deeper than it looks. We've also got free tea and homemade cakes in the marquee by the gate all day, made by our volunteers.

Guide: We're standing at the main gate, on the south side of the garden. As you come in through the gate, the first thing on your right is the herb garden. It's lovely at this time of year, so do take a moment to smell the plants. Directly opposite the herb garden, on the other side of the path, you'll see the tool shed. That's where volunteers collect everything they need at the start of a session.

Guide: If you walk straight ahead from the gate, you'll come to the pond, which is right in the middle of the garden. To the left of the pond, as you face it, is the children's garden, where local schools grow their own vegetables. People sometimes expect the beehives to be up near the greenhouse, but in fact we keep them on the east side of the pond, well away from the children's area.

Guide: The greenhouse is at the northern end of the garden, in the centre. And the compost area is in the far corner, beyond the greenhouse on the right-hand side. It's a long way from the gate, but that's deliberate, because it can get a bit smelly in summer! The space in the opposite corner, on the left of the greenhouse, is empty at the moment, but we're hoping to turn it into a wildflower meadow next year.

Guide: Now, a little about our history. A lot of visitors assume the garden was once part of the old factory next door, but actually the land was a car park until about twelve years ago. When the council decided it wasn't needed, a group of neighbours asked if they could use it, and we've been here ever since.

Guide: We're always looking for new volunteers. We have plenty of people at weekends, but where we're really short is on weekday mornings, when there's watering and weeding to be done. Even an hour a week makes a difference.

Guide: People often ask what happens to the vegetables. We did try running a market stall once, but it took up too much time. Volunteers are welcome to take a little home, but most of what we grow goes to the food bank on the high street.

Guide: If you'd like to join us, it couldn't be simpler. There's no membership fee, and we lend all the tools, so you don't need to buy anything. You don't even have to fill in a form online. Just come along any Saturday morning, and the first thing you'll do is a short safety talk with one of our team leaders.

Guide: Finally, a change to today's programme. The beekeeping demonstration was going to take place outside by the hives at three o'clock. We're expecting quite a crowd, which is great, but that isn't the problem: the forecast says heavy rain this afternoon, so we've moved it into the greenhouse. The time hasn't changed. Right, enjoy your visit!

Narrator: Part 2. You will hear the manager of a new city library talking to a group of local residents on an open evening.

Manager: Good evening, everyone, and thank you for coming. My name's Grace Okafor, and I'm the manager here at the new Central Library. We open to the public next Monday, so tonight is your chance to have a look around before the crowds arrive. I'll start with a little background and some practical information, and then I'll tell you about some of the facilities.

Manager: Many of you will remember this building as the old cinema, and it's true that films were shown here for nearly forty years. But it wasn't designed as a cinema. It was actually built in the 1920s as a department store, and the cinema only took over the upper floors after the shop closed. When we started the renovation, we found the original shop signs behind the walls, and you can see one of them by the main stairs.

Manager: One thing we were very aware of when we planned the building was noise. A library today isn't a silent place – people come here to meet, to work in groups and to use computers. We did consider putting carpet down throughout, but it's very hard to keep clean in a building with this many visitors. So instead, we've made the whole of the top floor a silent floor, and that's where you'll find the individual study desks.

Manager: Now, joining the library. In the past, you had to bring a document showing your address, but that's no longer necessary. Membership is free for everyone, whatever your age. What we do ask is that you register on our website before your first visit, because then your card will be ready for you to collect at the desk, and it saves a lot of queuing.

Manager: As for opening hours, we'd hoped to open on Sundays, but unfortunately the budget didn't allow it this year. What we have done is open an hour earlier on weekdays – at eight instead of nine – because a lot of people told us they'd like to call in on their way to work. Closing times stay the same: eight in the evening from Monday to Thursday, and six on Fridays and Saturdays.

Manager: And of course, there's the café on the ground floor. It's run by a local charity that trains young people who are looking for their first job, so every coffee you buy helps them. Drinks with lids are allowed in the study areas, but please keep food in the café itself. I'm often asked whether there's a student discount – sadly, there isn't at the moment, but the prices are very reasonable.

Manager: Right, let me tell you about some of the facilities. On the first floor, we have twelve study pods. These are small private rooms for up to four people, and they're very popular in other libraries, so you'll need to reserve one online beforehand. You can use a pod for up to three hours at a time.

Manager: Next to them is the recording studio, which we're particularly excited about. It's designed for people who want to make podcasts or record music. Unfortunately, the soundproofing has been delayed, so it won't be ready on Monday. We're hoping it'll be finished by the end of next month.

Manager: On the same floor, there's our 3D printer. Members often expect this to be free, like the computers, but there is a small charge to cover the cost of the materials – usually only a pound or two for a small object.

Manager: If you go up to the roof, you'll find the roof garden, which has wonderful views over the river. For the moment, we can only open it on Saturdays and Sundays, because a member of staff has to be up there whenever it's open, and we don't have enough people during the week.

Manager: Finally, the homework club. It meets in the children's area on the ground floor, but it's actually for secondary school students, aged eleven to sixteen. It's run entirely by volunteers, most of them retired teachers, who help with everything from maths to essays. It meets every weekday from four until six. Right, please do go and explore, and if you have any questions, our staff are wearing green badges.

Narrator: Part 3. You will hear two students, Maya and Ben, discussing a research project on food waste in student accommodation.

Maya: OK, Ben, our tutor wants a progress report by Friday, so I thought we could go through what we've done so far and then plan the next stage.

Ben: Good idea. She'll probably ask why we chose the topic in the first place. I know everyone assumes we got the idea from that guest lecture on sustainability last term.

Maya: Which is funny, because we'd already decided by then. It was really that bin in our kitchen in halls, wasn't it? Overflowing every single Sunday night.

Ben: Exactly. And the news story about the university throwing away food from the canteens only came out after we'd started, so we can't claim that either.

Maya: Right. So, the food diaries. Overall I think they worked quite well. Nobody complained that they took too long – most people said it was about two minutes a day.

Ben: And I was worried people would exaggerate to make themselves look good, but there's no real sign of that. The problem was the weekends. From Monday to Friday the diaries were full, and then on Saturday and Sunday they're almost blank.

Maya: Which is a shame, because that's probably when most food gets thrown away. We'll have to mention that as a limitation.

Ben: Definitely. What about the results? Did anything surprise you?

Maya: Well, I expected bread to be the thing that was wasted most, and it was, so no surprise there. What I really didn't expect was the difference between the halls. The ones with the smallest kitchens actually wasted less food.

Ben: I think it's because there's less fridge space, so people can't buy as much at once. They shop more often and buy what they need.

Maya: That's my theory too. Someone suggested that cooked meals are wasted more than raw ingredients, but we didn't collect data on that, so we can't say anything about it.

Ben: Now, the food-swap shelves. Did you look at them?

Maya: I did. The idea's great – you leave food you're not going to eat and someone else takes it. But they're in the basement, next to the bike store. Half the students I asked didn't even know they existed.

Ben: Some people say the rules are confusing, but I read them and they seemed perfectly clear to me.

Maya: I agree, the rules are fine. I'd rather they just moved the shelves up to the main entrance, where everyone walks past.

Ben: Yes, that's what we should recommend. OK, so who does what before Friday? I was going to start writing the introduction.

Maya: And I was planning to analyse the photos of the bins, but the software's on your laptop, isn't it?

Ben: It is. Look, I'll do the photos, then. The introduction can wait till next week.

Maya: Fine. In that case I'll email the catering manager. We said we'd ask her about the canteen figures, and she takes ages to reply, so the sooner the better.

Ben: Good. Now, the next stage. The interviews. We can't start those without approval from the ethics committee, can we?

Maya: No, that has to come first. I'll fill in the form tomorrow. Then we need to find people to interview. We tried posters last time, but they kept being torn down.

Ben: The halls have a weekly newsletter that goes to every student. Let's put an advert in that instead.

Maya: Good idea. And where should we do the interviews? The rooms in the library are always booked up.

Ben: What about the laundry room? People sit there for an hour waiting for their washing anyway, and they're usually bored.

Maya: Ha – that's actually perfect. Then there's the bins. I think we should weigh them once a week for four weeks.

Ben: Which day, though? If we do it on Friday, we miss the whole weekend.

Maya: Monday morning, then, before the bins are collected. That way we catch the weekend waste, which the diaries missed.

Ben: Great. And at the end, who do we present it to? I thought the university had a whole sustainability team.

Maya: Apparently not – there's just one sustainability officer for the whole university. But she's very keen to see what we find, so we'll present it to her.

Ben: Perfect. I think that's a plan.