Progress Test 1

Pacton-On-Sea Bus

Thank you for calling the phoneline for the Pacton-on-Sea bus tour. This is a recorded message lasting approximately four minutes and it provides general information on the town bus tour.

Pacton-on-Sea is a beautiful west coast town and has attracted tourists for many years. One of the best ways of getting to know the town is to take the bus tour, which provides a wonderful viewing experience from one of our open-top buses.

The tour is a round-trip of the town and there are a total 4 stops where passengers can get on and off the bus.

A lot of people start at the first stop which is at the train station as this is where many tourists arrive in the town. The next stop after the station is the aquarium which is famous for its dolphin show and which has recently expanded to include sharks.

This is well worth a visit and is very reasonably priced. Leaving the aquarium, the bus tour goes along the coast road and after a few kilometres comes to the Old Fishing Village where you can get off to stroll along the waterfront.

There are some original buildings here but most of the area has been modernised and is now used as a harbour for all kinds of sea craft including yachts and some amazing power boats. The tour then heads off to the last stop and this is where most of the shops are.

So for those of you keen to do a bit of shopping this is the place for you. Our advice is to go to this part of the town in the morning when it is relatively quiet.

It does get very busy in the afternoons, especially at the height of the season. This area of the town includes an ancient water fountain where many people like to have their photograph taken - so do look out for this.

Now some details of the costs and timings. A family ticket, which includes two adults and up to three children, costs £30.

An adult ticket costs £15, children under the age of fifteen are £5 and student tickets are £10 as long as you have a student card. All tickets are valid for 24 hours, which means that you can get on and off the bus as many times as you like within a 24-hour period.

So you could, for example, start the tour in the afternoon and complete it the following morning. The first bus of the day leaves the station at 10 am and the last one of the day leaves at 6 pm.

Buses leave every thirty minutes and each tour takes a total of fifty minutes. There are many attractions at each of the stops, so wherever you get off the bus there will be plenty to do.

The bus tour tickets do not include entrance to any of these attractions apart from the museum which is located near the aquarium. Some buses have local guides, who will point out places of interest and will provide information on the town.

However, we cannot guarantee that every bus will have a guide and so we also have an audio commentary that has been specially recorded for the bus tour by the tourist office.

Headphones are available on the bus and these are easy to operate. There is no extra charge for these - just plug in, select the required language and adjust the volume.

Due to winter months being rather cold and wet in Paction-on-Sea, the bus tours only operate from March to September. The weather is usually warm and sunny during these months so remember to bring some sun protection, especially on hot days.

And of course, it does occasionally rain here in the summer so if the weather looks bad, remember to bring some rainwear. The bus tours are available no matter what the weather.

At the height of the summer the tours can get very busy so you are advised to book. You can book tickets online, over the phone and also at the station and at any of the other tour stops.

When booking over the phone you can collect your tickets at any of the stops at the start of your tour. When you do it online you can print your e-ticket which you must remember to bring with you.

Thank you for calling the Pacton-on-Sea phoneline and we look forward to seeing you soon on one of our tour buses.

Materials

Hi everyone - today I’m going to be talking about the origins of ceramics. So, first of all. Let’s start off with - what is a ceramic? Well, generally speaking. Ceramics are what you get when you apply heat to certain inorganic, non-metallic solids and then allow them to cool.

And examples of ceramics are everyday things like earthenware pots, crockery, glassware, and even concrete.

So how did it all begin? Well it all started around 29.000 years ago when humans discovered that if you dig up some soft clay from the ground, mould it into a shape and then heat it up to a very high temperature, when it cools the clay has been transformed into something hard and rigid.

And so - what did those first humans do with their discovery? Well - they created figurines which were small statues and which depicted animals or gods or any shape that the day could be moulded into

And all this activity was centred around southern Europe where there is also evidence of ceramics that were created much later.

The early humans also found a practical use for their discovery, such as storing things like grain - although there were drawbacks. The pots were porous so that, although they could carry water in them, it wasn't possible to store it over a long period. And also, they were quite brittle and shattered very easily if they were dropped.

But despite these problems, it was many thousands of years before there were any improvements. In China at around 200 BC they discovered that by adding minerals to the clay they could improve both the appearance and the strength of the ceramics.

But it took nearly a thousand years before they perfected the process to produce high-quality ceramics known as porcelain. And once they had perfected the process they kept it a secret - for another thousand years!

Compared to the first ceramics, porcelain was lighter. finer, harder and whiter and became an important commodity in China's trading with the rest of the world for hundreds of years.

In fact, it became so valuable that it was known as white gold and spies were sent to China to discover what they did to the clay to produce such high-quality merchandise. It wasn't until the eighteenth century that the secret began to unravel.

A German alchemist called Johann Friedrich Bottger was asked by the king to make gold out of lead. Unfortunately, Bottger failed to achieve this and soon gave up, but in order to please the king he attempted to make high-quality porcelain.

And after many years of experimentation, he discovered that by adding quartz and a material called china stone to very high-quality clay he managed to get the same results that the Chinese had been achieving for the last 1,000 years.

We now look at another ceramic which is made from mixing sand with minerals and heating to over 600 degrees Celsius. When this mixture cools the result is of course glass.

The main difference between ceramics made from clay and glass is that clay is made up of crystalline plates which become locked together in the cooling process whereas glass cools too quickly for crystals to form.

Apart from that, the process of heating up naturally occuring materials to transform them is the same.

The origins of glass date back to 3500 BC but it wasn't until the Roman Empire, 2,000 years ago, that the art of glass-blowing and the practical uses of glass became more widespread.

One of the more innovative uses was to use it in windows as, up until then, they had just been holes in walls. It must have been very draughty in those days!

The Romans were also responsible for inventing concrete. And although the origins are uncertain, experts think that this is largely due to the high level of volcanic activity in the area.

The Romans observed that, when volcanic ash mixes with water and then cools, it gets extremely hard and almost impossible to break up. The chemical reaction that follows is very complex and continues for many years, and the concrete just keeps getting harder.

Evidence of this is the numerous Roman remains that are still standing, many of which are almost completely intact.

One of the most important facts about concrete for the Romans was that it can be created underwater. As the Roman Empire grew, the Romans needed to take control of the seas and for this they needed to build harbours capable of holding a fleet of ships.

Pouring concrete mixture into the sea immediately started the hardening process and rather than just dissolving in the mass of water, the substance was tough and long-lasting. This strange characteristic of concrete made a significant contribution to the success of the Roman Empire.

A beautifully preserved boat, made around 3,000 years ago and discovered by chance in a muddy hole, has had a profound impact on archaeological research.

It was 1992. In England, workmen were building a new road through the heart of Dover, to connect the ancient port and the Channel Tunnel, which, when it opened just two years later, was to be the first land link between Britain and Europe for over 10,000 years. A small team from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) worked alongside the workmen, recording new discoveries brought to light by the machines.

At the base of a deep shaft six metres below the modern streets a wooden structure was revealed. Cleaning away the waterlogged site overlying the timbers, archaeologists realised its true nature. They had found a prehistoric boat, preserved by the type of sediment in which it was buried. It was then named the Dover Bronze-Age Boat.

About nine metres of the boat's length was recovered; one end lay beyond the excavation and had to be left. What survived consisted essentially of four intricately carved oak planks: two on the bottom, joined along a central seam by a complicated system of wedges and timbers, and two at the side, curved and stitched to the others. The seams had been made watertight by pads of moss, fixed by wedges and yew stitches.

The timbers that closed the recovered end of the boat had been removed in antiquity when it was abandoned, but much about its original shape could be deduced. There was also evidence for missing upper side planks. The boat was not a wreck, but had been deliberately discarded, dismantled and broken. Perhaps it had been 'ritually killed' at the end of its life, like other Bronze Age objects.

With hindsight, it was significant that the boat was found and studied by mainstream archaeologists who naturally focused on its cultural context. At the time, ancient boats were often considered only from a narrower technological perspective, but news about the Dover boat reached a broad audience. In 2002, on the tenth anniversary of the discovery, the Dover Bronze-Age Boat Trust hosted a conference, where this meeting of different traditions became apparent. Alongside technical papers about the boat, other speakers explored its social and economic contexts, and the religious perceptions of boats in Bronze-Age societies. Many speakers came from overseas, and debate about cultural connections was renewed.

Within seven years of excavation, the Dover boat had been conserved and displayed, but it was apparent that there were issues that could not be resolved simply by studying the old wood. Experimental archaeology seemed to be the solution: a boat reconstruction, half-scale or full-sized, would permit assessment of the different hypotheses regarding its build and the missing end. The possibility of returning to Dover to search for the boat's unexcavated northern end was explored, but practical and financial difficulties were insurmountable - and there was no guarantee that the timbers had survived the previous decade in the changed environment.

Detailed proposals to reconstruct the boat were drawn up in 2004. Archaeological evidence was beginning to suggest a Bronze-Age community straddling the Channel, brought together by the sea, rather than separated by it. In a region today divided by languages and borders, archaeologists had a duty to inform the general public about their common cultural heritage.

The boat project began in England but it was conceived from the start as a European collaboration. Reconstruction was only part of a scheme that would include a major exhibition and an extensive educational and outreach programme. Discussions began early in 2005 with archaeological bodies, universities and heritage organisations on either side of the Channel. There was much enthusiasm and support, and an official launch of the project was held at an international seminar in France in 2007. Financial support was confirmed in 2008, and the project, then named BOAT 1550BC, got under way in June 2011.

A small team began to make the boat at the start of 2012 on the Roman Lawn outside Dover museum. A full-scale reconstruction of a mid-section had been made in 1996, primarily to see how Bronze-Age replica tools performed. In 2012, however, the hull shape was at the centre of the work, so modern power tools were used to carve the oak planks, before turning to prehistoric tools for finishing. It was decided to make the replica half-scale for reasons of cost and time, and synthetic materials were used for the stitching, owing to doubts about the scaling and tight timetable.

Meanwhile, the exhibition was being prepared ready for opening in July 2012 at the Castle Museum in Boulogne-sur-Mer. Entitled 'Beyond the Horizon: Societies of the Channel & North Sea 3,500 years ago', it brought together for the first time a remarkable collection of Bronze Age objects, including many new discoveries for commercial archaeology and some of the great treasures of the past. The reconstructed boat, as a symbol of the maritime connections that bound together the communities on either side of the Channel, was the centrepiece.

A In recent times developing commercial revenues has become more challenging for airports due to a combination of factors, such as increased competition from Internet shopping, restrictions on certain sales, such as tobacco, and new security procedures that have had an impact on the dwell time of passengers. Moreover, the global economic downturn has caused a reduction in passenger numbers while those that are travelling generally have less money to spend. This has meant that the share of revenue from non-aeronautical revenues actually peaked at 54% at the turn of the century and has subsequently declined slightly. Meanwhile, the pressures to control the level of aeronautical revenues are as strong as ever due to the poor financial health of many airlines and the rapid rise of the low-cost carrier sector.

B Some of the more obvious solutions to growing commercial revenues, such as extending the merchandising space or expanding the variety of shopping opportunities, have already been tried to their limit at many airports. A more radical solution is to find new sources of commercial revenue within the terminal, and this has been explored by many airports over the last decade or so. As a result, many terminals are now much more than just shopping malls and offer an array of entertainment, leisure, and beauty and wellness facilities. At this stage of facilities provision, the airport also has the possibility of taking on the role of the final destination rather than merely a facilitator of access.

C At the same time, airports have been developing and expanding the range of services that they provide specifically for the business traveller in the terminal. This includes offering business centres that supply support services, meeting or conference rooms and other space for special events. Within this context, Jarach (2001) discusses how dedicated meeting facilities located within the terminal and managed directly by the airport operator may be regarded as an expansion of the concept of airline lounges or as a way to reconvert abandoned or underused areas of terminal buildings. Previously it was primarily airport hotels and other facilities offered in the surrounding area of the airport that had the potential to take on this role and become active as a business space (McNeill, 2009).

D When an airport location can be promoted as a business venue, this may increase the overall appeal of the airport and help it become more competitive in both attracting and retaining airlines and their passengers. In particular, the presence of meeting facilities could become one of the determining factors taken into consideration when business people are choosing airlines and where they change their planes. This enhanced attractiveness itself may help to improve the airport operator's financial position and future prospects, but clearly this will be dependent on the competitive advantage that the airport is able to achieve in comparison with other venues.

E In 2011, an online airport survey was conducted and some of the areas investigated included the provision and use of meeting facilities at airports and the perceived role and importance of these facilities in generating income and raising passenger numbers. In total, there were responses from staff at 154 airports and 68% of these answered 'yes' to the question: Does your airport own and have meeting facilities available for hire? The existence of meeting facilities therefore seems high at airports. In addition, 28% of respondents that did not have meeting facilities stated that they were likely to invest in them during the next five years. The survey also asked to what extent respondents agreed or disagreed with a number of statements about the meeting facilities at their airport. 49% of respondents agreed that they have put more investment into them during recent years: 41% agreed that they would invest more in the immediate future. These are fairly high proportions considering the recent economic climate.

F The survey also asked airports with meeting facilities to estimate what proportion of users are from the local area, i.e. within a 90-minute drive from the airport, or from abroad. Their findings show that meeting facilities provided by the majority of respondents tend to serve local versus non-local or foreign needs. 63% of respondents estimated that over 60% of users are from the local area. Only 3% estimated that over 80% of users are from abroad. It is therefore not surprising that the facilities are of limited importance when it comes to increasing use of flights at the airport: 16% of respondents estimated that none of the users of their meeting facilities use flights when travelling to or from them, while 56% estimated that 20% or fewer of the users of their facilities use flights.

G The survey asked respondents with meeting facilities to estimate how much revenue their airport earned from its meeting facilities during the last financial year. Average revenue per airport was just $12,959. Meeting facilities are effectively a non-aeronautical source of airport revenue. Only 1% of respondents generated more than 20% non-aeronautical revenue from their meetings facilities; none generated more than 40%. Given the focus on local demand, it is not surprising that less than a third of respondents agreed that their meeting facilities support business and tourism development in their home region or country.

H The findings of this study suggest that few airports provide meeting facilities as a serious commercial venture. It may be that, as owners of large property, space is available for meeting facilities at airports and could play an important role in serving the needs of the airport, its partners, and stakeholders such as government and the local community. Thus, while the local orientation means that competition with other airports is likely to be minimal, competition with local providers of meetings facilities is likely to be much greater.

1 This may seem a pointless question today. Surrounded as we are by thousands of photographs, most of us take for granted that, in addition to supplying information and seducing customers, camera images also serve as decoration, afford spiritual enrichment, and provide significant insights into the passing scene. But in the decades following the discovery of photography, this question reflected the search for ways to fit the mechanical medium into the traditional schemes of artistic expression.

2 The much-publicized pronouncement by painter Paul Delaroche that the daguerreotype* signalled the end of painting is perplexing because this clever artist also forecast the usefulness of the medium for graphic artists in a letter written in 1839. Nevertheless, it is symptomatic of the swing between the outright rejection and qualified acceptance of the medium that was fairly typical of the artistic establishment. Discussion of the role of photography in art was especially spirited in France, where the internal policies of the time had created a large pool of artists, but it was also taken up by important voices in England. In both countries, public interest in this topic was a reflection of the belief that national stature and achievement in the arts were related.

3 From the maze of conflicting statements and heated articles on the subject, three main positions about the potential of camera art emerged. The simplest, entertained by many painters and a section of the public, was that photographs should not be considered 'art' because they were made with a mechanical device and by physical and chemical phenomena instead of by human hand and spirit; to some, camera images seemed to have more in common with fabric produced by machinery in a mill than with handmade creations fired by inspiration. The second widely held view, shared by painters, some photographers, and some critics, was that photographs would be useful to art but should not be considered equal in creativeness to drawing and painting. Lastly, by assuming that the process was comparable to other techniques such as etching and lithography, a fair number of individuals realized that camera images were or could be as significant as handmade works of art and that they might have a positive influence on the arts and on culture in general.

4 Artists reacted to photography in various ways. Many portrait painters - miniaturists in particular - who realized that photography represented the 'handwriting on the wall' became involved with daguerreotyping or paper photography in an effort to save their careers; some incorporated it with painting, while others renounced painting altogether. Still other painters, the most prominent among them the French painter, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, began almost immediately to use photography to make a record of their own output and also to provide themselves with source material for poses and backgrounds, vigorously denying at the same time its influence on their vision or its claims as art.

5 The view that photographs might be worthwhile to artists was enunciated in considerable detail by Lacan and Francis Wey. The latter, an art and literary critic, who eventually recognised that camera images could be inspired as well as informative, suggested that they would lead to greater naturalness in the graphic depiction of anatomy, clothing, likeness, expression, and landscape. By studying photographs, true artists, he claimed, would be relieved of menial tasks and become free to devote themselves to the more important spiritual aspects of their work.

6 Wey left unstated what the incompetent artist might do as an alternative, but according to the influential French critic and poet Charles Baudelaire, writing in response to an exhibition of photography in 1859, lazy and untalented painters would become photographers. Fired by a belief in art as an imaginative embodiment of cultivated ideas and dreams, Baudelaire regarded photography as 'a very humble servant of art and science'; a medium largely unable to transcend 'external reality'. For this critic, photography was linked with 'the great industrial madness' of the time, which in his eyes exercised disastrous consequences on the spiritual qualities of life and art.

7 Eugene Delacroix was the most prominent of the French artists who welcomed photography as help-mate but recognized its limitations. Regretting that such a wonderful invention had arrived so late in his lifetime, he still took lessons in daguerreotyping, and both commissioned and collected photographs. Delacroix's enthusiasm for the medium can be sensed in a journal entry noting that if photographs were used as they should be, an artist might raise himself to heights that we do not yet know'.

8 The question of whether the photograph was document or art aroused interest in England also. The most important statement on this matter was an unsigned article that concluded that while photography had a role to play, it should not be constrained' into competition with art; a more stringent viewpoint led critic Philip Gilbert Hamerton to dismiss camera images as 'narrow in range, emphatic in assertion, telling one truth for ten falsehoods'.

9 These writers reflected the opposition of a section of the cultural elite in England and France to the cheapening of art' which the growing acceptance and purchase of camera pictures by the middle class represented. Technology made photographic images a common sight in the shop windows of Regent Street and Piccadilly in London and the commercial boulevards of Paris. In London, for example, there were at the time some 130 commercial establishments where portraits, landscapes, and photographic reproductions of works of art could be bought. This appeal to the middle class convinced the elite that photographs would foster a desire for realism instead of idealism, even though some critics recognized that the work of individual photographers might display an uplifting style and substance that was consistent with the defining characteristics of art.