As I've mentioned before, I have the habit of actually typing out the transcript myself if I think it's buried in the back of the textbook in small font in an inconvenient place.
In this case, here is the transcript for the listening on page 53 of Complete IELTS Bands 6.5-7.5, which I typed out myself so my students could have better access to it.
Google (docs, pub)
Juni: Hi Milton--I didn’t see you this afternoon. You missed a really good talk.
Milton: Oh, did I? That’s a pity--it was Mr Brand’s talk about fossils, wasn’t it?
J: Yeah. I hadn’t really expected to enjoy it, but it was fascinating
M: I thought it would be. I’d been planning to go to the talk, but then when I was in the lab this morning, I realised I hadn’t done any reading for tomorrow’s history seminar.
J: Well, I think he’s going to repeat it some time, but it may be next year.
M: Perhaps you could tell me a bit about it, then?
J: Well, he talked about himself in the first part.
M: I saw on the notice that went round that he went to America to study and met a famous anthropologist.
J: Yeah, that’s right, but he said he got interested in fossils well before then--when he was about six, in fact--and he found the most amazing fossil on a school visit to a national park. He showed it to us--he still has it--though he said he wasn’t looking for it at the time.
M: Most kids wouldn’t recognize a fossil if they saw one!
J: I know--they want to watch adventure films or play with model dinosaurs. But apparently he spent his school holidays hunting for fossils in the farm pits near his home.
M: So does he lecture on the subject now?
J: Yes--but he also runs a business organising fossil hunts for groups of adults and children.
M: Aw….Wouldn’t it be great if we could do something like that?
J: He showed us a lot of pictures…
M: so they all go out in a group to the cliffs or somewhere with little hammers, do they?
J: Yeah--apparently the kids tell everyone that’s the best bit--tapping the stones to see if anything’s there.
M: Do they know what they’re looking for?
J: Yeah. They get shown some examples of what they might find first.
M: And do they actually get to find any fossils?
J: Yes--Mr Brand showed some photos of children proudly holding up their fossils for the camera at the end of the day.
M: If they take them home, I bet they become prized possessions in their rooms as well!
J: For sure. He said he never stops being amazed at how close you can be to a fossil.
M: I guess children aren’t aware of history that much.
J: No, but, for them, the key thing they learn is that they if they keep looking, they will find something.
M: Mmm--you have to wait...it’s not for people who want instant success. So why don’t we go on one of these hunts?
J: Well, yes, I’m quite keen. The hunts are fully booked until the end of the year, unfortunately.
M: I could talk to some of the other students and see if we can form a group.
J: That’s a good idea. I’ll give him a call. Then, if we have enough people, we might be able to get him to do an extra one for us.
M: I’ll look on his website when I get back to the dorm just to get a bit more information.
Milton: So what did he talk about in the second part?
Juni: Well, that was more theoretical, but just as interesting, and there were lots of visuals. You know how fossils are formed?
M: Not exactly. We all know they’re the remains of living organisms, sort of entombed in rock, but I don’t know how they get to be there.
J: Well, he basically went through the stages that make that happen.
M: So did he talk about the conditions that bring about fossilisation?
J: Yes--and he used a fish as an example. Here, I’ll show you my notes.
M: Wow, these are great diagrams, Juni!
J: Thanks.
M: OK….er, Stage 1 … Ah yes, that’s right--a lot of fossils form underwater, don’t they?
J: Yeah---like as soon as a fish dies, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and as long as a predator doesn’t come along, it just lies there.
M: Undisturbed.
J: That’s right.
M: And since the ocean bed’s soft--well, much of it is, plus it’s muddy as well--the fish gradually gets covered over and can’t be seen any more.
J: Mmm. Apparently for a fossil to begin to form, you also need conditions where the light is minimal and there’s very little oxygen.
M: …. So the organic matter doesn’t break down too quickly.
J: Yes, and you know there are fault lines, even on the sea bed, and the rocks can move.
M: Yeah, so once the fish gets buried--I guess that has to happen quite quickly?
J: Mm-hm, all the sand and sediment piles up into layers, and the huge pressure and weight of all the layers compacts it and you move on to Stage 2, where it gets heavier and heavier until it becomes hard rock.
M: There’d be no water left, so the fish skeleton would be entombed. It can stay like that for millions of years, can’t it?
J: It can, but during that time, the bone in the skeleton is replaced by minerals.
M: I see, and these minerals sort of mimic the shape of the skeleton.
J: Yes--and that’s how you get a fossil.
M: But how do we find them if they’re buried so far down?
J: Again, it’s all down to the movement of the Earth’s plates. In the last stage, many millions of years after the fossil has formed, the rock may lift and eventually be above sea level.
M: Meanwhile, the surface of the rock wears away?
J: Yes, another natural process called erosion wears away the rock until one day, you can see the tip of the fossil.
M: And you break open the rock--and there it is.
J: It’s incredible really.
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