Listening test: Fairtrade in India

Listen to this news item on the effects Fairtrade is having on an Indian community and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence. 0 is an example.

listen to ‘Fairtrade in India’ on audioBoom

0 The Chamraj tea estate was certified by Fairtrade
a) five years ago
b) fifteen years ago
c) fifty years ago

1 Madina started working on the estate
a) three years ago.
b) fifteen years ago.
c) nineteen years ago.

2 At the school
a) there are more girls than boys.
b) there are 600 students.
c) there are 1,200 girls.

3 Children go to school
a) every day.
b) if they live near the school.
c) only when the buses run.

4 At the hospital
a) there are sixty beds.
b) there are two doctors.
c) there is no equipment.

5 Around half of the patients
a) are dissatisfied with the treatment.
b) are homeless.
c) come from the surrounding villages.

6 When Rajagopal started working on the estate he was … years old.
a) 21
b) 26
c) 27

7 When Rajagopal retires
a) he will live with his children.
b) he will be homeless.
c) he will build a new house.



Voiceover: The Chamraj tea estate in South India was one of the first companies to be Fairtrade certified 15 years ago. But what has Fairtrade delivered here?
Madina: My name is Madina. I have three girls and I’ve been living in Sampet for the last three years, and I’ve been working on the estate for the last 19 years. My children go to the school on the estate, it’s got everything they need to learn. The school has great facilities and so my children are studying well.
Titus: What Fairtrade has done, we have been er… able to scale the projects up. Now initially we had only 600 children, today we have 1,200 children. Out of which 60% are girls.
Madina: The school even has a computer room so the children have good knowledge of computers.
Titus: Later on we bought two buses because we have children coming here from distances of 20, 30 kilometres. Bus services in rural India is very difficult. Now here we ensure that children come to school every day.
Madina: The children get a good education here so if they leave the estate they can get good jobs.
Titus: Now with this Fairtrade ensuring that we get a price which is higher than cost of production, we have surplus money. We can employ more people, we can give them more benefits, the community around us benefits: we have a hospital, a sixty building hospital. We had a doctor initially who was a lady doctor, Fairtrade premiums helped us to employ another male doctor. We have got an ultra-sound scan and an x-ray machine, we have a full-placed laboratory. Today we even conduct major surgeries at the hospital, 50% of the patients coming to the hospital are from the surrounding villages around Chamraj.
Doctor: There has been a regular increase from year to year about the number of patients who come here for treatment and the quality of treatment has also increased.
Voiceover: Before Fairtrade when workers retired they became homeless.
Rajagopal: My name is Rajagopal, I am 47 years old and have been working on the estate for 26 years. When I retire in a few years time I’m not sure if my children will be able to take care of me. Even if they can’t, the money from the pension will help me build a house and live happily.
Voiceover: No question. What Fairtrade has achieved at Chamraj is impressive. But this story is the exception, not the rule. Tea prices are set to fall again on world markets. Less money for farmers will make their fight against poverty harder to win.

Key: 0B; 1C; 2A; 3A; 4B; 5C; 6A; 7C