Section B  Audio-visual Tasks

Task3  Spot Dictation

        Listen to a passage three times and while listening, you are to put the missing word in each numbered blank according to what you hear. 

Skin: it is the largest organ of the body. The first (1) barrierto the outside. It keeps out many harmful bacteria and other things. Of course, it also keeps in all the things we need (2) inside our bodies.

The skin helps control body temperature. Glands on the skin (3) releasefluid to cool the body when it gets too hot. When a person gets too cold, blood(4) vesselsin the skin narrow. This helps to trap heat inside the body.

Yet, like other organs of the body, the skin can have problems. Almost any teenager can tell you the most common (5) disorder: acne. Acne is connected to hormones and how they affect the oil glands of the skin.

The skin gets its oil, called sebum, from these baceous glands. Each gland (6) connects to a passage of extremely small hairs. These bum travels through these passages. The oil reaches the (7) surface of theskin through little holes, called pores. Sometimes, the sebum, hair and cellsof the pores (8) blockthese openings. This is how acne starts.

Bacteria can grow in a blocked pore. The bacteria produce chemicals and (9) enzymes. White blood cells—infection fighters—travel to the area.All this leads to a growth on the skin, a (10) pimple. This becomes red, hot and often painful.

There are several treatments for acne. Mild casesare generally treated with medicines for use (11) directly on the skin. These often contain salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. People with more serious acne maybe given antibiotics to take by mouth. Or they might use a (12) combination of pills and creams.