CELPIP Listening Part 4 Practice Test: An Early Start for an Ice Road

NARRATOR: A winter ice road serving a small lakeside community near Yellowknife opened to light vehicles on Monday, nearly two weeks earlier than usual, after an unusually long cold snap thickened the ice on the lake. Temperatures have hovered around minus thirty-five for most of December, and highway crews say the ice reached the required thickness of thirty centimetres well ahead of schedule. For residents of that community, the early opening is welcome news. Until now, the only way out has been a fifteen-minute flight or a long detour on a gravel highway, which local store owner Marie Beaulieu says has made groceries and fuel noticeably more expensive. Officials caution, however, that the route remains restricted. Vehicles heavier than five tonnes are prohibited until the ice thickens further, and drivers must stay under twenty-five kilometres an hour, since faster vehicles push waves through the water beneath the surface that can crack the ice. Crews will continue measuring the thickness every few days. Beaulieu says she has already booked her first delivery, although she admits she may have been a little premature, since her supplier's truck weighs nearly eight tonnes.