Full IELTS Listening Test Transcript

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IELTS-Blog.com listening practice test. In the IELTS test you hear some recordings
and you have to answer questions on them. You have time to read the instructions
and questions and check your work. All recordings are played only once. The test is
in four sections. Now turn to section one.

Section one. You will hear a conversation between a man and a woman as the
woman organises the rental of a car.

First you have some time to look at questions one to five.

(20 second gap)

You will see that there is an example. This time only, the conversation relating to
this will be played first.

Ben Good morning, Madam. Welcome to Apollo Car Rentals.

Carol Good morning. I’d like to rent a car.

Ben I think we can do that for you, Madam. How long do you want the car for?

Carol I need it for five days, please.

So, five days is the correct answer.

Now the full test will begin. You should answer the questions as you listen, as the
recording is not played twice. Listen carefully to the conversation and answer
questions one to five.

Ben Good morning, Madam. Welcome to Apollo Car Rentals.

Carol Good morning. I’d like to rent a car.

Ben I think we can do that for you, Madam. How long do you want the car for?

Carol I need it for five days, please. Comment: Example answer

Ben Five days. Right. Now, I’d like to take some details for you, if that’s alright?

Carol Of course.

Ben First of all I’ll need your name.

Carol Carol Anderson.

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Ben Is that Carol with an E at the end?

Carol No, it’s just C - A - R - O - L. Comment: Question 1

Ben And you said that you want the car for five days?

Carol Yes, that’s right.

Ben Next I need to know your current age.

Carol I’m thirty-four years old. Thirty-five next month. Comment: Question 2

Ben Happy birthday for next month!

Carol Thank you.

Ben Now I need your address.

Carol It’s twenty-eight Woodland Close, Hightown.

Ben Do you have the postcode for that address?

Carol It’s HT eight, five RD. Comment: Question 3

Ben Sorry, was that HT eight, five RT?

Carol No, the HT eight is right, but it’s five RD, not five RT.

Ben Ah, right. Thanks. Now, can I take a mobile phone number?

Carol Yes. It’s oh seven seven three four, six one eight, two two three.

Ben Thank you. How would you like to pay for the car rental?

Carol With my credit card. Comment: Question 4

Ben That’s fine. Now, which dates do you want the car for?

Carol I need it from today, the twenty-first. So, I’ll bring it back on the twenty-fifth of
May. What will be the rate for that?

Ben Let’s have a look. Well, it really depends on the size of car you want.

Carol I don’t really need a very big car, as it’ll just be me in it and I don’t have much
luggage. However, I think a mini size will be too small and I don’t need as big as a
compact. I think I just need the economy size, please. Comment: Question 5

Ben The rate for that size car is sixty pounds per day and so normally it would be
three hundred pounds for the period. However, we’re running a promotion this week, so
there’s a twenty per cent discount on that, which makes two hundred and forty pounds.

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Carol That's fine, thank you. I’ll take that deal.

Before the conversation continues, you have some time to look at questions six to
ten.

(20 second gap)

Now listen carefully and answer questions six to ten.

Ben Right then. Here are your keys and insurance documents. There’s an
emergency pack in the glove compartment. It contains numbers and procedures to help Comment: Question 6
you if you should run into any trouble, such as an accident or breakdown.

Carol Is there a spare wheel as well, in case of a blow out?

Ben Oh yes. It’s in the boot, under the cover. You’ll find a jack there as well, along
with some instructions in case you’ve never changed a wheel before. It’s unlikely that’ll
happen though.

Carol I know. I’m just checking. By the way, does the car take petrol or diesel?

Ben It’s a petrol car. We don’t have any economy cars that take diesel.

Carol And how many litres does the fuel tank take?

Ben Forty-five litres. Usually cars of that class are only forty, so that’s an Comment: Question 7
advantage.

Carol Yes. I won’t have to fill up so often. Is there a petrol station near here?

Ben Yes, there’s one just two blocks away on the right. You won’t need to fill it up
now, as it’s already full, but you’ll need to fill it up on return.

Carol Right. Oh, that reminds me. I have a question about dropping off the car. Do I
have to drop it off here or can I drop it off at the airport? Comment: Question 8

Ben Let me just check. Usually you have to drop the car off at the same place
where you pick it up from. Actually, that’s fine. As the airport in this town is pretty close, we
accept drop offs there.

Carol Thank you. That’ll be so much more convenient for me.

Ben You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Carol There is another thing that I want to ask about. I don’t know the area very
well and I’d like to buy a map. Do you know a shop nearby where I can buy a good one?

Ben There’s a good shop just three shops up on the left. Why do you need one?

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Carol It would just be handy for getting orientation.

Ben Well, if you just want a basic map, I can give you one for nothing. Here you Comment: Question 9
are.

Carol Oh, thank you. That’ll save me buying one. Now one final thing, I don’t have
a place to stay the nights that I’m here. Can you recommend a good hotel?

Ben What’s your budget?

Carol I don’t want to spend more than a hundred pounds a night.

Ben Is food important?

Carol Not really. As long as the breakfast is adequate.

Ben In that case, there’s a really nice motel called The Haven about a mile from
the airport. It’s about seventy pounds a night with a buffet breakfast. The breakfast is fine Comment: Question 10
and the place is clean.

Carol That sounds fine.

Ben It’s on Acorn Avenue and it’s number 45. I hope you enjoy it.

Carol Thank you very much.

That is the end of section one. You will now have half a minute to check your
answers.

(30 second gap)

Now turn to section two.

Section two. You will hear a woman giving some people information about a youth
club. First you have some time to look at questions eleven to fourteen.

(20 second gap)

Now listen carefully to the information talk and answer questions eleven to fourteen.

Good evening and thank you for coming to this information evening on the Arndale Youth
Club. Tonight, you can meet all the youth workers and see what we do. There will be some
light refreshments served by the young people later and there will be a special
performance from the Youth Club’s street dance group.

Let me start by telling you a little about the basic administration. The Youth Club opens
every evening at four p.m. and closes at eleven p.m. There is a membership fee payable, Comment: Question 11
which currently is fifty dollars for six months or eighty dollars for a year. When a child is a
member, entry is free. Non-member children can come in, but there is an entry fee of a

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dollar an evening. Every now and then we put on theatre or dance shows and people pay
a modest fee to see those.

The Youth Club is run by the management committee, which has six members on it at any Comment: Question 12
one time. They meet twice a month and discuss the finances, the staffing, the building’s
maintenance and any problems that have come up. All the members, like all the staff at
the Youth Club, are unpaid. All funds that come into the club only get spent on furthering
the club’s activities and not on paying staff. We are constantly on the lookout for fresh
volunteers to enhance the services we provide, and from as little as one hour per week, Comment: Question 13
you could make a difference to some of the local young people. If you are interested in
taking part, come and speak to me at any time this evening or on Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday evenings, which is when I’m on duty here.

I’d now like to talk a little about the funding of our youth club. Our funding comes from the
membership and admittance fees that we charge and we also get help from the local
government area. On top of this, we get donations from individuals and local companies Comment: Question 14
that are interested in creating a place for our youth to gather safely to have fun and make
new friends. If you know any people or companies who might be interested in helping us
out, or if you are interested yourself, please get in contact with our finance officer, Mrs.
Baines.

You now have some time to look at questions fifteen to twenty.

(20 second gap)

Now listen to the rest of the information talk and answer questions fifteen to twenty.

Every weekday evening from opening time, we run the homework club for two hours.
Children can come straight from school or from home and get on with their schoolwork in a
quiet environment. This is useful for children who do not have a quiet place to work at
home or for children who wish to participate in an activity at the Youth Club later in the
evening. The homework club is always supervised by two of our staff and they ensure that Comment: Question 15
the two-hour period is quiet.

The Youth Club’s activities begin at six p.m. Sports of course is very popular with young
people and one of our most popular sports is basketball. The two sports halls that we have
are both devoted to basketball on Tuesdays and Thursdays from six to seven thirty. We
are lucky to have as volunteers one player from the local ladies professional basketball
club, The Falcons, and the sports teacher from the local secondary school. Both of these
people coach basketball at the Tuesday and Thursday sessions. The two coaches also
organise plenty of matches against other clubs and local schools. These take place during Comment: Question 16
the usual training slots and sometimes at the weekends.

Another popular session with our young people is our music evenings on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays from seven to nine p.m. This session is not to be missed and early
arrival is advised, as we have the only free music studio in town for young people. We
have three local DJ’s who regularly come to help out and teach the young people how to
use the equipment and there are local musicians who come and teach them about Comment: Question 17
instruments and writing and creating music. We hope more and more young people will

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come and record their own tracks and make their own music videos. We have recorded
singers, rappers, grime artists, the spoken word and so much more.

We are lucky in having a small theatre. Volunteers from the local dramatic arts club teach
dramatic skills and dance to our young people on Monday and Wednesday evenings from Comment: Question 18
six thirty p.m. to ten p.m. Performances of plays and dance are held periodically in the
theatre. Of course you will see some street dance from this group in a little while.

Another fortunate contribution is that the local police pays periodic visits. When they are Comment: Question 19
here, they give talks to the young people on alcohol, drugs, crime and other things that
young people today are bound to face from time to time. The young people receive
invaluable advice and are free to ask our police visitors any questions they might want to
ask.

From time to time, we have overnight hiking trips in the local hills. The adults supervising
are experienced with outdoor skills, which they pass on to the young people. Those taking
part learn about choosing a campsite, setting up tents, cooking food in poor conditions and
how to use maps and a compass during the daytime hikes. The young people gain self- Comment: Question 20
confidence, self-reliance and other important character strengths.

Of course, we have other activities for our young people, and this is just a taster. Walk
around and see the different stations. Our young people and the supervisors will tell you in
a lot more detail about all the things they get up to.

That is the end of section two. You will now have half a minute to check your
answers.

(30 second gap)

Now turn to section three.

Section three. You will hear two students discussing their second year linguistics
course with a teacher. First you have some time to look at questions twenty-one to
twenty-six.

(20 second gap)

Now listen carefully and answer questions twenty-one to twenty-six.

Olivia Excuse me, Miss Kirsten. Could Harry and I ask you some questions about
the second year linguistics course?

Miss Kirsten Oh hello Olivia, hello Harry. Yes, I’m free now. Ask whatever you want.

Harry Thanks, Miss Kirsten. We want to ask what kinds of things we’re going to be
doing next year.

Miss Kirsten Well, you’ll be learning through a combination of lectures, regular

supervisions, formative essay writing and attendance at seminars. Comment: Question 21

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Olivia Is everything compulsory?

Miss Kirsten Everything I just mentioned, yes. It’s quite a lot, but it’s all spread out over
each week. You’ll have plenty of time for doing your study and for yourselves.

Harry And how many topics do we have to study?

Miss Kirsten Well, it depends. Some are longer than others, so it depends in what
combination things are done.

Harry We did phonetics in the first year. Do we continue with that?

Miss Kirsten Oh yes. Last year was just an introduction. Next year, you’ll gain an overview
of practical phonetics, acoustic phonetics and clinical phonetics, speech perception and
phonological theories. There’ll be an emphasis throughout the course on the practical
application of phonetics and phonetic theory to the analysis of speech data, and in
particular, on accents. Comment: Question 22

Olivia I wasn’t that keen on phonetics. Is it compulsory?

Miss Kirsten I’m afraid so. Phonetics is so key to the study of linguistics that it’s one
course you can’t do without.

Olivia I’m quite interested in becoming a speech therapist after graduation.

Miss Kirsten You’ll be glad you did the phonetics then. That’ll be absolutely essential for
you. Another course that’ll be good for you is clinical linguistics, which is central to speech
and language therapy. You’ll work with people with all types of communication problems,
principally children with delayed language development or hearing impairment, and people Comment: Question 23
who are suffering the effects of a stroke. The clinical linguistics course will start to prepare
you for all this. What about you, Harry?

Harry I’m not sure what I want to do after I graduate. I’m just interested in doing
topics that I find interesting.

Miss Kirsten Why don’t you try onomastics out?

Harry Isn’t that the study of names?

Miss Kirsten That’s right. I teach it and I find it fascinating. We study the origins and
development of names of places and of people in English and investigate the special Comment: Question 24
properties of names as lexical items, including the function of names in contemporary
discourse and literature.

Harry Will that help me with getting a job after graduation?

Miss Kirsten Well, probably not, but you did say you just wanted to enjoy your courses.
You never know though. I saw a job advertisement recently for an onomastics expert in a
multicultural company. Onomastics does give you an awareness of how words and names

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in particular carry certain forces and knowledge of this can be useful in marketing and Comment: Question 25
advertising.

Olivia I also wanted to ask about sociolinguistics.

Miss Kirsten That’s a really interesting topic.

Olivia Do you teach that one too?

Miss Kirsten No. That’s taught by Professor Cotton.

Olivia So what is studied in sociolinguistics?

Miss Kirsten You’ll look at the relationship between people and society and how these
drive language variation. You’ll also study influences on speech such as age, geography Comment: Question 26
and the media, as well as the language system itself.

Olivia That sounds a bit abstract.

Miss Kirsten Well, it can be, but once you get started on the course, things will become
much clearer.

You now have some time to look at questions twenty-seven to thirty.

(20 second gap)

Now listen to the rest of the discussion and answer questions twenty-seven to
thirty.

Olivia Now, is it right that we have to do our dissertation in the second year?

Miss Kirsten That’s right. We feel that it takes the pressure off the third year, when you’ll
be getting ready for your big final exams.

Olivia What’s the process for that?

Miss Kirsten The first step is to choose a topic. This is not as easy as it might seem. The
word limit is only fifteen thousand words and, while that might seem a lot, it’s not for this
type of assessment. You have to choose something that can be substantial enough to be
researched properly and also narrow enough to be treated within this strict word limit.
When that’s done, you’ll need a supervisor. Discuss your topic with a short list of people Comment: Question 27
that you’ve completed and see who seems interested and keen to take you on. They all
have to take three, so if you choose a topic people like, you should get someone quickly.

Harry That seems fairly straightforward.

Miss Kirsten It is, but many students leave things too late and end up doing something
unsuitable.

Olivia That won’t be a problem with us.

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Miss Kirsten Good. Next, you need to decide on a practical number of deadlines. You’ll Comment: Question 28
have the final submission date of course, but you’ll need at least two draft completions as
well.

Olivia Do we have to do two draft versions?

Miss Kirsten Yes, you do. I know it seems like a lot, but it’s an essential part of getting a
good grade. Practically all student dissertations can be improved drastically from the
feedback they get from their drafts.

Harry What’s next?

Miss Kirsten You need to do a lot of reading. A section of the dissertation needs to review
a selection of the literature relating to your topic. It’s important to do this, as it will help you
do a good job in the next stage.

Harry I heard that the dissertation must involve some kind of survey. Comment: Question 29

Miss Kirsten That’s right and this is your next step. It depends of course on what kind of
topic you choose, but you need to do one in some form. It might centre on patients or
practitioners, or it might be purely theoretical. It’s up to you.

Olivia Is there any particular thing we should do with the results?

Miss Kirsten It depends, but the best grades often go to students who perform some kind
of statistics on their results. Comment: Question 30

Harry Oh, I’m not very good at that.

Miss Kirsten Well, there’ll be some classes on that aspect before you get to that stage.

Olivia And what comes after that?

Miss Kirsten Just the writing. You do your two drafts and then hand in a paper copy on or
before the final submission date.

Harry That’s great, Miss Kirsten. Thanks very much.

Olivia Yes. You’ve clarified such a lot of things for us.

Miss Kirsten Oh, you’re very welcome.

That is the end of section three. You will now have half a minute to check your
answers.

(30 second gap)

Now turn to section four.

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Section four. You will hear a lecture on endangered Australian sharks and beach
netting. First you have some time to look at questions thirty-one to forty.

(50 second gap)

Now listen carefully and answer questions thirty-one to forty.

Good morning everyone and welcome to this lecture on marine zoology. Today, we’re
going to look at two of the most endangered Australian sharks and how their well-being
and other sharks’ well-being are affected by the use of protective measures at Australian
beaches.

Worldwide, there are about four hundred species of sharks. Of these, around one hundred
and eighty species occur in Australian waters, of which about seventy are thought to be
endemic. Sharks occur in all habitats around the Australian coast line, however, most are
found on the continental slope or shelf, primarily at the bottom. However, many sharks are
also found in coastal waters and a small number are even found in freshwater systems. Comment: Question 31

When people think of endangered sharks in Australia, a lot of them think of the great white
shark. However, the great white shark is only on the vulnerable list. This is very alarming,
but sharks that are more endangered are the grey nurse shark and the speartooth shark,
which are on the critical list. Comment: Question 32

The grey nurse shark is listed as two separate populations. The east coast population is
listed as critically endangered, while the west coast population is listed as vulnerable. Until
recently, the grey nurse shark had an undeserved reputation in Australia as a man-eater. It
has been found that it’s not a threat to divers or swimmers unless provoked. Many shark
attacks in Australia have been attributed incorrectly to the grey nurse shark, often due to
its fierce appearance, and its reputation has led to indiscriminate killing of the species by Comment: Question 33
spear and line fishers. Current threats to the species are believed to be incidental catch
from commercial fisheries, recreational fishing and, to a lesser extent, the bather
protection programs run at Australian beaches.

The speartooth shark has had little research done on it when compared to other shark
species. Information about these species is scarce due to the lack of specimens in
research collections and the fact that encounters are rare and identification may be mixed Comment: Question 34
up with other shark species. The extremely similar northern river shark was confused with
the speartooth shark for many years, until scientists were able to make the distinction
between the two populations based on the fact that they had different numbers of
vertebrae. The speartooth can also be easily confused with the bull shark, as they both
occur in the same habitat during their breeding cycle. Comment: Question 35

It is thought that the speartooth shark is naturally rare with specific preferences for where it
lives and low reproductive rates, which makes populations vulnerable to any form of
exploitation. Threats to the survival of speartooth shark include recreational line fishing, gill
netting and habitat degradation. Considerable progress has been made to reduce the Comment: Question 36
impacts of commercial fishing and recreational fishing on the speartooth shark and
commercial net fishing is prohibited in the mouth of the key rivers, especially the Adelaide
River.

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As mentioned earlier, one way that all species of shark are killed around Australia is with
the use of shark nets, which were introduced to beaches to try and decrease the
incidences of shark bites on beach goers. Beach netting programs can be found in several
countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South
Africa. The target sharks for these areas are mostly larger adult sharks that might be
considered man-eaters, such as the great white, the bull shark, the tiger shark and the
oceanic white-tip. Shark nets reduce occurrence via shark mortality, as reducing the local
shark populations is believed to reduce the chance of an attack. The big hole size of the Comment: Question 37
nets is designed particularly to capture sharks and prevent their escape until eventually
they die. Nets never offer one hundred per cent protection and there are gaps at the top
and at the bottom and sides, and many sharks are also caught in nets while going out from
the beach area rather than into it. Nevertheless, netting programmes have been very
successful in reducing shark attacks on Australian beaches.

With the use of shark nets, there is also the high incidence of bycatch, including further
endangered species such as sea turtles, dugongs, dolphins and whales. One modern Comment: Question 38
method that reduces bycatch is the drumline. Drumlines are in place along the beaches of
Australia and other countries where fatalities occur due to shark attacks, and they can
either be used instead of nets or in association with them. Drumlines are set to target
actively feeding sharks.

Drumlines are attached to the bottom of the seabed with an anchor. Heavy chain is Comment: Question 39
attached at one end to the anchor and at the other end, there is a twelve-millimetre plaited
rope. The length of the rope is generally four times the depth of the water. The rope
extends up to a torpedo float. Sometimes, more than one torpedo float is used, which
helps in maintaining the target position of the drumline. This in turn is attached to a marker
float, from which a two-metre chain extends downwards to the baited hook. Comment: Question 40

That is the end of section four. You will now have half a minute to check your
answers.

(30 second gap)

That is the end of the listening practice test. In the IELTS test you would now have
ten minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet.

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