Listening 2026-03 Test 2

==================== IELTS Listening Transcript ==================== PART 1 Speaker 0: You will hear a number of different recordings, and you will have to answer questions on what you hear. There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions, and you will have a chance to check your work. All the recordings will be played once only. The test is in four sections. Write all your answers in the listening question booklet. At the end of the test, you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. Now turn to section one on page two of your question booklet. Section one. You will hear a telephone conversation between a travel agent and a customer. First, you have some time to look at questions one to six on page two. You will see that there is an example that has been done for you. On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first. Speaker 2: Hello, Bakewell Travel. How can I help? Oh, hello. My name's Sarah Carter. I wonder if you could tell me about the price of plane tickets to Dubai. Speaker 0: The customer wants to travel to Dubai, so Dubai has been written in the space. Now we shall begin. You should answer the questions as you listen because you will not hear the recording a second time. Listen carefully and answer questions one to six. Speaker 1: Hello. Bakewell Travel. How can I help? Oh, hello. My name's Sarah Carter. Speaker 2: I wonder if you could tell me about the price of plane tickets to Dubai. Speaker 1: Our computers are down, so what I can do is take some details about you and your travel plans. Then when everything's okay again, I can call you back. Alright? Okay then. Right. So some details first. Your name was Sarah Carter, wasn't it? That's right. And can I take a contact phone number? Speaker 2: 07958847222. Speaker 1: Now I'll probably need to get back to you on this. Shall I call you back tomorrow morning? Speaker 2: Oh, I work on Wednesdays. Can you call me back on Thursday before twelve? Fine. Speaker 1: Okay. So missus Carter, how many tickets will you need? Three adults and four children. Speaker 1: So seven altogether. Are all the children under the age of 14? They are. Yes. Which date do you wish to travel on? Speaker 2: Well, we definitely need to be there for the twenty fourth. So if we leave The UK on the twenty second, we'll have time to recover on the twenty third. Speaker 1: So the October 22? Speaker 2: Not this month. Next month. November. Right. And I assume these are return tickets. Yes. We want to fly back on the Tuesday. Is that the twenty fifth or the twenty sixth? It's the twenty fifth. Speaker 1: So it's going to be a short holiday. We're going to a wedding. We're not going for a holiday. Oh, that's nice. Now do any travelers have any special requirements? You know, special assistance with mobility and that sort of thing. Oh, well, actually, yes. My son's allergic to cheese. Speaker 2: It makes him really, really ill. Fine. Speaker 1: So as soon as I can, I'll look into finding some tickets for you. Speaker 0: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions seven to 10 on page two. Now listen and answer questions seven to 10. Speaker 1: Now I wonder if I could just ask you a couple of questions as part of our market research. Would you be happy to do that? Will this take long? Just a couple of minutes. That's all. Okay. So how many foreign visits have you made in the last twelve months? About six, I suppose. And where was your last foreign trip? Speaker 2: Well, I was in Egypt in May. Speaker 1: Then most recently India. Oh, nice. Yes. I'm off for some IT training in Bangalore next month, actually. And was that a vacation? Speaker 1: I'd love to go back there for a holiday, but it was for business this time. And I presume you use the Internet? I do. Yes. And so you've seen our website? Yes. I had a look this morning, actually. Well, we had it redesigned a month ago, and we're keen to get feedback on how our customers find it. So Oh, right. Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Well, I have to say I found it terribly slow. Speaker 1: So I just gave up and thought I'd give you a call. Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that. But, yes, it does happen sometimes. Would it be okay for us to email you with any promotional offers? Speaker 2: I suppose so. Well, okay. My address is carter.s@speedtech.com. Speaker 1: Is that s p, e e, d t e c h? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 1: That's great. And can I ask how you found out about Bakewell Travel? Speaker 0: That is the end of section one. You now have half a minute to check your answers. PART 2 Speaker 4: Part two. You will hear the manager of Cretan Running Sports Club called Dave giving some information about the running competition, which will be held next month. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 17. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 17. Speaker 5: Good morning, everyone. I'm Dave, the manager of Cretan Running Sports Club. Today, I'll tell you something about the running competition, which will be held next month. As we know, the annual run is one of the most popular events in our town, and it attracts young and old every year. This year, we will continue the tradition, but there'll be some small adjustments. First, about the date. The exact time of the run is still on the first Saturday of May, but we'll inform you in advance if it's to be delayed due to bad weather. The run used to start at the park, which is being refurbished at the moment, so this time, all the runners are expected to gather in front of the castle and start from there. The actual run begins at 9 AM, but the runners start arriving at about 08:45. So some of you might have to get up early that morning if you live far away. Someone has asked how long you'll be required to run. In the past few years, the runners have had to complete the distance of five miles, but most people want to do a bit more than that, so we will lengthen it to seven miles this time. Some of you might not be sure whether you can run that far, so you'd better start doing a bit of training. I'm excited to tell you that this year, we've got the sponsorship from a big company who has promised to cover all the competition expenses, including the prize for the champion. The runner with the shortest time will be awarded sports equipment worth about £1,000. Each runner will be timed from the starting point till the end. When you cross the finish line marked on the ground of the station, you'll be given a barcode, and you should take this to one of the run volunteers who will scan it. Then you can get your time on the computer immediately, and the volunteers will collect all the results. If you are interested in the run, I suggest you register as soon as possible. The deadline is next Sunday. However, I should tell you this year, you can't enroll through the Internet but have to go to the town hall and give all the personal information and sign your name. It doesn't cost anything to register. As I've just said, all the costs related to the competition will be paid by our sponsor. As for the age limit, you have to be at least 16, and the top limit is now 70, though you need to obtain a health certificate from your doctor if you're over 60 years old. If you do come and participate in the run, I definitely recommend that you should prepare an extra pair of shoes, as last year, one of the runners got something wrong with his shoes during the running and had to give up halfway through the competition. Besides, a jacket will also be advisable so you don't catch a cold after sweating a lot during the running. There is no need to worry about snacks or drinks as every runner will be supplied with chocolates and bottled water. Speaker 4: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 18 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 18 to 20. Speaker 5: To prepare for this annual running competition, our club is going to organize a training class for all the participants. In the class, an experienced trainer will teach you the professional steps on how to do a running competition, like warming up before running. For those who plan to do training by yourselves, there are some suggestions for you. First, don't just do morning jogging with your dog. Remember that you're going to compete with others. I know some people like to exercise in groups, but it's more effective to run with your friend who can be your rival and stimulate your potential. Then I suggest you make a record of your running time. It can show whether you've made any progress day by day. What's more, you'd better get used to different roads and paths in the countryside or village as you won't just be running on level ground during the competition. By the way, you don't have to run-in all kinds of weather. As I've just said, our competition is going to be held in good weather. Well, that's all the details about the running competition. If you have any other questions, please call our club at 83456234. Anyone who is interested in the run just get started. Speaker 4: That is the end of part two. You now have thirty seconds to check your answers to part two. PART 3 Speaker 6: Section three. You'll hear two students named Rick and Nina discussing about selective courses. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Speaker 6: Hey, Nina. Have you chosen a selective course yet? Speaker 3: Not really, Rick. I haven't made up my mind yet. What about you? Me either. We have to decide as soon as possible, though. Speaker 3: Why? Today's not the final day for choosing selective courses, is it? Speaker 6: No, but they'll be booked up very soon. Actually, some courses are already full. Speaker 3: Really? That's too bad. Well, I was thinking of taking a language course. Speaker 6: What do you think? Yes, you can do that. You can choose all courses on the school website except mathematics, since it's a required course for all students. By the way, I think business course is a good choice. Speaker 3: Yeah. It's not bad. I think it's going to be quite helpful after we graduate. Speaker 6: I think so. Guess what? I wanted to choose information statistics. Speaker 3: Why? Speaker 6: It's related to our major, so I think it's very useful for us. I mean, we will have an advantage in job hunting. But the bad thing is it's in the morning, so we have to skip other classes in order to take it. That's not good. Speaker 3: We need to find an alternative that is more convenient for us. Speaker 6: I know. It's a shame. Nina, I think we need to get to know the courses more before choosing them. Otherwise, we may end up studying something that's either boring or useless. Speaker 3: You're right. Maybe we can look online to see if there's information about it. We could also ask our parents for advice. Speaker 6: I don't think that's going to help much. People have all kinds of opinions online. We wouldn't know which one to listen to, and our parents probably don't know much about our field. I think the best way is asking the former students who have taken the class themselves. They can tell us how they thought about it from their own experience. Speaker 3: Oh, yes. They know it better than anyone, just like how much we know the art design class. Speaker 6: Yes. Before we took it last year, many people said on the Internet that it was quite confusing, but it turned out to be quite easy and helpful. Right? Speaker 3: Mhmm. It didn't let us down. I definitely value the course. Design is an important skill in today's world. Well, whatever course we want to choose, there are still things I need to figure out. What do you mean? Do you mean things like the time of the courses? Since it's the first time we can choose selective courses, I need to know how to register. I think there will be instruction on our school website for registration. Speaker 6: I'll let you know. You are so considerate, Nina. I think that's necessary. We need to make sure we can register as soon as we make up our mind. Speaker 6: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. Speaker 3: The courses we studied last semester were quite interesting. Maybe we could get some inspiration from those courses. Do you think so? Speaker 6: Well, yeah. Some of them were quite fun for me, such as metallurgy, though there were quite a lot of terms to remember. Speaker 3: But there's also a lot of useful information about it on the internet, which made things easier. Speaker 6: That's right. I can refer to many things when I was working on the paper. Speaker 3: And the professor in fluid mechanics was really patient. His explanation was crystal clear, so students had no difficulty understanding it. Yes, Speaker 6: that's true. I was good at this course. What do you think of computing? Speaker 3: I think it was kind of boring in the beginning. Speaker 6: Do you think so? That's exactly how I felt. There are a lot of numbers to deal with. But thankfully, it got more interesting when the course went on. Speaker 3: Right. Because later we could relate the theories to real life examples. Speaker 6: Exactly. Another course that I think was really practical is energy economy. Speaker 3: Oh, yes. There are a lot of practical works in the course. What we learned can come in handy in our future jobs. Speaker 6: We should make the decision based on our own experience and preference. Yeah. Anyway, we really need to hurry up. I'm sure we can reach a conclusion today. Speaker 6: That is the end of section three. You now have half a minute to check your answers. PART 4 Speaker 0: Part four. You will hear part of a presentation to biology students on new research into sea lions. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Speaker 7: Hello, everybody. I'm here today to tell you about a new research study that my team here at the university is doing on the sea lions that live along the coast of Western Australia. You may be wondering why we've been studying this animal. Well, Australian sea lions have been identified as an endangered species, so there's a real need to count them and find out just how many there are. Up until 1892, the population of these animals was severely depleted because of hunting. That's no longer allowed. But today there is a new danger. Sea lions often forage for food in the same areas along the coastlines where there are nets used to catch sharks. Unfortunately, they tend to get caught up in the nets by accident and drown. Now we wanted to monitor the population of sea lions in this area, but we weren't sure of the best way to do it. There are several different animal tracking methods, which vary in their effectiveness, and there are different factors to consider. One of the most important of these is the cost, but you also have to consider how easy your chosen method is to use. You may choose a traditional method, like a plastic tag. They're relatively straightforward to attach, but they're really only suitable to use with animals that you can catch quite easily. You might also go with a more modern method like GPS tracking, which uses satellite technology to transmit data on the animal around the clock. One drawback for marine animals, though, is that they don't transmit a signal in the ocean. You only get data when they're on land. There are certain large animals in remote areas that have to be tracked using a helicopter. The polar bear is a good example. Now an important part of tracking is being able to clearly identify the animal. Some, like zebras, are identified by markings such as their stripes, while the dolphin usually has distinguishing scars on its body that can help tell them apart. Sea lions don't have any markings like this, which is just one of the challenges of tracking them. When researchers in Perth tried to use electronic tags in a sea lion study, they found that the sea lions had removed their tracking devices by deliberately rubbing up against rocks. This was something the researchers hadn't anticipated. Researchers in California studying American sea lions tried a different method. They applied paint to the animals. They thought this would be a better, less invasive means of identification. Unfortunately, this didn't work so well either because sea lions molt every year and shed their fur along with the identifying mark. So let's look at our current study. We have several aims that we'd like to achieve. The first of these is to try to establish where the sea lions can be identified from the whiskers on their face. These are much coarser than a cat's whiskers, so easier to see. Our theory is that the pattern of these whiskers may be as individual as a fingerprint on a human. If this is in fact true, then we think this could be an effective way to identify them. Our second aim is to come up with a diagram of sea lion whisker patterns so this can be used as a guide for us and other studies. We're using a few different methods to help us do all this. We know that we need to build up a wide range of visual data. So firstly, we've been in touch with zoos around Australia to gather photographs from them of the faces of any sea lions they have. This won't be enough to achieve our purpose, though, so we're also broadening our search by inviting the public to take part in our research. We're hoping this will result in hundreds of useful images we can use. Speaker 0: That is the end of part four. You now have one minute to check your answers to part four.