Listening 2026-05 Test 18

Hello, I'm looking to book a hotel room for an upcoming trip. Welcome. We're delighted to assist you with your reservation at Rano Cotel. We offer a variety of room options, including the garden room for business travelers, the executive room and the power room, ideal for families with extra beds or a sofa bed. I believe the power room will be perfect for my family. Excellent choice. Could you please provide me with your telephone number so we can keep you updated on your booking? Certainly, my number is 0, 4, 1, 6, double, 3, 4, 0, 8, 2. Thank you. And may I have your name for the booking? I'm Ethan Askot, A, S, C, O, T. When do you plan to check in and out? We'll check in on July 6th when our family holiday begins and check out on July 8th. The room rate for tonight is $250 at a discounted rate, reduced from the original price of $265. Do you have any specific room preferences? I'd love a room with a view of the river, a change from my usual work environment. Noted. We'll ensure your room meets that requirement. We also offer two packages, the luxurious package with a three-day trip near the hotel and a value package where you can plan your own activities. It's more economical and suitable for families. I'll opt for the second one. Could you also tell me the hotel's location? Certainly. We're located in the east of the city, approximately a 20 km drive from the city center. Is there anything else you need assistance with? I was hoping to be near a beach for leisurely walks. You're in luck. We're a seaside hotel, so you can enjoy relaxing beach walks easily. We'll provide you with a map to explore nearby scenic spots effortlessly. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] 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 1 on page 2 of your question booklet. Section 1. You will hear a student phoning a student career's office about a job at a holiday resort. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6 on page 2. 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. Hello. I saw an advert for holiday staff on the notice board and I'm very interested. Can you tell me something about the resort? Let me see. Yes, those jobs are at the Sandy Shores Resort. You may have heard of it as it's quite well known in the area. The name of the resort is Sandy Shores, so Sandy 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 a questions 1 to 6. Hello. I saw an advert for holiday staff on the notice board and I'm very interested. Can you tell me something about the resort? Let me see. Yes, those jobs are at the Sandy Shores Resort. You may have heard of it as it's quite well known in the area. I'm not sure. Where exactly is it? It's on Jameson Island. I haven't heard of that one. How do you spell it? J-A-M-I-E-S-O-N. It was named after a famous explorer. Oh, sounds interesting. Yes, it's a beautiful place and as it's a large resort they have vacancies in a few different areas. When would they want someone to start? It looks like the applications close by the 12th of May and they would need you to begin from the 11th of July. Oh, that's perfect. My exams finish on the 5th of July. Can you tell me something about the jobs? Well, first of all, there is a vacancy in the Calypso bistro that's for a waiter. The work is quite easy, taking orders and serving meals. You don't need any experience as they will train you. That's good. They've also got a few vacancies in what is called the Guest Liaison Department. They are involved with the entertainment in the resort. Especially the daily music shows and parades. They definitely need people who can sing. What's your voice like? It's shocking, but I can play piano. Would that be useful? I don't think so. They already have a band. OK, so what else is there? Among the most popular things for guests are the games and water sports activities, which take place on the beach that belongs to the resort. They are always looking for fit young people to help out with things like volleyball, surfing and cricket, but they definitely need people who have worked with children for that vacancy. Well, I coached junior basketball. That's great. Finally, there are vacancies in the reception area. You'd work as part of the Concierge Department, carrying bags to and from rooms. A requirement for this role is that you can drive. That might seem strange, but some of the villas are quite far away from the resort hub, so they have little golf buggies to take the bags over to them. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10 on page 2. Now listen and answer a question 7 to 10. I expect you'd like to know a bit more about the general benefits for staff. Yes, please. Do they provide free accommodation for staff? It looks like they only provide it to permanent employees, but staff don't have to pay for transport to and from the island, so you'd have to stay in Port Thomas, but there are plenty of cheap places there. What about meals? Yes, they're provided when you're on duty, so you would save money on groceries. If you are interested, we can set up an interview for you. I know the resort personnel manager wants interviews on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday here at the college. Which day would suit you? Can we do it on Thursday as I work on Wednesdays? Fine. Is 2 o'clock okay? Perfect. Okay, I've booked you in for then. Is there anything I need to take to the interview? Let me see. Yes, you need to bring a CV, giving details of your work experience and qualifications. And because they are planning on interviewing a lot of people, they've asked everyone to provide a photo as well, so they can remember who is who. Do you have any questions? That is the end of section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Madam. I lost my travel bag on the train. I was wondering if you could help me. Of course, sit down, please. Thank you very much. First, let me take some details. What's your name, please? My name is Paul Smithers. Smithers, could you please spell it? Paul Smithers SMITHERS. All right. And when did you find you lost your travel bag? Yesterday evening, I just finished a whole day's paperwork and took the train to return home. I was completely exhausted. Yesterday, today is the 15th of July, so it's the 14th. You said you were on the train when you lost your bag. Do you remember the number of the coach? Which coach were you in? What do you mean? Each coach has different letters, represented its unique functions. For example, coach A is for smoking passengers, while coach B is for non-smoking passengers. So, do you still remember the number of the coach? I don't remember the exact letter, but I do recall that I was trying to relax my brain with a cup of coffee. So it must be the buffet car. Wait a minute. I'll check it up for you. You mean the buffet car? That's the coach E. Oh, yes, that's it then. All right. Now, tell me something about the bag. What's the colour? It is a brown one with a small blue card and race car image at the bottom in the left-hand corner. Okay, I know. And what does it look like? What's the style? What do you mean? What kind of distinctive features does it have like is it a box type or a soft one? Does it contain any pockets? Well, it's a soft one on the rack. What's more, there are two pockets at the front. They have long straps and are made by nylon. Right, got that. Did you lose any other things besides your bag? Uh, my jacket, which is made up of leather and my notebook were in it. I am sorry to hear it. Do you remember where did you exactly put them? Well, I walked in the coach, sat down beside my table, ordered my coffee, then, uh, yeah, I found there was not enough space to put my stuff. So I put them by the door and I forgot to take them when I leave. Okay, I know. So how much do you think the lost item cost? Well, my travel bag was about 100 pounds, but the leather jacket cost me 345 pounds in the notebook. It is not worth much itself, but it contains all the contact I need. It's so frustrating. We also need your personal information. No problem, please. Where do you live? 21 Kierke Street, K-I-E-R-K-E Street, Canterbury. Kierke Street, my cousin also lives there and I went there sometimes. A quiet street, isn't it? Yes, indeed. Have you ever been to the park at the corner of the street end? It's very quiet and beautiful. My aunt and uncle like there so much that they go there almost every week. Not yet, but I'll certainly try there sometime. Uh, let me see. Where were we? Oh yes, your postcode. G-W-4-3-2-H-A. Phone number. 321-2892. Okay, I think that's all we need at the moment. We'll contact you as soon as we have any information on them. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Bye. Bye. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. --- Now turn to Section 2 on page 4. Section 2 You will hear the manager of a new sports center talking to potential customers about the facilities there. First you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16 on page 4. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16. Good evening and welcome to Karara's brand new sports and ledger centre. First I'll tell you about our facilities then feel free to wander around the centre. Now as you can see from the map I've given you we're sitting in our cafe which we hope will be a favourite place to visit after exercising. To one side of us and right in front of you as you enter the complex is the shop. Be sure to have a look in there later as we've got some great opening specials on footwear. On the other side of the cafe and ideally situated between the cafe and the childminding facilities we have the playground. You can sit and relax there while your kids have a great time on the equipment and our childcare facilities are available to anyone using the centre. Let's talk a little bit about our heated swimming pool which is also near the entrance on the other side from the cafe. It has a 5 metre water slide which will be very popular with kids of all ages and in the corner nearest to changing rooms we have a high tech hot spa. The water is heated to 38 degrees centigrade which is the ideal temperature to relax tired muscles after a workout. So where can you do these workouts? Well we have a large weights room located at the cafe end of the administration block. In the weights room you'll find all the latest equipment. We also have trainers there who can put a program together for you. Another place to get a good workout is in the gym which is shown on the map to the right of the changing rooms. There will be all sorts of classes offered there. Our aim is to provide all your exercise and recovery needs. So as well as the spa to help aching bodies we also have a special area for massage. It's in the funny shaped room close to the administration area. Its distinctive shape has already led to the nickname of the bullet room. We'll be offering Swedish and Chinese massage there and we'll offer physiotherapy in the future. Before you hear the rest of the talk you have some time to look at question 17 to 20 on page 5. Now listen and answer a question 17 to 20. Now let me tell you something about our different memberships. Firstly we offer different types of membership to cater for different needs. If you are a fitness freak then choose our all-in membership. This gives you access to everything in the centre or the classes and sports. It's usually our most expensive option but for a short time we're offering 12 months for the price of 9 which is a huge saving. If you prefer just the gym classes you may want to consider the gym and weights package. It works out at $10 a week which is good value. If you just want to swim then we recommend getting a swim plus membership. With this you have unlimited use of the pool and spa. The other package we've reduced for this month only is the off-peak. This is aimed at people who are happy to come at less busy times. And finally we have the family pack. We believe in keeping the whole family fit and healthy. So this package works out cheaper than buying it separately. Your flyer has details of all the prices. So anyone who signs up for a new membership tonight will receive two fantastic presents from us. We wanted to make these rewards something different from the norm. We could have just chosen a towel for you to use in the gym or some clothing from the shop. But we wanted to show our appreciation by giving you something special. So not only are we going to give you a voucher for a session in our massage centre. A great way to unwind after your workout. But you'll also get this great device that measures your heart rate. And finally just for turning up tonight we'd like to give everyone here a drink bottle to take away with them. That is the end of section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers. --- You will hear a student called Ravi talking to his tutor, Dr. Chang, about research he is doing for an assignment on children playing outdoors. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Right, Ravi, tell me how the research for your assignment about children's outdoor play is going. Yes, well I've been reading about why children spend less time playing outside now than 20 or 30 years ago. So is it just because of the amount of online time that children have now, which obviously happens indoors? Well, if that was the case, there'd be a correlation between high internet use and low levels of outdoor play. And it's nothing to do with whether there are adequate facilities outside, playgrounds for example, as any open space will do. There's perhaps no single more important factor than parental worries about the dangers of vehicles on the streets. But it could also be that children today prefer playing indoors to outdoors? Well, a study in Tokyo suggests it's the other way around. But children are spending more time in structured activities and out of school clubs than before. And this has a knock on effect on… What's left for outdoor play? Your premise is that outdoor play is good. What exactly do you want to focus on in your assignment? Well, not so much on things that apply to exercise in general, like children's muscles getting stronger because they run around. And not on what seems, for instance, self-evident, that outdoor play helps children to concentrate on things other than lessons. Sure. I'd like to investigate some of the more unexpected benefits like to children's digestion. This is because fresh air tends to stimulate hunger. Perhaps leaving to one side the question of whether climbing trees helps educate children about the natural world? No, not really relevant. What sort of decisions do outdoor games and activities force children to make? Well, for example, how they decide how dangerous something might be. And I'd like to outline the main findings on that. Okay. And as you're arguing that there's been a shift in play patterns over the last generation or so, how are you going to substantiate this? Yes. Surveys have compared parents' recollections of their childhood play 30 years ago with what their children do now. And the nature of what children do when they are playing outdoors has changed. How exactly? Well, surprisingly, it's not so much how often children play outside or preferences for large or small groups. But the fact that the play sessions don't go on for as long. And games involving one child running after another who tries to get away, these are still as popular as ever. But one thing that is declined is improvised games. And I'd like to examine why this might be. And what about safety? Well, from my reading, serious accidents are still rare. More kids hurt themselves falling out of bed than out of trees. Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now listen and answer a questions 27 to 30. I think that a client of outdoor play is a problem, which should worry parents. I mean, perhaps the children themselves don't miss it. They may be happy to spend lots of time indoors. But the links between inactivity and physical problems when their adults are so well established that I think kids should be encouraged to spend more time outdoors with their brothers and sisters and friends. What about schools? Well, what I think they should do differently regarding outdoor play, and it wouldn't actually require a great deal of expenditure is base their policy on different outcomes, like developing children's confidence, not just thinking about exam results. Although I don't know how it would go down with the parents. And do children get more contact with nature in rural areas? There's research on this by Smith and Barker. Intuitively, you'd expect children in rural areas to spend more time out in the open. But in fact, they are generally told to keep off agricultural land. Plus, there are difficulties with supervision outside towns and cities. Right. And Smith and Barker's paper was published in 2001. Not the most up-to-date, but still valid to use. But you'll need to stipulate very precisely that their focus was, if I remember correctly, just on rural areas. So you'd need to consider how far their restricted findings might be applicable to urban areas as well. OK. Right. So now I'd suggest you produce an overview of what you're going to cover. That is the end of Part 3. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] --- You will hear part of a lecture on the Swedish film director, Ingmar Bergman, given to media study students by a film critic. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. You have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. You can read a great novel, listen to a great symphony, or go to see a painting by a great artist, and you'll want to experience it again and again. And every time you do, you'll learn something new from it. Every few films achieve this. Most of them are mere entertainment and very few of them could be said to be works of art. They simply don't have the depth that a work of art has, and this means that you may see them once, but you won't want to watch them again. Why is it that so many commercial films today have such a limited shelf life? One problem is that for many films, once you've seen them once and you know what happens, that's it. They rely on the element of surprise to keep you interested, and once that's lost, that feeling of what's going to happen next, there's nothing left. In addition, the commercial nature of filmmaking means that rather than focusing on the development of characters in the film, many films are just becoming vehicles for actors, box office successes who essentially play the same part each time. Even as well as this, many critics would argue that the greatest black and white films had their own special world with its own special atmosphere, and that nowadays it's harder to create this because the director is unable to play with light in the same way. Another problem is that many directors lack the ability to focus the camera on the important points. There may be impressive visual images, but they don't contribute to the meaning of the film. Which brings me on to Ingmar Bergman, the great Swedish film director who died in 2007. No other director has equaled Bergman in his ability to convey emotion. His films have the dramatic force of a work by the world's greatest playwrights such as Ibsen or Shakespeare. Watching Bergman's films is an enriching experience. Nothing is immediately obvious or predictable, but gradually it becomes clear where he is taking you. If you study a film such as Wild Strawberries, you'll see that every little detail is significant. Each image on the screen is there for a purpose, and gradually builds up an understanding of the central meaning. With Bergman too, you know that a small gesture made by a character or the expression on a character's face can tell you just as much as the words uttered. In his film Persona, the central character says nothing, but meaning is conveyed by what we see on the screen. But Bergman wasn't just a great cinematographer. He was also a great storyteller. Each of his films follows a similar pattern in that the story is organized on two levels. Firstly, on the level of a straightforward, dramatic narrative, but secondly, on the level of myth and the story works throughout the film on both these levels. In Bergman's film Wild Strawberries, an old man travels back to the places he knew as a child and a young man. In the film, we can identify themes that occur again and again in Bergman's work. First of all, we have the idea of the journey. Part of the journey is a real one, but linked with that is the theme of dreams, where they can take us and what we can learn from them. Another theme which was to be central to Bergman's work throughout his life is that of relationships, in particular, the ties that join the members of a family together. And finally, as the old man in Wild Strawberries struggles to make sense of his life, we have another theme which underlies all his work, no matter how anxious or unhappy his characters may appear to be, and that is that we have to accept everything that life can give. That's not a fashionable philosophy, and it may be why Bergman's films have fallen out of fashion. That is the end of Part 4. You now have one minute to check your answers to Part 4. [BLANK_AUDIO]