Tapescripts
The part of the text containing the answer is underlined with the question number given in square brackets []. If you still struggle with IELTS Listening tests, please refer to IELTS Listening tips.
IELTS Listening Section 1
Receptionist: Good morning, Clevedon College, can I help you?
Caller: Yes, please. I’d like some information about evening courses this term.
Receptionist: Okay. Which subjects are you interested in?
Caller: Two subjects, actually. Languages and Computer Skills.
Receptionist: Okay. What languages are you interested in?
Caller: Actually, I’m not sure. I have to fulfil a language requirement for school, but I haven’t really decided what language to study. Um… how many language courses do you run each week?
Receptionist: We have two every night, from Monday to Friday.
Caller: I’m sorry, but would you mind going through the schedule for me?
Receptionist: Not at all. Monday to Wednesday are Modem European Languages: French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Polish. Thursday night we offer ancient languages: Latin and Ancient Greek. [1] And on Friday we finish off with the Asian languages of Hindi and Bengali.
Caller: Monday to Wednesday, Modem European; Thursday, Ancient Languages; and Friday, Asian… Can you spell Bengali please?
Receptionist: Yes, it’s B-E-N-G-A-L-I. [2]
Caller: Great. And how much do the courses cost?
Receptionist: Each course costs twenty-five pounds per person per term, but if you want to do two language courses, there’s a ten per cent discount, but only if you book for two terms. [3]
Caller: So the ten per cent discount is if I take two courses, for two terms, is that right?
Receptionist: Right.
Caller: Would it be possible for me to book my classes right now?
Receptionist: No, sorry, the computer’s down. What I suggest you do is call extension 9694… no, sorry… 6994, after 6 p.m., and ask for
Caller: Mrs Johnson. I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Did you say 6994… after 6 p.m.?
Receptionist: Yes. 6994… please ask for Mrs Johnson. [4]
Caller: Thanks. OK, can we now look at the Computer Skills courses?
Receptionist: Yes, of course. Computer classes always start in the first week of the month, and the way it works is we offer one computer class for the entire month. So you might spend one month on databases… another month on Excel, and so on. Classes meet once a week, on Tuesday afternoons. The next class starts February first.
Caller: OK, so for the upcoming month… February?
Receptionist: February is going to be Databases. There are twenty-four places still free on that course, and it costs forty pounds per person. [5]
Caller: February… Databases… twenty-four openings… forty pounds… okay…
Receptionist: Excel starts in March, and that’s nearly full – only four slots left. It’s forty-five pounds. [6]
Caller: Okay, Excel… March… only four slots left. Got it.
Receptionist: April is Outlook. That is never as popular since it costs so much more, but you get a free CD. It is sixty pounds for the month, and there are nineteen places left.
Caller: Okay, April… Outlook… sixty pounds. Is that it? [7]
Receptionist: No, on the third of June, we start a Word course. We have sixteen vacancies for that at the moment. It’s also expensive at fifty-five pounds. [8]
Caller: Third of June… Word… sixteen vacancies… fifty-five pounds. [9] Now, do I call the same number to book a place on one of these classes?
Receptionist: No, you have to call Mary Jones, I think. Yes, Mary Jones… extension 9623.
Caller: Sorry, could you repeat that number?
Receptionist: Yes… extension 9623. Please call her before 6 p.m. [10]
Caller: Okay. Many thanks for all your help.
IELTS Listening Section 2
Dr. Donovan: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Doctor Donovan, the principal of Donleavy University [11], and I would like to welcome you to the Dingle Wood Campus, which is one of the three campuses belonging to this university [12]. This campus, Dingle Wood, is where I have my office [13], and it’s also the location of the Languages and Science Campus, so some of you will be studying here. Dingle Wood is the most northerly campus. The Business Studies blocks are in the Churchdown Campus in the centre of town, and the southern or Trailway Campus, where History and Architecture are situated, is to the south of the town. Those of you who are enrolled in any of those courses will be taken to your respective buildings at the end of this meeting. Those of you studying on the Dingle Wood Campus… you will have a tour later, too.
This building we are assembled in is the office and administration block – block 39 – and is where the weekly meetings are held. [14] You are welcome to attend these meetings, as are all the university staff. You may want to, as many university issues are discussed at these weekly meetings. The meetings take place at one-thirty every Tuesday, so please stop by. Two other important buildings are also located on this campus, the cafeteria and the on-site shop. You can purchase all the required books and any stationery you need for your courses at this shop. [15] Please bear in mind that, even though you have shown your ID passes to enter this site [16], you still need to use them again to buy anything in the shop or cafeteria… This is for security reasons. Now if I could draw your attention to the back page of your joining instructions booklet, you will see a small map of this campus- Dingle Wood. The block we are in now, the office and administration block, is located between the Languages Centre, block thirty-eight, and the Physics School, block thirty- that’s three-oh [17]. These are both on the right of the plan. The cafeteria, which is open from seven a.m. to nine-thirty p.m., is on the left of the plan. It is between the Chemistry block, number thirty-five, and the university shop, block thirty three. [18] At the university shop, you can get all you will need in terms of course materials.
The Biology block is block number 29, and you’ll find the Biology block between the Chemistry block and the Languages Centre. [19] Be careful with the numbers, as they are not always logical.
As you will see, there are gardens on the right-hand side of the gate. These are being extended over the next two months, and a memorial fountain is being installed in the middle of the campus. [20] This means that the campus will be very noisy during normal working hours; however, the campus will look much nicer when it is all finished. Right, so that’s it for your initial campus orientation. At this point, could the language students all follow me, please, and the rest of you- please assemble under the banners which show your main topic of study, and you will be directed to the other campuses
IELTS Listening Section 3
Sarah: Hi, Bill. How are you?
Bill: I’m okay now, Sarah, but I was so ill last week.
Sarah: Oh dear, what was the problem? Did you eat that dodgy fish in the canteen?
Bill: No. At first I thought it was a cold, but then my head started hurting and my eyes started to go blurry…
Sarah: I’m so sorry… that sounds serious.
Bill: It’s okay, actually. I went to the doctor, and he diagnosed me with a migraine. He gave me some medicine, and I’m starting to feel much better. [21]
Sarah: I’m glad to hear that. Well, I’m also glad you’re in today because we have to work on a new project together.
Bill: Oh, are we in the same section?
Sarah: No, it’s just us – no one else. Mr Donaldson put us down as B team because we live near each other. [22]
Bill: That could be fun! What do we have to do?
Sarah: Well, the project is partly internet research, then checking reference book for information to prepare a survey, which we have to use with people we know. [23]
Bill: Great, what’s the topic?
Sarah: It’s to do with shopping over the last ten years. We have to find out how customers have changed their behaviour.
Bill: Okay. So what’s the first step?
Sarah: I think the first thing to do is to check the list of references he gave me. But my computer is in for repair, so…if I check in the reference library, would you be willing to look up some references online? [24] Once we’re done with the reference checks, we can write the questions together.
Bill: That’s fine, I’ll do the internet research. So… what sort of shopping are we looking at? Only food, or goods, or clothes shopping?
Sarah: We have to find people who are willing to tell us about personal things like deodorants, cosmetics, soap or vitamin creams. [25] The other groups are doing food, electrical goods and clothes.
Bill: That won’t be so easy, Sarah. People might think those things are a bit private. [26]
Sarah: Yes, I thought about that. I’ll ask the women and you can ask the men. That should work okay.
Bill: Well, if you think so. Give me the list of references then.
Sarah: Sorry, I left them in my other bag at Joseph’s house. I’ll get them for you tomorrow.
Bill: Okay. Well, then, this afternoon I think I’ll catch up on the notes from last week. Can you help me, or are you busy? [27]
Sarah: I’ve made you a copy of the notes already, to save you time. Here you are! [28]
Bill: Wow, thanks, Sarah. That’s so thoughtful! Well, since there’s nothing for us to do right now, shall we go for lunch?
Sarah: Actually, I’ll have to catch you later. I have to go to a meeting this afternoon. Can I phone you tonight to arrange when to meet?
Bill: No, sorry, I have a date. Can we meet in the laboratory for the first class tomorrow?
Sarah: I’m not sure because I have to go to the library to collect some books… What about meeting there at lunchtime? [29]
Bill: Do you mean in the lab?
Sarah: Yes.
Bill: Okay, see you in the laboratory tomorrow at noon, then. [30] Sounds like we have a lot of work to do.
IELTS Listening Section 4
Chief curator: Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the first in this year’s series of public lectures offered by the Art Gallery. As chief curator of the gallery [31], I was given the honour of presenting the first lecture- and, let me tell you, I had a difficult time deciding what to talk about tonight.
Being the curator, I naturally know just about everything that’s in this gallery, but I wanted to choose an artist who has a wide appeal- that seems only fair, yes? [32] But I didn’t want to talk about someone so well known that anything I said would be familiar. I wanted someone modem- my personal preference is for modem art- but again, I wanted to choose someone who had the potential to appeal to all art lovers, whether they’re attracted to traditional forms, Impressionism, surrealism, or what have you.
So, having spent the last five years as a visiting professor in Barcelona, it’s not surprising that I finally chose to talk about one of the greatest Catalan artists- one whose work is likely to be familiar to many of you: Joan Miró. Look at this… and this… and this. Ring any bells? Miró’s most famous- and most widely reproduced- works tend to be like this. Bright primary colours, with lots of asymmetrical forms [33-35]. He painted on large canvases [33-35]– larger than himself, quite often and his paintings depicted birds, trees, flowers [33-35] and other features of the natural world. But Miró produced a great variety of work, and it’s about some of his lesser-known paintings that I would like to speak this evening.
Miró was born in Barcelona in 1893, the son of a goldsmith. He began to show talent very early, and in 1926, went to Paris where he was drawn to the surrealists of Montpamasse. He did not define himself as a surrealist, however; he preferred to stay free to experiment with other artistic styles as he wished. Miró had an intense dislike of much of the painting and many of the painters he knew. He wished to do something totally different, to express his contempt for bourgeois art – and yet, ironically, Miró’s success has made his work much in demand among art collectors of the world. But we can’t really talk about the artist without looking at his art, and that’s what I’d like to do now – to take a look at just a few of Miró’s works and think about what it is that makes them special – special to me and to a great number of people who flock every day to the Miró Foundation in Barcelona.
Let’s start with this, one of Miró’s best-known and brightest works – Woman and Bird [36], a sculpture created in 1982. It is on display in a park in Barcelona [37], often known as the Joan Miró Park. A huge sculpture, towering up into the sky, it reflects Miró’s eternal interest in these themes, as well as his more technical interest in materials; this sculpture is covered in mosaic [38], which gives it a naïve and cheerful appearance. It is interesting that this sculpture was completed in 1982, just a year before Miró’s death. I think it shows that, towards the end, he was feeling as playful as a young man, and I think he wanted to share this playfulness in a park – on such a big, very public scale.
And now, another representation of a woman, this time just called Woman. This was painted in 1976 – a late work for Miró [39] – and is a work we often see reproduced, or on sale as postcards or posters in gallery shops around the world. So why is it so popular? I think the use of colour has something to do with it; people respond to these rounded shapes filled with primary colours, especially on a large canvas like this. Also the fact that, while it is rather surreal, it is still possible to recognise the form of a woman and to see it as a sympathetic representation. It’s a bold, bright painting, and I think that it awakens a reaction in many of us.
And finally, something quite different- though still a woman. A harsh, even violent work that was completed in 1939, at a time when Miró was greatly influenced by the events of the civil war in Spain [40]. It’s titled Seated Woman II, but it can be hard to find the woman here, as she’s been transformed into rather a horrendous creature. So is that how Miró viewed women – as grotesque? Not at all. This picture can also be seen as strong, with a huge base and solid shoulders to support those who depend on her. In this painting, her arms and neck seem to grow as vegetation out of her shoulders, representing woman as fertile ground, perhaps. We also see here the fish and birds, the moon and stars so typical of Miró’s work- making her a creature of nature and of the heavens as well.
And that’s all we have time for this evening, I’m afraid. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this brief look at Miró’s work and that you will enjoy the other lectures that follow this one.
Thank you and good night.
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