Cambridge IELTS 14 · Listening · Test 3 · Part 1

Listening Test 3, Part 1: answers explained

Flanders Conference Hotel

The recording and its 10 questions (1–10). Every answer is explained with the words that give it away.

Take the whole test, timed Show the answers

Part 1 recording

Play it once, as in the exam, and answer the questions below as you listen.

Questions 1–10

Note completion
1 the ______ room for talks
2 (projector and ______ available)
3 area for coffee and an ______
4 free ______ throughout
5 a standard buffet lunch costs $ ______ per head
6 Rooms will cost $ ______ including breakfast.
7 The hotel also has a spa and rooftop ______
8 There’s a free shuttle service to the ______
9 Wilby Street (quite near the ______)
10 near to restaurants and many ______

Answers explained

Answer the questions first: finding the evidence yourself teaches more than reading it. The answers stay folded until you ask.

Question 1

Tesla

What you hear

Tesla – that’s spelled T-E-S-L-A

Why

Angela names the room for talks and presentations and spells it out: T-E-S-L-A. Spelling is the point of this item, so write Tesla exactly. The man mishears it first ('Sorry?'), which is why she gives the letters, and the capacity of a hundred people is just extra detail.
Question 2

microphone

What you hear

that’ll be all set up ready for you

Why

The projector is already listed in the note, so the man asks about a microphone and Angela confirms it will be set up ready. The word microphone fills the gap. She adds a second one for audience questions, but that is still the same item, not a new answer.
Question 3

exhibition

What you hear

we’d like to have an exhibition of our products and services there as well

Why

The caller asks for an open area for coffee and says they would like an exhibition of their products and services there too, hence the need for a big space. 'Coffee and an ...' takes exhibition. The atrium is where Angela puts all this, but it names the place, not what is being held.
Question 4

wifi

What you hear

that’s free and available throughout the hotel

Why

The man only presumes there is wifi, and Angela confirms with 'Oh yes', adding that it is free and available throughout the hotel. Both words from the note, free and throughout, are in her answer, so the gap is wifi. The complimentary shuttle comes later and is a different service.
Question 5

45

What you hear

That’s $45 per person

Why

Two buffet prices come up. The standard menu is $45 per person, while the special costs $25 more, which would be $70. The caller chooses the standard, and the note says 'standard buffet lunch', so 45 is correct and 25 is the trap.
Question 6

135

What you hear

we can offer you rooms at $135

Why

Conference attendees get a 25% reduction, bringing the room price to $135. The normal standard rate of $180 is the number to avoid. The note says rooms 'including breakfast', and Angela confirms breakfast is included at the discounted price.
Question 7

pool

What you hear

there’s a pool up on the roof for the use of guests

Why

Besides the spa, Angela mentions a pool up on the roof for the use of guests, so the note's 'rooftop ...' is pool. Massages and facials are what the spa offers, so they are services and do not complete a rooftop facility.
Question 8

airport

What you hear

there’s a complimentary shuttle bus for guests

Why

The hotel is 12 kilometres from the airport and has a complimentary shuttle bus, which is the free service in the note. The railway station is only ten minutes away on foot, so it has no shuttle; the destination for the shuttle is the airport.
Question 9

sea

What you hear

it’s not very far from the sea

Why

Describing the location, Angela says Wilby Street is a small street and not very far from the sea. Sea is the landmark in the note. Her mention of restaurants and clubs follows straight after and belongs to the next question, not this one.
Question 10

clubs

What you hear

they can go on to one of the clubs in the area

Why

Angela says there is a huge choice of places to eat and then that people can go on to one of the clubs, with a great many to choose from. The gap follows 'restaurants and many', so the noun is clubs, plural as in the recording.

Part 1 audioscript

Part 1 · audioscript

ANGELA

Hello, Flanders conference hotel.

MAN

Oh, hi. I wanted to ask about conference facilities at the hotel. Have I come through to the right person?

ANGELA

You have. I’m the customer services manager. My name’s Angela. So how can I help you?

MAN

Well, I’m calling from Barrett and Stansons, we’re a medical company based in Perth.

ANGELA

Oh yes.

MAN

And we’re organising a conference for our clients to be held in Sydney. It’ll be held over two days and we’re expecting about fifty or sixty people.

ANGELA

When were you thinking of having it?

MAN

Some time early next year, like the end of January? It’d have to be a weekend.

ANGELA

Let me see … our conference facilities are already booked for the weekend beginning January 28th. We could do the first weekend in February?

MAN

How about January 21st?

ANGELA

I’m afraid that’s booked too.

MAN

Well, let’s go for the February date then.

ANGELA

So that’s the weekend beginning the 4th.

MAN

OK. Now can you tell me a bit about what conference facilities you have?

ANGELA

Sure. So for talks and presentations we have the Tesla room.

MAN

Sorry?

ANGELA

Tesla – that’s spelled T-E-S-L-A. it holds up to a hundred people, and it’s fully equipped with a projector and so on.

MAN

How about a microphone?

ANGELA

Yes, that’ll be all set up ready for you, and there’ll be one that members of the audience can use too, for questions, if necessary.

MAN

Fine. And we’ll also need some sort of open area where people can sit and have a cup of coffee, and we’d like to have an exhibition of our products and services there as well, so that’ll need to be quite a big space.

ANGELA

That’s fine, there’s a central atrium with all those facilities, and you can come before the conference starts if you want to set everything up.

MAN

Great. And I presume there’s wifi?

ANGELA

Oh yes, that’s free and available throughout the hotel.

MAN

OK.

ANGELA

Would you also like us to provide a buffet lunch? We can do a two-course meal with a number of different options.

MAN

What sort of price are we looking at for that?

ANGELA

Well, I can send you a copy of the standard menu. That’s $45 per person. Or you can have the special for $25 more.

MAN

I think the standard should be OK, but yes, send me the menu.

MAN

Now we’re also going to need accommodation on the Saturday night for some of the participants … I’m not sure how many, but probably about 25. So what do you change for a room?

ANGELA

Well, for conference attendees we have a 25% reduction, so we can offer you rooms at $135. Normally a standard room’s $180.

MAN

And does that include breakfast?

ANGELA

Sure. And of course, guests can also make use of all the other facilities at the hotel. So we’ve got a spa where you can get massages and facials and so on, and there’s a pool up on the roof for the use of guests.

MAN

Great. Now what about transport links? The hotel’s downtown, isn’t it?

ANGELA

Yes, it’s about 12 kilometres from the airport, but there’s a complimentary shuttle bus for guests. And it’s only about ten minutes’ walk from the central railway station.

MAN

OK. Now, I don’t know Sydney very well, can you just give me an idea of the location of the hotel?

ANGELA

Well, it’s downtown on Wilby Street, that’s quite a small street, and it’s not very far from the sea. And of course if the conference attendees want to go out on the Saturday evening there’s a huge choice of places to eat. Then if they want to make a night of it, they can go on to one of the clubs in the area – there are a great many to choose from.

MAN

OK. So if we go ahead with this, can you give me some information about how much …

Part 1 recording

Questions 1–10

Answers explained

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Part 1 audioscript