The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS · Listening Practice Test 5

Track
16	North Point
17	Silver River
18	Valley Crossing
19	Stonebridge
20	Henderson Ridge

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Section 1

Staff member

Hello. City Transport Lost Property. How can I help you?

Woman

Oh, hello. Yes, I'm, er, calling about a suitcase I lost yesterday. I don't suppose I'll get it back but I thought I'd try.

Staff member

Well, some people do hand lost items in so you might be lucky. Let's put the details into the computer.

Woman

OK.

Staff member

Right, so, let's start with a description of the suitcase.

Woman

OK, well, it's small, and it's the type you can pull along on wheels.

Staff member

How about the colour?

Woman

Yes - it's black but not exactly plain black - it has some narrow stripes down it, sort of grey. Actually - no, they're white now I think about it.

Staff member

OK. I'll just add that information. Now were there any items inside it?

Woman

Yes. I had a big bunch of keys in there. Luckily my assistant manager has an identical set so she's going out this morning to get some copies made.

Staff member

So, they're for your office?

Woman

That's right. My house keys were in my pocket, thank goodness.

Staff member

Anything else?

Woman

Um, there were a lot of documents, but they're saved on my laptop anyway, so, er, they don't matter so much. But the thing I'm really worried about - I mean, I haven't even taken it out of the box yet - is a camera I just bought. That's really why I'm calling. I can't believe I've lost it already.

Staff member

I see. Well, let's hope we can find it for you. Was there anything else?

Woman

I don't think so.

Staff member

Any credit cards?

Woman

They were in my handbag. And I had my passport inside my jacket pocket.

Staff member

Money, clothing, any personal items?

Woman

Oh, let me think. I had an umbrella. It was black, no blue, but obviously that isn't as important as the other things.

Staff member

No, but it all helps us identify your property and get it back to you. Anyway, I just need to ask you for some basic details about your journey. So it was yesterday, was it?

Woman

That's right. In the afternoon - around 2 pm, maybe 2.30.

Staff member

OK. So that'd be May the 13th.

Woman

Yes. I was heading to Highbury. That's where I live.

Staff member

All right, and you mentioned a passport, I think. So you were coming from the airport, I presume.

Woman

Yes - and I was looking forward to getting home so much - and what with being tired and everything - I think that's why I just forgot about the case.

Staff member

And how were you travelling when you lost your property? I mean, what kind of transport were you using?

Woman

I thought about getting the train, but that would have meant a bus journey as well, and I couldn't be bothered so I decided to take a taxi eventually. That's where I must have left it.

Staff member

Well, that's good news in a way. It's more likely that a driver would have found it and handed it in.

Woman

I hope so.

Staff member

Well, I need your personal details now. Can I have your full name, please?

Woman

Yes. It's Lisa Docherty. I'll spell that for you. It's D-O-C-H-E-R-T-Y.

Staff member

Thank you. And next, if I could have your address - the best address to send you the property if we manage to locate it?

Woman

Sure. It's number 15A River Road - and that's Highbury, as I said.

Staff member

Thank you. Just a moment. There's just one final thing - that's your phone number.

Woman

I guess my mobile would be best. Er, hang on, I can never remember my own number. OK, I've got it. It's 07979605437.

Staff member

Very well. I think that's everything we need at this end. I'll have a look at the data on ...

Section 2

Welcome to everyone here. I hope you enjoy your stay in our village and enjoy the local scenery. I'll tell you a bit about the forest and mountain tracks in a minute, but first, I'll just give you an idea of where everything is in the village.

So, we're here in the tourist information centre, and when you come out of the centre, you're on Willow Lane, just opposite the pond. If you want to get to the supermarket for your supplies of food and water, go right, that's the quickest way, and then turn right at the top of Willow Lane, and it's the second building you come to, opposite the old railway station.

If you're planning on doing some serious climbing and you need some equipment, we do have an excellent climbing supplies store just five minutes' walk away. Turn left once you're outside the tourist information centre, take Willow Lane all the way up to Pine Street - you want to go left along here - then keep walking and go past Mountain Road on your right, until you come to the next turning on the left - head down there, and you'll come to the climbing supplies store. If you get to the small building that sells ski passes, you'll know you've gone too far.

You also need to head to Pine Street for the museum - it's small but well worth a visit if you're interested in the history of the village and the old gold mining industry. So, when you reach Pine Street from here, you'll see the old railway line on the other side of the road - turn left into Pine Street, and keep going until you come to Mountain Road, and just up here, the museum will be on your left, just behind the railway line. Don't worry about crossing over the tracks. The trains stopped running through here in 1985.

If you're planning on following one of the easier forest walks, you might like to hire a bicycle. To get to the hire shop, again you need to head to Pine Street. On the left-hand side of Pine Street, you'll see the Town Hall, go down the little road that you come to just before it, and you'll find the bike hire shop just behind the hall. They have a good range of bikes so I'm sure you'll find something that suits your needs.

Last but not least, if you're hungry after a long day's trek I can recommend our local cafe. Again, when you leave the tourist information centre, turn right and follow Willow Lane until it joins Pine Street - and right opposite - on the far side of the railway tracks - is the cafe.

OK, let me tell you a little bit about the different tracks we have here. All of them start at the end of Mountain Road - and you'll find a parking lot there where you can leave your vehicles.

Let's start with North Point track. It's a gentle route through lowland forest - good for biking and probably the one for you if you have small children. There's a wooden hut where you can stay at the end of the track but be aware that it's really just an overnight shelter, and you'll need to take your own sleeping bags and cooking equipment.

Another option is the Silver River track. As the name suggests, you'd be following the river for most of the way, and you get to see some of our beautiful native birds, but the track also goes through a densely forested area. Unfortunately, the signposting isn't very good in places and you do need good map-reading skills to avoid becoming disoriented, which happens to visitors a little too frequently, I'm afraid.

Valley Crossing will take you through some stunning scenery but there are several points along the way where you'll need the level of fitness required to get over some pretty big rocks.

Stonebridge is one of the shorter tracks, but very steep as it takes you up to the waterfall, and you do need to be in good condition to manage it.

Lastly, the Henderson Ridge track will take you all the way to the summit of the mountain. Do bear in mind, though, that at this time of year the weather is very changeable and if the cloud suddenly descends, it's all too easy to wander off the track. It's best to check with us for a weather report on the morning you think you want to go. On the way to the summit, there's a hotel which provides comfortable rooms and quality meals, so it's worth climbing all ...

Section 3

Tutor

Well James, I've had a look over your case study and for a first draft, it looks promising.

James

I have to be honest, when you told us we had to write about a furniture company, it didn't sound like the kind of thing that would interest me, but since then, I've changed my mind.

Tutor

Why's that?

James

Well, as you know, Furniture Rossi is an Australian company, still comparatively small compared to some of the high street stores, but it's got plans to expand into foreign markets. So I chose it for that reason. It's going through a transition - it's a family-run business aiming to build a global brand.

Tutor

All right, and you've made that clear in your writing. One thing, though, that I think you've overlooked is why Luca Rossi started a furniture company here in Australia in the first place.

James

Well, he'd just got an arts degree, hadn't he? And people were trying to talk him into an academic profession but he wanted a practical job - something he thought would be more satisfying in the long run. His grandfather had been a craftsman. He'd made furniture in Italy and he'd passed this skill on to Luca's father, and well, Luca thought he'd like to continue the tradition.

Tutor

Yes, that was the motivation behind his decision. And what was it, do you think, that gave Furniture Rossi a competitive edge over other furniture companies?

James

I wouldn't think it was price. It's always been at the higher end of the market, but according to my research, it was to do with the attitude of the employees - they were really focused on giving good customer service.

Tutor

Yes, Luca Rossi insisted on that. Their promotional campaigns also emphasised the fact that the wood only came from Australian forests, but that was the case with their rivals, too, so it wouldn't have made them stand out. OK, we'll have a careful look at the content of your case study in a minute, but I just want to make a general comment first, before you start writing your second draft.

James

OK.

Tutor

Yes, what I'd like to see more of is your opinion, a bit more critical thinking, rather than the bare facts. But it's good to see you've been careful with your referencing, this time.

James

Thanks. And I read and re-read my work so I'm pretty sure there aren't any errors with the language.

Tutor

Yes, it's fine. Oh, but there's one other thing I could probably mention at this point.

James

Yes?

Tutor

Well, at the end of term, you'll also be giving a presentation - also on Furniture Rossi.

James

Yes. I haven't given it much thought yet.

Tutor

Understandably. But, while you're writing the case study, I'd recommend you think about what kind of information would be suitable to use in your presentation. Remember - the last time you gave a presentation on a company, you spent a considerable part of the time providing the audience with financial data, but they probably needed to hear more about company strategy.

James

Yes. I did concentrate rather too much on the figures. I'll make sure there's a balance this time.

Tutor

Good.

Tutor

OK, so let's just think about the content of your case study - the history of Furniture Rossi. I see here in paragraph four you're talking about how Luca Rossi raised the capital for his new business venture - and then you're talking about the customer base growing much wider - but what was it that prompted this growth?

James

Well, that was to do with the quality of the furniture products that the company was selling. People loved that it was all hand-made and would last.

Tutor

And because demand from customers kept growing?

James

Well, then Rossi needed to take on more craftsmen so they could make sure the orders were ready on time, and then, he also had to set up two new warehouses to make distribution quicker.

Tutor

Yes. And from there, the company really grew. But think what happened next. They started looking at ways to increase their profits and called in a consultant. And what he saw immediately was that the infrastructure was completely outdated - they were paying three full-time admin staff just for data-entry. So he recommended they upgrade their software programs and that, in turn, cut operational costs and just speeded everything up.

James

I'm surprised they didn't get on to that earlier, but I suppose Luca Rossi was more interested in the design aspect, rather than the finance side of things.

Tutor

Yes, I imagine that's why he eventually turned the day-to-day running of the company over to his son. And in fact, it was the son, Marco, who persuaded his father to move on from traditional television advertising and go online instead.

James

I guess that's the best way to reach people.

Tutor

It can be, but initially, customers actually complained.

James

Why?

Tutor

Well, some users found it hard to navigate their way around the website - so they were getting frustrated and giving up. So then the company called in a professional to improve it.

James

I see. He must have done a good job. They've had a continuous three-year rise in revenue - so things must be going well.

Tutor

Indeed. And what of the future?

James

Well, I probably need to talk about this a bit more in the concluding paragraphs, don't I? Consumers are already aware of the quality of the furniture, that's for sure, but I think the company is aiming to publicise their values - the fact that they have respect for beauty, durability and functionality, and the environment. A lot of companies are already ...

Section 4

Hello everyone and welcome. As part of this series of lectures on the development of early humans, today we are looking at rock art: the paintings and drawings produced by prehistoric peoples as they spread across the continents. If you've been lucky enough to look at a piece of rock art close up, you'll know it's an experience that makes you wonder about the passage of time and our own history. But rock art also has a practical value for researchers and let's start by considering why that is.

Firstly it provides vital information about the way that people evolved - information not always easily obtainable from excavated artefacts alone. Secondly, rock art tells us about migration: where people came from and where, perhaps, they went next.

Rock art is found all over the world and this in itself is not surprising. But what is rather amazing, you might think, is how similar some images are, whether you're looking at a rock face in South Africa or standing inside a cave in Spain. Let me give you an example. When our ancestors drew humans, they would often draw them as stick figures, but if they drew a face, then the eyes were almost always very prominent - very open and wide.

And of course, animals are very common in rock art, but one animal which is very interesting to researchers is the lizard, because whenever you see a prehistoric painting of one - it's depicted either in profile or looking down on it from above. And these drawings are produced by people of totally different cultural backgrounds. Amazing.

But how can this be the case - that similar artistic styles exist in such distant locations? In the past archaeologists believed that trade must have brought people together, and that it gave them the opportunity to observe each other's culture, including art styles, but this didn't prove to be the case.

Recently researchers have come up with a new theory. They believe that the brains of our ancestors evolved to notice certain images before others and this was important - actually essential because in an environment full of constant danger, it was necessary for survival. So the need to quickly recognise things that could be helpful or harmful could have had a great influence on rock art and explain why some images are more common across cultures than others.

Later on, there would have been other reasons why communities produced art - certainly for spiritual and social purposes and no doubt for political ones, too, as different tribes looked for allies and struggled against their enemies.

Well, as I said before, you can find rock art all over the world, but I'd like to focus now on the rock art of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The images that survive in this part of the world span at least 20,000 years. In fact, the Aborigines were still practising this art form in the late 18th century, when the Europeans began to arrive, and certain images point to the contact between them.

For example, the Aborigines began to draw ships which they would have seen along the coast - it's hard for us to imagine what they must have thought when these first began to appear. Another image that is evidence of European arrival is that of horses; an animal that would have been very alien to the Australian landscape.

Um, it isn't actually known how many sites there are across Australia where rock art can be found - but unfortunately we do know that much of the art is being lost to us. Erosion, of course, is one of the key reasons for its destruction, but human activity is also increasingly responsible.

Since the 1960s, industry alone has destroyed around an estimated 10,000 pieces of art. At this rate, in 50 years, half of all Australian rock art could have disappeared for good. Vandalism is sadly another factor. And although most people, I believe, would wish to preserve this art, I'm afraid that tourism is another reason why the art is disappearing. In some cases, the art is damaged when ...

The band is a practice estimate. Exact IELTS score boundaries can vary slightly between test versions.

Section 1

Questions 1–10

City Transport Lost Property Enquiry

Journey details

Personal details

Section 2

Questions 11–15

Questions 16–20

Section 3

Questions 21–25

Questions 26–30

History of Furniture Rossi

Choose from the box

Section 4

Questions 31–36

Rock art

Why rock art is important to researchers

Global similarities in rock art

Why our ancestors produced rock art

Questions 37–40

Listening test help

Settings

Section 1

Questions 1–10

City Transport Lost Property Enquiry

Journey details

Personal details

Section 2

Questions 11–15

Questions 16–20

Section 3

Questions 21–25

Questions 26–30

History of Furniture Rossi

Choose from the box

Section 4

Questions 31–36

Rock art

Why rock art is important to researchers

Global similarities in rock art

Why our ancestors produced rock art

Questions 37–40

Listening test help

Settings

Listening result

Full transcripts