IELTS Listening Practice Test 11: Part 1

Narrator: Part 1. You will hear a woman phoning a company that runs sea-kayaking trips.

Narrator: First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.

Narrator: You will see that there is an example that has been done for you.

Narrator: Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.

Booking assistant (Declan): Good morning, Tidewater Kayaking, Declan speaking. How can I help?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Oh, hello. I'm ringing about your sea-kayaking day trips. I saw them on your website, and I'd like to book one, if there's still space.

Booking assistant (Declan): I'm sure we can find you something. Let me just get the booking form up. How many people would it be for?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Well, it was going to be three of us, but my husband's decided he'd rather go fishing that day, so it's just me and my sister. So two.

Booking assistant (Declan): Two people. Lovely. And can I take your name?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Yes, it's Ruth Mallinson.

Booking assistant (Declan): Could you spell the surname for me?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Of course. It's M-A-L-L-I-N-S-O-N.

Booking assistant (Declan): Double L. Thanks, Ruth. And are you staying in the area? We like to know where people are in case we have to change anything at short notice.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Yes, we're camping. We'd booked a pitch at Clifftop Campsite, but one of their fields flooded after all that rain last month, so they've moved us to another site a few miles inland. It's called Foxglove Campsite.

Booking assistant (Declan): Foxglove, like the flower? I know it. It's a lovely spot. Now, what date were you thinking of?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): We arrive on the fifteenth of August, and we were hoping for the sixteenth. I think that's a Saturday.

Booking assistant (Declan): Let me have a look. Hmm, I'm afraid the Saturday's already full. The weekends always go first. But there's still space on the Sunday, the seventeenth.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Oh, that's fine. We're there all week, so Sunday it is.

Booking assistant (Declan): Great, I'll put you down for that. Now, have either of you been sea kayaking before?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Not on the sea, no. But we've done quite a lot of kayaking on a lake near where we live. There's an outdoor centre there. My sister keeps saying we should try a river, but we've never got round to it.

Booking assistant (Declan): That's plenty of experience for this trip. The instructor will go through everything on the beach before you set off anyway. And is there anything about your health that we should know?

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Not for me. My sister, Anna, broke her wrist a couple of years ago, but that's completely healed now. The thing is, she does have a bad back, and it can get quite painful if she sits in the same position for a long time.

Booking assistant (Declan): OK, that's useful to know. I'll make a note of it, and the instructor can give her a seat with some extra support. We can also stop on one of the beaches for a stretch.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Oh, she'll be pleased to hear that.

Narrator: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.

Narrator: Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): So, where do we meet on the day?

Booking assistant (Declan): Right. Our website still says the shop on Fore Street, but that's out of date, I'm afraid. There's nowhere to park there, so we moved the meeting point last year. We now meet outside the museum. It's a small white building right at the end of the harbour, and there's a big car park just behind it.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Outside the museum. Got it. And how much is the trip?

Booking assistant (Declan): The price you may have seen on the website, sixty pounds, is for the half-day trip. The full-day trip is eighty-five pounds per person.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): That's fine. Does that include everything?

Booking assistant (Declan): Almost everything. It covers all the equipment, so that's the kayak, the paddle, a buoyancy aid and a wetsuit, and also a picnic lunch, which we have on a beach you can only reach from the water. People sometimes ask about a hot drink at the end, but the cafe charges for that, I'm afraid. One thing that is included, though, is the photos. The guide takes pictures during the day, and we email them to you the following week.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Oh, that's a nice idea. We'd never take our phones out on the water.

Booking assistant (Declan): No, I wouldn't advise it! Now, there are a couple of things you'll need to bring. A towel, obviously. And even in August it can feel quite cold out on the water, especially when you stop for lunch, so bring a fleece to put on. You don't need a waterproof jacket, because we give everyone a spray jacket.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): A towel and a fleece. What about shoes?

Booking assistant (Declan): We'll lend you wetsuit boots, so you don't need to worry about those.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): Great. And what happens if the weather's bad?

Booking assistant (Declan): We do sometimes have to cancel if the wind's too strong. We used to send everyone an email, but people on holiday don't always check them, so now we send a text the evening before to confirm the trip's going ahead. If we do cancel, you get a full refund, or you can move to another day.

Caller (Ruth Mallinson): That sounds very fair. Well, I think that's everything. Thanks so much, Declan.

Booking assistant (Declan): You're welcome, Ruth. We'll see you both on Sunday.

Narrator: That is the end of Part 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers to Part 1.