PART 1 QUESTIONS 1

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Part 1

IELTS Listening- Booking hotel accommodation

Man: Hi, good afternoon.

Woman: Hi, welcome to the Carlton Hotel. How can I help you?

Man: We’ve just driven up from London and we’ve going to stay here in York for a few days. We’d like to book a couple of rooms.

Woman: Ok, sir. So for how many nights is that?

Man: We’ll be leaving on Monday morning. So, let me see, that’s…(1) 3 nights.

Woman: And you said two rooms. Who are the rooms for?

Man: I’m here with my wife and two kids. They are 9 and 11. Sorry, 9 and 12. The eldest has just had his birthday. So we’d like one twin room for the kids and another double for my wife and I.

Woman: Ok, well, we’ve got two rooms available, both en-suite.

Man: Great. How much are they per night?

Woman: Let me see… the twin room is… 40 pounds per night, and the double room is… 50 pounds per night.

Man: Ok, that sounds reasonable. So what is the total for 3 nights for both rooms?

Woman: Let me check… that will be a total of 270 pounds.

Man: And that includes everything?

Woman: Yes, that price includes (2) tax.

Man: Ok, can I pay to be credit card?

Woman: Yes, sure. You’ll need to pay for the first night now, and you can pay for the other nights when you leave. Or you can pay for all three nights now.

Man: I think I’ll just pay for everything now as we’ll definitely be here till Monday.

Woman: Ok, that’s fine. I’ll just need to take some details from you to confirm the booking.

Can you give me your full name?

Man: Yes, it’s Michael Fernsby. That’s…(3) F-E-R-N-S-B-Y.

Woman: What’s your date of birth please?

Man: The (4) 15th of October, 1968.

Woman: The 5th of October, 1968?

Man: No, the 15th.

Woman: Oh, ok, sorry. And can you give me your address?

Man: Sure. It’s 273, Stanton Court. That’s S-T-A-N-T-O-N. London, WC2D, 5JB.

Woman: (5) WC2D 5JB?

Man: Yes, that’s right.

Woman: And your telephone number?

Man: My mobile number is… hold on, just let me check, I can never remember it… here it is… it’s (6) 08773 879456.

Woman: Ok. Those rooms are booked for you then.

Man: Ok, I know we’re a bit out of town here. Can you give me some information about getting into the centre of town. We’ll probably head in tomorrow.

Woman: Well, you could drive-in, but the parking is not great in town. It’s difficult to get a space and is quite expensive if you are staying there all day.

Man: Yes, we’re thinking of going to look around some of the shops and to look at the wall around the city, so we’ll probably be there most of the day.

Woman: In that case you are probably best taking a taxi or the bus.

Man: How much is a taxi?

Woman: Into town, it will be about 12 pounds. Actually, no I’d say it’s around (7) 15 pounds- fares have increased recently. We can book it here for you and it will pick you up outside. It only takes about 10 minutes.

Man: Right, I see. What about the bus? How much is that and where does it go from?

Woman: It’s only 2 pounds per person. It’s not far from here. You go out of here, turn right on to Oak Tree (8) Avenue, and it’s about a five-minute walk down the road. You can’t miss it. The bus ride is about 15 minutes.

Man: Oh, ok. Maybe we could do that.

Woman: Or you could walk actually if you like walking. Part of the way you can walk through (9) the nice park which is fairly popular with visitors to York. It’s about (10) 30 minutes but it’s quite pleasant.

Man: Right, well there’s a few options there. We’ll have a think about it. I’ll go and get my wife and kids. They are just waiting in the car.

Woman: Ok, no problem. Thanks for booking with us.

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PART 2

IELTS Listening- Volunteering Abroad

Ok everyone, thanks for coming today and for your interest in volunteering abroad. For those that don’t know much about our company, Time Abroad, let me start by telling you a bit more.

Time Abroad is one of the largest volunteer abroad organizations in the UK. The company was founded in 2000. (11) In 2007, the company grew by joining with another company, PT Travel, making us even larger. In 2014 we sent 10,000 people abroad on a variety of service projects and internships overseas, more than any other company. All participants receive the best support from our full-time, professional staff to ensure that the experience is safe, worthwhile and fun.

We have lots of very experienced staff working for us. (12) We have around 150 full-time staff members, many of whom are former volunteers themselves inspired by their own experience. Some of these people are even part of the original groups of volunteers back in the early 90s. About 75 of those staff are not located in the UK at all, and spend their whole time in another country supporting the volunteers. They are experts on the local communities you are working in, having spent their whole lives there. They have vast experience in fields such as community development or education.

The times that volunteers join the program vary a lot. Some join in July because they have just finished studying at college or university and want to do some volunteering before they move on to work or further study. The winter months are also popular because people want to escape the cold weather in the UK. But there are no set start dates and programs run continuously throughout the year, so (13) the majority of volunteers start when it is best for them.

Time Abroad is an entirely independent organization that does not receive any funding from religious bodies, political parties, development organizations, or other sources. And of course, we don’t request money from our partner organizations in the developing world. (14) All our work is 100% funded through your contributions as a volunteer. We do get help from the government, but that is from reduced business taxes, not financial contributions. It is this financial independence that gives us the freedom to set up projects wherever we think it may be useful and where we think that our volunteers can make a valuable contribution.

Now I’m going to tell you about some of the more popular opportunities in a bit more detail. One of the most popular volunteering choices is teaching. You’ll find a warm welcome awaits you from our students around the world. (15) The main thing you will do is assisting with English conversation because although the local teachers are very capable of teaching the structural aspects of the English language- such as the grammar- they do not use the correct intonation or pronunciation, because they lack the confidence of a native speaker. By providing conversational English teaching, (16) you can greatly enhance the learning experience of thousands of children and adults with whom we work in the developing world.

You can also volunteer in agriculture and farming. Access to safe and healthy food is a major concern of any society. (17) Volunteers work on a farm with the aim of promoting sustainable local food sources and responsible farming. Using pesticides and other destructive agricultural techniques can have a long-term negative impact on the environment and threaten the future well-being of whole regions. (18) Time Abroad’s agriculture & farming projects focus on organic farming practices and educating local communities on their benefits.

You could also volunteer in the field of veterinary medicine. If you do this you will be working alongside a vet in a local veterinary practice. (19) You will help the vet when people bring in sick animals or join the vet on visits to people’s houses or other places. You will gain fantastic insight that would not be possible in your own country. You are likely to see many exciting animals like snakes, big cats or even elephants! And (20) you will develop a better understanding of the problems people and faced within both urban and rural areas of the third world.

So, I hope that has helped you to learn a bit more about Time Abroad. Does anybody have any questions?

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PART 3

bachelor’s degree, but we are prepared to overlook this if someone has enough work experience. (24) But you must have one or the other. It’s useful if you have research experience as you have to complete a thesis but we can train you on this if not. (25) It’s essential that you have motivation if you want to join the courses as it is very demanding.

Louise: What about the costs of the course?

Mark: The fees for a year if you are studying part-time are £2250. No sorry, they have gone up this year- (26) £2400. Of course, you are paying for all other living costs.

Louise: Is there any kind of bursary or scholarship available to help with the fees?

Mark: Yes there are things available but you have to meet the criteria to get funding. Often though the university will actually contact you about funding. Universities have a certain (27) budget available to provide funds so they will look for the best students and offer them something if they think they will be suitable. You would have to have a (28) firm offer in place to join the course before you’d be considered for any funding.

Louise: Where can I go to find out more about it?

Mark: The best place to look for information about funding is on our (29) university website. All the details about whether you’re eligible, what help is on offer, and (30) how to apply will be there. If you can’t find the information you’re looking for, you can always come and speak to us again and there will be a number you can ring.

Louise: Ok thanks for that. And is it easy to get hold of you if I need to speak to you further?

Mark: Yes, I’m here most days, but you can always phone the office first to check. It’s best to book an appointment in case I’m not around.

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PART 4

Lecture on the History of Indian Rail

In today’s lecture, we are going to be talking about the history of Indian railways, from when they began, up until 1945 when they had all been taken over by the government.

Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise, (31) owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world’s largest networks comprising 115,000 km of track over a route of 65,000 km and there are 7,500 stations. It transports over 25 million passengers daily, which is over 9 billion on an annual basis. Indian Railway is the world’s ninth-largest commercial or utility employer, by a number of employees, (32) with over 1.4 million employees.

The history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. The core of the pressure for building railways in India came from London. In 1848, there was not a single kilometre of railway line in India. (33) A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867. (34) Brereton was responsible for linking this with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km. Hence it became possible to travel directly (35) from Bombay to Calcutta. This route was officially opened on 7 March 1870 and it was part of the inspiration for French writer Jules Verne’s book Around the World in Eighty Days. At the opening ceremony, the Viceroy Lord Mayo concluded that, if possible, at the earliest possible moment, the whole country should be covered with a network of lines in a uniform system.

By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in Indian railways. By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km, (36) mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railways.

In 1990, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern-day states of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh (37) and soon various autonomous kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1905, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally vested under Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India. It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.

In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India, but (38) with the end of the war, the railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse.

In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km, a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth, a British railway economist. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.

The period between 1920 and 1929 was a period of an economic boom; there was 66,000 km of railway lines serving the country; (39) the railways represented a capital value of some 687 million sterling; and they carried over 620 million passengers and approximately 90 million tons of good each year. Following the Great Depression, the railways suffered economically for the next eight years and the Second World War severely crippled the railway. Starting 1939, (40) about 40% of the rolling stock including locomotives and coaches was taken to the Middle East, the railways' workshops were converted to ammunitions workshops and many railway tracks were dismantled to help the Allies in the war. By 1946 all rail systems had been taken over by the government.

Length of stay:	(1)
Ages of children:	nine and twelve

Price:	two en-suites at 270 pounds, which includes (2)
Payment method:	credit card

Date of birth:	(4) 1968
Address:	273 Stanton Court, London

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Transportation Options:
+ Taxi:	approximately (7) pounds