In a tutorial, Mark gives a quick overview of revenue management, a pricing strategy used by airlines and others. Susan describes buying a ticket to Perth, and the tutor and Mark explain why prices change and where else the system is used.
Questions 24-32 · 9 marks · 2 question blocks
In order. Questions 24-27 come from the tutor's introduction and the airline discussion. 'Mark why do you think revenue management has come about?' starts the notes (28-32), which end with the other industries.
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the part yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
| Q | Your answer | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Questions 24-27 · Multiple choice | ||
| 24 | B | |
| 25 | C | |
| 26 | D | |
| 27 | A | |
| Questions 28-32 · Note completion (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS) | ||
| 28 | law has changedAlso accepted: law changes / changes in law / the law has changed | |
| 29 | computer programsAlso accepted: powerful computer programs / computer programmes | |
| 30 | from homeAlso accepted: from home computer / from a home computer | |
| 31 | hotelsAlso accepted: hotel beds / hotel rooms / rooms | |
| 32 | hire cars | |
How to attack this block: Three speakers, so keep track of who holds which view: Susan finds it unfair, Mark thinks it's common sense. The options borrow words from the tutor's introduction and Susan's ticket story.
What is Mark's short talk about?
a quick run down on a new strategy for pricing … before we go on to your actual tutorial paper on Sales Targets
Why: 'A quick run down' is the brief talk, and its subject is a new strategy for pricing, B.
The trap: D (sales targets) is his main tutorial paper, which comes afterwards. A comes from Susan's tutorial last week on approaches to marketing.
When are air fares cheapest, according to Susan?
it's cheap if you stay away for a Saturday night … and even cheaper if you buy a ticket where you can't get a refund if you have to cancel
Why: 'Even cheaper' beats 'cheap', so the lowest fares are non-refundable ones, C.
The trap: A (weekend travel) gets you a cheap ticket, but not the cheapest. B comes from Mark's point about three weeks' time, not Susan's story.
What is Mark's view of revenue management?
That seems rather unfair. … not really … when you think about it, that's just common sense
Why: Mark disagrees with Susan and calls it 'common sense': he thinks it's reasonable, D.
The trap: 'Unfair' is Susan's view, not Mark's. 'Complicated' might come to mind with the computer programs, but Mark never says that.
What do the airline companies want?
The fact is that the companies are not actually interested in selling you a cheap flight! They're interested in selling the seats and flying aeroplanes that are full.
Why: Selling every seat and flying full planes is about making more money: increase profits, A.
The trap: C (sell cheap seats) uses the words of what they're 'not actually interested in'. B (benefit the passenger) is never their aim in this talk.
How to attack this block: Mark signals the two reasons with 'firstly' and 'secondly', then the other industries come up one at a time. Shorten what he says to fit three words.
Also accepted: law changes / changes in law / the law has changed
What is the first reason for the new pricing approach?
there are two basic reasons: firstly because the law has been changed to allow the companies to do this
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Firstly' marks reason one: the law has changed. In three words, 'law has changed' or 'changes in law'.
The trap: 'They didn't have the right' explains what was true before. The reason is the change, so write the change.
Also accepted: powerful computer programs / computer programmes
What is the second reason?
and secondly we now have very powerful computer programs to do the calculations
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Secondly' marks reason two: computer programs. 'Powerful computer programs' is accepted too.
The trap: 'Calculations' is what the programs do. The reason is the programs.
Also accepted: from home computer / from a home computer
How will people book airline tickets in future?
will eventually be available to consumers to find the best deals for their travel plans from their home computer … if you could book your airline tickets from home
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Eventually' matches 'in future', and Susan sums it up: book your tickets from home. 'From home computer' is also accepted.
The trap: The travel agent comes in here, but as something that could become 'a thing of the past'.
Also accepted: hotel beds / hotel rooms / rooms
What is the first other industry using this system?
Many of the big hotel groups are doing it now. That's why the price of a bed in a hotel can also vary so much
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Doing it' means using revenue management. The thing marketed this way is hotels, or hotel rooms or beds.
The trap: Mangoes and apples came earlier, but as Susan's comparison, not as an industry that uses the system.
What is the second other industry?
hire car companies are also using revenue management to set their tariffs
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Also using revenue management' adds a second industry: hire cars.
The trap: 'Gamble' comes right before, from the tutor, but it's a comment about the system.
Staying over a Saturday night makes a ticket cheap, but a non-refundable ticket is 'even cheaper'. The question asks when fares are lowest.
Airlines are 'not actually interested in selling you a cheap flight' but in full planes. Option C uses 'cheap seats', the very thing they don't want. Full planes mean more profit.
Mark's actual tutorial paper is on Sales Targets, but first he gives a quick run-down on a pricing strategy. The brief talk is on pricing.
The full Cambridge 1 Test 3 listening paper with the real audio: all four parts, played once, marked the moment you finish. Already done it? Take it again and listen for the traps this page showed you.
Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 3, Listening Part 3. The recording, transcript and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts of the transcript only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full material, or sit the test on Langujet.
