Museum collections: listening answers and explanations
Greg, a museum guide, welcomes a group and introduces six collections, from modern paintings to porcelain and glass. He then explains how to find the restaurant, café, baby-changing room and cloakroom in the basement.
Questions 11-16 follow the collections in the order printed. 'OK, that was something about the collections, and now here's some more practical information' starts the plan, and the four places come in question order. Every route starts at the bottom of the stairs.
Answer key and self-check
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.
How to attack this block: Seven comments, six collections, so one letter is spare. Greg says one or two things about each collection, and some comments are easy to mix up: 'given by one person' versus 'given by the artists' versus 'given by members of the public'. Listen for who gave what.
Question 11
Answer: EFirst collection, after 'let me just give you a taste of what we have here'
What does Greg say about the 20th- and 21st-century paintings?
gallery that attracts the largest number of visitors, so it's best to go in early in the day
Question says → You hear
includes the most popular exhibitsattracts the largest number of visitors
Why: This gallery gets more visitors than any other, so it holds the most popular exhibits, E.
The trap: F is the word trap: 'largest' is said, but it's the largest number of visitors, not the largest collection of its kind in the country.
Question 12
Answer: DWhen he moves on to 'the nineteenth-century paintings'
What does Greg say about the 19th-century paintings?
several of the artists each donated one work - to get the museum started
Question says → You hear
includes some items given by the artistsseveral of the artists each donated one work
Why: The artists themselves donated these paintings when the museum opened. That's D.
The trap: 'One work' sounds like A, but there were several artists giving one each, not one person giving the whole collection.
Question 13
Answer: GStraight after the nineteenth-century paintings
What does Greg say about the sculptures?
The sculpture gallery has a number of fine exhibits, but I'm afraid it's currently closed for refurbishment
Question says → You hear
has had some of its contents relocateda number of the … sculptures have been
Why: The gallery is closed, but a number of the sculptures have been moved to other parts of the museum. Moved means relocated, G.
The trap: The closure for refurbishment is the most noticeable fact, but no option says 'closed'. The option that fits is about the pieces that were moved.
Question 14
Answer: BWhen he says it's a temporary exhibition
What does Greg say about the 'Around the world' exhibition?
'Around the world' is a temporary exhibition - you've probably seen something about
Question says → You hear
was recently publicised in the mediayou've probably seen something about
Why: Greg says the group has probably seen something about it on TV or in the newspapers. TV and newspapers are the media, B.
The trap: It has objects from every continent and has created a lot of interest, which sounds like E or F. But 'popular' was the modern paintings, and nothing is called the largest in the country.
Question 15
Answer: CWhen he calls it a focused, specialist collection
What does Greg say about the coins?
And many of them were discovered … their gardens, and donated to the museum
Question says → You hear
given by members of the publicdiscovered … their gardens, and donated to the museum
Why: Many coins were found by ordinary people digging in their gardens and donated to the museum. Ordinary people are members of the public, C.
The trap: All the coins come from this country, which might suggest F, but Greg never says it's the largest collection of its kind.
Question 16
Answer: ALast collection, before 'now here's some more practical information'
What does Greg say about the porcelain and glass?
All our porcelain and glass was left to the museum by its founder, when he died in 1878
Question says → You hear
was given by one personwas left to the museum by its founder
Why: The whole collection was left to the museum by one man, the founder. That's A.
The trap: The rule that nothing can be added is extra detail. None of the other donation options fits, because this one came from a single person.
Plan labelling (A-H)
Questions 17-20
How to attack this block: Find the stairs, the sitting area and the corridor on the plan before you listen. Each route says whether to go straight ahead, cross the sitting area or turn into the corridor, then which side the room is on.
Question 17
Answer: FFirst place after Greg says most facilities are in the basement
Where is the restaurant?
To reach it, when you get to the bottom of the stairs … side of the sitting area, then … right into the corridor. You'll see the door of the restaurant facing
Question says → You hear
restaurantYou'll see the door of the restaurant facing
Why: From the bottom of the stairs, go straight ahead to the far side of the sitting area, turn right into the corridor, and the restaurant door is facing you. That's F.
The trap: The café route also turns right into the corridor, but the café is immediately on the right. The restaurant is the door straight ahead.
Question 18
Answer: HWhen Greg says 'If you just want a snack'
Where is the café?
you'll need to go straight ahead … right into the corridor, and the café is immediately on the
Question says → You hear
caféthe café is immediately on the
Why: Straight ahead from the stairs, turn right into the corridor, and the café is immediately on the right. That's H.
The trap: Same corridor as the restaurant. 'Immediately' means the first room on your right as you turn, not the room facing you.
Question 19
Answer: CWhen Greg says 'And talking about children'
Where are the baby-changing facilities?
continue straight ahead along the corridor on the left, and you and your baby will find … the facilities on the left-hand side
Question says → You hear
baby-changing facilitiesthe facilities on the left-hand side
Why: Cross the sitting area, carry straight on along the corridor on the left, and the room is on the left-hand side. That's C.
The trap: This route uses the corridor on the left, not the one where you turn right for the café and restaurant.
Question 20
Answer: BWhen Greg says where to leave coats, umbrellas and bags
Where is the cloakroom?
is on the left hand side of the sitting area. It's through the last door before you come to the corridor.
Question says → You hear
cloakroomIt's through the last door before you come to the corridor
Why: The cloakroom is on the left of the sitting area, through the last door before the corridor. That's B.
The trap: The toilets come next and are also on the left, but they're the first rooms you reach at the bottom of the stairs. The cloakroom is the last door.
Several artists each donated one work. 'One' tempts you towards A (given by one person), but A belongs to the porcelain and glass, left by the founder.
The restaurant and the café both involve turning right into the corridor. The restaurant door is facing you at the end; the café is immediately on the right.
The cloakroom is on the left of the sitting area, through the last door before the corridor. The toilets are also on the left, but they're the first rooms you reach.
Words from this recording worth keeping
exhibits(Collections)
objects shown in a museum
donated(Collections)
given as a gift
refurbishment(Collections)
repairing and redecorating a building
temporary exhibition(Collections)
a show that is only open for a limited time
social context(Collections)
the situation in society in which something was made or used
specialist(Collections)
focused on one particular area
founder(Collections)
the person who started an organisation
basement(Practical information)
the floor of a building below ground level
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 11 Test 4 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 11, Test 4, Listening Part 2. 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.
