Horton Castle case study: listening answers and explanations
Two tourism students, Natalie and Dave, plan a case study of the Horton Castle site. Dave explains the stages of writing a case study, and then they discuss why so few tourists visit the castle and the pros and cons of building a visitor centre.
The flow-chart (21-26) follows Dave's explanation stage by stage: research, interviews, analysis, then writing. 'So basically, the problem we're addressing' moves into the multiple choice (27-30) about the castle itself, and those questions also come in order.
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: The box words are general (sources, employees, officials, patterns), and the recording paraphrases them: 'where you got the information from', 'the people who work there', 'trends or regularities'. Listen for the idea, then find the box word that names it. Two letters are not used.
Question 21
Answer: CWhen Natalie says she made notes from articles
What should students note as well as key information when reading?
Did you remember to keep a record of where you got the information from? … Sure. I know what a pain it is when you forget that.
Question says → You hear
noting key information and alsokeep a record of where you got the information from
Why: Where the information came from is its source, so they must note sources. C.
The trap: Names (B) also involve keeping a record, but that comes later and is about interviewees.
Question 22
Answer: EWhen Natalie asks who they'll interview
Which site people might they interview?
So who'd that be? The people who work there? And presumably some of the tourists too? … Yes, both those groups.
Question says → You hear
site ...The people who work there
Why: The people who work at the site are site employees. The tourists are the 'visitors' already in the flow-chart. E.
The trap: Officials (H) are people too, but they're based in the city, away from the site. They belong in the next gap.
Question 23
Answer: HWhen Dave suggests interviewing away from the site
Which people in the city might they interview?
we could even contact some people here in the city, like administrators involved in overseeing tourism
Question says → You hear
city ...some people here in the city, like administrators
Why: Administrators who oversee tourism are officials. H.
The trap: Employees (E) would also describe administrators loosely, but it has just been used for the site staff. The city people are officials.
Question 24
Answer: BAfter Natalie suggests photographs
What must they check they're allowed to use about interviewees?
we have to establish with our interviewees whether we can identify them in our case study, or whether they want to be anonymous
Question says → You hear
Check whether ... of interviewees can be usedwhether we can identify them in our case study, or whether they want to be anonymous
Why: Identifying people means using their names; anonymous means without. So they check whether names can be used. B.
The trap: Photographs are mentioned just before, but Dave says they already have plenty. And they aren't an option in the box.
Question 25
Answer: AWhen Natalie says 'I suppose we have to analyse it'
What should they try to identify in the analysis?
analyse that carefully to find out if we can identify any trends or regularities there
Question says → You hear
try to identifyidentify any trends or regularities
Why: Trends and regularities are patterns. A.
The trap: Details and lots of facts are what Dave says not to concentrate on at this stage.
Question 26
Answer: FWhen Dave says 'the thing that surprised me'
What should a case study not end with?
in a normal report we'd end with some suggestions to deal with the problem … but in a case study we end up with a question or a series of questions to our readers
Question says → You hear
Do NOT end within a normal report we'd end with some suggestions to deal with the problem
Why: Suggestions to deal with a problem are solutions, and they belong to a normal report, not a case study. F.
The trap: Questions (D) is what a case study does end with. The flow-chart asks what to avoid.
Multiple choice
Questions 27-30
How to attack this block: Natalie and Dave raise a point, and then one of them corrects or develops it. Wait for the agreement: an old report about bad roads, an expensive centre that could still be a good investment, guides who are there only to enforce the rules.
Question 27
Answer: AAfter 'the problem we're addressing in our case study'
Why do so few people visit Horton Castle, according to both?
you'd never realise it from the castle website - maybe that's the problem. … Yes, it's really dry and boring.
Question says → You hear
the publicity is pooryou'd never realise it from the castle website
Why: Dave says the website doesn't show how much there is to do, and Natalie agrees it's dry and boring. That's poor publicity, A.
The trap: B: the report about difficult access was written ten years ago, and the road has been improved. C: Dave says there's 'plenty of fascinating stuff there'.
Question 28
Answer: CAfter Dave says it wouldn't be cheap to set up
What could be the greatest problem with a visitor centre?
as it's on a historical site it'd need, to get special planning permission, I expect. That might be hard … Right, especially as the only possible place for it would be at the entrance
Question says → You hear
planning restrictionsspecial planning permission … That might be hard
Why: Natalie says permission might be hard, and Dave agrees and adds that the only site is right in front of the castle. C.
The trap: A: cost is raised, but Natalie answers that it could be 'a really good investment'. B: the entrance is the only place, but the issue is permission there, not the size of the space.
Question 29
Answer: BWhen Dave says the centre could be good for the town
What does Dave say about the town of Horton?
the young people … out as fast as they can to get jobs in the city, and the only people left are children and those who've retired
Question says → You hear
few people of working agethe only people left are children and those who've retired
Why: If only children and retired people are left, there are few people of working age. B.
The trap: A: young people leave to find jobs, but Dave never says there's unemployment. C: people with skills or qualifications leave, so there aren't opportunities for them.
Question 30
Answer: BWhen Natalie raises the tourists' environmental impact
How could damage to the castle site be prevented, according to Natalie?
if numbers increase, there might have to be some restrictions, like sticking to marked ways
Question says → You hear
keep to the pathssticking to marked ways
Why: 'Sticking to marked ways' means keeping to the paths. B.
The trap: A: guides and wardens are there to make sure the rules are enforced, not to take each visitor round. C: numbers increasing is the reason for restrictions, not something she wants to limit.
Dave says a case study ends with questions for readers, and 'questions' is in the box. But the flow-chart says what NOT to end with: suggestions to deal with the problem, which are solutions.
Natalie's report blames difficult access, but Dave says it's ten years old and the road is now better. The reason they both accept is the dull castle website: poor publicity.
Cost comes up first, 'it wouldn't be cheap', but Natalie calls it a good investment. The problem they both see as hard is planning permission on a historic site.
Words from this recording worth keeping
case study(Stages of a case study)
a detailed study of one example
overseeing(Choosing interviewees)
being in charge of and watching over
anonymous(Interviews)
with your name kept secret
regularities(Analysis)
things that happen in a regular, predictable way
investment(Visitor centre)
money spent now to get benefits later
planning permission(Visitor centre)
official approval to build something
ghost town(The town of Horton)
a place where few people live any more
enforced(Protecting the site)
made sure that people obey rules
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The full Cambridge 12 Test 7 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 12, Test 7, 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.
