Louise, a Canadian visitor, reports a theft at a police station. The officer takes her personal details, then asks what was stolen, when and where it happened, and what the boys she suspects looked like, before giving her a crime reference number.
Questions 1-10 · 10 marks · 1 question block
One ten-gap form, strictly in order. The officer asks a question and Louise answers almost every gap, except the date of theft (6) and the reference number (10), which the officer says himself. The heading 'Details of theft' starts when he says he needs details of the theft.
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 officer's questions follow the form exactly, so each question is your signpost for the next gap. Louise often gives a second, wrong detail next to the right one: the other apartment, the other amount of money, the colour of the other boys' hair. Listen for which detail actually answers the form label.
What nationality is Louise?
No, I'm actually Canadian, though my mother was British.
Question says → You hear
Why: The officer asks whether she is resident in the UK and she says no, she's Canadian. Nationality adjectives take a capital letter, so write Canadian, not canadian.
The trap: British is said straight after, but it's her mother's nationality, not hers.
What kind of antique does she come to buy?
I'm an interior designer and I come over to buy old furniture, antiques you know.
Question says → You hear
Why: The form already has 'antique', so the gap is the thing that is antique. 'Old furniture, antiques' tells you it's furniture.
The trap: Business is already on the form, and 'old' or 'antiques' won't fit after 'antique'. Furniture has no plural, so don't add an s.
What is the name of the apartment building she is living in now?
at present I've got a place at Park Apartments, that's on King Street. I was staying at the Riverside Apartments on the same street
Question says → You hear
Why: 'At present' is the paraphrase of 'current'. The form already gives 'Apartments', so you only need the name: Park.
The trap: Riverside Apartments comes straight after and is a longer, more memorable name, but she only stayed there for six weeks. King Street is the street, not the building.
Also accepted: 250 sterling
Roughly how much money was in the wallet?
But there was quite a bit of cash there ... about £250 sterling, I should think. I withdrew £300 from my account yesterday
Question says → You hear
Why: 'About' matches 'approximately' on the form, and £250 is what she thinks was in the wallet. Write the number only, since the £ sign is printed.
The trap: £300 is what she took out of the bank, and £50 is what she had already spent. Neither is what was stolen.
What was the second item stolen?
but then I realised my phone had gone as well. It was only a week old
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Had gone as well' means it was stolen along with the wallet. The gap follows 'a', so it's a singular noun: phone.
The trap: The thieves didn't take the keys to her rental car, and her credit cards and passport were safe in an inside pocket. Only the phone went missing.
Also accepted: 10th September
On what date did the theft happen?
So you say the theft occurred yesterday? … Yes. … So that was September the tenth.
Question says → You hear
Why: Louise only says 'yesterday', and the officer converts it into a date. Write 10 September (10th September is also accepted). Digits keep you inside the word limit.
The trap: Writing 'yesterday' loses the mark: the form wants a date. Her date of birth, December 14th, comes earlier, so don't mix the two up.
Outside which place was she when the theft probably happened?
I met up with a friend, and we spent a couple of hours in the museum.
Question says → You hear
Why: The boys crowded round them as they were leaving the museum at about four o'clock. Leaving a building puts you outside it, so the gap is museum.
The trap: The supermarket is where she noticed the wallet had gone, not where it was taken. The apartment is where she first thought she had left it.
What did the boys ask for?
they were really crowding round us, and they were asking us what time it was, then all of a sudden they ran off.
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Asking us what time it was' becomes 'asked for the time' on the form. The noun you need is time.
The trap: No competing word here, but the form changes the grammar. Don't try to squeeze in 'what time it was'; one word is the limit.
Also accepted: blonde
What colour was the boy's hair?
I do remember that - he was blond. All the others were dark-haired.
Question says → You hear
Why: The boy who did most of the talking was blond. Both spellings, blond and blonde, are accepted.
The trap: Dark comes right after, but it describes all the other boys, not the one in the tiger T-shirt.
Also accepted: 8795482361
What crime reference number is she given?
So this is ten digits: 87954 82361.
Question says → You hear
Why: The officer tells you it's ten digits, which is your warning to count. Write all ten in the right order, with or without the space.
The trap: Long numbers are lost through a swapped or missing digit, not a wrong idea. Write the digits as they come, then count to ten.
Three amounts come close together: about £250, then £300 she withdrew, then £50 she spent. The wallet held the 250, which is the first figure you hear.
Two apartment buildings on the same street. Riverside is where she used to stay; Park is where she is now. The form asks for the current address.
Louise only says 'yesterday'. The officer turns that into a date, September the tenth, so you have to catch it from his side of the conversation and write it as a date.
The full Cambridge 14 Test 1 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 14, Test 1, Listening Part 1. 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.
