Stevenson's Work Experience: listening answers and explanations
Julia Simmons, the managing director of Stevenson's, a metal goods manufacturer, welcomes a group of school students starting two weeks of work experience. She gives a short history of the company, outlines their programme, then guides them around a plan of the site.
Questions 11-14 come first, in order: the founding date, the first products, the premises and the work experience programme. 'Now I'll briefly help you to orientate yourselves' signals the map, and the six rooms come in the same order as questions 15-20, all described from reception.
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: Julia mentions every option in each question, often with a date or plan that didn't happen. Listen for the verb that matches the stem: 'set up' for founded, 'what we did for the first five years' for originally. Don't tick the first option you hear.
Question 11
Answer: CAfter Julia introduces the founder, Ronald Stevenson
In which year did the company start?
He set up this company when he finished his apprenticeship, in 1926, although he actually started making plans two years earlier, in 1924.
Question says → You hear
was founded inHe set up this company
Why: 'Set up this company' is the paraphrase of 'founded', and the year attached to it is 1926.
The trap: 1924 is when he 'started making plans', not when the company existed. 1923 is when he left school and went into the steel industry.
Question 12
Answer: AWhen Julia explains Stevenson's long-term plan
What industry did the company first make products for?
Stevenson was given the opportunity to make goods for hospitals and other players in the healthcare industry, so that's what we did for the first five years.
Question says → You hear
Originallyfor the first five years
Why: The healthcare goods came first: 'that's what we did for the first five years'. That is what 'originally' means.
The trap: Automotive is tempting because it was the plan and it did happen, but only after a five-year delay. The machine tools industry 'never came about' at all.
Question 13
Answer: BWhen she talks about expanding the premises over the years
What does Julia say about where the company is based?
we were lucky that the site is big enough, so moving to a new location has never been necessary
Question says → You hear
no plans to movemoving to a new location has never been necessary
Why: The site is big enough, so they have never needed to move, and the plan is to refurbish rather than relocate. That means no plans to move.
The trap: 'Over the next five years' sounds like a coming change, which tempts people to C, but it's a refurbishment of the same site, not a move.
Question 14
Answer: CWhen Julia says what they'll be doing during the two weeks
What is part of the students' work experience programme?
Most mornings you'll have a presentation from one of the managers, to learn about their department
Question says → You hear
talks by staffa presentation from one of the managers
Why: Presentations from managers are talks by staff. They happen most mornings, starting with research and development.
The trap: Research is said, but as the name of the first department, 'research and development', not as time to do research. The teacher's visit happened in the past, but 'your school isn't able to arrange that this year'.
Map labelling (A-J)
Questions 15-20
How to attack this block: Put your finger on reception before the map section starts: every route begins there. Listen for the corridor (running left from reception), the courtyard and the factory on the far side, which are the landmarks Julia uses. Ten letters for six rooms, so four are distractors.
Question 15
Answer: HThe first location, straight after 'we're in the reception area'
Where is the coffee room?
There's a corridor running left from here, and if you go along that, the door facing you at the end is the entrance to the coffee room.
Question says → You hear
coffee roomthe door facing you at the end
Why: From reception, take the corridor to the left and go all the way along: the coffee room is the door facing you at the end, room H. Julia adds that it looks onto the main road on one side and trees on the other.
The trap: Human resources is on the same corridor, but it's the second room along, not the end. Don't stop early.
Question 16
Answer: CRight after Julia points out the factory on the far side of the site
Where is the warehouse?
Next to it is the warehouse, which can be accessed by lorries … You can get to the warehouse by crossing to the far side of the courtyard, and then the door is on your right.
Question says → You hear
warehouseNext to it is the warehouse
directioncrossing to the far side of the courtyard, and then the door is on your right
Why: The warehouse sits beside the big factory room, reached by crossing to the far side of the courtyard with the door on your right. Lorries use the road to the turning area at its end. That's C.
The trap: The factory is the very big room, and it's easy to label that instead. The warehouse is the one next to it, by the lorry turning area.
Question 17
Answer: GWhen Julia says 'Somewhere you'll be keen to find'
Where is the staff canteen?
the staff canteen. This is right next to reception. … The windows on one side look onto a corridor and courtyard … and on the other onto the access road
Question says → You hear
staff canteenThis is right next to reception
Why: The canteen is right beside reception, with the courtyard on one side and the access road on the other. That's G.
The trap: The view details are about what's ugly, not extra directions. Don't let 'corridor and courtyard' pull you towards a room further along.
Question 18
Answer: BWhen Julia says they'll use the meeting room quite often
Where is the meeting room?
walking along the corridor to the left of the courtyard, and continuing along it to the end. The meeting room is the last one on the right
Question says → You hear
meeting roomThe meeting room is the last one on the right
Why: Walk along the corridor on the left of the courtyard to the end; the meeting room is the last room on the right, with no windows. That's B.
The trap: The boardroom is also at the end of a corridor near the factory, but on the left. Right and left is the whole difference.
Question 19
Answer: IWhen Julia moves on to 'where some of the offices are'
Where is the human resources office?
you head to the left along the corridor from reception, and it's the second room you come to. It looks out onto the main road.
Question says → You hear
human resourcesThe human resources department is at the front of this building
Why: Same corridor as the coffee room, but you stop at the second room. It's at the front of the building, on the main road. That's I.
The trap: The coffee room also looks onto the main road and is on this corridor, but it's at the very end. Count the doors.
Question 20
Answer: AThe final location, introduced with 'And finally'
Where is the boardroom?
Go along the corridor past the courtyard, right to the end. The boardroom is on the left, next to the factory.
Question says → You hear
boardroomThe boardroom is on the left, next to the factory
Why: Past the courtyard to the end of the corridor, then on the left beside the factory. Its window looks out on the trees. That's A.
The trap: The meeting room is the last one on the right at the end of the courtyard corridor. Mixing up left and right swaps 18 and 20.
Three dates in two sentences. 1923 is when he left school, 1924 when he started planning, and 1926 when he set up the company. 'Founded' means set up, so C.
The machine tools and automotive industries were the long-term plan, and they're said first. The healthcare work came 'shortly before the company went into production', so it was the original product line.
The meeting room route is long: along the corridor to the left of the courtyard, right to the end, last room on the right. Lose track halfway and you land on the wrong door.
Words from this recording worth keeping
manufacturers(Welcome)
companies that make goods in large numbers
apprenticeship(Company history)
a period of training for a skilled job while working
automotive industry(Company history)
the business of making cars and lorries
premises(Company history)
the buildings and land a business uses
refurbishment(Company history)
repairing and modernising a building
orientate yourselves(Start of the map)
work out where you are and how to find your way
accessed(Warehouse directions)
reached or entered
natural daylight(Meeting room directions)
light from the sun coming through windows
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 16 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 16, Test 1, 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.
