Melby Coal Mine: listening answers and explanations
A speaker describes two half-day walks in the region, the Marsden Coastal Walk and the Melby Heritage Walk. Then the talk moves to Melby Coal Mine, a former mine open to visitors, and explains where each display and facility is on the site.
11-12 come from the Marsden Coastal Walk, 13-14 from the Melby Heritage Walk, which starts with 'The Melby Heritage Walk is a great place to take photos'. 'Melby Coal Mine has been open to the public' moves you to the map, and 15-20 follow the order of the labels: exhibition, baths, tools, vehicles, ponies, education centre.
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 options are written as advice, but the speaker describes the walk. Turn each description into advice: clear signposts means you won't get lost; a great place for photos means don't miss it. Watch for places that are mentioned but aren't on the walk.
Question 11-12
Answer: B and E (in either order)The first walk, from 'The Marsden Coastal Walk is suitable for all the family'
Which two pieces of advice fit the Marsden Coastal Walk?
As there are clear signposts all along the way, you don't even need to take a map with you. … The castle's now just a pile of stones but it's a great place to take photos
Question says → You hear
Don't worry about getting lostclear signposts all along the way, you don't even need to take a map
the ruins of a certain buildingThe castle's now just a pile of stones but it's a great place to take photos
Why: E: clear signposts and no map needed mean you won't get lost. B: the castle is now a pile of stones, so it's a ruin, and it's 'a great place' to visit with information boards.
The trap: C is the strongest distractor: there are hourly ferries from Marsden harbour, but they go to Hooker Island, and the walk starts at the harbour itself. A fails because the market town has vanished, and D is ruled out by 'no strenuous climbs'.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 13-14
How to attack this block: Listen for the route: where it goes up, where it ends, and what stands at the top. Words like 'back down to the starting point' and 'where there was once' are the giveaways.
Question 13-14
Answer: C and D (in either order)From 'In the daytime, it's completely different' to the end of the walk
Which two things are true of the Melby Heritage Walk?
those with lots of energy can climb the tower that's situated where there was once a seventeenth century hunting lodge. The route continues along the tops of the hills and brings you back down to the starting point
Question says → You hear
A tower stands on the site of an older structurethe tower that's situated where there was once a seventeenth century hunting lodge
a circular walkbrings you back down to the starting point
Why: D: the tower stands where a 17th-century hunting lodge used to be. C: a route that ends at its starting point is circular.
The trap: E is tempting because you 'stop to take in the views', but only at the highest point. B is the opposite of the truth: in the daytime you hear only your own footsteps, and the crowds come at night for the stars.
Map labelling (A-I)
Questions 15-20
How to attack this block: Find the car park, ticket office and engine house on the map before the talk starts, because the directions all hang off them. Listen for compass points (north of, south-west corner, north-eastern boundary) and for whether a building is reached by a covered walkway or not.
Question 15
Answer: FFirst place on the map, after 'Firstly'
Where is the exhibition on the history of the mine?
you go from the car park, via a covered walkway to the Main Visitor Centre. Go through the ticket office to an area where there are lockers … Beyond that room is the exhibition.
Question says → You hear
ExhibitionGo through the ticket office … Beyond that room is the exhibition
Why: Follow the covered walkway from the car park into the Main Visitor Centre, through the ticket office and the locker room. The exhibition is the room beyond that, so F.
The trap: Don't stop at the ticket office or the locker area. The exhibition is one room further in.
Question 16
Answer: BStraight after the exhibition, when she mentions where miners used to wash
Where is the bathhouse?
There's a small bathhouse where miners used to wash after their shift underground. You can see that in the building directly to the north of the engine house.
Question says → You hear
Bathsthe building directly to the north of the engine house
Why: Find the engine house and go straight up (north): the building directly above it is the bathhouse, B.
The trap: The boiler is mentioned, but it has gone, so don't look for a boiler room. The reference point is the engine house.
Question 17
Answer: DWhen she moves on to tools from before mechanisation
Where are the early mining tools?
You can find that in a small L-shaped building in the middle of the northern boundary of the site.
Question says → You hear
Toolsa small L-shaped building in the middle of the northern boundary
Why: Two clues: the building is L-shaped, and it's halfway along the top (northern) edge of the site. That's D.
The trap: The bathhouse is also on the north side, so check the shape: the tools are in the L-shaped building, in the middle of the boundary.
Question 18
Answer: AStart of the last paragraph, about wagons and cutting machines
Where is the vehicle shed?
is in the southwest corner of the site, and can be accessed via a covered walkway
Question says → You hear
VehiclesThe vehicle shed … is in the southwest corner of the site
Why: Bottom left of the map (south-west corner), reached by a covered walkway: A.
The trap: The wagons and hi-tech machines take a while to describe, so it's easy to miss the location at the end of the sentence. Don't mix up south-west and south-east.
Question 19
Answer: HRight after the vehicle shed
Where is the field with the ponies?
There is a field with ponies. which are always popular with children. on the north-eastern boundary of the site, not approached via a covered walkway.
Question says → You hear
Ponieson the north-eastern boundary of the site, not approached via a covered walkway
Why: Top right edge of the site (north-eastern boundary), with no covered walkway leading to it. That's H.
The trap: 'Not approached via a covered walkway' rules out any building joined to the walkways, even if it's in the north-east.
Question 20
Answer: EThe last building, 'The other building to mention'
Where is the education centre?
The centre is connected to the ticket office via a short section of covered walkway.
Question says → You hear
Education centreconnected to the ticket office via a short section of covered walkway
Why: Start at the ticket office and follow the short covered walkway: the building at the end is the education centre, E.
The trap: The library and gift shop are inside it, so don't look for them as separate buildings. The location clue only comes in the final sentence.
The ferries and the vanished market town are both mentioned, which makes the boat and lunch options tempting. But the walk only begins at the harbour, and the town no longer exists.
There's a stop for views at the highest point, but only there, not the whole way. The correct pair is the circular route and the tower on the old hunting lodge site.
The ponies' field is the only place described as 'not approached via a covered walkway', which is the detail that separates it from nearby buildings on the north side.
Words from this recording worth keeping
strenuous(Marsden Coastal Walk)
needing a lot of physical effort
signposts(Marsden Coastal Walk)
signs showing the direction of a route
inland(Marsden Coastal Walk)
away from the coast
dense woods(Melby Heritage Walk)
forest where the trees grow close together
hunting lodge(Melby Heritage Walk)
a house used as a base for hunting trips
mechanisation(Melby Coal Mine)
the use of machines instead of human work
covered walkway(Melby Coal Mine)
a path with a roof joining two buildings
boundary(Melby Coal Mine)
the line marking the edge of an area
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 21 Test 2 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 21, Test 2, 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.
