Two tourists, Sally and Peter, meet in a coffee shop. Peter explains why he is late after a trip to the bank, and then they use a guidebook to plan which sights to visit, checking opening days, times and entry charges.
Questions 1-10 · 10 marks · 3 question blocks
Questions 1-5 come from the chat about Peter's morning, in order. After 'let's decide what we'll see today', Questions 6-8 need you to collect opening times and prices for five attractions across a long stretch, and Questions 9-10 come from the final plan at the end.
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: Short questions about Peter's morning. The wrong options are mostly real words from the conversation used in the wrong way: the exchange rate, Germany, another coffee. Wait for the detail that answers the exact question.
What does Peter want to drink?
What would you like to drink? I'd love a really chilled mineral water or something.
Why: A chilled mineral water is a cold drink, so the answer is C.
The trap: Coffee is mentioned straight after, but it's the coffee Sally has already had and orders again. Tea is never mentioned.
What went wrong for Peter at the bank?
they told me the computer system was temporarily down so they couldn't do any transactions
Why: The computer system was down, so nothing could be done. That is C, the computers weren't working.
The trap: A uses the word 'down' too, but Peter says the exchange rate was 'looking healthy'. It was the computer that was down. Being late was a result, not the problem at the bank.
Who did Peter talk to in the bank?
he was a tourist from New York. His name's Henry and he's been here for a week, but he's moving on to Germany tomorrow
Why: Someone from New York is an American man, so B.
The trap: Germany is where Henry goes next, not where he is from. And he was someone Peter had just met, not an old friend.
What was Henry's map of?
he also gave me this map of the bus system
Why: A map of the bus system shows the bus routes, so B.
The trap: Neither a city map nor a train map is mentioned. If you only catch 'map', you may guess A.
What do they decide to order?
Do you want anything to eat or shall we just have a drink? Well, I'm hungry and we've got a lot of sightseeing to do, so let's just have a snack and a drink.
Why: A snack is food, and they also want a drink. Food and drinks is A.
The trap: 'Just have a drink' is said first, as part of the question, and 'just' appears again in the answer. Listen to the final decision: a snack and a drink.
How to attack this block: You choose from five attractions, and the information about each one is scattered and sometimes corrected. Make a quick grid in your head (open all day, closed Mondays, free) and update it as they talk. The second item in each line is printed, so you only need the other one.
Which attraction, besides the gardens, is open all day?
the cathedral is only open from 9.30 in the morning until midday. Oh, no, hang on. That's the cathedral museum. The cathedral itself is open morning and afternoon.
Question says → You hear
Why: After the correction, the cathedral is open morning and afternoon, which is all day. The gardens, open eight to six, are the printed second item.
The trap: The castle is only open from one to five, and the markets are mornings only. The first, morning-only hours belong to the cathedral museum.
Which attraction, besides the castle, is not open on Mondays?
I don't think the markets will be open then. They only open on Thursdays
Question says → You hear
Why: On Monday the markets won't be open, because they only open on Thursdays. The castle, the printed item, is open every day except Mondays.
The trap: The art gallery is the strong distractor: it's closed too, but on Sundays, not Mondays.
Which attraction, besides the markets, is free?
I think there's a charge for all of them, except the botanical gardens. Oh, and the markets, of course you don't pay to go in.
Question says → You hear
Why: Everything has a charge except the gardens and the markets. Markets is printed, so write Gardens.
The trap: 'A charge for all of them' comes first and can make you think nothing is free. The exceptions come after 'except'.
How to attack this block: Both answers come from the final plan, so don't commit to an answer from the early discussion. The first sentence needs the name of a place, the second a verb phrase.
Where will they go first?
We'll go to see the painting you like first, the Rembrandt, then have lunch and go on to the castle after that and then the cathedral.
Question says → You hear
Why: The Rembrandt painting is in the art gallery, mentioned earlier. The gallery is closed on Sundays, so they must go today, and it comes first in the plan.
The trap: Early on, someone says 'the best place to start is the cathedral'. The final plan puts the cathedral last.
Also accepted: see the view
What does Peter really want to do at the cathedral?
What I really want to do at the cathedral is climb the tower. The view is supposed to be spectacular.
Question says → You hear
Why: The sentence repeats 'really want(s) to', so you need the verb phrase after it: climb the tower. 'See the view' is also accepted.
The trap: The roof is mentioned just before as being beautiful, but nobody says they want to do anything with it.
The guidebook first gives the cathedral morning-only hours, then corrects itself: those are the cathedral museum's hours. The cathedral itself is open morning and afternoon.
Nobody says 'the markets are closed on Mondays'. They say the markets only open on Thursdays, so they are not open on Mondays either. You have to work it out.
At the start they say the best place to start is the cathedral. The final plan changes that: the Rembrandt painting first, which is in the art gallery.
The full Cambridge 4 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 4, Test 2, 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.
