The Dinosaur Museum: listening answers and explanations
A speaker from the Dinosaur Museum talks to a meeting of teachers about bringing school groups. The speaker covers opening times, where groups are met, how long a visit takes, where to eat, what students may carry inside, and what they can do after the tour.
Everything comes in one talk, in question order. The basic facts for 11-15 come first (hours, closing day, meeting point, timing, lunch). Then the speaker lists the rules for what students bring in (16-18), and finally the after-tour activities, including one that is closed (19-20).
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.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 11-15 · Sentence completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
Sentence completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
Questions 11-15
How to attack this block: Mostly times, numbers and places. Each sentence carries a clear anchor (Mondays, not open, tour guides, 90 minutes, behind the museum), so wait for that word and take the detail that follows it. Several numbers come in a row, so match each to its job.
Question 11
Answer: 1.30Right at the start, when the speaker gives the opening hours
Also accepted: 1:30
What time does the museum close on Mondays?
we're open every day of the week from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm except on Mondays when we close at - 1.30 pm
Question says → You hear
closes at ... p.m. on Mondaysexcept on Mondays when we close at - 1.30 pm
Why: The normal day ends at 8 pm, but Monday is the exception: it closes at 1.30 pm. The sentence already prints p.m., so write 1.30.
The trap: 8.00 is the usual closing time and comes first. The word 'except' tells you the Monday time is different.
Question 12
Answer: 25 DecemberStraight after the Monday hours
Also accepted: Christmas Day
On which day is the museum closed?
the only day in the year when we're closed is on the 25th of December
Why: The museum shuts on just one day a year, the 25th of December. Write 25 December (Christmas Day is also accepted).
The trap: Monday sounds like a closing day, but on Mondays the museum only closes early. It is still open in the morning.
Question 13
Answer: car-parkWhen the speaker explains what happens when a school group arrives
Also accepted: car park / parking lot
Where do the tour guides meet school groups?
we ask you to remain with your group in the car park. One or more of the tour guides will welcome you there
Question says → You hear
met by tour guides in thethe tour guides will welcome you there
Why: Groups wait in the car park and the guides 'welcome you there'. 'Met by' in the sentence matches 'welcome'.
The trap: The speaker then mentions the entrance and the exhibition area, but only to say there is no room to brief groups in them.
Question 14
Answer: 45When the speaker breaks down the 90 minutes
How long is the guided tour?
This allows 15 minutes to get on and off the coach, 45 minutes for the guided tour and 30 minutes for after-tour activities.
Why: Three numbers add up to 90, and the one tied to 'guided tour' is 45.
The trap: 15 is for the coach and 30 for activities. Write the number attached to the tour, not the first one you hear.
Question 15
Answer: tablesAfter the speaker talks about the two cafés
Also accepted: some tables
What is there behind the museum for students' lunch?
outside the museum at the back there are tables, and students can bring their own lunch and eat it there in the open air
Question says → You hear
behind the museumoutside the museum at the back
Why: 'At the back' is the paraphrase for 'behind'. What is there is tables, plural, to match 'There are'.
The trap: The cafés come first and have seating for 80, but they are inside the museum and need booking. They aren't behind it.
Multiple choice (choose THREE)
Questions 16-18
How to attack this block: All seven items are mentioned, so the job is sorting them into allowed and not allowed. The speaker states the banned things first (bags, books, lunch boxes) and the allowed ones afterwards, then ends with another ban on food and drink.
Question 16-18
Answer: C and F and G (in either order)From the cloakroom rule to the end of the list of rules
Which three things can students take with them into the museum?
we do provide school students with handouts with questions and quizzes on them … they'll need to bring something to write with for these. … allow students to take photographs
Why: The handouts with quizzes are the worksheets (G). To fill them in, students need 'something to write with', so pens are allowed (F). And taking photographs is allowed, so cameras are fine (C).
The trap: Books and bags are named, but they must be checked in at the cloakroom. Food and 'drinks of any kind' are banned, which also rules out water.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 19-20
How to attack this block: The key words are 'at present'. Three of the five activities belong to one room that is closed after storm damage, so only the two that still run count.
Question 19-20
Answer: B and E (in either order)The last part of the talk, about what students can do after the tour
Which two after-tour activities are available now?
continuous screenings of short documentaries about dinosaurs … unfortunately the room was damaged in a bad storm … students have access to CD ROMs with a range of dinosaur games
Why: The theatrette shows documentaries at any time, so students can watch films (B). The IT centre has CD-ROM dinosaur games, so they can play computer games (E).
The trap: Building models, drawing and finding dinosaur eggs all happened in the activity room, which is closed after the storm. 'We used to have' is the signal that these are not available now.
Groups are met in the car park, not the entrance or the exhibition area. The speaker mentions both of those, but only to explain why there is no room to meet there.
Water is not named, but 'drinks of any kind' rules it out. And the worksheets are called 'handouts with questions and quizzes', so the paraphrase hides the third answer.
Building models, drawing and hunting for eggs are all described with enthusiasm before you hear that the room is closed. They are past activities, not present ones.
Words from this recording worth keeping
brief(Arriving with a group)
give people the information they need before something starts
reserve(Lunch)
book something in advance
check in(Rules for students)
leave your things with staff to look after
fragile(Rules for students)
easily broken or damaged
handouts(Rules for students)
printed sheets given out to a group
visual record(Rules for students)
pictures that show what you saw
screenings(After the tour)
showings of a film
habitat(After the tour)
the natural home of an animal
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 8 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 8, 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.
