IELTS Listening Test 5

Part 1: Questions 1-3

Complete the form below. Write ONE WORD OR A NUMBER .

Rented Properties Customer’s Requirements

Name: Steven Godfrey
No. of bedrooms: 4
Preferred location: in the (1) ……………… area of town
Maximum monthly rent: (2) £ ………………
Length of let required: (3) ………………
Starting: September 1st

Questions 4-8
Complete the table below. Write ONE WORD OR A NUMBER .

(4) ……………… (5) ………………

(6) ……………… (7) ………………
(8) ………………

Questions 9 and 10
Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO facilities in the district of Devon Close are open to the public at the
moment?

A museum

B concert hall

C cinema
 D sports centre

E swimming pool

Part 2: Questions 11-16

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A
NUMBER.

THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTER

Well known for: (11) ………………
Complex consists of: concert rooms, theatres, cinemas, art galleries, public library,
restaurants and a (12) ………………
Historical background: 1940-area destroyed by bombs
1960s-1970s: centre was (13) ……………… and built in (14) ……………… –
opened to public
Managed by: the (15) ………………
Open: (16) ……………… days per year

Questions 17-20
Complete the table below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A
NUMBER.

(17) ……………… (18) ………………

(19) ……………… (20) ………………

Part 3: Questions 21-26

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Latin American Studies

21. Paul decided to get work experience in South America because he wanted

A to teach English there

 B to improve his Spanish

C to learn about Latin American life

22. What project work did Paul originally intend to get involved in?

A construction

B agriculture

C tourism

23. Why did Paul change from one project to another?

A His first job was not well organized

B He found doing the routine work very boring

C The work was too physically demanding

24. In the village community, he learnt how important it was to

A respect family life

B develop trust

C use money wisely

25. What does Paul say about his project manager?

A He let Paul do most of the work

B His plans were too ambitious

C He was very supportive of Paul

26. Paul was surprised to be given

A a computer to use
 B so little money to live on

C an extension to his contract

Questions 27-30

What does Paul decide about each of the following modules?

Write the correct letter A, B or C next to questions 27-30.

Module
27. Gender studies in Latin America ………………
28. Second language acquisition ………………
29. Indigenous women’s lives ………………
30. Portuguese language studies ………………

A He will do this.
B He might do this.
C He won’t do this.

Part 4: Questions 31-34

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Trying to repeat success

31. Compared to introducing new business processes, attempts to copy existing
processes are

A more attractive

B more frequent

C more straightforward

32. Most research into the repetition of success in business has

A been done outside the United States

B produced consistent findings

C related to only a few contexts

33. What does the speaker say about consulting experts?

A Too few managers ever do it

B It can be useful in certain circumstances

C Experts are sometimes unwilling to give advice

34. An expert’s knowledge about a business system may be incomplete because

A some details are difficult for workers to explain

B workers choose not to mention certain details

C details are sometimes altered by workers

Questions 35-40
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY.

Setting up systems based on an existing process

Two mistakes:
Manager tries to:
• Improve on the original process
• Create an ideal (35) ……………… from the best parts of several processes

Cause of problems
• Information was inaccurate
• Comparison between the business settings was invalid
• Disadvantages were overlooked e.g. effect of changes on (36) ………………

Solution
• Change (37) ………………
• Impose rigorous (38) ………………
• Copy original very closely:
o Physical features of the (39) ………………
o The (40) ……………… of original employees
 Transcript
Part I:

Woman: Good morning. How can I help you?

Man: Hello. I’m interested in renting a house somewhere in the town.

Woman: Right. Could I have your name please?

Man: Yes, it’s Steven Godfrey.

Woman: And tell me how many bedrooms you’re looking for.

Man: Well, we’d need four, because I’m going to share the house with three friends.

Woman: Okay, there are several of that size on our books. They mostly belong to families who
are working abroad at the moment. What about the location?

Man: It’d be nice to be central [Q1].

Woman: That might be difficult, as most houses of that size are in the suburbs. Still, there are a
few. What’s your upper limit for the rent?

Man: We’d like something around £500 a month, but we could go up to £600 [Q2] if we have to.
But we can’t go beyond that.

Woman: Do you know how long you want to rent the house for? The minimum let is six months,
as you probably realise.

Man: We’re at college here for two years [Q3], and we don’t want to have to move during that
time if we can avoid it.

Woman: Right. And how soon do you want to move in? All our lets start on the first of the
month.

Man: Well, as soon as possible, really, so that means September 1.

Woman: Okay, let me have a look at what we’ve got… We have photographs of all the houses
on our books, so you can get an idea of what they’re like. There’s this one in Oakington Avenue,
at £550 a month. Combined living room and dining room, with a separate kitchen. It doesn’t
have a garage [Q4], though you can park in the road.

Man: Ah, we’d prefer to have one, if possible.

Woman: Right. Then have a look at this house, in Mead Street. It’s got a very large living room
and kitchen, bathroom, cloakroom…

Man: How much is it?

Woman: That one’s 580. It’s very well furnished and equipped. It also has plenty of space for
parking, and it’s available for a minimum of a year. Oh, and there’s a big garden [Q5].

Man: I don’t think we could cope with that, to be honest. We’ll be too busy to look after it.

Woman: Okay. Then there’s this older house in Hamilton Road: living room, kitchen-diner,
and it has a study [Q6]. 550 a month.
Man: That looks rather nice. But whereabouts in Hamilton Road?

Woman: Towards the western end.

Man: Oh, that’ll be very noisy [Q7]. I know the area.

Woman: Yes, it’s pretty lively. Some people like it, though. Well, what about this house in
Devon Close?

Man: That looks lovely.

Woman: There’s a big demand for houses in that area, so prices tend to be quite high. But this
one hasn’t been decorated for a few years, which has kept the rent down a bit. It’s got a living
room, dining room and small kitchen, and it’s 595 [Q8] a month. I think it would suit you, from
what you’ve said.

Man: It sounds fine.

Man: Why’s that part of town so popular?

Woman: Well, there’s a big scheme to improve the district, and it’ll soon have the best facilities
for miles around.

Man: What sort of thing?

Woman: There’s a big sports centre under construction, which will be very impressive when it’s
finished. In fact the swimming pool’s already opened [Q9 & 10], ahead of schedule, and it’s
attracting a lot of people.

Man: What about cinemas: are there any in the area?

Woman: The only one closed down last year, and it’s now in the process of being converted into
a film museum. The local people are trying to get a new cinema added to the scheme.

Man: I think I heard something about a plan to replace the existing concert hall [Q9 & 10] with a
larger one.

Woman: Ah, that’s due to start next year.

Man: Well it sounds an interesting area to live in. Could I go and see the house, please?

Woman: Yes, of course.

Part II:
Hello, and welcome to Focus on the Arts. I’m your host – Dave Green- and this is your very own
local radio programme. Every Friday evening we put the spotlight on different arts and culture
facilities, and look at the shows and events that are on offer in the coming weeks.

And today the focus is on The National Arts Centre. Now, if you don’t already know it yourself ,
I’m sure you’re all heard of it. It’s famous throughout the word as one of the major venues for
classical music (Q11).

But did you know that it is actually much more than just a place to hear concerts? The Centre
itself is a huge complex that caters for great range of arts. Under a single roof it houses concert
rooms, theatres, cinemas, art galleries and a wonderful public library, as well as service facilities
including three restaurants and a bookshop (Q12). So at any one time, the choice of
entertainment there is simply enormous.

So, how did they manager to build such a big arts complex right in the heart of the city? Well,
the area was completely destroyed by bombs during the war in 1940. So the opportunity was
taken to create a cultural centre that would be, what they called: ‘THE City’s gift to the Nation’.
Of course it took a while for such a big project to get started, but it was planned (Q13) in the
60s, built in the 70s and eventually opened to the public in 1983 (Q14) . Ever since then it has
proved to be a great to be a great success. It is not privately owned, like many arts centres, but is
still in public hands – it’s run by the City Council (Q15). Both our National Symphony
Orchestra and National Theater Company were involved in the planning of the project, and they
are now based there – giving regular performances every week – and as the Centre is open 363
(Q16) days of the year, there are plenty of performances to choose from.

So, to give you some idea of what’s on, and to help you choose from the many possibilities,
we’re made a selection of the star attractions.

If you’re interested in classical music, then we recommend you go along to the National on
either Monday or Tuesday evening at 7.30 for a spectacular production of ‘The Magic Flute’ –
probably the most popular of all Mozart’s operas. It’s in the Garden Hall (Q17) and tickets start
at only £8.00, but you’ll have to be early if you want to get them that cheap! And remember, it’s
only on for those two evenings.

For those more interested in the cinema, you might like to see the new Canadian film which is
showing on Wednesday evening at 8pm in Cinema 2. And that’s called ‘Three Lives’ (Q18). It’s
had fantastic reviews and tickets cost just £4.50 (Q19), which is a reduction on the usual price of
£5.50 . So, it’s really good value, especially for such a great movie.

But you can see the centre’s main attraction at the weekend, because on Saturday and Sunday, 11
am to 10 pm, they’re showing a wonderful new exhibition that hasn’t been seen anywhere else in
Europe yet. It’s a collection of Chinese Art called ‘Faces of China’ (Q20) – that’s in Gallery 1 –
and it some really fascinating paintings and sculptures by leading artists from all over China –
and the good news is that it is completely free, so don’t miss it!
So why not go along to the National Art Centre next week for one – or all – of these great events
– and you can always pick up a programme and check out all the other performances and
exhibitions on offer, or coming soon, on almost every day of the year.

Next week we’ll be looking at the Museum of Science…

Part III:

WOMAN: I’ve been reading your personal statement, Paul. First, let’s talk about your
work experience in South America. What took you there? Was it to gain more fluency in
Spanish?

PAUL: Well, as I’m combining Spanish with Latin American studies, my main idea
was to find out more about the way people lived there (Q21). My spoken Spanish was already
pretty good in fact.

WOMAN: So you weren’t too worried about language barriers?

PAUL: No. In fact, I ended up teaching English there, although that wasn’t my
original choice of work.

WOMAN: I see. How did you find out about all this?

PAUL: I found an agency that runs all kinds of voluntary projects in South
America.

WOMAN: What kind of work?

PAUL: Well, there were several possibilities.

WOMAN: You mean construction? Engineering work?

PAUL: Yes, getting involved in building projects was an option. Then there was
tourism –taking tourists for walks around the volcanoes – which I actually chose to do(Q22),
and then there was work with local farmers.

WOMAN: But you didn’t continue with that project. Why not?

PAUL: Because I never really knew whether I’d be needed or not. I’d thought it
might be difficult physically, but I was certainly fit enough…no, I wanted to do something
that had more of a proper structure to it (Q23), I suppose, I get de-motivated otherwise.

WOMAN: What do you think you learned from your experience? It must have been a
great opportunity to examine community life.
PAUL: Yes, but it was difficult at first to be accepted by the locals. It was a very
remote village and some of them were reluctant to speak to me – although they were always
interested in my clothes and how much I’d had to pay for them.

WOMAN: Well, that’s understandable.

PAUL: Yes, but things soon improved. What struck me was that when people
became more comfortable with me and less suspicious (Q24) , we really connected with each
other in a meaningful way.

WOMAN: You made good friends?

PAUL: Yes, with two of the families in particular.

WOMAN: Good. What about management. Did you have a project manager?

PAUL: Yes and he gave me lots of advice and guidance. (Q25)

WOMAN: And was he good at managing too?

PAUL: That’s wasn’t his strong point! I think he was often more interested in the
academic side of things than filling reports. He was a bit of a dreamer.

WOMAN: And did you have a contract?

PAUL: I had to say for a minimum of three months. My parents were surprised
when I asked to stay longer – six months in the end. I was so happy there.

WOMAN: And did anything on the administration side of things surprise you? What
was the food and lodging like?

PAUL: Simple…but there was plenty to eat and I only paid seven dollars a day for
that which was amazing really. And they gave me all the equipment I needed…even a laptop.
(Q26)

WOMAN : You didn’t expect that then?(Q26)

PAUL: No. (Q26)

WOMAN : Well, I’ll look forward to hearing more.

WOMAN : But now let’s look at these modules. You’ll need to start thinking about
which ones you’ll definitely want to study. The first one here is Gender Studies in Latin
America.

PAUL: Mmm…
WOMAN : It looks at how gender analysis is reconfiguring civil society in Latin
America. Women are increasingly occupying positions is government and in other elected
leadership positions in Latin America. I think you’d find it interesting.

PAUL: It is was to do with people in the villages rather than those in the
public sphere, I would (Q27) .

WOMAN : Okay. What about Second Language Acquisition?

PAUL: Do you think I’d find that useful?

WOMAN : Well, you’ve had b some practical experience in the field, I think it would
be.

PAUL: I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll put that down as a definite, then. (Q28)

WOMAN : Okay. What about indigenous Women’s Lives. That sounds appropriate.

PAUL: I thought so too, but I looked at last year’s exam questions and that
changed my mind,

WOMAN : Don’t judge the value of the course on that. May be, talk to some other
student first and we can talk about it again later. (Q29)

PAUL: Okay.

WOMAN : Yes, And lastly, will you sign up for Portuguese lessons?

PAUL: My Spanish is good, so would I find that module essay?

WOMAN : Not necessary. Some people find that Spanish interferes with learning
Portuguese…getting the accent right too.It’s quite different in a lot of ways.

PAUL: Well, I’d much sooner do something else, then. (Q30)

WOMAN : Alright. Now, what we need to do is…

Part IV:

Good morning, everyone. In the last few lectures I’ve been dealing with business finance, but
now I’m going to move on to business systems. And in today’s c lecture I’m going to talk about
what can wrong when businesses to try to copy their own best practices.

Once a business has successfully introduced a new process – The parent organisation naturally
wants to repeat that success, and capture it if possible on a bigger scale. The goal, then, is to
utilize existing knowledge and not to generate new knowledge. It’s a less glamorous activity than
pure innovation, but it actually happens more often, as a matter of fact. However, surprisingly,
getting things right the second d time is not necessarily and simpler than it was the first time.

Now, there’s been a lot of research into how companies can repeat their previous successes, and
it certainly hasn’t been confined to the United States. It seems that most large industries are
trying to repeat their own successes, and manage the knowledge they’ve acquired – but even so it
has been shown that the overwhelming majority of attempts fail. A host of studies confirm
this, covering a wide range of business settings: branch banks, retail stores, real estate agencies,
factories, call centres…to name but a few.

So why do so few managers get things right the second or third time? Let’s consider one reason
for failure – placing too much trust in the people who are running the successful operation, the
‘experts’ shall we say. Managers who want to apply existing knowledge typically start off by
going to an expert – such as the person who designed and is running a successful department
store – and picking their brains. Now, this approach can be used if you want to gain a rough
understanding of a particular system, or understand smaller, isolated problems . The trouble is,
even the expert doesn’t fully grasp the whole thing because when it comes to complex systems,
the individual components of the process are interwoven with the another. The expert never has
complete access to the fact that experts are usually not aware of their own ignorance. Their
ignorance can take various forms. For instance, a lot of details of the system are invisible to
managers. Some may be difficult to describe– learned on the job and well known by workers
perhaps, but impossible to describe – learned on the job and well known by workers perhaps, but
impossible to describe in a way that’s helpful . And there are some things that people know or do
that they’re not even aware of.

Now, let’s consider two types of mistake that can occur when a manager actually starts to set up
a duplicate system to replicate a successful process, and starts trying to improve on it. Another
mistake is trying to use the best parts of various different systems , in the hope of creating the
perfect combination .

Unfortunately, attempts like these usually turn out to be misguided and lead to problems. Why?
Well, for various reasons. Perhaps there weren’t really any advantages after all, because the
information wasn’t accurate. Or perhaps the business settings weren’t really comparable. More
typically, the advantages are real enough, but there are also disadvantages that have been
overlooked. For example, the modifications might compromise safety in some way.

So, what’s the solution? Well, I don’t intend to suggest that it’s easy to get things right the
second time … it’s not. But the underlying problem has more to do with attitudes than the actual
difficulty of the task, and there are ways of getting it right. These involve adjusting attitudes ,
first of all…being more realistic and cautious really. Secondly, they involve exerting
strict controls on the organizational and operational systems. And this in turn means copying the
original as closely as possible. Not merely duplicating the physical characteristics of the factory ,
but also duplicating the skills that the original employees had. Reliance on a template like this
offers the huge advantage of built-in consistency.