IELTS LISTENING
Tour Planning
Sally: Oh, Peter, There you are. It’s been ages. What catches you so long?
Peter: I’m sorry I’m so late. Sally, have you been waiting long?
Sally: half an hour. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve had a coffee on. I’ve been reading this guidebook for tourists. Sit down. You look very hot and tired. What would you like to drink?
Attempt full listening test…
Peter: I love a really Q1 chilled mineral water or something. Will you have another coffee?
Sally: Yes, I will. The waitress will be back in a moment. Why are you so late? Did something happen?
Peter: Yes. You know, I went to the bank to cash some traveler’s checks. Well, the exchange rate was looking healthy. But when I went to the teller, they told me the Q2 computer system was temporarily down so they couldn’t do any transactions. They said the problem would be fixed in a few minutes. So I waited. And then I started talking to another guy in the bank and I forgot the time.
Sally: Really? Someone you met in the bank. Does he work there?
Peter: No, Q3 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. He’s an architect, and you spending four weeks traveling around Europe
Sally: just like us.
Peter: Yeah, just like us. He told me the names of some places where we should eat great food and not too expensive, he said. Oh, and he also gave me this Q4 map of the bus system. He said he didn’t need it anymore.
Sally: That’s useful. Pretty is moving on tomorrow. Here’s the waitress. Let’s order. Do you want anything to eat, or should we just have a drink?
Peter: Well, I’m hungry on. We’ve got a lot of sightseeing to do, so let’s just have a Q5 snack and a drink.
Sally: Sounds good to me.
Peter: Well, let’s decide what we’ll see today. I guess the best place to start is the cathedral and then the castle, one of the opening times for those two.
Sally: Well, according to this guidebook, 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. The castle is just open from 1 to 5, so we can’t go there until after lunch. I really want to spend some time in the art gallery because they’ve got this wonderful painting by Rembrandt that I’ve always wanted to see.
Peter: What else should we see?
Sally: Well, the guidebook says the botanical gardens are worth spending some time in on their open all day from 8 to 6, so we could go there any time. I’d like to go to the markets near the river, too, but oh, no, wait. That’s only in the mornings, too.
Peter: As well as today and tomorrow. We can see some other places on Monday, you know, But I don’t think the Q7 markets will be open then they only open on Thursdays, so we’ve missed them for this week.
Peter: Maybe we should go to the Q6 cathedral today because it’s Sunday tomorrow. And even though it’s open every day, it might be more difficult to get in tomorrow because of the church’s Services.
Sally: That’s true. But the Q9 art gallery isn’t open on Sundays as a tour so we’ll have to go there today. The Castles open every day except Mondays. So we’re okay there. On the gardens, of course. Only close at night.
Peter: Are all these places free or do we have to pay to go in? What does the guidebooks say?
Sally: I think there’s a charge for all of them except the botanical Q8 gardens. Oh, and the markets. Of course. You don’t pay to go in.
Peter: Okay. Well, it looks like our plan is this. We’ll go to see the painting. You like first that the Rembrandt, uh then have lunch and go on to the castle after that. And then the cathedral.
Sally: Okay. It says here that the roof of the cathedral is really beautiful.
Peter: Is that right? What I really want to do with the cathedral is Q10 climb that tower. The view is supposed to be spectacular.
Sally: Okay, well, that’ll be more than enough for today. Then tomorrow, let’s go to the botanical gardens and have a picnic. I want to sit by the river and watch the swans. This city is famous for them.