A Telephone Conversation Between a Receptionist and a Student About the Upcoming Architecture Conference - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

The IELTS Listening section examines a candidate’s ability to properly listen to audio and answer the questions. IELTS Listening contains four sections and a total of 40 questions. This topic - A telephone conversation between a receptionist and a student about the upcoming architecture conference is Section One of IELTS Listening. Candidates will find different types of questions in IELTS Listening practice papers. This section contains many question types:

• Complete the notes

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Audio Transcript

Secretary: School of architecture. Professor Burt’s office.

Student: Oh! Good morning. I was wondering if you could give me some information about the forthcoming Architecture 21 conference – dates, enrollment procedures, costs… that sort of thing.

Secretary: Well… the conference runs from the 18th to the 20th of October.

Student: 18th to the 20th of October… Oh good. I’ll still be here then and um… where exactly is it being held? Is it at the university as in previous years?

Secretary: No, it’s actually being held at the Pacific Hotel – we’re rather outgoing the university conference facilities , so we’ve opted for this new venue.

Student: Right. Paradise Hotel.

Secretary: No. The Pacific – that’s P-A-C-I-F-I-C.

Student: Oh right. And presumably we can get accommodation at the hotel?

Secretary: Yes, but you’ll need to contact them direct to arrange that. I’ll give you the number for hotel reservations. Have you got a pen ready?

Student: Yes, go ahead.

Secretary: It’s area code zero seven and then nine triple three, double two double six.

Student: And what’s the registration fee?

Secretary: Individual fees are $300 for the three days, or a hundred and twenty dollars a day if you only want to attend for one day.

Student: Are there any student concessions?

Secretary: There’s a 50% concession for students, so that’s $150 for the three days, or $60 a day.

Student: And am I too late to offer to give a talk?

Secretary: Oh, I’m pretty sure you’ve missed the deadline for that.

Student: Oh, really? But I’ve only just arrived here in Australia – is there any way I could have a paper accepted?

Secretary: Well, you’d need to talk to Professor Burt, the conference organiser. I can put you through, if you like.

Student: That’d be great. Oh and can I just check the spelling of his name. Is that B-U-R-T?

Secretary: Yes, that’s correct.

Prof. Burt: Professor Burt speaking.

Student: Oh, hello. My name’s John Helstone. I’m an architecture student at London University. I’m here in Australia for three months, looking at energy-saving house designs.

Prof. Burt: Right.

Student: I’m interested in giving a talk on my research at the conference but I believe I may have missed the deadline.

Prof. Burt: Well, strictly speaking you have. The closing date was last Friday.

Student: Oh, no!

Prof. Burt: But we may be able to include your paper if it fits into our programme … but you’ll have to be quick.

Student: OK. What do I need to do?

Prof. Burt: Send me a summary of your talk. And make sure you include an interesting title for the talk. Something to attract people’s attention.

Student: OK. Interesting title. Right. I’m looking at ways of designing buildings for tropical climates that don’t rely on the need to include air conditioning, so I’m sure I can come up with something.

Prof. Burt: Yes, quite. But remember: the outline should be no more than 300 words.

Student: Right. I’ll try to keep it down to 300 words, but would 400 be OK?

Prof. Burt: No, not really, because we have to print it in the proceedings and we just don’t have the space.

Student: Sure, I understand.

Prof. Burt: And also, can you send me a short CV – the usual stuff – name, age, qualifications, that sort of thing.

Student: Right. OK, short CV.

Prof. Burt: Actually, you can email it to me. That’d be quicker.

Student: Sure. What’s your email address?

Prof. Burt: Well the best thing would be to send it to the conference administrative officer at info … that’s I-N-F-0@uniconf.edu.au.

Student: Right. I’ll do that straight away.

Questions 1-10

Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND /OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Architecture 21 conference

Question 1.

Answer: 18th - 20th October

Explanation: As mentioned by the secretary, “the conference runs from the 18th to the 20th of October”. The answer must be ‘18th - 20th October’.

Also, check:

Question 2.

Answer: the pacific hotel

Explanation: The secretary mentioned that “it’s actually being held at the Pacific Hotel”.Thus the answer is the pacific hotel.

Question 3.

Answer: 0793332266

Explanation: As the speaker says " zero seven and then nine triple three, double two double six.", the answer for this question should be 0793332266.

Question 4.

Answer: 60 (dollars)

Explanation: As stated by the secretary, “There’s a 50% concession for students, so that’s $150 for the three days, or $60 a day”. Thus the answer is ‘60 dollars’.

Question 5.

Answer: professor Burt

Explanation: The secretary informs the students “you’d need to talk to Professor Burt, the conference organiser”. The answer is ‘professor Burt’.

Question 6.

Answer: last Friday

Explanation: "Closing date" is mentioned in the conversation, followed by the answer "last Friday" shortly afterward. So the answer must be ‘last Friday’.

Question 7.

Answer: an interesting title

Explanation: Professor advises, “make sure you include an interesting title for the talk”. So the answer must be ‘an interesting title’.

Question 8.

Answer: 300 words

Explanation: It is mentioned by the professor that, “the outline should be no more than 300 words”. Hence the answer is ‘300 words’.

Question 9.

Answer: brief CV/short CV (curriculum vitae)

Explanation: As stated by Professor Burt “And also, can you send me a short CV – the usual stuff – name, age, qualifications, that sort of thing”. SO the answer must be ‘ short CV’.

Question 10.

Answer: info

Explanation: The answer for this is quite obvious, as the word "email" is repeated two times, followed by the answer. The answer to this question is INFO.