Conversation between 2 Colleagues about Company Picnic - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

IELTS Listening section tests a candidate’s ability to understand audio recordings of four types. There are two conversations and two monologues in IELTS listening. This topic - A conversation between 2 colleagues about a company picnic is IELTS listening section 1. Candidates need to answer the following IELTS listening question types:

• Short answer questions
• Table completion

Audio Transcript:

SECTION 1

Cindy: So, Bob, how many people have said that they’re coming on the company picnic?

Bob: Well, Cindy, we’ve got 35 definite and another 10 probable.

Cindy: Shall we say 50?

Bob: I think so. And we’ve fixed the date for…?

Cindy: 26th. The last Sunday in August.

Bob: Great! I hope the weather is good.

Cindy: Should be. Now, we have to decide where to order the food from and what kind of things we want.

Bob: Right. What’s our budget?

Cindy: We decided to go for £10 a head for food and £5 a head for drinks.

Bob: OK. I got some pamphlets from caterers. What do you think?

Cindy: The most important thing is to make sure there’s a variety of food. We don’t want people complaining that they don’t like anything.

Bob: We also don’t want food that could deteriorate in the sun ice cream, that kind of thing.

Cindy: You’ve seen these pamphlets. What do you think?

Bob: Well, I thought Paris Kitchen looked good. The price almost exactly meets our budget and they seem to have a good variety.

Cindy: I don’t know. A friend of mine used them for her company and wasn’t impressed.

Bob: Really? What exactly didn’t she like?

Cindy: Well, the food… she said the food was good, but not quite the variety they’d expected. The drinks included some wine , which was apparently not very good.

Bob: Oh. Well, perhaps we need to consider this one… er … Company Caterers.

Cindy: Looks a bit pricey. Mind you, I’ve heard that they are very good.

Bob: Let me check the price. … Yes … £12 a head for food. That’s more than our budget. Do you think we could get a discount?

Cindy: Let’s see if it says anything in the pamphlet. … Yes, they do offer a discount for groups of more than 30. … 10% (Q6) … does that help us?

Bob: 10% off £12 … It’s still more than we budgeted for.

Cindy: Hey, look at this one. Celebrations.

Bob: It’s a new company. I asked a few people about them, but no-one has any ideas.

Cindy: Well, let’s see. 9 pounds a head for food and five pounds a head for drinks. That’s fine. What kind of food do they have? It says here that they just provide cold meals for picnics. Well, that’s OK. … And they include vegetarian dishes…. We do have some vegetarian to take into consideration.

Bob: Well, it looks good to me. The only problem is their lack of experience. I mean, it’s a bit of a risk, isn’t it?

Cindy: Yes. If the food is no good, we’ll look incompetent.

Bob: Ah, look here. It says that we can visit their premises and try some of the dishes they offer.

Cindy: You mean we might get a free lunch? Shall we call them and arrange to go and see them?

Bob: OK. Which day? How about tomorrow?

Cindy: No. We’ve got that meeting. The day after tomorrow. Thursday.

Bob: Good. Time?

Cindy: 11?

Bob: Good. Right, what’s their phone number? 28 65 34 79 . We also need to ask them whether they can deliver straight to the picnic site, don’t we?

Cindy: Yes. I don’t think that’ll be a problem, though. I mean, it’s on the outskirts of the city, but it’s not too far away. Does the price include delivery?

Bob: It doesn’t say, but the other companies include it, so they should. If they don’t, our budget still allows us to pay a small fee.

Section 1

Questions 1-10

Questions 1-4

Complete the table below.Answer the following questions using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

1. How many people are Cindy and Bob planning the picnic for?

Answer: 50/fifty

Explanation: According to the conversation, Cindy and Bob were planning for a company picnic consisting of around 50 people.

Also check:

2. On which date will the picnic be held?

Answer: 26th August

Explanation: The conversation has made it clear the date of the picnic was supposed to be 26th August that is the last Sunday of the month.

3. What is the total budget for food and drink per person?

Answer: 15

Explanation: The budget that was decided by Cindy and Bob were 10 pounds for food and 5 for drinks per head, that is 15 all total.

4. Which food does Bob specifically say is unsuitable?

Answer: ice cream

Explanation: Bob stated that they should avoid foods that could be destroyed in the sun, like ice cream.

Questions 5-8

Complete the table below.

Complete the following notes about the three catering companies Bob and Cindy discuss.

Paris Kitchen

lack of variety of food

poor quality 5__________________

Company Caterers

expensive

6__________________ discount for groups of 30 or more

Celebrations

new company

only 7____________ for picnics

8_____________ dishes

offers free samples

Question 5:

Answer: wine

Explanation: Cindy told that one of her friends booked the Paris Kitchen and was not impressed with their wine. The food was not but didn’t have any variety as well.

Question 6:

Answer: 10%

Explanation: The Company Caterers offers a 10% discount to people who are booking for a group of more than 30 people.

Question 7:

Answer: cold meals

Explanation: The catering named Celebrations only offers cold meals for picnics and the menu also includes vegetarian.

Question 8:

Answer: vegetarian

Explanation: Cindy saw that the Celebrations caterer also had vegetarian options in their

Questions 9-10

Complete the table below.Answer the questions using only a date or a telephone number.

9. When will Bob and Cindy go to Celebrations?

Answer: Thursday

Explanation: Cindy and Bob decided to visit the Celebrations cater on Thursday for discussing the pricing and menu for their picnic.

10. What is Celebrations“ telephone number?

Answer: 28653479

Explanation: The conversations states that the contact number of Celebrations is the one mentioned in the answer.