The Horton Castle Site - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

Oct 21, 2021

IELTS Listening section tests the candidate’s ability to carefully listen to the audio, then understand the questions and answer correctly. This topic - The Horton Castle Site is a part of IELTS listening section 3. IELTS listening section 3 consists of a conversation about academic or any general interest topic. This IELTS Listening section consists of the following question type:

Multiple choice questions

Audio Transcript:

Before you hear the rest of the discussion you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30 you now listen and answer questions 27 to 30.

Natalie: So basically, the problem we're addressing in our case study of the horton castle site is why so few tourists are visiting it. And we'll find out more from our interviews, but I did find one report on the internet that suggested that one reason might be because as far as transport goes, access is difficult.

Dave: I read that too, but that reports was actually written ten years ago, when the road there was really bad. But that's been improved now. And I think there's plenty of fascinating stuff there for a really good day out. But you'd never realize it from the castle website- maybe that's the problem.

Natalie: Yes. It's really dry and boring.

Dave: I read somewhere a suggestion that what the castle needs is a visitor center. So we could have a look for some information about that on the Internet. What would we need to know?

Natalie: Well, who'd use it for a start. It would be good to know what categories the visitors fell into too, like school parties or retired people, but I think we'd have to talk to staff to get that information.

Dave: OK. And as we're thinking of suggesting a visitor center we'd also have to look at potential problems. I mean, obviously it wouldn't be cheap to set up.

Natalie: No, but it could be a really good investment. And as it's on a historical site it did need to get special planning permission. I expect. That might be hard.

Dave: Right, especially is the only possible place for it would be at the entrance, and that's right in front of the castle.

Natalie: Mmm.

Dave: But it could be a good thing for the town of Horton. At present, it's a bit of a ghost town. Once they left school and got any skills or qualifications, the young people all get out as fast as they can to get jobs in the city. And the only people left children and those who've retired.

Natalie: Right. Something else we could investigate would be the potential damage that tourists might cause to the castle site, I mean their environmental impact. At present the tourists can just wander around wherever they want, but if numbers increase, there might have to be some restrictions, like sticking to marked ways. And there’d need to be guides and wardens around to make sure these are enforced.

Dave: Yes, we could look at that too. OK, well…

Questions 7 to 10:

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

The Horton Castle site

Natalie and Dave agree one reason why so few people visit Horton Castle is that

the publicity is poor.
it is difficult to get to.
there is little there of interest.

Answer: A

Explanation: According to the conversation it can be clear that the main reason behind very few visitors visiting Horton castle is its poor publicity.

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Natalie and Dave agree that the greatest problem with a visitor centre could be

covering the investment costs.
finding a big enough space for it.
dealing with planning restrictions.

Answer: C

Explanation: According to the conversation, the main problem that Natalie and Dave might face is getting planning permission as it is a historical site.

What does Dave say about conditions in the town of Horton?

There is a lot of unemployment.
There are few people of working age.
There are opportunities for skilled workers.

Answer: B

Explanation: Dave stated when talking about employment that there are very few people of working age. Most of the students who had some skills or qualifications went to the city for getting jobs. The ones remaining were mostly the ones retired.