IELTS Practice Test 1

Transcript (on the real test you hear this once)

Receptionist: Good morning, Hollybrook Community Arts Centre, Tessa speaking.

Declan: Oh, hi. I'm ringing about the evening photography courses for next term. I saw the leaflet in the library.

Receptionist: Lovely. We've got three running this term: landscape, portrait and street photography. Did you have one in mind?

Declan: Well, I was leaning towards landscape, but that's Thursdays, isn't it? And I play five-a-side football on Thursdays.

Receptionist: Yes, landscape is Thursday. Portrait and street are both on Tuesdays.

Declan: Then I'll go for street. Portraits would mean asking people to sit for me, and I'm not sure I'm brave enough for that yet.

Receptionist: Street photography it is. Can I take your name?

Declan: Declan Calloway.

Receptionist: Could you spell the surname for me?

Declan: Sure. C-A-L-L-A… no, sorry, I'm talking too fast. C-A-L-L-O-W-A-Y.

Receptionist: Double L, then O-W-A-Y. Got it. And a contact number?

Declan: It's a mobile: 021 586 4470. Oh, hang on, that's wrong. I always swap the last two. It's 4407. So 021 586 4407.

Receptionist: Thanks. And can I ask what's brought you to the course? The tutor likes to know.

Declan: People assume I want to turn professional, but honestly, no. My partner and I are going to Chile next spring, and I want to come back with something better than blurry phone snaps. My manager did once ask me to take photos for the staff newsletter, but someone from marketing does that now. And a friend keeps telling me to sell prints at the weekend market, but that's a long way off.

Receptionist: Plenty of people come for exactly that reason. Now, the fee for the term is two hundred and forty dollars. Do you have a Hollybrook residents' card?

Declan: I do, yes. I got one when I joined the library.

Receptionist: Then you get ten per cent off, so it comes to two hundred and sixteen dollars.

Declan: Great. And when does it start?

Receptionist: The leaflet says the third of March, but the tutor is away at a festival that week, so the first session has moved to the tenth of March. It still runs for eight weeks.

Declan: The tenth. OK. Do I need to buy any equipment?

Receptionist: Just bring your camera, of course. People always ask about a spare memory card, but you won't need one — you'll only take a few dozen shots a night. What you do need is a spare battery, because you'll be out on the streets for a couple of hours and they drain quickly in the cold. Don't worry about a tripod. We've got a cupboard full of them.

Declan: Good, because I don't own one. Where do we meet?

Receptionist: Normally the evening classes are upstairs in the Kauri Room, but the lift is being repaired this term, so we've moved the course to the ground floor, to the Rimu Room. That's R-I-M-U. It's the first door on your left as you come in.

Declan: Rimu. Got it. And is anything else covered by the fee?

Receptionist: Yes. The fee includes the Saturday field trip to the waterfront in week four, and every student gets a place in the end-of-term exhibition in our foyer. Printing used to be included as well, but now there's a small charge per print. You can borrow lenses from us, though there's a hire fee for those. And tea and coffee come from the coin machine in the corridor, I'm afraid.

Declan: That all sounds fine. How will I know I'm booked in?

Receptionist: We'd normally send confirmation by email, but our email system is being upgraded this week, so I'll send you a text to that mobile number instead.

Declan: Could you post a letter as well? I'm hopeless at keeping texts.

Receptionist: Sorry, we stopped sending letters last year. Just keep the text, because you'll need to show it on the first night.

Declan: Fair enough. Thanks very much, Tessa.

Receptionist: You're welcome, Declan. Enjoy the course.