Speaker A
ielts 16 published by Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English, 2021. This recording is copyright.
An IELTS Listening Test 1 (Cambridge 16) practice video: a caller asks about children's engineering workshops for daughters Lydia and Carly, then a Part 3 student discussion begins.
Key Takeaways
- This is an IELTS Listening practice test (Test 1 of Cambridge IELTS 16) intended for exam preparation.
- Part One involves a phone enquiry about children's engineering workshops with specific age groups and activities.
- Parts Two and Three cover a company site tour and a student project discussion, testing note-taking and comprehension of spoken English.
- The transcript quality is limited (auto-captions with gaps), so learners should rely on the original audio for accuracy.
What the video covers
- The video is a practice recording of IELTS Listening Test 1 from Cambridge IELTS 16 (Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English, 2021).
- Part One: a parent phones a 'Children's Engineering Workshops' provider to enquire about school holiday sessions for two daughters.
- Lydia (age four) is directed to the Tiny Engineers workshop for four to five year olds, while Carly (seven) would join the Junior Engineers group for ages six to eight.
- Workshop activities described include designing egg protection covers, building balloon-powered cars, recycled-material bridge building with a prize, and creating five-minute animated movies.
- Logistics discussed include class times (10 to 11 a.m., moved to Wednesdays), pricing, parking availability, and the location near the station in Grassford.
- Part Two: a monologue describing a company's history, founded by Ronald Stevenson, with a site tour covering reception, courtyard, warehouse, meeting room and board room.
- Part Three: students Jess and Tom discuss their art projects, research notes, video diary presentations and project outcomes.
- The transcript is a raw, auto-generated text with some errors and missing/overlapping lines, and it includes instructional audio cues rather than an answer key in the excerpt.
- The title promises an answer key, but the transcript excerpt does not show one.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
there will be time for you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work all the recordings will be played once only the test is in four parts at the end of the test you will be given
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Test 1.
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now listen carefully and answer questions one two three hello children's engineering workshops oh hello i wanted some information about the workshops in the school holidays sure i have two daughters who are interested the younger ones lydia she's four do you
Speaker A
This is the IELTS Listening Test. You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear.
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that when it's inside they can drop it from a height and it doesn't break well sometimes it does break but that's part of the fun right and lydia loves building things is there any opportunity for her to do
Speaker A
There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions, and you will have a chance to check your work. All the recordings will be played once only. The test is in four parts. At the end of the test you will be given 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
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design and build a car that's attached to a balloon and the force of the air in that actually powers the car and makes it move along they go really fast too okay well oh this sounds perfect before you hear the rest of the
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Now turn to Part One.
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she'd be in the junior engineers that's for children from six to eight and do they do the same sorts of activities some are the same but a bit more advanced so they work out how to build model vehicles things like cars
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Part One. You will hear a man phoning to find out about some children's engineering workshops. First you have some time to look at questions one to three.
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we're there to help if they need it but they learn from one another too right and do they have competitions too yes with the junior engineers it's to use recycled materials like card and wood to build a bridge
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Now listen carefully and answer questions one, two, three.
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be amazed what they come up with and of course that's something they can put on their phone and take home to show all their friends exactly and then they also build a robot in the shape of a human and they decorate it
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Hello, Children's Engineering Workshops.
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but we found it didn't give our staff enough time to clear up after the first workshop so we moved them to wednesdays the classes are held in the morning from 10 to 11. okay that's better for me actually
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Oh, hello. I wanted some information about the workshops in the school holidays.
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t o n e and that's in grassford isn't it yes or past the station and will i have any parking problems there no there's always plenty available so would you like to enroll lydia and carly now okay so can i have your full
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Sure. I have two daughters who are interested. The younger one, Lydia, she's four. Do you take children as young as that?
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first you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14. now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14.
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Yes. Our Tiny Engineers workshop is for four to five year olds.
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managing director stevensons is quite an old company like me the founder ronald stevenson went into the steel industry when he left school that was in 1923. he set up this company when he finished his apprenticeship in 1926 although he actually started making
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What sorts of activities do they do?
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however there was a delay of five years before that happened because shortly before the company went into production stevenson was given the opportunity to make goods for hospitals and other players in the health care industry so that's what we did for the first five
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All sorts. For example, they work together to design a special cover that goes round an egg, so that when it's inside, they can drop it from a height and it doesn't break.
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so we intend to carry out major refurbishment of this site over the next five years i'd better give you some idea of what you'll be doing during your two weeks with us so you know what to expect most mornings you'll have a presentation
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Well, sometimes it does break, but that's part of the fun.
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altogether in the past a teacher from your school has come in at the end of each week to find out how the group were getting on but your school isn't able to arrange that this year before you hear the rest of the talk you
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Right. And Lydia loves building things. Is there any opportunity for her to do that?
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okay now i'll briefly help you to orientate yourselves around the site as you can see we're in the reception area which we try to make attractive and welcoming to visitors there's a corridor running left from here and if you go along that the door
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Well, they have a competition to see who can make the highest tower. You'd be amazed how high they can go.
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far side of the site next to it is the warehouse which can be accessed by lorries going up the road to the turning area at the end you can get to the warehouse by crossing to the far side of the courtyard and
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Right. But they're learning all the time as well as having fun. For example, one thing they do is design and build a car that's attached to a balloon, and the force of the air in that actually powers the car and makes it move along.
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courtyard which aren't very attractive at all and on the other onto the access road which isn't much better you'll be using the meeting room quite often and you'll find it by walking along the corridor to the left of the courtyard
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They go really fast, too.
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front of this building so you head to the left along the corridor from reception and it's the second room you come to it looks out onto the main road and finally the board room where you'll be meeting sometimes that has quite a
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Okay. Well, oh, this sounds perfect. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions four to ten.
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you now have half a minute to check your answers to part two part three you will hear two students called jess and tom discussing their art projects first you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
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Now listen and answer questions four to ten.
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starting to get into it i've pretty well finished the introductory stage so have i when they gave us all those handouts with details of books and websites to look at i was really put off but the more i read the more interested
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Now, Carly, that's my older daughter, has just had her seventh birthday, so presumably she'd be in a different group?
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hardly saw a single bird much less use than the trip to the natural history museum yeah i liked all the stuff about evolution there the workshop sessions with dr fletcher were good too especially the brainstorming sessions ah i missed those
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Yes, she'd be in the Junior Engineers. That's for children from six to eight.
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i need to amend some parts i've realized the notes from my research are almost all just descriptions i haven't actually evaluated anything so i'll have to fix that oh i didn't know we had to do that i'll have to look at that too
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And do they do the same sorts of activities?
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realize we had to do that okay i can add it now and i've done the video diary presentation and worked out what i want my outcome to be in the project someone told me it's best not to be too
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Some are the same but a bit more advanced. So they work out how to build model vehicles, things like cars and trucks, but also how to construct animals using the same sorts of material and technique. And then they learn how they can program them and make them move, so they learn a bit of coding.
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before you hear the rest of the discussion you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
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They do. They pick it up really quickly. We're there to help if they need it, but they learn from one another, too.
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lancia i like it because the bird standing there with his head turned to one side but he seems to be staring straight at you but i can't just say it's a bit scary can i hmm you could talk about the possible danger
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Right. And do they have competitions too?
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so you could discuss it in relation to predators and food chains well actually i think i'll concentrate on the impression of rapid motion it gives right do you know that picture of a kingfisher by van gogh it's perching on a reed growing near a
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Yes. With the Junior Engineers, it's to use recycled materials like card and wood to build a bridge, and the longest one gets a prize.
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a personal link sure okay there's a portrait called william wells i can't remember the artist but it's a middle-aged man who's just shot a bird and his expression and the way he's holding the bird in his hand suggests
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That sounds fun. I wouldn't mind doing that myself.
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her that is eating a lizard and what i'm interested in is what idea this bird refers to apparently it's a reference to the never-ending cycle of existence wow i chose a portrait of a little boy giovanni de medici
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Then they have something a bit different, which is to think up an idea for a five-minute movie and then film it using special animation software. You'd be amazed what they come up with, and of course that's something they can put on their phone and take home to show all their friends.
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part 4 you will hear a professor of philosophy giving a talk on the ancient philosophy of stoicism first you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
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Exactly. And then they also build a robot in the shape of a human, and they decorate it and program it so that it can move its arms and legs.
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triumphs specifically i am referring to stoicism which in my opinion is the most practical of all philosophies and therefore the most appealing stoicism was founded in ancient greece by zeno of sitium in the early 3rd century bc but was practiced by the
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Perfect. So is it the same price as the Tiny Engineers?
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anything but personal seneca's letters were well letters and epictetus's thoughts come to us by way of a note-taking students stoic principles were based on the idea that its followers could have an unshakable happiness in this life and the key to achieving this was virtue
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It's just a bit more. 50 pounds for the five weeks.
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but the choices i make with regard to them i do control the modern day philosopher and writer naseem nicholas taleb defines a stoic as someone who has a different perspective on experiences which most of us would see as wholly negative
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And are the classes on a Monday, too?
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artists writers and entrepreneurs the founding fathers of the united states were inspired by the philosophy george washington was introduced to stoicism by his neighbors at age 17 and later put on a play based on the life of cato to inspire his men
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There used to be, but we found it didn't give our staff enough time to clear up after the first workshop, so we moved them to Wednesdays. The classes are held in the morning, from 10 to 11.
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referring to it as his consoling religion the economist adam smith's theories on capitalism was significantly influenced by the stoicism that he studied as a schoolboy under a teacher who had translated marcus aurelius's works today's political leaders are no
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Okay, that's better for me, actually. And what about the location? Where exactly are the workshops held?
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of china claims that meditations is one of two books he travels with and that he has read it more than one hundred times over the course of his life stoicism had a profound influence on albert ellis who invented cognitive
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They're in Building 10A. There's a big sign on the door. You can't miss it. And that's in Fredstone Industrial Estate. Sorry, Fredston, that's F-R-A-D-S-T-O-N-E, and that's in Grassford, isn't it?
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beliefs that create our faulty thinking symptoms and behaviors by using logic instead stoicism has also become popular in the world of business stoic principles can build the resilience and state of mind required to overcome setbacks because stoics teach
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Yes, or past the station.
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at the very root of the thinking there is a very simple way of living control what you can and accept what you can't this is not as easy as it sounds and will require considerable practice it can take a lifetime to master
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And will I have any parking problems there?
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you now have one minute to check your answers to part four that is the end of the listening test in the ielts test you would now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet
Topics:IELTSIELTS listeningCambridge IELTS 16listening testpractice testEnglish exam preparationchildren's engineering workshopPart 1Part 2Part 3
