IELTS Listening Practice Test | 2026-01-01

**Janet:** Good afternoon. What insurance? This is Janet speaking. How may I help you?
**Mr. Fisher:** Yes. Hello. Um, I would like to make a claim on my car insurance, please.
**Janet:** Certainly, sir. First of all, I'd like to inform you that all of our calls are recorded for monitoring and training purposes. Is that okay?
**Mr. Fisher:** That's okay.
**Janet:** Could you please tell me your full name?
**Mr. Fisher:** Sure. It's Mr. Bennett Fisher.
**Janet:** Okay. Sorry. How do you spell your surname?
**Mr. Fisher:** It's spelled F I S C H E R.
**Janet:** Great. Thank you. I see that you have taken out a third party fire and theft premium with us on a 2013 light blue Volkswagen pass. Is that okay?
**Mr. Fisher:** Uh yes. Well, almost. Uh the color is not light blue, it's light green.
**Janet:** Okay. Thank you for updating your information with us. What is the nature of your claim with us today?
**Mr. Fisher:** Last weekend, I had driven up to York on business and left my car in a monitored car park. However, it was only monitored until 8:00 p.m. and I did not return to collect it until 9:30 p.m. after which no car park staff were present. When I arrived at the car park, my car wasn't there. It must have been stolen.
**Janet:** I see. Were there any valuable items left in your car which could have been seen from outside?
**Mr. Fisher:** Well, I had recently bought quite an expensive radio for my car, but the front panel is detachable, and I always stow it in my glove compartment. So, no, there wouldn't have been anything valuable on display.
**Janet:** Okay, Mr. Fisher, thank you for that information. I'm going to send you some forms through the mail for you to fill in. Before I can do that, I need to ask you a couple more questions. Is that okay?
**Mr. Fisher:** Of course.
**Janet:** Thanks Mr. Fisher. First of all, could you let me know your policy number, please?
**Mr. Fisher:** Of course. I have it right here. It's G34 C245.
**Janet:** G34 C245. Thanks. And the type of claim, shall we say? Stolen car.
**Mr. Fisher:** Yes, the car was definitely stolen. I reported it to the police immediately. I I actually have the report number here if that's of any use.
**Janet:** No, not right now. But keep hold of that as we will need to see a copy of the police report eventually. Which police station did you report the offense at?
**Mr. Fisher:** York police station.
**Janet:** Was it your first time in York?
**Mr. Fisher:** No, but it was the first time I'd driven there. I usually take the train.
**Janet:** Were you aware that the car park was only manned until 8:00 p.m.?
**Mr. Fisher:** No, I I was not aware of that.
**Janet:** Were there any signs put up on the premises that informed car owners of the risks of leaving their cars after normal operating hours?
**Mr. Fisher:** Yes, but they said the car park was going to be guarded until 1000 p.m. at which point the entrance is barred, so no cars can come in or out.
**Janet:** Was any reason given for that sudden change?
**Mr. Fisher:** The police informed me that the staff on duty that night had left on an urgent call. I believe it was something about a family member being admitted to hospital.
**Janet:** Were there any personal items left in your car?
**Mr. Fisher:** Yes. First of all, there was the car radio I mentioned before.
**Janet:** Oh, yes, of course. Anything else?
**Mr. Fisher:** Just some CDs and an old jacket.
**Janet:** Right. Thank you, Mr. Fisher. I have everything I need for now, and we'll send these forms out to you shortly. When you get them, please fill them out with as much information as you can, and where possible, include copies of any relevant documents to support your claim, such as police reports and registration details. Once you have returned that to us, we can then start to assess whether you will be eligible to receive compensation. Do you have any further questions for me today?
**Mr. Fisher:** No, that's all. Uh, thanks for your help.

Welcome to the tourist information line for the Valley Food Trail. Here you will find many local food products for you to sample and buy. It is possible for you to spend as much or as little time as you want, but I suggest that you allow a full day for touring this area. Of course, there are many half-day tours available for those of you short on time.
Now, it's quite a large area and stretches from Brookville to Ford Hill. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, that means that it is 10 km to 35 km from the city center or by car 15 minutes to the closest point continuing to 55 minutes at its furthest point from the CBD. Of course, apart from food, there are many other places of interest in this area, including cafes and restaurants and galleries and studios, but I wouldn't recommend you go here to see parks and gardens. The other information lines will give you specific information related to these particular attractions.
But let's go back to food. If we begin in Brookville and head north towards Upper Valley in a clockwise direction, passing West Valley on West Road, we cross over Coast Road to come to our first place of interest, Magic Coffee. This is not to be confused with the coffee house situated opposite on the other side of the valley on the railway line. Magic coffee is next to the chocolate company which is on the corner. Just past the ice cream shop on the corner of John Street is the fresh produce shop.
A little further north we have reached Ford Hill where we can start our drive southwards along Great Northern Highway following the railway line. First we come to the organic market near the corner of Memorial Avenue and then to Olive Farm opposite Olive Road. Just before we come to the next street crossing, we see the Honeypot which is practically opposite the coffee house. There is another chocolate company which sells nugar as well. Just nearby.
Following the railway line along Great Northern Highway, we return back to Brookville.
Now, as I have said previously, if you only have a few hours to spare, there are several places that you shouldn't miss. The two chocolate places make equally nice chocolate, but the factory has the added bonus of Nugar, unlike the company. Of course, everyone loves ice cream, especially unusual flavors such as coffee and nugar. So, the ice cream crearyy is definitely worth a visit. And while the coffee house sells expertly made hot drinks, including hot chocolate, I think your time would be better spent sampling the many products on offer at the organic market.
Well, I hope you enjoy your time visiting the Valley Food Trail and enjoy all the wonderful local foods on offer.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Oakland Zoo on this sunny Sunday afternoon and to our special Kiwi fundraising event. My job is to tell you all about the amazing little kiwi and your job hopefully is to dig deep in your pockets.
Now, for the benefit of our overseas visitors here today, I should explain first of all that the kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand and sometimes New Zealanders themselves are known as kiwis.
Now, while kiwis in the wild are a rare sight, the kiwi as a symbol is far more visible. Apart from being in toy stores and airport shops all over the world, you'll find them on our stamps and coins.
The kiwi is the smallest member of the genus aptter, which also includes ostriches and emu. It gets its name from its shrill call, which sounds very much like this. Kiwi. Kiwi.
Kiwis live in forests or swamps and feed on insects, worms, snails, and berries. It's a nocturnal bird with limited sight, and therefore, it has to rely on its very keen sense of smell to find food and to sense danger. Its nostrils are actually right on the end of its long beak, which is 1/3 of the body length.
Now, here's an interesting fact. Although kiwis have wings, they serve little purpose because the kiwi is a flightless bird.
Since white settlement of the islands, kiwi numbers have dropped from 12 million to less than 70,000. And our national bird is rapidly becoming an endangered species. This is because they're being threatened by what we call introduced animals. Animals which were brought to New Zealand, such as cats and ferrets, which eat kiwi eggs and their chicks.
And so we have launched the Kiwi Recovery Program in an allout effort to save our national bird from extinction. There are three stages to this program.
Firstly, we have the scientific research stage. This involves research to find out more about what kiwis need to survive in the wild.
Then secondly, we have the action stage. This is where we go into the field and actually put our knowledge to work. We call this putting science into practice.
And then we come to the third stage, the global education stage. By working with schools and groups like yourself, as well as through our award-winning Kiwi website, we're hoping to educate people about the plight of the Kiwi.
As part of the action stage, which I just mentioned, we've introduced Operation Nest Egg. And this is where your money will be going. It works like this. It's a three-stage process.
First of all, we go out to the kiwi's natural habitat and we collect kiwi eggs. This is the tricky part because it can be very difficult to find the eggs.
Then in safe surroundings away from predators, the chicks are reared. Now, this can be done on predator-free islands or in captivity. They're reared until they're about 9 months old, at which stage the chicks are returned to the wild.
So far, it's proving successful. And since we started the program, some 34 chicks have been successfully raised this year, and their chances of survival have increased from 5 to 85%.
However, it's not time to celebrate kiwi survival just yet. About 95% of Kiwi chicks still don't make it to 6 months of age without protection, which is why Operation Nest Egg is so important and we ask you to give generously today.

Okay. Now, today we're looking at changes in communication and specifically changes that have just happened or are likely to happen in the next few years.
Key to this is the mobile phone, which is increasingly being seen as an allpurpose system rather than just a phone. If you only use your phone for texting and making calls now, you will be amazed at how you'll be using it in the future.
The technology has been developed for a range of other uses. For example, phones could be used so that if you are meeting someone and they get lost, you could send them a map of your location to help them. This will save all those complicated explanations over the phone and our poor friends or colleagues trying to drive and find out where they are at the same time.
And if you get bored waiting or if you're traveling, for example, you will soon be able to see TV news on your phone as it is actually being broadcast. This means that you won't have to miss any of your favorites if you were away for a few days.
Most people have got used to texting now, and young people send pictures to each other. But what is exciting is the possibility of putting music with them before you send them.
But it's not all frivolous. Phones are going to become even more critical in business and education. Some recent developments have a highly practical usage. So, for example, as lecturers, we will be able to send everybody a text to let them know if lectures have been cancelled. And the new phones could have a further use in education as well as business as they will enable us to go to any destination such as when we are doing a field trip for instance and from there to send data directly to a computer so that we can access it when we get home. This means we will no longer be limited by what the phone can store.
And it's interesting to look at the different ways that men and women use phones now as that does affect how the technology will develop. Some research has been done on how people use phones and some of the results are surprising.
One of the increasing usages of mobile phones is to get all sorts of data such as phone numbers, the weather, train times, etc. And while there's been an attempt to set up connections with things that women might be interested in accessing, it is overwhelmingly men who do this.
But what about the traditional use of a phone to speak to people? I suppose we would predict that it is mainly women who use phones as a method of contact for friends and family. But in fact, the genders exploit this facility equally.
I've spoken about the increased business usages that phones will offer, and I suppose we would associate this usage with men. The survey picked up though that women are often working from home or catching up with work in the evenings, so they use phones in this way as much as men do.
Most of us are aware we can store photos on our phones. It's an ideal method of capturing a moment wherever you are. Women tend to be the group that keep photos on their phones, but it seems that men use their phones to actually take pictures much more than women do. And of course, all this knowledge affects the marketing that the companies will do in order to sell them.