IELTS Listening Practice Test | 2026-01-05

**Shop Assistant:** Hello, I'm interested in buying a DVD player. Can you help me as I don't know very much about them?
**Customer:** Of course. We sell quite a range. Actually, we're doing a customer survey at the moment. So, I wonder if I could fill in this form about you and that will actually help me to advise you on the best DVD player for you.
**Shop Assistant:** Oh, okay.
**Customer:** First of all, your occupation?
**Shop Assistant:** Um, student.
**Customer:** Okay. Then, have you already got a DVD player?
**Shop Assistant:** Uh, no. I've never had one before.
**Customer:** Uh-huh. And how much do you think you want to spend on a player?
**Shop Assistant:** I'm not sure really, but I have got a budget. My friend said I should allow about £100, but I can't afford over £85, so that's what I'm working on.
**Customer:** Mhm. And do you watch DVDs very often?
**Shop Assistant:** Um, depends what you mean by often. I don't know what the norm is. Is it about two a week? Uh, but I suppose I watch three a month. That's enough for me.
**Customer:** Yes. What sort of films do you like watching then? Action movies?
**Shop Assistant:** Not really. My boyfriend always insists we watch science fiction movies, but I prefer thrillers. Something to get your teeth into.
**Customer:** Okay, just one more. Do you watch other DVDs? Ones that are not films, like music or something?
**Shop Assistant:** Not much, because I don't want to spend the money on something I can watch on TV, but I occasionally rent out comedy programs, and I fight with my boyfriend over all the sports DVDs he watches.
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**Customer:** Okay, let me explain a bit to you about the DVD players that are in your price range. First, there's the DB30 which has only got basic features, but it is a bargain at £69. Now, all the DVDs come with an after-sales service that starts when the guarantee runs out. As it's so cheap, the DB30 comes with a limited after sales service as it only includes parts. You would have to pay for most of the repair.
**Shop Assistant:** Oh. Oh, it seems okay. Then a slight grade up from that is the XL 643. This comes with an additional feature in that it has an extra button allowing you to record. That's quite useful.
**Customer:** Oh, yes. That would mean spending less on DVDs to watch. Yes. So, you'd make the extra money back on it that it costs. Let me see how much it is. Uh ah yes, that one's actually reduced at the moment from £79 to £71.99. Oh, I think it's worth the extra, myself.
**Shop Assistant:** And is that the same level of after sales service as the other one?
**Customer:** Well, you get a bit more for your money because what we're offering is a discount on labor. So, you don't pay the full price if you have to call an engineer out.
**Shop Assistant:** I see. Then the last one is this Trix 24. It's a very good player and you can use it to listen to your CDs as well as watch DVDs.
**Customer:** H, it looks nice, but I bet it's expensive.
**Shop Assistant:** No, it's not top of the range. Let's see. Yes, it's £94, but what you have to remember is that that includes insurance, so you don't have to pay extra for that. And it comes with a guarantee that's valid for 3 years as opposed to the usual one. What do you think?

**Director:** Well, good evening everybody. Thank you all for turning out on this cold, wet evening. Welcome to our new art center. I'm delighted that so many people are interested in finding out about the facilities and events that we'll be offering. I'll start with the regular evening events that we've scheduled so far.
Sunday night will be film club night. Each week we'll be showing a classic film from the 40s, 50s or 60s. Films will start at ten to 7 and afterwards there will be an opportunity to discuss the film in the cafe bar for anybody who'd like to. Tickets for the film will be £5, but the discussion afterwards is free, although anybody who wants to buy me a drink is welcome to do so.
On Thursday evenings at 7:30, the auditorium is given over to productions by touring theater companies. This coming Thursday, we're very excited to be welcoming Pizzazz, a drama company featuring both able-bodied and physically handicapped actors. They'll be performing a rather special version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest featuring music and dance as well as dialogue.
Fridays and Saturdays will be music nights starting at 8:00 p.m. with classical or traditional music on the Fridays and pop rock on the Saturdays. However, as the sound system hasn't yet been fully installed, these events won't be starting for another few weeks.
As well as evening performances, various events will take place during the day. So far, a mother's and toddlers session has been arranged for Monday afternoons. And of course, anybody can drop in for a coffee or a sandwich. The cafe bar will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and 11:00 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and Sundays. Lunch will be served from 12 till 2 and light snacks will be available all day. Of course, this program is just the start and we expect to be announcing many additional events in the near future.
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**Director:** Now I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about becoming a member. Membership benefits include reduced-price tickets, priority bookings, and a monthly newsletter which will feature the latest details of forthcoming events, plus details of other arts events in the local area. The cost of membership is just £15 a year, which I think is very reasonable. To get a membership card, you'll need to provide us with a passport-sized photo, plus payment, of course, by cash or check. We can't accept credit cards, I'm afraid, at least not for the moment. We hope to have credit card payment facilities available in the not too distant future. Then when you want to buy reduced-price tickets, you simply show your card at the box office or quote your membership number if you're making a telephone booking. Generally, a membership card will save around 20% on the full ticket price. So, it really is very good value. Now, we come to the most important part, your suggestions. It's your art center, so we want to hear what you'd like to see.

**Lecturer:** In today's lecture, we'll begin with an overview of the impact of tourism on the societies and cultures of the host area. Then we'll look at some case studies.
One model for the sociocultural impact of tourism has been provided by Doxy. You'll find a reference in your reading list. He called his model the Iridex. That's a contraction of irritation index and it attempts to show how the attitudes of local people to tourists and tourism change over the years. Doxy identifies four stages.
He calls the first stage euphoria, happiness, because initially the tourists are regarded as a novelty and because of this they're welcomed by everyone in the host area. But as well as that, there's another reason for the people in the host community to welcome tourists. Local people realize that tourism brings scope for economic benefits.
As tourist development begins to increase, however, local interest in the visitors becomes sectionalized. That means that some sections of the local population become involved with tourists while others don't. And it is increasingly the case that commercial rather than social factors are influencing relationships between tourists and the host community. People are less interested in the tourists for their own sake. Doxy calls this stage apathy.
If development continues to increase, apathy may change to annoyance. What's causing this? Well, development of the tourist area may start to spiral up out of control and this is often accompanied by congestion which is going to make life difficult for local people. So the policy makers, the government, the local authorities and so on provide more infrastructure for the area, more roads, more car parks and so on to try to help cope with the influx of tourists. But the lives of the local people are made increasingly difficult.
And in the final stage of the model, annoyance has turned to antagonism and open hostility to the tourists. And now all the detrimental changes to lifestyles in the host area are fairly or unfairly seen as due to the tourists.
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**Lecturer:** Well, this sort of pathway is certainly a fairly good reflection of what happens in some tourist destinations, but Doxy's model has drawn a number of criticisms. The most significant is that it suggests a very negative attitude to the sociocultural effects of tourism. The fact that the model is unidirectional, that it only works in one direction, seems to suggest that decline in the host visitor relationship is inevitable. Now, in practice, fortunately, things aren't always quite like that. If you look at real situations, you will see that the relationships between local people and tourists are rather more complicated and prone to greater variation than this model suggests. So the model is really rather oversimplified.
In fact, studies have highlighted quite a few positive effects of tourism. For example, Doxy's model doesn't look at the effects on the tourists themselves. They may well benefit from increased understanding of the host society and culture. Then traditional crafts in the host area may be revitalized because tourism provides new markets such as the souvenir trade for example. So instead of these traditional skills being lost, local people are encouraged to develop them.
There may also be more long-lasting changes which actually lead to the empowerment of both groups and individuals in the host area. For example, tourism creates openings for employment for women and through giving them a chance to have a personal income, it allows them to become more independent. In addition, because tourism tends to work through a very few languages that have worldwide usage, those working in the tourist industry may be encouraged to acquire new languages. And this will empower them through providing wider access to globalized media and improving their job prospects in a wider context. Right now, we'll take a short break there and then we'll look at a couple of case studies and see how far the points we've discussed so far apply to them.

**Speaker:** Working for an employer in a 9-to-5 job has long been the accepted norm. However, this could soon be set to change. A rising level of unemployment combined with a sense of disillusionment amongst employees with their workday lives is at the root of this modern-day revolution in the workplace. Now there is a growing trend amongst people of all ages and from all walks of life to opt for freelance work rather than working for an employer.
It sounds a risky option and a potentially stressful one, but on the whole, the benefits of freelancing seem to vastly outweigh those of working for someone else. In fact, recent research has shown that those who quit their jobs to work for themselves are the country's happiest and most productive workers.
A study conducted by Dr. Jonathan Sats from Brighton University's Business School in conjunction with the Arts and Humanities Research Council looked at a total of 304 freelancers who were pursuing a range of professions in southern England. They found that far from struggling to get by, many were not only doing well, but excelling in their new professions.
So, what are the advantages of freelancing? Well, there are many. One of the most obvious benefits is not having to be answerable to a boss and having to face criticism or unfair demands. In addition, not being based in an office or shared workplace with competitive or difficult colleagues is another bonus. But what is probably the most attractive pull of working freelance is the freedom to determine your own work schedule. You are no longer at the mercy of a timetable dictated to you by your employer. If you have family commitments, these can easily be fitted around your working hours. Furthermore, if you have an off day one day, it's easy to make up time another day without having to face your employer's wrath when you are being less productive than usual.
Those who work in creative and digital industries stand to benefit most from working freelance. In these fields, workers are at liberty to choose their ideal working location as they are not restricted to working in a set place. It really is an ideal lifestyle that many would aspire to if they were more aware of the options available to them.
Lastly, to add to an already convincing list of benefits from doing freelance work, there is the financial reward. Freelancers typically work a 38-hour week and earn a median wage of £43,000, well above the national average of £25,000, and are happier than other workers.
It seems that people are now catching on to the myriad benefits that come with working as a freelancer. Currently, there are about 31 million people in work in Britain and already 4.66 million are self-employed, thereby displaying the vitality of the freelance economy. In fact, so popular is freelancing becoming that it has even been suggested that the government needs to devise a new tax and other policies to support freelancers. Freelancing would seem to be the future of employment and the way forward. It is certainly well worth considering freelancing if you are doubtful about committing to working in a structured environment.