IELTS|Intermediate|10. On board

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Read the sentences and tick those you agree with the most. Explain your choice

You are going to hear an information announcement for passengers on a ship. Before you listen, look at the diagram and answer the questions

1. Where are you on the plan?

2. Which places are on A Deck?

3. Which places are next to reception?

4. What places are below reception?

5. Which questions may need the name of a place on the ship?

6. Which question may need the name of something you can eat or drink?

7. Which question may need the name of something you can take to your cabin?

Each of these extracts from the announcement is related to one of the gaps on the diagram. Write the number of the gap by each extract

part / timing

content

test focus

Listening

approximately 30 minutes

four sections
40 questions
a range of question types
Section 1: a conversation on a social topic, e.g. someone making a booking
Section 2: a monologue about a social topic, e.g. a radio report
Section 3: a conversation on a study-based topic, e.g. a discussion between students
Section 4: a monologue on a study-based topic, e.g. a lecture

Students have ten minutes at the end of the test to transfer their answers onto an answer sheet.

The recording is heard once.

Candidates are expected to listen for specific information, main ideas and opinions.
There is a range of task types which include completion, matching, labelling and multiple choice.
Each question scores 1 mark; candidates receive a band score from 1 to 9.

Listening Band Scores

Your listening scores are calculated by the number of correct answers you have out of the 40 questions in the test. You do not lose points for incorrect answers.

IELTS Listening Scores

Correct answers	Band scores
39-40	9
37-38	8.5
35-36	8
32-34	7.5
30-31	7
26-29	6.5
23-25	6
18-22	5.5
16-17	5
13-15	4.5
11-12	4

IELTS Listening

Section 1

Exam information

You hear a conversation between two people on a social or practical topic.
In this section only, you are given an example at the beginning.
You write your answers on the questions paper while you listen.
You write not more than two words in each gap.
You will hear the conversation only once.

Listen to the announcements and label the diagram. Write one word only for each answer

Good evening and welcome aboard the Pride of Poole. In this recorded announcement, we’ll give you details of some of the facilities available on board this ship.

You’re currently standing in the reception area in the centre of B Deck. If you’re feeling hungry after a long day’s traveling, go up the stairs to A Deck, where you’ll find the restaurant. The restaurant caters for all appetites, with anything from a light snack to a full three-course meal. The restaurant will be open from the moment the ship leaves port to half an hour before arrival.

Next to the restaurant on A Deck in the lounge, there are reclining seats with music headphones if you want to relax. The headphones are free, but people using this area are encouraged to keep noise to a minimum so that other passengers can enjoy themselves and sleep or read if they wish.

For those of you who’d like some entertainment, just next door to us on this deck is a 40-seat cinema showing the latest full-length feature films. The cinema programme is available here at reception, but you’ll have to buy the tickets themselves at the cinema entrance just before you go in.

Just next to the cinema is the staircase leading down to the cabins on C Deck. To access your cabin, just show your boarding pass to a steward, who will give you the key.

On this deck, that is B Deck, you’ll also find an area where you can either play games in our special electronic games arcade or do your shopping.

Just beyond that on the same level, people who want a bit of fresh air or just want to see the sea can go out onto the viewing deck, which is in the open air. Make sure you wear a jacket or coat, as it can be quite cold and windy.

Exam advice

Labelling a diagram

Look at the diagram and decide what type(s) of word you need.

Look at the words on the diagram and listen for similar words and phrases to tell you the answer is coming.

Read Questions 6-10 and underline the key ideas in each question

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These phrases from the recording will help you to focus on the correct question. Write the number of the question (6-10) by each phrase

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Listen to the audio and answer the questions

Now for some further details. This voyage is an overnight trip. The ship leaves port at 7 p.m. and the journey takes just over 12 hours and 45 minutes, reaching our destination at about eight tomorrow morning. This is for the convenience of those wishing to catch the nine o’clock train, which leaves from the ferry terminal.

Passengers with children in their party are informed that there is a special section in the restaurant with kids’ food and a play area. People with children are encouraged to turn up early to get a place, as the section is very popular.

Make this a trip to remember. Here at the information desk, you can obtain a souvenir ship’s key ring for four euros fifty; you can upgrade from a tourist-class cabin to a first-class cabin; and you can get your train tickets here, which will save you time queuing in the station tomorrow morning. If you buy them on the ship, you can get them for 20 percent off.

For those using the lounge and wishing to check their email, there’s a wireless connection, but you’ll have to bring your own laptop. You can also watch the latest TV programmes there or in the coffee bar next to the restaurant.

Finally, a unique feature on this crossing only: anyone who buys a fashion item from our wonderful range of men’s and women’s clothes in the shopping area has the chance to win a free holiday. All you have to do is complete a sentence starting ‘I like Sealand Ferries because…’ and the best sentence wins the prize of a holiday in Switzerland with tickets to a three-day music festival included. Talk to any member of staff for more details.

Exam advice

Multiple choice

Underline the key idea in each question to help you focus on the meaning.

Listen for a phrase which means the same as one of the options.

Criteria:

answer all the points
keep going for more than a minute
introduce and round off the talk
use some of the signposting phrases
use past tenses correctly
use their notes
sound interested in what they are saying
look at the examiner while speaking

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Read the exam card, make notes and prepare a 2-minute speech

Exam advice

Speaking Part 2

Structure your talk by using your notes and introducing your points clearly to the examiner.

Use appropriate phrases to mark the stages in your talk.

Speaking Part 2

Describe a travel experience by boat.

You should say:

When did you travel by water?
Where did you travel to?
Why did you choose travelling by water?

And explain how you felt about travelling by water.

Wordlist

1. restless
2. facilities
3. deck
4. cabin
5. obtain
6. steward
7. appetite
8. voyage
9. ferry
10. upgrade
11. queue

Useful language

a reclining seat
caters
an overnight trip

Read the passage and do the task below

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The Development of Travel under the Ocean

For millennia, humans have been intrigued by what lies beneath the sea and although submarine travel was attempted from time to time, it did not become common place until the middle of last century. Several clever and innovative people had experimented with designs for submersible boats before then, but there was much loss of life and little success.

There had long been use of a primitive diving bell for explorative purposes, but it was as a war machine that the submarine came into its own. The first development in the history of American submarines was a small submersible with a hand-cranked screw-like oar and a crew of one. It was built before the American Revolutionary War (1775—1783) but was adapted for use against the British during this war. Although its pilot twice failed to fasten explosive devices to British ships before losing control of his vessel, he escaped harm.

In 1800, an American inventor, Robert Fulton, designed an underwater machine that he called the Nautilus. His version brought in features that can still be found in some modern submarines, notably adjustable diving planes for better underwater manoeuvring, dual systems of propulsion, and a compressed air system that allowed it to stay down for about four hours without surfacing.

Development of submersible vessels lagged a long way behind the continued progress in the design of surface ships until the American Civil War (1861-1865) when both sides tried out various designs. One of those, called the Hunley — named after its financier rather than its inventor, sank twice during training missions with 11 crew members losing their lives including Hunley himself. Notwithstanding these failures, it was commissioned again in 1864 to attack a ship in Charleston Harbor. A torpedo was used to strike and scuttle the ship – a first in naval history, but the submarine never reappeared, and once again the whole crew perished. Its potential had been recognised, but there still remained the challenge of operating safely under the water.

The US Navy could appreciate the strategic benefits of having submarines in its fleet and held a competition to encourage design and construction of these underwater craft. The inventor, John Holland, won the competition and it was his sixth prototype, the Holland, that the navy bought and added to its fleet in 1900. This submarine was quite different from previous designs. It was propelled by a gasoline engine that turned a propeller while the vessel was on the surface. When it submerged, the engine ran a generator to charge batteries to operate an electric motor. The improved propulsion methods were, unfortunately, highly dangerous. Not only is gasoline flammable and unstable, using it in the restricted environment of a submarine posed quite a hazard for the crewmen. There was another problem, too: the batteries were not only heavy, cumbersome, and inefficient, but they were also extremely volatile.

During the same period as Holland’s efforts were being trialled, a German scientist by the name of Rudolf Diesel created an engine which used a fuel less explosive than gasoline and which could consequently be stored safely. Another advantage was that there was no necessity for an electric spark to ignite the fuel. These safety improvements combined with better fuel economy allowed Diesel engines to power a submarine for longer on the surface; however, batteries were still needed to supply energy for underwater operation.

Although diesel-powered submarines were successful and used by the US Navy for almost 50 years, the search for a single power source carried on. It wasn’t long before the concept of nuclear power was realised in Germany and taken up by an American physicist, Ross Gunn, who could envisage its potential in submersibles. A research team was put together to adapt the concept of nuclear power for use in submarines. In effect, modern nuclear submarines have on board a small nuclear power plant which produces a great amount of energy. This is used to heat water and create steam which drives a huge turbine which turns the propeller.

There have been many adaptations and technological improvements made to submarines over the years, but the shape is basically the same. Obviously, it is a totally enclosed craft, cigar-shaped with narrowed ends. The outer hull is the largest part of the boat and forms the body. The inner hull is designed to resist the considerable water pressure and insulates the crew from the cold. This is where the crew works, cats, and sleeps. It also contains the engine room and the apparatus that makes clean air and clean water. Between the hulls are the ballast tanks for controlling buoyancy. There is a tall fin-shaped sail that comes up out of the hull. Inside the sail is the conning tower and extending from this, to the fore, there is a periscope (through which the captain can see the sea and sky when the submarine is near the surface of the water). Sonar is used for navigation deep below the surface. The other projection from the conning tower is the radio antenna.

Underwater, there are two controls for steering the submarine. The rudder (like a tail fin) controls side-to-side movement, and diving planes influence rise and descent. There are two sets of diving planes: the forward sailplanes and the stern planes, which are located at the back with the rudder and propeller.

Advancing technology will undoubtedly result in different shapes and modes of operation, and it is quite possible that, in the future, submarines will be manned by robots or computer technology that communicates information to land bases via satellite.

Answer the questions below. Choose no more than three words or numbers from the text for each answer

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Read the text one more time and label the diagram below. Choose no more than two words from the text for each answer

The Development of Travel under the Ocean

For millennia, humans have been intrigued by what lies beneath the sea and although submarine travel was attempted from time to time, it did not become commonplace until the middle of last century. Several clever and innovative people had experimented with designs for submersible boats before then, but there was much loss of life and little success.

There have been many adaptations and technological improvements made to submarines over the years, but the shape is basically the same. Obviously, it is a totally enclosed craft, cigar-shaped with narrowed ends. The outer hull is the largest part of the boat and forms the body. The inner hull is designed to resist the considerable water pressure and insulates the crew from the cold. This is where the crew works, eats, and sleeps. It also contains the engine room and the apparatus that makes clean air and clean water. Between the hulls are the ballast tanks for controlling buoyancy. There is a tall fin-shaped sail that comes up out of the hull. Inside the sail is the conning tower and extending from this, to the fore, there is a periscope (through which the captain can see the sea and sky when the submarine is near the surface of the water). Sonar is used for navigation deep below the surface. The other projection from the conning tower is the radio antenna.

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Listen to the audio and complete the notes below. Put one word in each gap

I’ve been looking at ocean biodiversity, that’s the diversity of species that live in the world’s oceans. About 20 years ago biologists developed the idea of what they called ‘biodiversity hotspots’. These are the areas which have the greatest mixture of species, so one example is Madagascar. These hotspots are significant because they allow us to locate key areas for focusing efforts at conservation. Biologists can identify hotspots on land, fairly easily, but until recently, very little was known about species distribution and diversity in the oceans, and no one even knew if hotspots existed there.

Then a Canadian biologist called Boris Worm did some research in 2005 on data on ocean species that he got from the fishing industry. Worm located five hotspots for large ocean predators like sharks, and looked at what they had in common. The main thing he’d expected to find was that they had very high concentrations of food, but to his surprise that was only true for four of the hotspots — the remaining hotspot was quite badly off in that regard.

But what he did find was that in all cases, the water at the surface of the ocean had relatively high temperatures, even when it was cool at greater depths, so this seemed to be a factor in supporting a diverse range of these large predators. However, this wasn’t enough on its own, because he also found that the water needed to have enough oxygen in it — so these two factors seemed necessary to support the high metabolic rate of these large fish.

A couple of years later, in 2007, a researcher called Lisa Ballance, who was working in California, also started looking for ocean hotspots, but not for fish — what she was interested in was marine mammals, things like seals. And she found three places in the oceans which were hotspots, and what these had in common was that these hotspots were all located at boundaries between ocean currents, and this seems to be the sort of place that has lots of the plankton that some of these species feed on.

So now people who want to protect the species that are endangered need to get as much information as possible. For example, there’s an international project called the Census of Marine Life. They’ve been surveying oceans all over the world, including the Arctic. One thing they found there which stunned other researchers was that there were large numbers of species which live below the ice — sometimes under a layer up to 20 metres thick. Some of these species had never been seen before. They’ve even found species of octopus living in these conditions. And other scientists working on the same project, but researching very different habitats on the ocean floor, have found large numbers of species congregating around volcanoes, attracted to them by the warmth and nutrients there.

However, biologists still don’t know how serious the threat to their survival is for each individual species. So a body called the Global Marine Species Assessment is now creating a list of endangered species on land, so they consider things like the size of the population — how many members of one species there are in a particular place — and then they look at their distribution in geographical terms, although this is quite difficult when you’re looking at fish, because they’re so mobile, and then thirdly they calculate the rate at which the decline of the species is happening.

So far only 1,500 species have been assessed, but they want to increase this figure to 20,000. For each one they assess, they use the data they collect on that species to produce a map showing its distribution. Ultimately they will be able to use these to figure out not only where most species are located but also where they are most threatened.

So finally, what can be done to retain the diversity of species in the world’s oceans? Firstly, we need to set up more reserves in our oceans, places where marine species are protected. We have some, but not enough. In addition, to preserve species such as leatherback turtles, which live out in the high seas but have their nesting sites on the American coast, we need to create corridors for migration, so they can get from one area to another safely. As well as this action needs to be taken to lower the levels of fishing quotas to prevent overfishing of endangered species. And finally, there’s the problem of ‘by-catch’. This refers to the catching of unwanted fish by fishing boats — they’re returned to the sea, but they’re often dead or dying.

If these commercial fishing boats used equipment which was more selective, so that, only the fish wanted for consumption were caught, this problem could be overcome.

OK. So does anyone have any questions …

Read the task and prepare your 2-minute speech on the topic «A place near the sea»

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Describe a place near a lot of water you enjoyed visiting.

You should say:

where this place was;
who you went there with;
what you did there;

and explain why you enjoyed visiting that place.

Speak no longer than 2 minutes.

Cover all of the points, use the active vocabulary of the lesson.

Structure your talk by using your notes and introducing you points clearly.

Use appropriate phrases to mark the stages in your talk.

Give reasons for your answers.

Offer extra details, extend your answer.

Sound interested in what you are saying.

Speak clearly so that the examiner can hear you easily.

Use wide range of vocabulary.

Wordlist

1. restless
2. facilities
3. deck
4. cabin
5. obtain
6. steward
7. appetite
8. voyage
9. ferry
10. upgrade
11. queue

Useful language

a reclining seat
caters
an overnight trip

Allow your browser the access to the microphone, press the button «Record» and record the speech you have prepared

Look at the map below and describe the information which it provides

IELTS Writing Part 1

Write a description of the charts.

You should:

write at least 150 words.

spend not more than 20 minutes on this task.

Exam advice

Chart summary

Study the chart(s) carefully and look for the most important features.
Write an introductory sentence which says what the chart(s) show(s).
Make sure the facts you write are correct.

The two maps below show an island, before and after the construction of some tourist facilities.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

To refresh the strategy of dealing with the task follow the 🔗link

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