The Museum Building — Cambridge IELTS 18 Academic 2023 TEST 4 — IELTS Test

Cambridge IELTS 18 Academic 2023 TEST 4

The Museum Building

30:08
0:00/0:00

(0:00) Part 2. You will hear a guide at a farming museum talking to a group of visitors. (0:07) First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14. (0:42) Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14.

(0:50) Good morning everyone and welcome to the Museum of Farming Life. (0:55) I understand it's your first visit here so I'd like to give you some background information (1:01) about the museum and then explain a little about what you can see during your visit. (1:07) So, where we're standing at the moment is the entrance to a large building that was (1:13) constructed in 1880 as the home of a local businessman, Alfred Palmer, of the Palmer (1:21) Biscuit Factory.

It was later sold and became a hall of residence for students in 1911 and (1:29) a museum in 1951. In 2005, a modern extension was built to accommodate the museum's collections. (1:41) The museum's owned by the university and apart from two rooms that are our offices, (1:48) the university uses the main part of the building.

You may see students going into the (1:54) lessons but it's not open to museum visitors, I'm afraid. It's a shame because the interior (2:02) architectural features are outstanding, especially the room that used to be the library. (2:09) Luckily, we've managed to keep entry to the museum free.

This includes access to all the galleries, (2:17) outdoor areas and the rooms for special exhibitions. We run activities for children (2:24) and students, such as the museum club, for which there's no charge. We do have a donation box just (2:34) over there so feel free to give whatever amount you consider appropriate.

We do have a cloakroom (2:42) if you'd like to leave your coats and bags somewhere. Unlike other museums, photography (2:49) is allowed here, so you might like to keep your cameras with you. You might be more comfortable (2:56) not carrying around heavy rucksacks, though keep your coats and jackets on as it's quite (3:02) cold in the museum garden today.

Before you hear the rest of the talk, (3:10) you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20. (3:51) I'd like to tell you about the different areas of the museum.

Just inside and outside the main (3:59) gallery, we have an area called Four Seasons. Here you can watch a four-minute animation of (4:06) a woodland scene. It was designed especially for the museum by a group of young people on a film (4:13) studies course and it's beautiful.

Children absolutely love it, but then so do adults. (4:20) The main gallery is called Town and Country. It includes a photographic collection of prize-winning (4:27) sheep and shepherds.

Leaving Town and Country, you enter Farmhouse Kitchen, which is, well, (4:35) self-explanatory. Here we have the oldest collection of equipment for making butter and cheese in the (4:43) country, and this morning a specialist cheese maker will be giving demonstrations of how it's (4:50) produced. You may even get to try some.

After that, you can go in two directions. To the right (4:58) is a staircase that takes you up to a landing from where you can look down on the galleries. (5:05) To the left is a room called A Year on the Farm.

There is lots of seating here as sometimes we use (5:13) the room for school visits, so it's a good place to stop for a rest. If you're feeling competitive, (5:20) you can take our memory test in which you answer questions about things you've seen in the museum. (5:27) The next area is called Waggon Walk.

This contains farm carts from nearly every part of the country. (5:35) It's surprising how much regional variation there was. Beside the carts are display boards with (5:43) information about each one.

The carts are old and fragile, so we ask you to keep your children (5:50) close to you and ensure they don't climb on the carts. From Waggon Walk, you can either make your (5:58) way back to reception or go out into the garden, or even go back to take another look in the galleries. (6:06) In the far corner of the garden is Bees are Magic, but we're redeveloping this area so you (6:13) can't visit that at the moment.

You can still buy our honey in the shop though. (6:19) Finally, there's the pond, which contains all kinds of interesting wildlife. There are baby ducks that (6:26) are only a few days old, as well as tiny frogs.

The pond isn't deep and there is a fence around it, (6:34) so it's perfectly safe for children. That is the end of part two. (6:42) You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part two.

Part 2 of 4

listening