Renting a Cottage: Details and Arrangements — Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic 2021 TEST 4 — IELTS Test

Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic 2021 TEST 4

Renting a Cottage: Details and Arrangements

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(0:00) Part 1. You will hear a man phoning the owner of a holiday cottage. First you have some time to (0:09) look at questions one to six. Now listen carefully and answer questions one to six.

(0:48) Hello. Oh, hello. I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage.

(0:55) I'm his wife Shirley and we own the cottages together so I'm sure I can help you. (1:00) Great. My name's Tom.

Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year (1:07) and they thought it was great. So my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week. (1:12) What date did you have in mind? (1:15) The week beginning the 14th if possible.

(1:19) I'll just check. I'm sorry Tom, it's already booked that week. It's free the week beginning (1:27) the 28th though for seven nights.

In fact that's the only time you could have it in May. (1:34) Oh, well we could manage that I think. We'd just need to change a couple of things.

(1:41) How much would it cost? (1:43) That's the beginning of high season so it'd be £550 for the week. (1:49) Ah, that's a bit more than we wanted to pay I'm afraid. (1:54) We've budgeted up to £500 for accommodation.

(1:59) Well, we've just finished converting another building into a cottage (2:03) which we're calling Cherville Cottage. (2:06) Sorry, what was that again? (2:09) Cherville. C-H-E-R-V for Victor, I-L.

(2:17) Oh, that's a herb isn't it? (2:19) That's right. It grows fairly wild around here. (2:23) You could have that for the week you want for £480.

(2:28) Okay, so could you tell me something about it please? (2:32) Of course. The building was built as a garage. It's a little smaller than Granary Cottage.

(2:39) So that must sleep two people as well. (2:42) That's right. There's a double bedroom.

(2:45) Does it have a garden? (2:46) Yes, you get to it from the living room through French doors and we provide two deck chairs. (2:54) We hope to build a patio in the near future (2:56) but I wouldn't like to guarantee it'll be finished by May. (3:00) Okay.

(3:01) The front door opens onto the old farmyard and parking isn't a problem. (3:07) There's plenty of room at the front for that. (3:10) There are some trees and potted plants there.

(3:16) Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10. (3:42) Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10. (3:48) What about facilities in the cottage? (3:51) It has standard things like a cooker and fridge I presume? (3:56) In the kitchen area there's a fridge freezer and we've just put in an electric cooker.

(4:03) Is there a washing machine? (4:04) Yes, there's also a TV in the living room which plays DVDs too. (4:11) The bathroom is too small for a bath so there's a shower instead. (4:16) I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays anyway.

(4:20) It's more environmentally friendly isn't it? (4:22) Unless you spend half the day in it. (4:25) Exactly. (4:26) What about heating? (4:27) It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year.

(4:31) There's central heating and if you want to light a fire there's a stove. (4:36) We can provide all the wood you need for it. (4:39) It smells so much nicer than coal and it makes the room very cosy.

(4:44) We've got one in our own house. (4:46) That sounds very pleasant. (4:48) Perhaps we should come in the winter to make the most of it.

(4:51) Yes, we find we don't want to go out when we've got the fire burning. (4:56) There are some attractive views from the cottage which I haven't mentioned. (5:01) There's a famous stone bridge.

(5:04) It's one of the oldest in the region and you can see it from the living room. (5:09) It isn't far away. (5:11) The bedroom window looks in the opposite direction (5:13) and has a lovely view of the hills and the monument at the top.

(5:18) Well, that all sounds perfect. (5:21) I'd like to book it please. (5:23) Would you want to deposit? (5:24) Yes, we ask for 30% to secure your booking so that'll be £144.

(5:33) And when would you like the rest of the money? (5:36) You're coming in May so the last day of March please. (5:41) Fine. (5:42) Excellent.

(5:43) Could I just take your details so that I can... (5:49) That is the end of part one. (5:51) You now have half a minute to check your answers to part one.

Part 1 of 4

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