IELTS Listening Test 6 (2026) with Answers

Teacher section. Do not give this to learners before they take the test.

Original IELTS-style practice material. Not produced or endorsed by IELTS, the British Council, IDP or Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

Note: A script alone does not reproduce a timed audio test. In the real test, candidates hear each recording once, at natural speed, with fixed pauses. If you read these scripts aloud, keep to the pause lengths shown and do not repeat anything.

Pause markers: [PAUSE 30s] means 30 seconds of silence. In the actual recording, each pause is silence only.

Answer locations: In this teacher copy, the words that give each answer are marked like this: ⟦Q1⟧. Remove these markers before recording.

PART 1

Speakers: NARRATOR; MIKE (male, receptionist at a pet hotel, friendly, British accent); EMMA (female, cat owner, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 1. You will hear a woman phoning a hotel for pets to book a stay for her cat. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.

MIKE: Good afternoon, Meadowbank Pet Hotel, Mike speaking.

EMMA: Hi. I'm going abroad for a couple of weeks in July, and I need somewhere for my cat to stay. Do you have any space?

MIKE: I'm sure we can help. I'll start a booking form for you. Could I have your name, please?

EMMA: Yes, it's Emma ⟦Q1⟧ Maskell.

MIKE: Is that M-A-S-C...?

EMMA: No, it's with a K. M-A-S-K-E-L-L.

MIKE: Double L at the end?

EMMA: That's right.

MIKE: Thanks. And what's your cat called?

EMMA: Pepper.

MIKE: Lovely. And how old is Pepper?

EMMA: Let me think. She was two when we got her from the rescue centre, and we've had her for nine years now, so she's ⟦Q2⟧ eleven. She'll be twelve in October.

MIKE: Eleven, OK. We always ask, because we like to put older cats in the quieter part of the building. Now, what dates are you looking at?

EMMA: I'd bring her in on the third of July. We fly back on the fourteenth, but we're staying with my sister for a couple of nights after that, so I'd collect her on the ⟦Q3⟧ sixteenth.

MIKE: The third to the sixteenth. That's fine. Now, we have three types of room. The standard rooms are indoors, and they suit most cats very well. The deluxe rooms are bigger, and they have a window seat. And then there are our garden suites, which each have a small covered area outside.

EMMA: Pepper's used to going outside, so she'd hate being shut in for two weeks. The deluxe room sounds nice, but I think it has to be the ⟦Q4⟧ garden suite.

MIKE: Good choice. They're very popular. Now, food. We provide a good-quality dry food, or you can bring your own if you'd rather.

EMMA: She isn't fussy about the brand. The only thing is, she won't touch anything with fish in it, which is unusual for a cat. She'll only eat ⟦Q5⟧ chicken.

MIKE: Our dry food comes in chicken or salmon, so I'll write down chicken only.

NARRATOR: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.

EMMA: There's one more thing. Pepper's on medication for her kidneys.

MIKE: That's no problem. All our staff are trained to give medicine. How often does she have it?

EMMA: One tablet a day. She used to have it in the morning, but the vet told us to give it to her in the ⟦Q6⟧ evening instead, with her last meal, because it upsets her stomach less.

MIKE: Right. We'll also need the name and phone number of your vet, in case of an emergency.

EMMA: It's the Elmfield Veterinary Surgery, and the number is ⟦Q7⟧ oh one six three two, nine six oh, four one eight.

MIKE: Let me read that back. Oh one six three two, nine six oh, four eight one.

EMMA: No, the last three numbers are four one eight.

MIKE: Sorry. Four one eight. Got it.

EMMA: And how much will all this cost?

MIKE: The standard rooms are fifteen pounds a night, and the garden suites are eighteen. Pepper will be with us for thirteen nights, so that comes to ⟦Q8⟧ two hundred and thirty-four pounds. We usually charge two pounds a day extra for giving medicine, but we don't charge that for cats over ten.

EMMA: That's kind of you. Do I need to bring anything with her?

MIKE: You're welcome to bring her bed and a favourite toy, but that's up to you. The one thing we must see when you arrive is her ⟦Q9⟧ vaccination record. We can't accept any animal without one.

EMMA: I'll make sure I have it with me.

MIKE: And finally, could I ask how you heard about us?

EMMA: Well, I'd seen your advert in the local paper, but I didn't think much about it at the time. It was really my ⟦Q10⟧ neighbour who recommended you. Her dog stayed with you last year.

MIKE: That's lovely to hear. I'll email you a confirmation of the booking this afternoon.

EMMA: Thanks very much. Bye.

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

PART 2

Speakers: NARRATOR; COLIN (male, volunteer guide, warm and lively, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 2. You will hear a volunteer guide talking to passengers before a trip on a heritage railway. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15.

COLIN: Good morning, everyone, and welcome aboard the Brantwood Valley Railway. My name's Colin, and I'm one of the volunteers here. Before we set off, I'd like to tell you a little about the line and what you can see along the way.

The railway was built in the eighteen seventies, mainly to carry stone from the quarries at the top of the valley. Passenger trains were added a few years later, and they became very popular with walkers. But by the nineteen fifties, most families in the valley had a car, and passenger numbers fell sharply. The last passenger train ran in ⟦Q11⟧ nineteen sixty-three. The line didn't close completely, though. Trains carrying stone kept running until nineteen seventy-one, when the quarry closed.

In the nineteen eighties, a group of enthusiasts set out to reopen the line. People often assume the government paid for the work, but that isn't the case. We did get a small grant from the council, but it only covered the new roof on this station. Membership fees helped as well. But about three quarters of the money came from ⟦Q12⟧ the Christmas trains that we ran on the first short section of track we'd repaired. They sold out every year, and the profits paid for most of the rest of the work.

The engine at the front of our train today is called Countess. She was built in Leeds in nineteen twenty-two, and she spent most of her working life in South Wales. A lot of people think she was built here in the valley, but she wasn't. When her line in Wales closed, she ended up in a scrapyard, where she sat rusting for eleven years, until our volunteers ⟦Q13⟧ bought her for the price of the scrap metal. It took them nine years to get her working again.

Now, your ticket today is a day rover. That means ⟦Q14⟧ you can get off at any station and catch a later train. Just make sure you catch the last train back, which leaves Ashgill at quarter past five. If you miss it, I'm afraid there's no bus. Please keep your ticket, too, because it gives you half-price entry to Brantwood Castle.

And finally, the dining carriage. It's the red one, just behind the engine. Lunch is served there on the way up the valley, and afternoon tea on the way down. It's a lovely experience, but there are only twenty-four seats, so if you'd like to eat there, you'll need to ⟦Q15⟧ reserve a table with the guard before we reach the first station. Of course, you're welcome to eat your own picnic in the other carriages.

NARRATOR: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

COLIN: Let me tell you about the five stations between here and the top of the valley.

Our first stop is Holme Bridge. There used to be a café there, in the old waiting room, but it closed last year. The waiting room now has ⟦Q16⟧ a model railway, which children love. It shows the whole line as it looked in nineteen hundred.

Next is Sedgeford, the station for the village. It's the start of ⟦Q17⟧ a path that follows the river all the way back to Brantwood. If you'd like to walk back, it takes about two hours.

Larch Halt is a tiny station in the middle of the forest, with no buildings at all. But the forestry company ⟦Q18⟧ hires out bikes there, so you can explore the forest tracks. They also built a play area beside the platform, but unfortunately it's closed for repairs this summer.

At Millbeck, you'll find ⟦Q19⟧ our café. It's in the old station master's house, and it does excellent cakes, so it's a good place to break your journey.

And finally, Ashgill, at the top of the valley. The old quarry buildings there now house ⟦Q20⟧ an exhibition about the quarry workers and the tools they used. There's also a path from the end of the platform up to a viewing point, but it's steep, and it's been closed since the storms last winter.

Right, I think the guard's about to blow his whistle, so please take your seats. Enjoy the journey!

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

PART 3

Speakers: NARRATOR; LILY (female, student, British accent); OMAR (male, student, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 3. You will hear two environmental science students, Lily and Omar, preparing a presentation about beekeeping in cities. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.

LILY: OK, Omar, let's start with the introduction. We need to explain why so many more people are keeping bees in cities than ten years ago.

OMAR: I was going to say it's because honey has become so expensive. People think they can save money by producing their own.

LILY: But when you add up the cost of the hive and the equipment, it takes years to save anything. I don't think that's a real reason.

OMAR: Fair enough. What about the news stories about bees dying out? Every time there's a report about falling bee numbers, beekeeping associations say they get a rush of new members.

LILY: ⟦Q21–22⟧ Yes, that should definitely go in. And I think it's part of a bigger trend. People want to ⟦Q21–22⟧ grow some of their own food, even in a small flat. Vegetables on the balcony, herbs on the windowsill, and now honey.

OMAR: Agreed. What about councils? Some of them have put hives on the roofs of their offices.

LILY: That's true, but I'd say that's a result of the trend rather than a cause of it. And scientists have actually been warning people not to rush into it, which brings us to the problems.

OMAR: Right. The main one, according to that study from Paris, is that ⟦Q23–24⟧ there just aren't enough flowers for all the hives. In some districts, there are so many bees competing for food that the colonies are getting weaker.

LILY: And the other big worry is that honeybees can ⟦Q23–24⟧ pass diseases on to wild bees, which are already struggling.

OMAR: What about stings? I thought neighbours would be complaining all the time.

LILY: Surprisingly, there are very few complaints. Honeybees aren't usually aggressive unless you disturb the hive. And people expected the honey to be polluted, but the tests found that city honey was just as clean as honey from the countryside.

OMAR: There were a few stories about hives being stolen, too.

LILY: There were, but there were so few cases that I don't think it's worth mentioning.

NARRATOR: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.

OMAR: We should also say something about our sources. Let's go through them. First, the book by the London beekeeper.

LILY: It's very readable, but ⟦Q25⟧ it came out in two thousand and nine, and so much has changed since then. The number of hives in London has more than doubled. I don't think we can rely on it.

OMAR: OK. Then there's the government website.

LILY: That's actually really useful, because it ⟦Q26⟧ has the number of registered hives for every year since two thousand and ten. We could turn that into a chart for the first slide.

OMAR: Good idea. And then our interview with Mrs Chen, the beekeeper from the allotments.

LILY: She was great. She ⟦Q27⟧ told us what it's actually like to keep bees in a city, the good and the bad. Nobody else gave us that.

OMAR: True. Then there's the journal article about the Paris study.

LILY: The findings are important, but ⟦Q28⟧ it's very technical. It was written for other scientists. Most of our classmates won't follow it, so we'll need to explain it in simple terms.

OMAR: And what about the documentary?

LILY: Hmm. I enjoyed it, but it kept talking about a coming disaster for bees, with dramatic music. ⟦Q29⟧ I thought it made the problems sound much worse than they are.

OMAR: Yes, it's not exactly balanced. And the last one is the council report on the rooftop hives.

LILY: That was a nightmare. ⟦Q30⟧ It isn't online, so we had to request it by email, and it took three weeks to arrive. But it was worth waiting for.

OMAR: Right. Shall we start on the slides, then?

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

PART 4

Speakers: NARRATOR; LECTURER (female, clear academic delivery, British accent)

NARRATOR: Part 4. You will hear a lecture about the history of the umbrella. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

[PAUSE 45s]

NARRATOR: Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

LECTURER: Good morning, everyone. Today I want to talk about an object that most of us own, and most of us lose quite regularly: the umbrella. It's such an ordinary thing that we rarely think about it. But its history tells us a surprising amount about technology, fashion and social class.

The first umbrellas weren't designed to keep off the rain at all. In ancient Egypt and Assyria, they were used as shade from the sun, and they were a symbol of ⟦Q31⟧ power. In carvings and paintings, they're usually shown being held over kings and other important figures, and it was a servant who carried the umbrella, not the person it protected.

It was in China that umbrellas were first made waterproof. Chinese craftsmen made them from paper stretched over a bamboo frame, and the paper was covered with ⟦Q32⟧ oil, so that the rain ran off it. The idea spread to Japan and Korea, and these oiled paper umbrellas are still made by hand in some places today.

In Europe, the story was rather different. For centuries, umbrellas were used mainly by women, and only as sunshades. A man who carried one risked being laughed at. The man who changed this, in Britain at least, was a merchant called Jonas Hanway, who walked around London with an umbrella in the seventeen fifties. At first, people shouted insults at him in the street. Some of the angriest were the drivers of ⟦Q33⟧ coaches, who were paid to carry people through the rain, and who saw umbrellas as a threat to their business. But gradually, umbrellas became a normal part of a gentleman's equipment.

Early European umbrellas were heavy and expensive. Their frames were made of wood or whalebone, and an umbrella could weigh as much as four kilograms. The big change came in eighteen fifty-two, when a manufacturer named Samuel Fox introduced a frame made of ⟦Q34⟧ steel. It was much lighter and stronger. Interestingly, according to one often-repeated account, the steel wasn't originally meant for umbrellas at all. The story goes that Fox had a stock of steel that had been intended for making ⟦Q35⟧ corsets, the tight-fitting garments that women wore under their dresses, and that he found a new use for it. The details of that story are uncertain, but it's a nice example of how inventions often come from unexpected places.

The fabric changed, too. The best umbrellas were covered with silk, while cheaper ones used cotton, which let the water through once it was soaked. After the Second World War, both were largely replaced by ⟦Q36⟧ nylon, which was cheap, light and well suited to mass production.

Another important development had come a little earlier, in the late nineteen twenties: the pocket umbrella. In nineteen twenty-eight, a German inventor called Hans Haupt designed a telescopic umbrella that could fold up small enough to fit into a coat pocket. Haupt had been injured in the First World War and needed a walking ⟦Q37⟧ stick, so he wanted an umbrella that he could put away in his pocket when he wasn't using it. His design was a great commercial success, and pocket umbrellas soon spread all over the world.

Today, umbrellas are cheap and mass-produced. The great majority are made in ⟦Q38⟧ China, and one city there produces hundreds of millions a year. But this has created a new problem. Because cheap umbrellas break easily, enormous numbers are thrown away, especially after storms. And they are very difficult to ⟦Q39⟧ recycle, because the metal frame and the fabric are joined so tightly that separating them by hand isn't worth the effort.

Some designers are now trying to tackle this. One approach is to make umbrellas that can be taken apart easily, so that broken parts can be replaced. Another is umbrella sharing. In several Asian cities, people can now borrow an umbrella from a machine at a railway or metro ⟦Q40⟧ station, and return it at another one, rather like the bike hire schemes many of you will know. Whether these schemes will succeed is still unclear, as many of the umbrellas are never returned.

Next week, we'll look at another everyday object, the zip, and the long struggle to get it accepted.

NARRATOR: That is the end of Part 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

[PAUSE 30s]

NARRATOR: That is the end of the Listening test. You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.