Oniton Hall - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From Cambridge IELTS 17 Academic Listening Test 2 · Part 2 · Questions 11–20
Audio
Questions
Questions 11–14 Multiple Choice (One Answer)
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Oniton Hall
Questions 15–20 Matching
Which activity is offered at each of the following locations on the farm?
Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-H, next to Questions.
Activities
A shopping
B watching cows being milked
C seeing old farming equipment
D eating and drinking
E starting a trip
F seeing rare breeds of animals
G helping to look after animals
H using farming tools
Locations on the farm
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q11 | B | Almost all of them have left their mark, generally by adding new rooms, like the ballroom and conservatory, or by demolishing others. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about past owners of Oniton Hall making changes to the property by adding new rooms like the ballroom and conservatory or demolishing others. Answer Explanation: The answer 'B' refers to the house as the location where the owners made changes. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'B' (the house) because the excerpt specifically mentions past owners making changes by adding new rooms like the ballroom and conservatory, which are part of the house. It indicates that changes were made to the house itself, supporting the choice of 'B' as the correct answer. |
| Q12 | C | He broke off contact with his former political allies, and hosted meeting of creative and literary people, like painters and poets. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that Sir Edward Downes no longer communicated with his old political companions. Instead, he organized gatherings for creative and literary individuals such as painters and poets. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that Sir Edward Downes built Oniton Hall to create a space where artists and writers could come together. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'a place for artists and writers' because the excerpt explicitly states that he held meetings for creative and literary people like painters and poets. This aligns with the idea that Oniton Hall was established as a place for artists and writers to gather and collaborate. |
| Q13 | C | Photographs of course don’t give much of an idea, so instead, as you go round the house, you’ll see volunteers dressed up as nineteenth-century servants, going about their work. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that photographs are not very helpful in understanding the work of servants in the past. Instead, visitors can see volunteers dressed as nineteenth-century servants as they move around the house. Answer Explanation: The answer 'C' means people in costume. So, visitors can learn about the work of servants by observing volunteers dressed up as nineteenth-century servants at Oniton Hall. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'C' because the excerpt clearly states that visitors will see volunteers dressed in period costumes, representing nineteenth-century servants, allowing them to understand the work of servants from the past by observing them. |
| Q14 | B | Our latest addition is child-sized tractors, that you can drive around the grounds. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about new child-sized tractors that kids can drive around the grounds. Answer Explanation: The answer choice represents the child-sized tractors mentioned in the text. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'B' because the excerpt specifically mentions child-sized tractors as the new addition for children at Onion Hall. This matches the information in the text about mini tractors. |
| Q15 | D | It’s now the place to go for lunch, or afternoon tea, or just a cup of coffee and a slice of homemade cake. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript is talking about the farm being a place where you can go to have lunch, afternoon tea, coffee, and homemade cake. Answer Explanation: The answer 'D' means eating and drinking. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'D' because the excerpt mentions having lunch, afternoon tea, coffee, and homemade cake, indicating that at the dairy location, you can eat and drink. |
| Q16 | C | The big stone building that dominates the farm is the large barn, and in here is our collection of agricultural tools. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript describes a big stone building on the farm known as the large barn where agricultural tools are kept. Answer Explanation: The answer 'C' refers to seeing old farming equipment at the large barn. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'C' because the excerpt directly mentions that old farming equipment is housed in the large barn. This aligns with the activity of seeing old farming equipment, which is represented by choice 'C' in the answer choices. |
| Q17 | G | There’s a small barn, also made of stone, where you can groom the donkeys and horses, to keep their coats clean. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions a small barn where you can help take care of the animals by grooming them to keep their coats clean. Answer Explanation: The answer G means the activity of helping to look after animals. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is G because grooming the donkeys and horses in the small barn involves actively participating in taking care of the animals, which aligns with the activity of helping to look after animals. |
| Q18 | A | The horses no longer live in the stables, which instead is the place to go to buy gifts, books, our own jams and pickles, and clothes and blankets made of wool from our sheep. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript tells us that the stables are now used as a place to buy gifts, books, jams and pickles made on the farm, and clothing and blankets made from the wool of the farm's sheep. Answer Explanation: The answer 'A' refers to shopping, which means buying things. In this case, visitors can shop for gifts, books, jams, pickles, and woolen goods in the stables. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'A' because the excerpt clearly states that the stables have been repurposed into a shop where visitors can purchase various items. Shopping fits the description given in the excerpt. |
| Q19 | E | Outside the shed, which is the only brick building, you can climb into a horse-drawn carriage for a lovely, relaxing tour of the park and farm. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript describes how outside the shed, which is the only brick building, visitors can get on a horse-drawn carriage for a relaxing tour of the park and farm. Answer Explanation: The answer 'starting a trip' refers to the activity of beginning a journey. In this case, it means starting a tour of the park and farm by getting on the horse-drawn carriage outside the shed. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'E' because starting a trip aligns with the idea of going on a tour, which matches the description of getting into the horse-drawn carriage for a tour mentioned in the excerpt outside the shed. |
| Q20 | F | You’ll see types of cattle and sheep that are hardly ever found on farms these days. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that you can see types of cows and sheep that are rarely found on farms nowadays. Answer Explanation: The answer 'F' corresponds to seeing rare breeds of animals. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'F' because the excerpt talks about seeing unusual types of cattle and sheep, which aligns with the activity of seeing rare breeds of animals (option F) offered at the parkland location on the farm. |
Transcript
Good morning, and welcome to Oniton Hall, one of the largest estates in the area. My name’s Nick, and I’m one of the guides. I’ll give you a brief introduction to the estate while you’re sitting down, and then we’ll walk round.
The estate consists of the house, gardens, parkland and farm, and it dates back to the fourteenth century. The original house was replaced in the late seventeenth century, and of course it has had a large number of owners. Almost all of them have left their mark, generally by adding new rooms, like the ballroom and conservatory, or by demolishing others. The farm looks much as it’s always done, although the current owner has done a great deal of work to the flower beds.
In the seventeenth century, the estate was owned by a very wealthy man called Sir Edward Downes. His intention was to escape from the world of politics, after years as an active politician, and to build a new house worthy of his big collection of books, paintings and sculptures. He broke off contact with his former political allies, and hosted meeting of creative and literary people, like painters and poets. Unusually for his time, he didn’t care whether his guests were rich or poor, as long as they had talent.
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Big houses like Oniton had dozens of servants until the 1920s or 30s, and we’ve tried to show what their working lives were like. Photographs of course don’t give much of an idea, so instead, as you go round the house, you’ll see volunteers dressed up as nineteenth-century servants, going about their work. They’ll explain what they’re doing, and tell you their recipes, or what tools they’re using. We’ve just introduced this feature to replace the audio guide we used to have available.
I see there are a number of children here with you today. Well, we have several activities specially for children, like dressing up in the sorts of clothes that children wore in the past, and as it’s a fine day, some of you will probably want to play in the adventure playground. Our latest addition is child-sized tractors, that you can drive around the grounds.
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We’ll also be going into the farm that’s part of the estate, where there’s plenty to do. Most of the buildings date from the eighteenth century, so you can really step back into an agricultural past.
Until recently, the dairy was where milk from the cows was turned into cheese. It’s now the place to go for lunch, or afternoon tea, or just a cup of coffee and a slice of homemade cake.
The big stone building that dominates the farm is the large barn, and in here is our collection of agricultural tools. These were used in the past to plough the earth, sow seeds, make gates, and much more.
There’s a small barn, also made of stone, where you can groom the donkeys and horses, to keep their coats clean. They really seem to enjoy having it done, and children love grooming them.
The horses no longer live in the stables, which instead is the place to go to buy gifts, books, our own jams and pickles, and clothes and blankets made of wool from our sheep.
Outside the shed, which is the only brick building, you can climb into a horse-drawn carriage for a lovely, relaxing tour of the park and farm. The carriages are well over a hundred years old.
And finally, the parkland, which was laid out in the eighteenth century, with a lake and trees that are now well established. You’ll see types of cattle and sheep that are hardly ever found on farms these days. We’re helping to preserve them, to stop their numbers falling further.
OK, well if you’d like to come with me …