Cambridge IELTS 19 Academic Listening Test 4 (Questions 26-30)

KIERAN: I’d love to have a bookshop like your grandfather. What’s it like?

JANE: Well, it’s quite big – it’s got two floors and an attic, and he stocks all kinds of books really.

KIERAN: I guess he treasures things like first editions and other rare books.

JANE: Yeah – you might think he’d keep those in the attic or somewhere.

KIERAN: . . . so they’d be hidden?

JANE: Yeah. But he likes people to know that he has them. So, he puts them out in the shop but makes sure you need a ladder to get them.

KIERAN: Right. That would prevent any thefts!

JANE: Uhuh.

KIERAN: Does he stock books for children?

JANE: He does. He particularly likes to encourage kids to read; he always says that he used to sit under the stairs as a child with a pile of books and read them all.

KIERAN: Is that where he keeps them, then?

JANE: Not exactly- he’s got a dedicated area on the ground floor with cushions so that parents can enter with their toddlers, go there and spend some time reading to them.

KIERAN: Oh cool.

JANE: And then there’s a place for pushchairs by the front door. And a café if anyone needs refreshments.

KIERAN: That’s good to know.

JANE: As I said, it’s a big shop and there’s a storage area out the back as well.

KIERAN: Oh, what does he keep there? Books he wants to throw away?

JANE: He hardly ever throws anything away -he just leaves unwanted books by the front door for customers to take.

KIERAN: Well, that’s very nice.

JANE: Yeah-and books people or institutions have requested, they all go at the far end.

KIERAN: Oh.

JANE: He thinks it’s best to keep these out of the main shopping area as they’re boxed and new.

KIERAN: Did you get your coursebooks from him?

JANE: Naturally. He stocks books for a lot of the colleges. He used to keep these books on the first floor, but now there’s a new university in my hometown, he’s moved them downstairs to attract the students. They’re actually part of the coffee shop, on low shelves all around it.

KIERAN: Pretty central then. You’ll have to take me there some time!