A staff member giving a welcome talk to new visitors at an indoor
IELTS Listening — IELTS Practice Originals, Listening Practice Test 15, Section 2
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{# Shown in full, as the review screen does after a sitting: it is the text a searcher is looking for, and hiding it would leave this page with nothing on it but a heading. #}Section 2. You will hear a staff member giving a welcome talk to new visitors at an indoor climbing centre. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14.
Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14.
MAN: Hi everyone, and welcome to The Summit indoor climbing centre. If it's your first time, this short talk will tell you where everything is and, more importantly, how to stay safe. Let me start with the two very different types of climbing we offer, because people mix them up.
MAN: Over on the right, the lower walls, no higher than about four and a half metres, are our bouldering area. There are no ropes there at all, instead the whole floor is a thick, soft mat, so if you come off, you simply drop onto the padding. Bouldering is where we'd suggest complete beginners start, it's the easiest way in. The tall walls straight ahead, some fifteen metres high, are the roped walls, and you cannot use those alone, you need a partner to hold your rope, what we call belaying, and you have to pass a short safety check first.
Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20.
MAN: Now, equipment. Climbing shoes are essential, and if you don't have your own, you can hire a pair from reception for three pounds. For the roped walls you'll also need a harness, but here's the good news, harness hire is completely free, it's built into your entry. What we can't lend you is chalk, which keeps your hands dry, that you'll need to buy, though a bag is only two pounds.
MAN: A word on the layout. As well as the climbing walls, upstairs there's a small gym for training, and a café that does, I'm told, the best hot chocolate in town. Lockers are by the entrance, and they take a one-pound coin, which you get back. Please do use them, don't leave bags at the foot of the walls, they're a trip hazard.
MAN: Finally, the rules that really matter. No climbing directly above or below another person, ever. Keep the matted areas clear of bags and water bottles. And children under fourteen must be supervised by an adult at all times, no exceptions. Right, if you've signed the waiver, come and I'll show you the beginners' wall.
That is the end of Section 2. You now have some time to check your answers.