This history and nature walks listening test page gives you Section 2 of Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2 in full: the official answer key for Questions 11–20, playable audio, an explanation for every question with the exact transcript line that proves it, and the whole recording script. The recording is a spoken announcement about two country walks and a former coal mine open to the public, tested through two Choose TWO tasks (Questions 11–14) and a plan labelling task (Questions 15–20).

The plan asks you to place six features around the mine from directions such as directly to the north of the engine house and in the southwest corner, so fix the compass points in your head with the map and plan completion strategy before the voice begins. Then log your marks beside Sections 1, 3 and 4 on the complete Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2 answers page.

Listening Audio — Section 2

Play the recording once, without pausing, and answer Questions 11–20 before you check the key. In the real exam you hear each section exactly once.

Questions 11–20

Questions 11–12

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

11–12. Which TWO pieces of advice are given about the Marsden Coastal Walk? Stop for lunch in an ancient town. Don’t miss the ruins of a certain building. Catch a boat to the start of this walk. Be careful of the steep and rocky paths. Don’t worry about getting lost.

• A — Stop for lunch in an ancient town.
• B — Don’t miss the ruins of a certain building.
• C — Catch a boat to the start of this walk.
• D — Be careful of the steep and rocky paths.
• E — Don’t worry about getting lost.

Questions 13–14

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

13–14. Which TWO things are said about the Melby Heritage Walk? This walk is mostly downhill. The paths can get busy during the day. This is a circular walk. A tower stands on the site of an older structure. There are far-reaching views the whole way.

• A — This walk is mostly downhill.
• B — The paths can get busy during the day.
• C — This is a circular walk.
• D — A tower stands on the site of an older structure.
• E — There are far-reaching views the whole way.

Questions 15–20

Label the map below.

Write the correct letter, A-I, next to Questions 15-20.

15. Exhibition

16. Baths

17. Tools

18. Vehicles

19. Ponies

20. Education centre

History and Nature Walks Listening Answers

Questions and Answers

History and Nature Walks Answer Explanations

11. B (Don’t miss the ruins of a certain building) — the walk “passes a castle built in the 1400s”, and although information boards show its former look, “The castle’s now just a pile of stones”, which is exactly what ruins means. A fails because the market town beside it is “a now-vanished market town”, so there is nowhere to stop for lunch, and C fails because the “hourly ferries to and from the beautiful Hooker Island” serve the island rather than the walk’s starting point. Questions 11 and 12 score in either order.

12. E (Don’t worry about getting lost) — the reassurance follows from the route itself: “As there are clear signposts all along the way, you don’t even need to take a map with you”. D fails because the walk is advertised for all the family with “no strenuous climbs”, the opposite of steep and rocky paths.

13. C (This is a circular walk) — the route “continues along the tops of the hills and brings you back down to the starting point”, and the starting point is named as “the car park at Melby Coal Mine”. A fails because walkers “climb to the top of the valley”, so the route is not mostly downhill, and E fails because down in the woods “the only things you’ll hear are the sound of your own footsteps”, with views only at the highest point. Questions 13 and 14 score in either order.

14. D (A tower stands on the site of an older structure) — walkers with energy to spare “climb the tower that’s situated where there was once a seventeenth century hunting lodge”, so the tower occupies the site of an older building. B fails because the daytime paths through the dense woods are silent rather than busy.

15. F — the exhibition sits inside the Main Visitor Centre: you come “via a covered walkway to the Main Visitor Centre”, then “Go through the ticket office” to the locker area, and “Beyond that room is the exhibition”. The official key gives letter F for that room beyond the ticket office.

16. B — the bathhouse is located from a landmark: “You can see that in the building directly to the north of the engine house”. Tin baths still stand on its stone floor, and the plan prints letter B on that building.

17. D — the early mining tools are kept in “a small L-shaped building in the middle of the northern boundary”. The building’s shape plus its position on the boundary fix the display at letter D on the plan.

18. A — the vehicle shed, home to wagons and cutting machines, “is in the southwest corner of the site, and can be accessed via a covered walkway”. That corner position earns letter A on the plan.

19. H — the ponies graze “on the north-eastern boundary of the site”, and the speaker stresses the field is “not approached via a covered walkway”. That negative separates the ponies from the three features that do use walkways, and the plan marks the field with letter H.

20. E — the education centre serves school groups and the public with its library and gift shop, and its position cue is final: “The centre is connected to the ticket office via a short section of covered walkway”. That short link back to the ticket office pins the centre at letter E on the plan.

Listening Transcript — Section 2

Here is some information about history and nature walks in the region. They can be completed in less than a day and also be combined with a visit to Melby, a former coal mine now open to the public.

The Marsden Coastal Walk is suitable for all the family as there are no strenuous climbs. The route begins at Marsden harbour, where there are hourly ferries to and from the beautiful Hooker Island, a great place for fishing. The walk covers part of the coastal path trail. As there are clear signposts all along the way, you don’t even need to take a map with you. At one point, the route goes inland slightly and passes a castle built in the 1400s near to a now-vanished market town. The castle’s now just a pile of stones but it’s a great place to take photos, and fascinating information boards show what it once looked like. If you set off early, you can be back in time for midday.

The Melby Heritage Walk is a great place to take photos, especially of the night sky. At certain times of the year, people come here from far and wide. They climb to the top of the valley and take pictures of the stars. In the daytime, it’s completely different. As you hike through the dense woods in the valley bottom, the only things you’ll hear are the sound of your own footsteps. At the highest point, you can stop to take in the views, and those with lots of energy can climb the tower that’s situated where there was once a seventeenth century hunting lodge. The route continues along the tops of the hills and brings you back down to the starting point – the car park at Melby Coal Mine.

Melby Coal Mine has been open to the public for twenty years and has won awards for its visitor experience. Many of the buildings around the mine are still standing and have been converted into display areas.

Firstly, there’s an exhibition showing the history of the mine, with many original black and white photos. To see that, you go from the car park, via a covered walkway to the Main Visitor Centre. Go through the ticket office to an area where there are lockers to leave heavy bags in, and where you can borrow raincoats. Beyond that room is the exhibition.

There’s a small bathhouse where miners used to wash after their shift underground. You can see that in the building directly to the north of the engine house. The boiler has gone from there now, but there are lines of tin baths on the stone floor.

There’s a display of early mining tools from the days before mechanisation. You can find that in a small L-shaped building in the middle of the northern boundary of the site. It’s incredible to think how miners were able to use hand implements to cut through rock.

The vehicle shed, where you can find wagons of different sizes, along with some of the hi-tech cutting machines that were in use until the mine closed, is in the southwest corner of the site, and can be accessed via a covered walkway.

There is a field with ponies, which are always popular with children, on the north-eastern boundary of the site, not approached via a covered walkway.

The other building to mention is the education centre. This is where school groups go when they visit the mine, but it’s also accessible to the public as it contains a library and small gift shop. The centre is connected to the ticket office via a short section of covered walkway.

Key Vocabulary and Spelling

Study Tips

Questions 11–14 are Choose TWO items, and each pair scores in either order: 11–12 takes B and E, and 13–14 takes C and D, so do not spend time deciding which box each letter belongs in. Wrong options borrow the recording’s own words, so eliminate them on evidence: the steep-paths option dies because the speaker promises no strenuous climbs, and the busy-paths option dies because the daytime woods are silent. The multiple choice strategy covers that elimination routine step by step.

For Questions 15–20, fix north, south, east and west on the plan before the audio starts and anchor yourself on the ticket office and the engine house. The speaker tours the site in question order, and covered walkways are the dividing trap: three features are reached via one, while the ponies are explicitly not approached that way. The map and plan completion strategy explains how to handle direction words such as boundary, corner and directly to the north.

This is a monologue, so there are no speaker names to track; track negatives and contrasts instead. The castle is a pile of stones yet still worth photographs, the market town has vanished, and the tower replaces an older hunting lodge. Read both Choose TWO stems carefully in the pause, because Questions 11–12 ask for advice while Questions 13–14 ask for facts, and mixing the two wastes easy marks.

Practice More Listening Tests

Score Questions 11–20, reread the explanation behind every miss, and add the result to your Section 1 marks on the full Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2 answers page, which holds the keys, explanations and transcripts for all four sections. The free IELTS listening practice course from Simply IELTS builds the skills this section grades: eliminating advice the speaker contradicts and placing buildings from compass directions at speaking pace. Put both straight to work with this interactive listening test: labyrinths, then move on to Section 3, the Course Feedback Discussion listening test, where two voices and a tutor test the same elimination skills.