Hi Vishwa
For directions questions, if the question numbers are on the map, draw lines from one to the next, so that when you listen, you follow the recording on the map. Make sure you know the starting point. It is sometimes marked on a map (you are here) or identified by a particular place or building (Main hall or Library, for example). If the LETTERS are on the map it is harder, and you have to listen for the names of places.
Here's an example:
Building A =
Building B =
Building C =
Building D =
Building E =
Great Hall
Keep
Kitchen
Old Watchtower
The White House
Here is the script:Man Is the castle very old?
Woman Yes, it is. There’s been a castle on this site since 1283.
Man Wow, that is old. So this is all over 900 years old?
Woman Well, it’s not all the same date. The gatehouse is the oldest part, that’s from 1283, but the towers were re-built in 1291, and the Great Hall was rebuilt in 1304 because there was a fire, although the chapel escaped the fire so that dates from a bit earlier in 1298. The gatehouse is that building on the other side of the moat, over the bridge.
Man Moat?
Woman Yes. You see the water, that’s a moat. It was to stop people getting in. It’s quite deep in places. 6 metres or so, although it’s not quite so deep near the bridge, maybe 3 metres, but the average is about 4 metres. In the past there would have been a bank on this side, like a small wall, so it would have seemed 2 metres deeper on this side, and a lot deeper on the other side, up to 9 metres because of the castle walls. Originally there wasn’t any water, it was just a big ditch, but they filled it with water in 1342. You wouldn’t want to fall in.
Man No. So what’s inside?
Woman Well…I shouldn’t really give you this, it’s for people who buy a ticket, but this leaflet has a plan of the castle. We’re here, see, and that’s the gatehouse, over the bridge across the moat. That’s were the soldiers would have lived, so you can see some of the weapons, you know, swords and some of the early guns they used.
Man I see. And it’s a hue wall, isn’t it. I can see four towers.
Woman Yes, they’ve all got names. The one on the left is the garden tower. There was a garden in the 16th century between the inner ward and the outer ward, so that’s why it was called the garden tower. If you go into the inner ward, the first building on the left is the store.
Man The store?
Woman Yes… For all the supplies. There’s a well inside, too, for the water. Next to that is the armory, where they kept spare weapons and canons, and then the tower in the left corner is called the sea tower, because it overlooks the sea and the road to the fishing harbour.
Man Yes, we’re very close to sea, here, aren’t we? Oh… the next building is the dairy. They had their own dairy?
Woman Yes, for milk and butter and cheese, you know. It was next to the kitchen and the kitchen was next to great hall so the dinner wouldn’t get cold, you know, not too far to carry things.
Man It looks huge!
Woman It is. It’s 48 metres long. The tower at that side of the building is called the King’s Tower. Apparently, Edward the IVth stayed here once and he slept in that tower. The building next to it, between the great hall and the bakehouse is the chapel.
Man A chapel?
Woman Yes, like a small church. There’s a gate which goes straight from the chapel to the sea gate, because the priest used to come up from the village by boat.
Man I see and what’s the other tower called? The one on the right of the gatehouse?
Woman That’s the prison tower
Man A prison?
Woman Yes. The castle has seen a lot of battles and when they captured their enemies they locked them up in the tower…the important ones, anyway.
Man So it’s seen some fighting then?
Woman Oh yes, and it changed hands a lot, too. People couldn’t capture it so it was often under siege… you know, when it was surrounded to stop people and food getting inside. In 1404 it fell to Owain Glyndwr then Henry the V took in back in 1409. It was in the Wars of the Roses under siege for 7 years until it had to surrender in 1468, and it was in another siege in the Civil War as well, but eventually the royalists surrendered in 1647…
The key is knowing left and right, and prepositions of place (opposite/facing, next to, in front of/behind) and so on. You may need to know north, south, east and west, although that's not as common. There are some good directions questions in the Cambridge IELTS preparation books - e.g. in Book 3, pp 31 and 56, In Book 4, p13, In Book 6, page 58, In Book 9, p36.
Kind regards
Teacher Jill
www.ieltsexchange.com
