Listening Material: “Booking a Table at a Restaurant”

Free Download: English Listening Material. Title: Booking a table at a restaurant. Kind/Type: Dialogues, a sample of IELTS Listening Section. Audio: Mp3 (5.2Mb). Trancript: pdf file.

1. EXERCISE. Directions: The following exercise is a sample of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) – Listening Section.

Comprehension activity: Listen to a woman calling to book a table at a restaurant. While you listen, complete the two gap-fill activities below.

Additional instructions for IELTS candidates:

You have 45 seconds to read questions 1-6 before you play the audio. There is a 40 second pause in the listening to allow you to complete questions 1-6 and read questions 7-10. Remember: in the IELTS exam you only hear the audio ONCE.

SECTION 1: Questions 1 – 10

Questions 1 –6

The caller is requesting information about making a group booking. There will be up to (1) _________ people in the group.

The restaurant caters for groups with a maximum of (2) _________ people.

The group includes people with different dietary requirements: (3) ______________, meat eaters, gluten-free and (4) _____________ allergies.

There are 4 different menus.  The most expensive option is menu (5) ________ which costs (6) ______.

Questions 7 – 10

The menu includes a selection of (7) __________, a choice from 3 main courses, (8) _________________ of wine per person, dessert and coffee.

BOOKING FORM

NAME: (9) _________________________________________

E-MAIL:  hb0470@freemail.com

TEL No: (10) _______________________________________

2. SCRIPT

Restaurant (R) : Hello, Enigma Fusion Restaurant.

Hannah (H)      : Hello, do you do group bookings?

R  : Yes, we do. How can I help you?

H  : Well, I’m not exactly sure of numbers right now but I’d like to book a table for between 15 and 20 of us.

R  : When is it for?

H  : A week on Friday.

R  : The 16th of November?

H  : Yes, that’s right.

R  : OK, well, usually we offer a set menu for groups up to 25 people. If you want, you can order a la carte, but it usually works out more expensive and obviously if everybody orders different food, then it can take us a lot longer to prepare. And particularly on a Friday as we’re usually pretty busy.

H  : So, would you recommend the set menu?

R  : Obviously it’s up to you, but it’s a good option and you get to try different types of food.

H  : That’s good. We have a couple of vegetarians in the group, some meat eaters, one person who needs gluten-free and another who is allergic to peanuts. That wouldn’t be a problem, would it?

R  : That’s not a problem. We cater for all dietary requirements. We offer several different menus and you can choose which one you prefer. Our basic menu costs £25 per person. We do it for a minimum of 4 people, as with all our menus. That’s menu A. Then they each go up in price depending on which one you order. Menu B is £30 per person.  Menu G is £35 per person and menu J is £40 per person.

……………………………………………………………………………….

Narrator: You now have 40 seconds to check your answers and read the questions for the next section. [40 second gap]

………………………………………………………………………………

H  : And how do the menus differ?

R  : Well, all our set menus include a variety of food – some Asian style, some Mediterranean, some Latin American and some British food.

H  : And can you mix all types of food in each menu?

R  : Yes, that’s right. Basically you get a selection of starters for the whole table, for example in menu A, you get a goat’s cheese salad, onion bhajis and guacamole. With menu J, you get spare ribs, king prawns, hummus and pitta bread and a selection of salads. You get more options with the more expensive menus. Also with the cheaper menus, you get house wine, it works out at one bottle between 2 people. With the other menus, you have a choice of wine; with menu J, you can also have cava.

H  : What about the main courses?

R  : You have a choice of 3 options. All menus also include a dessert and coffee.

H  : Right, I see. Could I pop by and pick up some menus to have a look at?

R  : Of course. Or I could email them to you, if you want, to save you the trouble.

H  : That’d be great.

R  : So, what’s your name?

H  : My name is Hannah Bailey – that’s H-A-N-N-A-H B-A-I-L-E-Y.

R  : OK, Hannah. And your e-mail?

H  : That’s hb0470@freemail.com. And my phone number is 01793 211873.

R  : All right, so would you like to make a temporary reservation?

H  : Can I do that?

R  : Yeah. I can pencil you in for – how many people did you say?

H  : Well, I’m not sure, between 15 and 20.

R  : OK, that’s fine. You can confirm numbers and which menus you want a couple of days before.

H  : OK, that’s great.

R  : And I’ll send you the email with the menus right now.

H  : OK, thanks a lot.

R  : No problem. If there’s anything else you need, you can get in touch and ask for me. My name’s Eric.

H  : Great. Thanks Eric. Bye.

R  : Bye

Download the listening audio mp3 (5.2mb), booking a table at a restaurant: click here…
Download the script and sample of exercise- ielts (pdf): click here…

***