IELTS LISTENING - Mastering SECTION 2

After a long delay, we’re continuing our blog about “The Science of IELTS”. 

Here, we will be studying Listening SECTION 2: you will learn how to use “the Science” to make this section easier.
In other words, you’ll learn how to use synonyms, keywords and answer-prediction to succeed in this section. Some of these things you may already know.
We will also teach you some new methods. Finally, we will give you a text to listen to and some authentic IELTS questions to answer – just like a real exam!

ACTIVITY IDEA

Spend 2 minutes writing everything you can remember from our previous blog about…

1. instructions in the IELTS Listening exam
2.  Synonyms and keywords
3.  The order of the questions/answers
4.  Gapfill answers

When you’re finished, check the blog to see if you remembered everything . We will be telling you more about some of these subjects today…

What happens in SECTION 2?
There are a few differences between sections 1 and 2. Whereas SECTION 1 involves 2 people talking in a conversation, SECTION 2 will usually have 1 person speaking. Sometimes, there may be 2 people, but the theme is usually the same: giving information about something in a non-academic environment.
What does this mean?

…giving information…
If only 1 person is talking, they are probably making an announcement. Their speech is full of specific information such as times & dates, names of people, subjects, etc.
(IELTS tests your understanding of specific information, because you will need these skills when/if you go to a native-English university, or work in a native-English building)
…about something…
The “something” (which they’re giving information about) is usually an event or place.
…in a non-academic environment.
As we will see in the future, SECTION 3 and SECTION 4 in the Listening test are almost always lectures: a presentation in a university by a professor or teacher. The subject is academic in this case – however, in SECTION 2, the subject is functional: it involves practical information.

Here are some of the subjects of SECTION 2 in IELTS tests from the past:
- comparing services and facilities in different doctors’ clinics;
- introducing an upcoming year of events in a local amateur football club;
- describing the layout and opening times of a gallery;
- helping tourists find their way around an English town;
- describing the different stages of a walking tour in the Australian countryside.

Here is the text (or speech) which we will be using later. Listen to it quickly, without trying to understand everything. Simply answer these two questions:

a) Is the speaker formal or informal?
b) What event/place is she giving you information about?

What kinds of questions appear in SECTION 2?

Before we answer this question, you should remember one thing.

Good vocabulary is all you need for all of the questions in an IELTS exam. 

All questions in the Listening test (including the questions in SECTION 2) use synonyms and keywords. 

The words which are on the question paper are synonyms for the words which are used by the speaker. So, the words are often not the same, but they have the same meaning.

To answer each question, you need to study the words on the paper. Then, when you listen, you need to recognise their synonyms in the text.

Gapfill
Have you revised our information about predicting and answering gapfill questions in the blog about SECTION 1? Hopefully you have – because here it’s going to get more complicated!

There are a few different types of questions which involve gapfill. In SECTION 1, we had to complete notes from the conversation. This may also appear in SECTION 2: you may need to complete notes which explain the information which the speaker here gives.

However, other gapfill questions are more likely. These question types have appeared many times on different IELTS tests in the past:

Completing a table of information: Very often, you are given a table of information. Notes have been made in each cell (part of the table), but some of the notes have gaps. You must write words in the gaps to complete these notes. (REMEMBER: the instructions above the table tell you how many words you may write)
SYNONYMS / KEYWORDS: the words before and after each gap (on the question sheet) are the words you need to understand. These words, or their synonyms, will be spoken in the text. When you hear them, you know your answer is coming – so listen carefully!
This question will appear on today’s exercise

Completing a sentence: This is a more difficult kind of question. However, IELTS tests in the past have usually contained only one or two “sentence completion” questions. You will see a short sentence which expresses something which the speaker says. The sentence is incomplete, however; you need to produce language which reports what the speaker says using the correct grammar.
SYNONYMS / KEYWORDS: The sentence on the paper uses very different words than the speaker: but the meaning is the same. The words which you write down will probably be synonyms of what the speaker says.
This question will appear on today’s exercise

Multiple choice questions
In multiple choice questions, which are very popular question types in IELTS Listening (and Reading) tests, you need to choose the best answer from a list. The correct answer is the choice which reflects what the speaker says.
SYNONYMS / KEYWORDS: Almost all the options which you see in multiple-choice questions use synonyms. Your vocabulary is most important here: if you have a good vocabulary, you should be able to understand exactly what each option is saying, and you should be able to quickly choose the correct answer while you listen to the speaker.


In SECTION 2, there are two forms of multiple-choice question.

Finishing a sentence: If you get this question (and you probably will!), you’ll see a few sentences which need to be finished. Under each sentence are three options (A-C) or four options (A-D). Each of these options can complete the sentence – but only one of them is true, according to the speaker!
SYNONYMS / KEYWORDS: The correct answer will contain synonyms/keywords spoken in  the text – but some options may also contain these synonyms or keywords. It’s important for you to understand: what exactly is the speaker saying? AND, what exactly does each option mean?
ALSO, there is a rule which usually applies to multiple-choice questions which have three options (and you'll see this rule being used soon). The rule is:
1 option is directly confirmed by the speaker. (This is the correct answer)
1 option is directly contradicted by the speaker. (In other words, the speaker somehow says that this is wrong, using synonyms or antonyms)
1 option is not really mentioned at all by the speaker. (so no synonyms or keywords can be heard)
This question will appear today’s exercise

Choosing specific information which is mentioned: Here, you will see a single question about something the speaker discusses in the text. Then, you will see a long list with many options (usually nouns). You will have to choose one, two or three of them (see the instructions).
SYNONYMS / KEYWORDS: Most of the options are mentioned in the text, as they appear on the page (so, usually, no synonyms in the options). However, the question may contain synonyms for what the speaker says.
This question will appear in a future exercise

Other question types
Other question types can be found in SECTION 2 of the listening exam, but they haven’t been as common in past exams as the questions above. We will look at them in another blog entry, but they are:

Short-answer questions: Here, you need to write a two- or three-word answer to a question about the speaker’s information.

Labelling a map: An unpleasant exercise where you must follow a map which the speaker explains, and match different names to the correct places.

Taking the test…

We have given you a lot of information here, and it’s scary. (Sorry!) Take your time to read and understand everything. Remember the most important information:

• The questions will be answered in the text in the same order as they appear (top to bottom) on the page.
• Listen out for keywords, or their synonyms: words which appear on the page and tell you that the answer is coming soon.
• Be prepared for the different types of questions. Understand them.

Ready to begin? Here goes…

SECTION 2
Listen to the text (which will be played only once), and answer QUESTIONS 1-12

QUESTIONS 1-5 - answer QUESTIONS 1-5 by choosing the correct answer, A. B. or C.

1. The festival was established by the University Press
A. 74 years ago
B. in 1974
C. last year

2. Heaney, the Irish poet, has:
A. won an award
B. visited the university
C. died

3. This year’s guests have taught at Yale:
A. occasionally
B. full-time
C. part-time

4. The Old Campus is made up of:
A. two buildings beside a courtyard
B. many buildings around a courtyard
C. just one building

5. The Old Campus is located:
A. between Chapel Street and Elm Street;
B. south of the Science Campus
C. far away from New Haven Green

QUESTION 6 – complete the sentence using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

 Linsly-Chittenden Hall, Connecticut Hall and McClellan Hall are easy (6) _______________.

QUESTIONS 7-12 complete the notes using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

Speaker	Subject	Location	Day, time
Patrick Sullivan (poet laureate)	(7)_______________ in modern European poetry.	(8)_______________	Tonight, 8.30pm
Charlie Henson (London Metropolitan)	(9)_______________	Connecticut Hall	Saturday, (10)_______
Sylvia Brooker-Grant (linguist)	“(11)_______and the phonemic chart”	McClellan Hall	Sunday, 11.30am
Dr. Robert Foskin (Head of English faculty at Yale)	(12)_______________	Linsly-Chittenden Hall	Sunday, after lunch