IELTS LISTENING - The Science of Listening (Part One)

Welcome to our first blog on the IELTS Listening Test!

Here, we will:
- learn some general principles of IELTS Listening AND
- learn how to answer the questions in Part One successfully.

The Listening test is usually boring, and it’s always difficult. However, it is effective: it tests your general English ability and there is a way to succeed.
This is true, especially, for Part One.
In Part One, you will almost always listen to a dialogue (two people talking to each other). The dialogue is usually about a boring task, such as making an appointment, buying insurance or opening a bank account.

THE SCIENCE OF ANSWERING PART ONE

The first piece of advice we should remember for Part One is: read the instructions and study the example.

At the start of Part One, you will have time to look at the questions and understand the instructions. You’ll be given an example first, to help you understand the exercise…

IELTS LISTENING TEST – PART ONE

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each question.
APPOINTMENT DETAILS
TIME OF APPOINTMENT: (0)  12.30

(This example comes from our text. You'll see the full test soon, so be ready!)
This example says a lot about the exam you’re going to do. It tells you that, to answer each question, you’ll need to fill any gap (________) with
- a word
- words
- a number
- a word and a number OR
- words and a number
The instructions will tell you exactly what to do. You need to keep the instructions in your mind while you’re doing the test: if you break the rules, you won’t get the scores.
The instructions are almost always written in this confusing language:

WRITE NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

In this example, for each answer you…
- …may write one word;
- …may write two words;
- …may not write more than two words;
- … may not write a number;

Gapfill
You can predict some of the answers by using your knowledge of the English language. For example, if you see a question like this…

PRICE: $_________

…then you can be sure that you’ll have to write a number in the gap. (PRICE: $500)

Most of the time, however, you need to write a word, or even two-three words. Here’s another example:

NEW JOB: begins in_________

Most students will (hopefully) see that some expression of time is needed here. Some clever students will see the preposition in and they might realise that the correct answer will be either
- the name of a month (NEW JOB: begins in May.) OR
- an amount of time (NEW JOB: begins in 2 weeks.)

We can offer some more advice which will help you in almost every IELTS Listening test, especially Part One. Are you ready?

Same order
In all 4 Parts of the listening test, you hear the answers in the same order as the questions on the paper. In other words, you’ll hear the answer to Question 1 first, then the answer to Question 2, and so on.
This is a simple thing to remember – but very important.
ALSO, if you miss the answer to a question, don’t worry about it during the test – move onto the next question immediately. If you don’t, the chances are you’ll miss that answer too!

Synonyms
Sometimes, the words on the paper in front of you will appear in the listening text. For example, if you see a question like this…

MEETING BEGINS at_________

…there’s a chance you’ll hear the speaker say something like,

“The meeting begins at 4 o’clock, so be there on time.”

However, it’s equally possible that you’ll hear the words on the paper expressed in a different way. For example…

“The meeting is going to take place at 4 o’clock.”

Here, the speaker has done two things:
- They have used a synonym for the verb “to begin” (=to take place) AND
- They have used a different future-tense form instead of the present simple (=is going to)

To answer most of the questions on the IELTS listening (and reading!) exam, you need to know your synonyms!

Self-correction
Every IELTS listening exam plays a “dirty trick” (our term) on the students who take it. You’ll hear the speaker give an answer, and you’ll write down the answer – but then suddenly the speaker will correct themselves. They’ll say something like:

“My aunt lived in Canada for three years…..

[students write "three years" as the answer]

“…Oh no wait! I’m wrong – she actually lived there for four years.”

You need to expect this to happen – and you can usually expect it to happen in Part One of the listening test.

Spelling & numbers
You will almost always need to listen to the speaker spelling a word or calling out a long number. 


The word is usually a person’s name or an address. Here, your knowledge of the alphabet is essential. For example, do you know the difference between saying the letters “e” (ee) and “i” (eye)? Or the difference between "g" (jee) and "j" (jay)? Make sure you do!
The number is usually a phone number or the number of a house. To answer this question, you need to quickly understand and write a list of numbers, usually between 1 and 10. (Can you understand someone’s phone number in English?)

BE CONFIDENT, BE SUCCESSFUL - AND PRACTICE
That’s a lot of information to remember! But don’t worry: thousands of people have done the IELTS test, and they have passed. They were able to remember these rules and you can too!
Of course, these successful students also practiced a lot.

So, if you’re feeling brave and ready, let’s do just that: practice. Are you ready to do our exclusive IELTS Part One test? Let's go!

NOTE: In the IELTS exam you will hear the text only 1 time. We advise that you just play this audio file once, without stopping: it will be difficult, but you’ll get a true idea of your ability.

Here are the questions. You can hear the text below them, and the answers are at the very bottom of this page.

IELTS LISTENING TEST – PART ONE
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each question.

APPOINTMENT DETAILS
TIME OF APPOINTMENT: (0)  12.30

APPLYING TO OPEN: (1)_______________account.

REASON FOR ACCOUNT: pay taxes, (2)____________, _____________.

NAME OF CUSTOMER: (3)_______________

BUSINESS DETAILS
TYPE OF BUSINESS: (4) _______________

BUSINESS NAME: Sabre

BUSINESS TELEPHONE: (5) _______________

Managing the business as a (6) _______________
Business registered last Friday.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
BUSINESS REGISTRATION PAPERS:
- will arrive in (7) _______________

TYPES OF IDENTIFICATION: necessary to confirm identification of business owner
- (8) _______________,
- passport

DATE OF NEXT APPOINTMENT: (9) _______________

TAX ALLOWANCES
Begin after a bank account has been set up
Applies to income less than (10) _______________
End after (11)_______________
Amount paid after allowance: 15%

ANSWER KEY

IELTS LISTENING TEST – PART ONE
APPOINTMENT DETAILS
TIME OF APPOINTMENT: (0)  12.30

APPLYING TO OPEN: (1) a corporate account.

REASON FOR ACCOUNT: pay taxes, (2) suppliers’ bills, wages.

NAME OF CUSTOMER: (3) Jon Krasinski (or John Krasinski)

BUSINESS DETAILS
TYPE OF BUSINESS: (4) paper supply (or paper supply company)

BUSINESS NAME: Sabre

BUSINESS TELEPHONE: (5) 0 2 0 5 5 4 9 3 9 5

Managing the business as a (6) sole trader
Business registered last Friday.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
BUSINESS REGISTRATION PAPERS:
- will arrive in (7) a few days

TYPES OF IDENTIFICATION: necessary to confirm identification of business owner
- (8) driver’s license,
- passport

DATE OF NEXT APPOINTMENT: (9) 27 March (or 27^th of March or March 27 or March 27^th)

TAX ALLOWANCES
Begin after a bank account has been set up
Applies to income less than (10) £75,000
End after (11)3 years
Amount paid after allowance: 15%