IELTS Listening: Practice Makes Perfect

This blog will help you to practice the IELTS listening advice which you can find in our blog.

Haven’t seen the advice? You can find everything you need to know here:

IELTS Listening: The Science of Listening

IELTS Listening: Mastering SECTION 2

We will share a speech about an animal family, and you can answer questions based on the speech.

On our Facebook page, we introduced today’s practice task with this post…

Post by English42.

By listening to this presentation, you can learn the answer to the Facebook questions, and practice a specific kind of IELTS-Listening question: multiple choice.
Are you ready? Let’s begin!

QUESTIONS 1-5: Listen to the presentation and CHOOSE ONE ANSWER for each question.

1. The female polar bear has been in her den

A.   since the start of winter

B.   for a whole month

C.   since the start of spring

2. Her babies are known as

A.   puppies

B.   cubs

C.   pups

3. The babies were born

A.   unable to hear or speak

B.   unable to hear or see

C.   unable to see or speak

4. The mother bear has lost

A.   25% of her body weight over 5 months

B.   50% of her body weight over 5 months

C.   All of her milk

5. The sun

A.   does not provide warmth

B.   does not affect the ice

C.   has not raised the temperature above -30 degrees

[ANSWERS are below this image]

*ANSWERS

1. The female polar bear has been in her den

A.   since the start of winter

2. Her babies are known as

B.   cubs

3. The babies were born

B.   unable to hear or see

4. The mother bear has lost

B.   50% of her body weight over 5 months

5. The sun

C.   has not raised the temperature above -30 degrees

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

IELTS - Skills and Scores

If you've finally decided that you want to do the IELTS exam, then it's important to know exactly what you'll need to do in the exam - and how you can get the best possible score.


There are 4 parts to the IELTS exam: Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading.
Your IELTS score comes from the average of the scores you get in each part. The formula for your overall IELTS score is:

Writing score + Speaking score + Listening score + Reading score /4

All the scores, then, are treated equally. But each score is decided in a different way, and each part is done in a different way. Here’s what to expect...


The IELTS Skills
In Writing, there are two tasks, and you must complete both tasks in a one-hour exam. Task One is short – you should write 150 words in around 20 minutes – and you are usually required to describe a graph or sometimes a diagram or a picture. Task Two is an argument: usually, you are given an opinion about a social issue, and you should argue in favour of the opinion, against the opinion – or both. You should write 250 words for Task Two, and you have around 40 minutes.

In Speaking, you have a face-to-face conversation with an IELTS examiner, usually taking around 15 minutes. There are three parts to this exam. In Part One, you have a short informal conversation, to “warm up” (get ready and feel comfortable).
In Part Two, you must speak on your own for around 2 minutes, answering a question with four parts. You have one minute to prepare for it.
In Part Three, you speak in a formal style, answering questions from the examiner which are related to the topic in Part Two.

Listening and Reading are more or less the same in how they are done. You must answer 40 questions in 40 minutes. These questions are in many different forms. In Reading, you will need to read four texts. There are also four “texts” in the Listening exam, and you will only hear them once.

The IELTS scores
The top score in IELTS is 9.0. Many students make the mistake of aiming for this score, which is a mistake. More or less, only native speakers could get this score – or non-native speakers who are completely proficient in the language. Most IELTS examiners and teachers have never met a student who got a 9.0.
The lowest score in IELTS is 0 – for students who didn’t take the test. A score of 1.0 is for a student who took the test but, more or less, cannot speak or understand English.
The scores in between exist in gaps of 0.5, and they represent the different levels of English between 1 and 9. The scores are:

9.0 / 8.5 / 8.0 / 7.5 / 7.0 / 6.5 / 6.0 / 5.5 / 5.0 / 4.5 / 4.0 / 3.5 / 3.0 / 2.5 / 2.0 / 1.5 / 1.0

Your scores in Listening and Reading are decided quite simply. However, the decision in Writing and Speaking is much more complicated. Let’s look at the two different groups.
The IELTS scores – Listening and Reading
Although both of these exams are usually very difficult for the student, it’s quite easy for the examiner to decide the student’s score: it’s simply a case of how many questions were correctly answered.
The table below shows the scores exactly. However, it’s first important to understand what a right answer is.
In Listening and Reading a right answer is an answer which:
a) is correct;
b) obeys the instructions on the test; and
c) is spelled correctly.
The decision, then, is quite simple for the examiner. If the student meets all three criteria, (s)he gets 1 mark. 

Here, then, are the scores you can recieve in Listening and Reading:

	LISTENING score (TOTAL=40)		READING score (TOTAL=40)
9	39-40		39-40
8.5	37-38		37-38
8	35-36		35-36
7.5	32-34		33-34
7	30-31		30-32
6.5	26-29		27-29
6	23-25		23-26
5.5	18-22		19-22
5	16-17		15-18
4.5	13-15		13-14
4	10-12		10-12
3.5	8-10		8-9
3	6-7		6-7
2.5	4-5		4-5
0-2	[no score available]		[no score available]

The IELTS scores – Writing and Speaking
It’s much more difficult for the IELTS examiner to decide these scores, and the system is much more complicated.
Firstly, the examiner must use his/her judgement and opinion much more than in the Listening or Reading exams, and it must be done in a much shorter amount of time. This opinion is based on many things, but it basically comes down to two questions. Firstly, how well can the examiner understand you? Secondly, did you answer the question you were asked?
However, there is more to this IELTS score than just the examiner’s opinion. The examiner has quite complicated guides for your Listening and Speaking tests. These tell him or her to give you a score based on different criteria.
Here are the criteria the examiner uses, in simpler English:

	WRITING		SPEAKING
9	You answered the question you were asked. You thought carefully about what you would write and how to separate it into paragraphs. You used vocabulary and grammar exactly like a native speaker.		You spoke just like a native speaker. If you paused or hesitated, it was because you were thinking of what to say, not how to say it in English. Your vocabulary was very wide, very accurate and included idioms and figures of speech. Your grammar was the same. Your pronunciation was perfect, making your answer completely easy to understand.
8	Like a 9.0 score, you answered the question and structured your answer well with paragraphs. Only small errors in grammar and vocabulary tell us that you’re not a native speaker.		You spoke fluently – your answers were understood exactly. You paraphrased the questions well. (repeated them, changing the words, tense or pronoun) The few mistakes you made were with pronunciation or grammar.
7	You need some more focus in your answer, as it is a little too general or unclear. Also, you may use the same vocabulary/grammar again and again. However, you’ve structured your answer well into paragraphs, many of your sentences are perfect, and you use less common vocabulary once or twice.		You spoke well and for a suitably long time, but you did have to stop sometimes to think about the English you would use. Your vocabulary was wide enough to discuss many different subjects. Your grammar was wide enough to use many different structures and tenses. Your own native accent could be heard, even if you did obey most of the pronunciation rules.
6	You answered all the parts of the question. However, your ideas weren’t very clear. There was structure in your essay, but it was difficult to follow. You used some long sentences and some short sentences. Your vocabulary was good, but there were mistakes and you sometimes used the wrong kind of word (for example, you used a verb instead of a noun).		You could talk about many different subjects, and you used some complex sentences. There were many mistakes. However, they didn’t make your answer difficult to understand. You understand the rules of pronunciation, but you don’t use them all the time – this sometimes causes difficulty in understanding.
5	In general, you answered the question: you gave your ideas, but you didn’t give any details about them. Your answer was basically organised, but it was difficult to follow. Your vocabulary and grammar was full of mistakes, but it was enough to communicate your basic message.		Your speech was slow, and you often used the same sentence or the same language again and again. You could talk about many different subjects, but there were many problems in understanding you with some subjects. You used simple sentences perfectly. However, your more complex sentences had many mistakes. You understand most of the rules of pronunciation, but your own native accent was very strong.
4	You answered some parts of the question in a basic way. You didn’t structure your answer so it was difficult to see how your ideas were related to each other. It was also extremely difficult to understand your grammar and vocabulary because there were many mistakes.		You spoke slowly and often corrected yourself. You used simple sentences and linked them together, but with mistakes. You talked about a few different subjects, but you couldn’t talk about many because you didn’t have the vocabulary. Because of your vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation mistakes, it was difficult to understand you – maybe the examiner misunderstood you.
3	Your answer was very basic, very unclear. You didn’t really answer the different parts of the question. You used the same vocabulary again and again. You made many mistakes so your text was almost impossible to understand.		You could talk about yourself but not other subjects, and your sentences were very short and simple. You made many mistakes. Your pronunciation was very bad, so it made your answer very difficult to understand.
2	You didn’t answer the question. Maybe you gave one or two ideas but you didn’t explain any more. You don’t know how to form words and you don’t use sentences, except for sentences you have in your memory.		You couldn’t speak in sentences - only in words on their own, and you spent too much time trying to produce them. Often, you couldn’t be understood.
1	You gave an answer which had no relation to the question. You could only write a few words, and you didn’t write any sentences.		You couldn’t communicate at all.
0	You didn’t attend the exam, or you didn’t answer the question at all,      OR your answer was completely memorised.		You didn’t attend the speaking task.

Moving Forward...
In the next few weeks, we will look at the different skills. We will examine the different requirements, and you can learn important tips for getting the score you need. Writing will come first – and soon!

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