IELTS Listening: Techniques and Practice Questions

Unlike reading and writing, the IELTS

listening

test is exactly the same whether you are taking the academic test or the general training test. In this video we are going to

practice

the

listening

comprehension test together. We will start by looking at an overview of the listening comprehension test. test First I will explain the different sections of the test so that you are familiar with the format. We will then

practice

all parts of the listening test and at the same time learn some tips on how to approach answering the

questions

. There are 40

questions

in the listening test by looking at this table you can see how many you need to answer correctly to achieve each of the IELTS bands.

The test is designed to be challenging, but don't worry because you don't have to answer every question correctly. To achieve a good band score, even if you missed 10 of the questions, you can still get a band 7. Okay, let's look at an overview of the exam, there are four sections, in section one you will hear two people having a conversation, the Section 2 is usually a single person giving instructions Section 3 is also a conversation but with more people and also in an academic context. Finally, in section 4 you will hear someone giving an academic lecture. The test lasts approximately 30 minutes in total, this includes time to read the questions. before you listen to each section and have time to check your answers, the audio recordings and questions become more difficult as you progress through the exam, if you take the computer-delivered IELTS test, you fill in the answers as you go and there are two additional minutes.

At the end, to check your answers and make final decisions for the paper test, you can write on the question pages during the test and then you will have an additional 10 minutes to copy your answers onto the answer sheet. This is what the answer sheet contains. Looks like be careful, make sure you write the answer next to the correct question number. Okay, let's start our practice with section one of the exam. This part involves filling out a form. You will usually hear two speakers conversing. Some information is provided. and you need to fill in the gaps with the information you hear.

A really useful strategy is to try to predict the type of information, including the answers, that you are looking for. If you predict and verify, you will listen more carefully than if you simply wait for the correct answer, and reading the questions will give you context and also offer quite a few clues as to what the answer will be. We will first go through this prediction process together, make sure you understand the instructions, these vary between sections of the test here you are asked to write no more than two words or a number you are given time to read the questions this is really valuable time while Lee think about what type of word the answer is likely to be for example, a surname for question one and the name of a sport or other activity, so you could guess baseball for question four, be careful of distracting words that are in the recording and they could mislead you, for example the speaker could say I'm not interested in the gym or I used to go to the gym but I hated it words like no or I used to could mean that this is not the answer you are hearing you need listen very carefully notice how the instructions have changed for questions six to ten here you can only write a maximum of two words and there are no numbers think about what type of word the answer will be this will help you be ready for the answer and concentrate in the correct information the answer to 6 will be some type of exercise something like jogging or cycling question seven will probably contain two words an adjective that describes a part of the body perhaps a broken finger or a torn meniscus because the answers to the questions 8 and 9 are preceded by ah we know the answer will be a noun or a noun phrase remember the answer It can only be two words, so question 10, how did you find out about the club?

It will not be something complex like from a good friend at work, it will be something short and simple like a friend, so we have read the questions carefully and We have thought about the type of information we are hearing, we are ready, let's now listen to the audio and let's start Answer questions one to five. Try answering them while the audio is playing. Feel free to take more time if you need it. a Let's listen hello can I help you hello yes um your club is accepting new members at the moment ah yes with your name is Harry okay and your last name is Simon it's like Simon with an S no um it's s-y-m-o-n-d-s most people find it rather okay difficult to spell.

I see he has a silent D. I guess a lot of people miss him. Let me see. Can you tell me when you were born? Yes, certainly December 10th, thank you and the year 1969. Okay, now are you thinking about becoming a full-time member, probably not, what kind of memberships do you have? We also have off-peak memberships, which are between 9 and 12 in the morning and two and five in the afternoon, and then we have a weekend membership, so the weekend membership is only Saturday and Sunday yes, that's right, well that's not going to work for me, looks like I'll have to work full time.

I'm afraid off-peak memberships won't work because I'm not free at those times and I just don't want to limit myself to weekends. Okay, I'll make a note of that. We have several facilities at the club including a gym, swimming pool, tennis and squash courts. What activities do you plan to do? Do you have badminton? Yes, we do and table tennis, I'm afraid not well, not at the moment, anyway, well, I also really like swimming, so I'm glad you have a pool. I'll definitely do a lot of that, okay, I have that, um, will you use the gym?

No, I'm not interested in that, okay, so let me calculate what the cost will be. Yes, that's 1200 per year. You can choose to pay annually throughout the year or monthly. It's up to you, oh, I prefer to pay regularly in small amounts rather than having to pay a large amount at once, if it's okay, it's surely okay. For now I have the most important details. Now let's try to answer questions six to ten. Listen. up close, so I'd like to ask you a few questions about your lifestyle, if that's okay. Yes that's fine. Do you do any regular exercise right now?

Yes, I do it kind of well and what do you do well every few days? Go for a jog Yes, that's good, how long are you doing? Well, it varies. I guess it depends on how energetic I feel. Yes, of course, every little bit helps. Do you have any injuries at the moment? Well, I broke a bone in my foot. I played football a long time ago, but everything has now healed, but in recent days I have realized that my ankle is bad. I think I must have injured it last week and it hurts a little bit now, but other than that I'm fine. true, I guess you might need to let him rest for a few days to let him recover.

Yes, I will, so let me ask you what you want to achieve by joining the club. Do you have any goals? Well I guess my main goal is to increase my fitness level is the kind of thing you're referring to, yeah okay all the activities you're going to do should certainly help you with that. Could you tell me what you do for a living? I was in finance until recently well, so what are you doing right now? Well, I'm a charity worker. Oh, okay, I'll write it down. Okay, I'm almost done. One last question. Can I ask you how you found out about the club?

Did you see it advertised or not? Go to our website, for example. Well I've been looking for a health club for a while and I asked my friends for suggestions but they weren't much help and then I was listening to the radio and they mentioned your club so I thought. We'll go and see how it's great, well we hope to have you how it went, let's take a look at the correct answers here are the words in parentheses are optional for question 10 you can write radio on radio or the radio but you can't write on the radio for what not because it's more than two words so that's section one it's pretty simple you read the questions carefully so you know what to listen for you listen to the answers and write them down if you have If you have any questions wrong that's a good idea yeah it's a great idea to go back and listen again and listen carefully to find the correct answer.

Try to find where you went wrong and think about how you can improve next time before moving on to the second part. I want to tell you about the e2 online IELTS preparation platform, it is a website created specifically for IELTS students, it has everything an IELTS student could need and I cannot recommend it enough and signing up is very easy, just go to e2testprep.com and click Start. free trial button let's move on to section two we will start with multiple choice you will need to quickly read the questions listen carefully and choose the correct answer now be careful with each question, you will probably hear something that sounds like the correct answer but is actually a distractor, to avoid Be fooled by distractors, pay attention to things like whether or not the speaker uses a negative word like isn't or can't or, for example, in question 13, you might hear something like the event will start at 7 45 but guests will start arriving 30 minutes early, so you really have to be careful not to just listen to the words in the answer, you have to listen carefully to understand how everything is connected if you think you hear the answer.

Keep listening carefully, sometimes when students think they hear the answer, they briefly stop paying attention and then miss the correct answer on test day. This could cost you some points. Let's go on to relate the questions. Here you need to match people with work. the information will come in the order of the numbers of the questions in this case 15 16 and 17 the names A B C D and E are not in order and you can only choose three of them and finally here are the questions to complete sentences, start by reading the instructions that You can write no more than three words for each answer, then read the sentences and try to guess what the answer might be, for example, for question 18, you can guess that the manager will make an announcement, don't worry about the word count when Guess what, just focus on the guy. of answer that would make sense and finally let's listen carefully, now let's listen to the audio and start answering questions 11 to 14.

Try to answer them while the audio is playing one more time, feel free to take more time if necessary. Let's listen well. Good morning everyone, I hope everyone is feeling well after last week's activities. I know everyone has been working very hard recently and we have been exceptionally busy, especially with the wedding last weekend and the Trade Show immediately after. and now we only have three days to prepare for this weekend's birthday party. Recent events have gone very well and the hotel is starting to have a very good reputation, so we should continue like this for the moment, we don't have exact numbers. of guests and although we generally only cater for groups of less than 50 we will have quite a few more so like I said I'm not sure of the numbers but of course we won't exceed the maximum of 100 but chances are we'll need everyone to work this end of the week, so if any of you can't, please let me know as soon as possible.

So what time will the event start? The invitation says guests should arrive between 7:30 and 7:45, but our experience. is that there are always some who like to arrive early, so we will wait for the first people at 7:15. As the number is quite large this will certainly be the case, the food will be served around 8:30 and then depending on how long the meal lasts the entertainment will start approximately two hours later, we were expecting a live band for the occasion, which is always fun, but apparently this was canceled due to illness, so the hosts know someone who was a comedian who will be filling in for the band, we were hoping the resident magician who worked here over the summer could help, but They weren't interested in that idea.

Now let's try to answer questions 15 to 17. Listen carefully, so I'd like to go over them. who does what when the guests arrive and I think we'll make some changes from the last part you did here if I remember correctly was it Olaf who coordinated the task of providing drinks to the guests or was he armored um I'm not sure but Gary He asked to do it this time, so that will be his job. It hasn't been decided yet what the drinks will be, but I hope they decide soon in case we need to order something special now to receive the guests' coats and hats.

It is important that we have someone with experience doing this as we do not want guests to lose their belongings and Monica last time this was your responsibility Susan. I know you wanted to do this, butAs the numbers are quite high for this event, I won't be making a change here right now. Last time there was some confusion about where guests were supposed to go once they had deposited their things and we had guests wandering all over the hotel, so Ahmad and Olev. I think they discussed the issues with Susan and thought she would be good at guiding the guests after their arrival and I agree with that, now let's try to answer questions 18 to 20.

Let's listen well and now for some general instructions, once the guests have arrived they will be in and around the lounge area and then Around 8:30 we have to get them to move to the restaurant to eat, this is often difficult and can be time consuming so I will ring a bell for everyone knows it's time to eat. Hopefully this will speed things up a bit as well. For this event there will be a seating plan so guests will not be able to decide for themselves where to sit they will have to sit according to the plan there will be a plan on each table and I have been thinking about where to put the master plan so everyone can see it before entering to the restaurant so that they areAfter spending quite a bit of time in the lounge, I have decided to put a plan there as well, this should speed up the start of their meal.

Once the meal starts, you'll be very busy waiting at the tables and I'm sure I won't need it. To tell them to be good and polite with all the guests, the organizer of the event will be saying a few words and also two of his colleagues, so when the speeches begin, the entire activity must stop at the restaurant so that the three people giving them can You may hear that this shouldn't take long and should be towards the end of the meal, after that the guests will return to the hall for the entertainment, so I think that's it.

If you have any questions, come see me later, how did it go? Take a look at the answers here. Did you notice that for question 11 the speaker mentioned all three options and the correct answer was the last one he said? So if he heard the word wedding and thought that was the answer, he missed the point. was from last month and the next event was a party again if you think you heard the answer keep listening with 15 the speaker mentioned that Olaf and Ahmed were options but Gary would be the one to do it this time don't worry if you got any of them wrong these questions, just keep in mind why it happened and next time be very careful that way you will improve.

Finally, you may have noticed that in question 19, the manager said that a lot of people spend time in the lounge, so he intended to put a plan there, he referenced the location after talking about the lounge again . Strong users of English will notice this, but if you don't pay enough attention you may miss it, so be careful, let's move on to section three. Section 3 is more challenging than sections one and two speakers are likely to disagree or change their minds prepare for lots of distractions this section tests your ability to listen to details and filter out irrelevant information, sometimes for longer periods of time long, we will listen to two people Jane and Brian talking about drawings from children's stories review the instructions for each answer write just one word read the questions quickly on the paper test you can underline key words the computer-delivered test allows you to highlight the process of Doing this blocks the ideas in your mind and looking at the highlighted or underlined words focuses your attention again, we must try to predict the answers, we can use the context to guess, of course our guests will probably be different from the real answer, but the process of Trying to predict the answer is useful. because it helps us identify the type of information we are hearing for question 21.

I assume that the 22nd house will be a type of person like a farmer or perhaps an animal like a cow. There is a grammatical clue to the question. 23 the answer will almost certainly be an ing form of a verb like walking or camping similarly 24 is most likely an ing word like smile or sing the answer to question 25 is probably a place like River Question 26 says that the change to What you can do in the drawing is add something for each person which has to be a noun like a hat or a backpack. Okay, for the next four questions we just write a letter A, B, C or D to represent who is going to write the different parts of the report.

We should keep looking at the options while listening to a is Jane B is Brian, that's easy C is for both and D is for neither, the answers always come in the same order as the questions are planned, the key words we are listening to ideas interpretation and illustrations who is going to write about each of these things ready, now let's listen the audio and let's start answering questions 21 to 26. Please try to answer them while the audio is playing, as always, feel free to take more time if you need to listen Hi Jane, sorry, I'm late.

Hi Brian, no problem. Well, we better figure out where we are in our project. I guess so. I've looked at the drawings you made for my story, the forest, and I think they're brilliant, they really create the atmosphere I had in mind when I wrote it. I am glad that you like them. There were just a few suggestions I would like to make. Keep going. I'm not sure about the drawing of the cave. It has trees around it, which is cool, but the drawing is a bit static, right? I think it needs some action. If nothing happens.

Maybe I should add the Terry guy. It is not like this? Yes, let's have Terry in the drawing. and how about we put in a tiger that he befriends a little later, maybe he could be sitting under a tree washing himself and the tiger stops in the middle of what he's doing when he sees Terry walking by, that's a good idea , OK? I'll try it and then there's the drawing of the crowd of men and women dancing, they're right outside the forest and there's a lot going on, that's right, you wanted them to be watching a carnival procession, but I thought that would be too much. full of people, do you think it works like that?

Yes, I like what you've done. The only thing is, could you add Terry without changing what he's already there? How about we have him sitting on the tree trunk to the right of the image? Yes, that would be nice and do you want me to look at the other people? No, they left him out of all the fun, so I'd like him to cry. That will contrast nicely with the next image where he laughs at the clowns at the carnival. do that and then the drawing of people ice skating in the forest. I wasn't too happy with that one because they're supposed to be skating on the grass, right? and it's frozen right now, isn't it.

Look well, I understand what you mean. I'll try it again and I like the wool hats they wear. Maybe you could also give them each a scarf. Yes, that's pretty easy. They may be coming out after people. I suggest you guys are skating really fast cool, well that's all in the drawings so you finished writing your story and I just need to finish illustrating it and my story and your drawings are ready and now let's try to answer questions 27 to 30. Listen Sincerely, so the next thing is to decide what exactly we need to write in the report that accompanies the stories and how we are going to divide the work.

Jane, how about including a section on how we plan stories? project as a whole, Brian, that's probably pretty important, yeah, well, you've had most of the good ideas so far, how do you feel about writing something up? Then we can review it together and discuss it. Okay, that seems reasonable and might include something about how. We came up with ideas for our two stories. I could not? Well, I started writing something about that, so why don't you do the same and we can include both things properly? So what about our interpretation of stories? I need to write about what we think they show, like the value of helping other people, all those kinds of things that will come up later, right?

I think everyone in the class will read each other's stories and create their own. interpretations that we are going to discuss I missed, so it won't be part of the report at all, no, but we need to write about the illustrations because they are an essential element of the children's experience reading the stories. It's easier for you to write that section, since maybe you know more about drawing than I do, but I find it quite difficult to write about it. I'd be happier if you did it right, so when do you think it's right? How did it go? a little more challenging than section one, we needed to multitask by really focusing on the questions and listening at the same time, let's review the answers to questions 21 to 26.

Here are the dancing cave tiger crying, grass and scarf, let's see the transcript of matching questions Question 27 asks who is going to write about how Jane and Brian planned the project. Jane asks about including a section on how they planned the project and Brian suggests that Jane write a draft. Jane agrees, so the answer is Jane is going to write a draft. Question 28 asks who is going to write about how they got their story ideas. Jane says she could include something about how they came up with the ideas. Brian says he's already started writing something about this and suggests they include the two things they're both going to write about how they got the ideas for the stories, so the answer is C.

Both Jane and Brian, question 29 is about interpretation. of the stories. Jane asks about it. Brian says he'll be out later and Jane asks, so that's it. is not going to be part of the report Brian agrees so the answer is D neither of us are going to write about the interpretation of the stories finally asks 30 who is going to write comments on the illustrations at the beginning Brian suggests that Jane should write that section because she knows more about drawing than him, however, this is a distraction. Jane says that she finds it difficult to write about drawing and says that she would be happier if Brian wrote that part, so the answer is Brian B for Brian, here are the answers. on answer sheet A, C, D and B, so that was an example from section three.

It can be quite intensive to analyze in such detail, but you are doing very well by analyzing the way the answers are presented in the audio recordings, which helps you know what to do. wait for your next practice and the real IELTS exam. Remember that if you are having trouble with any of these questions, you can learn E2 strategies at e2testprep.com. Click the link in the description below to get started. We are in the final part. section four in this section, you need to fill in the blanks to complete the notes about a lecture, first of all, look at the instructions two words or a number so that you can answer with two words and a number one word and a number or a number or two words or one word, those are all possibilities take a look at questions 31 to 36 read the incomplete sentences and predict for 31 animals that were previously domesticated but have become, I'm going to say, wild or abandoned for 32, I'm thinking about the loss of habitat or homes for 33 Could predict lower soil quality again.

I'm not worried about guessing correctly. I'm just trying to activate my brain a little. Please note that I must improve this skill. The more you read English daily, the better. Your Instinct will be for this in section 4, there is no interruption, listen to the audio recording until the end and answer the 10 questions ready. Now let's listen to the audio and start answering questions 31 to 36. Let's listen, okay, so in our last few sessions we've been looking at how invasive species, particularly non-native plants, can have a detrimental impact on Australia's environment and today I would like to shift focus a bit and take a closer look at wild animals, so let's start with the definition that a wild animal is essentially one that was once a domestic breed but escaped, so to speak, and returned to its wild state.

Some of the most common examples are horses, pigs, and although you may not immediately think of camels now. Although these animals may seem harmless when they multiply in large numbers and spread through wild areas, the results can be catastrophic. One of the main impacts can be seen on the land itself. An adequate number of wild animals, such as horses and deer, lift and trample the Earth as they do so. so they remove the vegetation and root systems in all those hundreds of feet or the hooves compact the soil, which in turn can reduce water infiltration and nutrient levels in the soil.

Overgrazing by large groups of herbivores can cause erosion, which in some cases can be almost impossible to repair, in addition to this impact on the land. Of course, there is a huge threat that wild species pose to natives, not only do they prey on native wildlife, but they also compete with them for food and shelter, oftenoccupying burrows. and dens of other wild animals can also destroy the habitat of native species, for example, by eating leaves from a certain tree where local birds like to nest or by removing plants and bushes that serve as hiding places for ground dwellers, exposing them thus at greater risk. of predation, another problem is the proliferation of infectious diseases that can occur between species, this is of particular concern to farmers whose livestock are at risk of infection and reinfection despite their best efforts to control such outbreaks, this leads us to possibly The biggest threat to Australia's environment, the feral cat has already caused the extinction of many native birds and small and medium-sized mammals.

The feral cat still threatens more than 100 native species. It is a highly skilled predator and each individual is capable of consuming between five and a staggering 30 animals in a single day. Add to this their rapid reproduction rate and the fact that they inhabit 99.8 percent of the surface. terrestrial Australia and it is clear that the humble Wizards are, in fact, a ticking time bomb for the local fauna. Let's ask questions 37 to 40 now. What can be done to control these wild animals? Governments and landowners have long used conventional methods with mixed success. Perhaps the oldest form of these is the use of fences designed to keep pests out of crops or livestock as long as they can keep out wild invaders as long as they are maintained and structurally sound.

This option is really only successful when it comes to excluding pests from small areas and its effectiveness tends to decrease as the space increases. In terms of cost, this can also be a prohibitively expensive option in some cases. Trapping is another method and has proven to be useful to some extent, but this too has its limitations as some animals are a little reluctant to enter the trap even with tasty morsels to encourage them to do so. This leaves more drastic options like baiting, which basically involves using a particular bait. poison designed to be eaten by wild animals, obviously this can also be problematic as non-target animals can consume them in surprising and perhaps somewhat counterintuitive ways.

The use of helicopters for shooting is considered one of the most humane control methods. This method is of course only suitable for certain large species indoors. Clearly, the problems we have. The problems faced here and indeed around the world are complex and contentious; Of course, there is opposition from activists and the general public to some extent, as when it comes to issues like this they raise legitimate questions about the cruelty and hypocrisy of calling for some animals to be protected. others, on the one hand there is an urgent need to protect vulnerable and endangered native species and on the other there is the prospect of invasive species, let's see the answers: wild vegetation, nutrient levels, refuge, diseases, reproduction, fencing maintained, reticent and helicopters, there are some long words.

Remember that you don't have to get them all. Section 4 is the most difficult part of the test and even one or two correct answers in this section can make the difference in your band's overall score. Well, we are done, the listening test requires a lot of concentration and you need to stay very focused on the task at hand. It is the first test you will take on the day of the IELTS test, which is good because your mind will be fresher. Don't beat yourself up if you missed some of the answers or if you found it too challenging, however, as you know that the real key to meeting these challenges and maximizing your potential is more practice.