IELTS

A: Summary completion

In this group of exercises you will review the summary completion task type.

TIP:

In this type of question the words you need for the answers are on the recording. You need to write exactly what you hear. Other phrases you hear may not be exactly the same as the summary or notes that appear on the page. To answer this question successfully, you should do the following before you listen:

1.	Read the question to see the maximum number of words you can write.
2.	Read the summary so that you know what it is about.
3.	Predict what the missing words could be.
4.	Remember that you will have to spell the missing words correctly.

1. Reading and predicting.

You are going to listen to a student counsellor talking to students about study skills and strategies. You will have time before you listen to read the text and predict what the missing words are. First, read the question.

Question:

Here is a copy of the summary that the counsellor gave to students following her talk. Complete the notes, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Now read the summary and choose the options you think you are most likely to hear. Remember to consider that this is a counsellor giving information to students. The counsellor is speaking in a formal style.

Note: There is no feedback on your answers in this exercise. You will see the correct answers in the next exercise.

2. Summary completion.

Read the question below. Then listen and type your answers in the boxes.

Question:

Here is a copy of the summary that the counsellor gave to students following her talk. Complete the notes, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Now listen again and read the transcript.

B: Signposting

In this group of exercises you will practise recognising signposting.

TIP:

In Section 4 of the listening test you could hear a lecture on an academic subject; for example, a lecture on Buddhism, or on children and television. In lectures, signpost words are used to structure and guide listeners through the different stages of the talk.

1. Look at stages and signposts.

Different signposts are appropriate to different sections of a lecture or talk. Look at the signposts below and decide whether they are more likely to appear in the introduction to or the body or conclusion of a talk.

2. Signpost words and phrases.

Now listen to the following talk on Buddhism. Which signpost words and phrases do you hear? Tick the box next to the signpost words you hear.

3. Note completion.

TIP:

In the IELTS test you are not always listening for the exact words used in a question. You must also make sense of what you hear. The wording in the question may differ, but the exact words for the answers can be heard in the recording.

Now listen to the same lecture again, but remember, in the IELTS test you will hear the recording only once. Complete the following notes. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Questions:

Complete the following notes on Buddha's life.

4. Table completion.

Complete the following table comparing Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each space.

Now listen again and read the transcript.

C: Labelling a diagram

In this group of exercises you will do further practise of listening to label a diagram.

TIP:

In Unit 2 you labelled a map. In the listening test you may be required to label other kinds of diagrams or illustrations. In this part you will practise listening for information to label graphic representations. It is important to interpret and analyse visual information before you listen. You are given time to do this and need to do the following:

interpret the given material
anticipate language that you may hear
predict possible answers.

In the following exercises you are presented with different graphics. Look carefully at them to predict what kind of information they show and also for the topic of what you are going to hear, which is shown by the heading.

1. Interpreting given material.

In this part you will practise labelling diagrams; in this case, different representations of statistics.


A.	B.


C.

2. Anticipate language that you may hear.

Look at words and phrases taken from the transcript of part of a talk that you are going to listen to. What do you think the topic of the talk is?

the national average homework increase slightly remain fairly stable	adulthood leisure time playing outside generally less healthy
sitting in front of screens commercials or advertisements junk food ads average number of hours viewed daily	watching cartoons by the age of two watching is likely to decrease retire

Possible topic:

3. Vocabulary review.

Match the words and phrases from the previous exercise to the correct definitions.

4. Listening practice.

In the IELTS exam you will hear the recording once only. For the purpose of this practice exercise you will hear the recording in parts.

Now listen and choose three answers from the box and select the correct letter, A-F next to questions 1-3.

A	Age in years
B	Number of children
C	Cartoon viewing
D	Number of hours
E	TV viewing
F	Televisions per household

Television viewing habits

Now listen and choose four answers from the box and select the correct letter, A-G next to questions 4-7.

A	Read
B	Homework
C	Cartoon viewing
D	Play outside
E	Do sport
F	Watch TV
G	Computer

How children spend their free time

5. Listening practice.

Now listen to the last part of the talk. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

D: Opinions and facts

In this group of exercises you will practise discerning opinions from facts and learn to identify distractors.

TIP:

In the IELTS exam you will be expected to be able to distinguish between opinions and facts. Often this distinction is apparent as a result of the words the speaker uses. For example, to give an opinion, people usually use phrases such as "I think", "I believe", "I'm sure", etc. However, sometimes people make their opinions sound like facts. Compare the examples below.

I believe vegetables are important in any diet. (an opinion)
People eat too many sweets. (an opinion expressed as a fact)
Forty-seven per cent of the people surveyed eat sweets every day. (a fact)

1. Opinion or fact?

Read the sentences and choose the correct option.

2. Opinions.

The following questions relate to the opinions of the speaker. Read the questions and then listen to the lecture on children and television again to answer the questions.

3. Opinions and facts.

Now look at the transcript of the lecture on children and television and choose the correct options.

4. Sentence completion task.

Now you will hear part of the talk from the previous section again, this time to practise a sentence completion task. First read the tip. Then read the question task, listen and write your answers.

TIP:

When listening for answers during the listening test you may hear distractors, words that appear to be the correct answer but in fact are not. It's important to read the question carefully and then listen to identify the correct answer according to what the question requires. For example:

If the question is:
Adolescents are ........... connected on their mobiles.

And you hear:
Adolescents are not spending more time connected on their mobiles, as you would expect, they are in fact spending less time than before.

You might hear spending more time connected and think that this is the correct answer.
However, they are spending less time is the correct answer.

Or, if the question is:
Service is very good in .... establishments.

And you hear:
Service is generally good in smaller establishments, and was found to be very good in larger ones.

You might think the answer is smaller establishments. However, the question is about service that is very good. So, larger is the correct answer.

Now listen and answer.

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Television viewing habits

5. Identifying distractors.

Look at part of the transcript of what you listened to in the previous exercise. Click on the underlined phrases. Are they distractors or are they rephrasing of words in the question? (The words that are the answers are in bold.)

Questions:

1. A considerable number of children watch television from the age .........
2. During adolescence viewing time tends to ..........
3. Children watch ......... more television than adults.
4. Critics are most worried television .........other things that children do.
5. Children spend a significant amount of time ..........

Paragraph 3
So, first of all, how much television do children actually watch? Many children are placed in front of the television very young, not as you would expect, at around the age of four or five years old but rather by the age of two children are already able to “watch” television – that is, to actively engage with it in some way. By the age of about three the average child is watching up to an hour a day. This figure gradually increases, so that by the age of six the child will be watching about two hours a day – mostly cartoons – and then, by the age of ten, the national average is four hours a day. However, the level doesn't continue to rise. With the onset of adolescence –at about the age of 13 or 14– this steady rise is interrupted and the child’s viewing time is likely to decrease to about 2.5 hours a day as the demands of homework and extra-curricular activities make it impossible to find time for more than this. At about 17 years of age, this figure is likely to increase slightly again, taking the average number of hours viewed daily to between 3 and 3.5. This figure is tends to remain fairly stable throughout young adulthood and the working life; then, as people retire from work, the figure will increase again, with pensioners of 60 and over watching an average of 5.2 hours a day. Surprisingly, children, rather than watching a lot more than their parents, watch only slightly more, and in fact, watch less than most pensioners.

Paragraph 4

Now, let’s turn to what the critics say: in general they are of course worried about how television could be influencing the young and the things that they do, but they are most worried about how it is displacing other activities that they see as worthwhile or even essential – that children are watching television instead of playing in the park, participating in sporting activities, talking to each other and, of course, reading and studying. How true is this? Well, in a survey I conducted recently, this is how I found that children spent their leisure time. As you can see, children spend an amount of time playing alone, but about 40 per cent of their free time watching television – quite a significant amount, especially when compared to the amount of time they read – only about 15 per cent. However, the average amount of time that children spend on computers – Internet and computer games – is not too far below the time they spend watching television. The average child spends 27 per cent of his or her leisure time on the computer. The average child also spends about 11 per cent of time playing outside – either in organised sporting activities, or not. And then, there is about 7 per cent of time which is spent doing other activities.