Answer Keys

Listening Section 1 Listening Section 2

1 park 11&12 A, C
2 blue 13&14 B, C
3 reference 15 D
4 story 16 F
5 rain 17 A
6 snack 18 H
7 medication 19 C
8 helmet 20 G
9 tent
10 199

Listening Section 3 Listening Section 4

21&22 C, D 31 grandmother
23&24 C, E 32 decade
25 C 33 equipment
26 A 34 economic
27 B 35 basic
28 A 36 round
29 A 37 bone
30 C 38 rough
39 style
40 sheep

Tapescripts
The part of the text containing the answer is underlined with the
question number given in square brackets []. If you still struggle with
IELTS Listening tests, please refer to IELTS Listening tips.

IELTS Listening Section 1

Jake: Hello, Junior Cycle camp, Jake speaking.

Woman: Hi. I’m calling for some information about the cycle camp –
I’m thinking of sending my son.
Jake: Great. Well, it’s held every weekday morning over the summer
vacation and we focus on basic cycling skills and safety. We have eight
levels for children from three years upwards. How old’s your son?
Woman: Charlie? He’s seven. He can ride a bike, but he needs a little
more training before he’s safe to go on the road.
Jake: He’d probably be best in Level 5. They start off practising on the
site here, and we aim to get them riding on the road, but first they’re
taken to ride in the park [1], away from the traffic.
Woman: Right. And can you tell me a bit about the instructors?
Jake: Well, all our staff wear different coloured shirts. So, we have
three supervisors, and they have red shirts. They support the
instructors, and they also stand in for me if I’m not around. Then the
instructors themselves are in blue shirts [2], and one of these is
responsible for each class.
Woman: OK.
Jake: In order to be accepted, all our instructors have to submit a
reference from someone who’s seen them work with children – like if
they’ve worked as a babysitter, for example [3]. Then they have to
complete our training course, including how to do lesson plans, and
generally care for the well-being of the kids in their class. They do a
great job, I have to say.
Woman: Right. And tell me a bit about the classes. What size will
Charlie’s class be?
Jake: We have a limit of eight children in each class, so their instructor
really gets to know them well. They’re out riding most of the time but
they have quiet times too, where their instructor might tell them a
story that’s got something to do with cycling [4], or get them to play a
game together. It’s a lot of fun.
Woman: It must be. Now. what happens if there’s rain? Do the classes
still run? [5]
Jake: Oh yes. We don’t let that put us off – we just put on our
waterproofs and keep cycling. [5]
Woman: And is there anything special Charlie should bring along with
him?
Jake: Well, maybe some spare clothes, especially if the weather’s not
so good. And a snack for break time. [6]
Woman: How about a drink?
Jake: No, we’ll provide that. And make sure he has shoes, not sandals.
Woman: Sure. And just at present Charlie has to take medication
every few hours, so I’ll make sure he has that. [7]
Jake: Absolutely. Just give us details of when he has to take it and we’ll
make sure he does.
Woman: Thanks.
Jake: Now, there are a few things you should know about Day 1 of the
camp. The classes normally start at 9.30 every morning, but on Day 1
you should aim to get Charlie here by 9.20. The finishing time will be
12.30 as usual. We need the additional time because there are a few
extra things to do. The most important is that we have a very careful
check to make sure that every child’s helmet fits properly. If it doesn’t
fit, we’ll try to adjust it, or we’ll find him another one – but he must
wear it all the time he’s on the bike. [8]
Woman: Of course.
Jake: Then after that, all the instructors will be waiting to meet their
classes, and they’ll meet up in the tent – you can’t miss it. And each
instructor will take their class away and get started. [9]
Woman: OK. Well that all sounds good. Now can you tell me how
much the camp costs a week? [10]
Jake: One hundred ninety-nine dollars. We’ve managed to keep the
price more or less the same as last year – it was one hundred ninety
then. But the places are filling up quite quickly. [10]
Woman: Right. OK, well I’d like to book for…

IELTS Listening Section 2

Hello everyone. My name’s Megan Baker and I’m a recruitment

consultant at AVT Recruitment specialists.

Now, our company specialises in positions that involve working in the

agriculture and horticulture sectors, so that’s fresh food production,
garden and park maintenance and so on. And these sectors do provide
some very special career opportunities. For a start, they often offer
opportunities for those who don’t want to be stuck with a 40-hour
week, but need to juggle work with other responsibilities such as child
care – and this is very important for many of our recruits [11/12].
Some people like working in a rural setting, surrounded by plants and
trees instead of buildings, although we can’t guarantee that. But there
are certainly health benefits, especially in jobs where you’re not sitting
all day looking at a screen – a big plus for many people [11/12].
Salaries can sometimes be good too, although there’s a lot of variety
here. And you may have the opportunity in some types of jobs for
travel overseas, although that obviously depends on the job, and not
everyone is keen to do it.
Of course, working outdoors does have its challenges. It’s fine in
summer, but can be extremely unpleasant when it’s cold and
windy [13/14]. You may need to be pretty fit for some jobs, though
with modern technology that’s not as important as it once was. And
standards of health and safety are much higher now than they used to
be, so there are fewer work-related accidents. But if you like a lively
city environment surrounded by lots of people, these jobs are probably
not for you – they’re often in pretty remote areas [13/14]. And some
people worry about finding a suitable place to live, but in our
experience, this usually turns out fine.
Now let me tell you about some of the exciting jobs that we have on
our books right now.

One is for a fresh food commercial manager. Our client here is a very
large fresh food producer supplying a range of top supermarkets. They
operate in a very fast-paced environment with low profit margins – the
staff there work hard, but they play hard as well, so if you’ve a sociable
personality this may be for you [15].
We have an exciting post as an agronomist advising farmers on issues
such as crop nutrition, protection against pests, and the latest
legislation on farming and agricultural practices. There are good
opportunities for the right person to quickly make their way up the
career ladder [16], but a deep knowledge of the agricultural sector is
expected of applicants.
A leading supermarket is looking for a fresh produce buyer who is
available for a 12-month maternity cover contract [17]. You need to
have experience in administration, planning and buying in the fresh
produce industry, and in return will receive a very competitive salary.
We have also received a request for a sales manager for a chain of
garden centres. You will be visiting centres in the region to ensure
their high levels of customer service are maintained. [18] This post is
only suitable for someone who is prepared to live in the region.
There is also a vacancy for a tree technician to carry out tree cutting,
forestry and conservation work. Candidates must have a clean driving
licence and have training in safety procedures. A year’s experience
would be preferred but the company might be prepared to consider
someone who has just completed an appropriate training course [19].
Finally, we have a position for a farm worker. This will involve a wide
range of farm duties including crop sowing and harvesting, machine
maintenance and animal care. Perks of the job include the possibility of
renting a small cottage on the estate [20], and the chance to earn a
competitive salary. A driving licence and tractor driving experience are
essential.
IELTS Listening Section 3

Adam: OK Rosie, shall we try to get some ideas together for our
presentation on diet and obesity?
Rosie: Sure.
Adam: I can talk about the experiment I did to see if people can tell
the difference between real sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Rosie: Where you gave people drinks with either sugar or artificial
sweeteners and they had to say which they thought it was?
Adam: Yeah. It took me ages to decide exactly how I’d organise it,
especially how I could make sure that people didn’t know which drink I
was giving them [21/22]. It was hard to keep track of it all, especially
as I had so many people doing it [21/22] – I had to make sure I kept a
proper record of what each person had had.
Rosie: So could most people tell the difference?
Adam: Yeah – I hadn’t thought they would be able to, but most people
could.
Rosie: Then there’s that experiment I did measuring the fat content of
nuts, to see if the nutritional information given on the packet was
accurate.
Adam: The one where you ground up the nuts and mixed them with a
chemical to absorb the fat?
Rosie: Yes. My results were a bit problematic – the fat content for that
type of nut seemed much lower than it said on the package. But I
reckon the package information was right. I think I should probably
have ground up the nuts more than I did [23/24]. It’s possible that the
scales for weighing the fat weren’t accurate enough, too [23/24]. I’d
really like to try the experiment again some time.
Adam: So what can we say about helping people to lose weight?
There’s a lot we could say about what restaurants could do to reduce
obesity. I read that the items at the start of a menu and the items at
the end of a menu are much more likely to be chosen than the items in
the middle. So, if you out the low-calorie items at the beginning and
end of the menu, people will probably go for the food with fewer
calories, without even realising what they’re doing. [25]
Rosie: I think food manufacturers could do more to encourage healthy
eating.
Adam: How?
Rosie: Well, when manufacturers put calorie counts of a food on the
label, they’re sometimes really confusing and I suspect they do it on
purpose. Because food that’s high in calories tastes better, and so
they’ll sell more.
Adam: Yeah, so if you look at the amount of calories in a pizza, they’ll
give you the calories per quarter pizza and you think, oh that’s not too
bad. But who’s going to eat a quarter pizza?
Rosie: Exactly. [26]
Adam: I suppose another approach to this problem is to get people to
exercise more.
Rosie: Right. In England, the current guidelines are for at least 30
minutes of brisk walking, five days a week. Now when you ask them,
about 40% of men and 30% of women say they do this, but when you
objectively measure the amount of walking they do with motion
sensors, you find that only 6% of men and 4% of women do the
recommended amount of exercise. [27]
Adam: Mm, so you can see why obesity is growing.
Rosie: So how can people be encouraged to take more exercise?
Adam: Well, for example, think of the location of stairs in a train
station. If people reach the stairs before they reach the escalator when
they’re leaving the station, they’re more likely to take the stairs. And if
you increase the width of the stairs, you’ll get more people using them
at the same time. It’s an unconscious process and influenced by minor
modifications in their environment. [28]
Rosie: Right. And it might not be a big change, but if it happens every
day, it all adds up.
Adam: Yes. But actually, I’m not sure if we should be talking about
exercise in our presentation.
Rosie: Well, we’ve done quite a bit of reading about it.
Adam: I know, but it’s going to mean we have a very wide focus, and
our tutor did say that we need to focus on causes and solutions in
terms of nutrition.
Rosie: I suppose so. And we’ve got plenty of information about that.
OK. well that will be simpler. [29]
Adam: So what shall we do now? We’ve still got half an hour before
our next lecture.
Rosie: Let’s think about what we’re going to include and what will go
where. Then we can decide what slides we need.
Adam: OK, fine. [30]

IELTS Listening Section 4

Good morning everyone. So today we’re going to look at an important

creative activity and that’s hand knitting. Ancient knitted garments
have been found in many different countries, showing that knitting is a
global activity with a long history.
When someone says the word ‘knitting’ we might well picture an
elderly person – a grandmother perhaps [31] – sitting by the fire
knitting garments for themselves or other members of the family. It’s a
homely image, but one that may lead you to feel that knitting is an
activity of the past – and, indeed, during the previous decade, it was
one of the skills that was predicted to vanish from everyday life [32].
For although humans have sewn and knitted their own clothing for a
very long time, many of these craft-based skills went into decline when
industrial machines took over – mainly because they were no longer
passed down from one generation to another. However, that’s all
changing and interest in knitting classes in many countries is actually
rising, as more and more people are seeking formal instruction in the
skill. With that trend, we’re also seeing an increase in the sales figures
for knitting equipment. [33]
So why do people want to be taught to knit at a time when a machine
can readily do the job for them? The answer is that knitting, as a
handicraft, has numerous benefits for those doing it. Let’s consider
what some of these might be. While many people knitted garments in
the past because they couldn’t afford to buy clothes, it’s still true today
that knitting can be helpful if you’re experiencing economic
hardship [34]. If you have several children who all need warm winter
clothes, knitting may save you a lot of money. And the results of
knitting your own clothes can be very rewarding, even though the skills
you need to get going are really quite basic and the financial outlay is
minimal. [35]
But the more significant benefits in today’s world are to do with well-
being. In a world where it’s estimated that we spend up to nine hours a
day online, doing something with our hands that is craft-based makes
us feel good. It releases us from the stress of a technological, fast-
paced life.

Now, let’s look back a bit to early knitting activities. In fact, no one
really knows when knitting first began, but archaeological remains
have disclosed plenty of information for us to think about.

One of the interesting things about knitting is that the earliest pieces
of clothing that have been found suggest that most of the items
produced were round rather than flat [36]. Discoveries from the 3rd
and 4th centuries in Egypt show that things like socks and gloves, that
were needed to keep hands and feet warm, were knitted in one piece
using four or five needles. That’s very different from most knitting
patterns today, which only require two. What’s more, the very first
needles people used were hand carved out of wood and other natural
materials, like bone [37], whereas today’s needles are largely made of
steel or plastic and make that characteristic clicking sound when
someone’s using them. Ancient people knitted using yarns made from
linen, hemp, cotton and wool, and these were often very rough on the
skin [38]. The spinning wheel, which allowed people to make finer
yarns and produce much greater quantities of them, led to the
dominance of wool in the knitting industry – often favoured for its
warmth.
Another interesting fact about knitting is that because it was practised
in so many parts of the world for so many purposes, regional
differences in style developed [39]. This visual identity has allowed
researchers to match bits of knitted clothing that have been unearthed
over time to the region from which the wearer came or the job that he
or she did.
As I’ve mentioned, knitting offered people from poor communities a
way of making extra money while doing other tasks. For many
centuries, it seems, men, women and children took every opportunity
to knit, for example, while watching over sheep, walking to market or
riding in boats [40]. So, let’s move on to take a …