IELTS Recent Actual Test

With Answers Volume 2

Listening Practice Test 3

HOW TO USE
You have 2 ways to access the listening audio

1. Open this URL http://link.intergreat.com/uBdzN on your computer

2. Use your mobile device to scan the QR code attached

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Questions 1-6
Complete the form below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

PATIENT RECORD
Time of appointment: 10:00 am

Given names: Simon 1

Family name: Lee

Date of birth: 2 1989

Address: 3 Adams Terrace, Wellington

Phone number: 0211558809

Name of insurance company: 4

Date of last eye test: 5

Patient’s observations: Problems seeing 6

Questions 7-10
Answer the questions below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

When must Simon wear his glasses?

What type of glasses are the least expensive?

What is good about the glasses Simon chooses?

How does Simon decide to pay?

10

Questions 11-12
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Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

11 Who is buried in the tomb of the Taj Mahal?

A the emperor Shahjahan

B the wife of Shahjahan

C the emperor and his wife

12 Where did the white marble come from?

A India

B China

C Persia

Questions 13-16
Label the plan below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

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13

14

15

16

Question 17
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

17 What is the purpose of the Rest House?

A a place for the poor to stay

B a meeting place for pilgrims

C an architectural feature

Questions 18-20
Complete the flow chart below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

How running water is provided

Water taken from the 18 by bullocks.

Water channelled into the 19

Water piped to the 20

Questions 21-24
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C

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21 What background information does Daisy give about rice?

A Wild rice is grown throughout Asia

B Some types of rice need less water than others.

C All rice varieties have a lovely aroma

22 Erik says that a priority for rice farmers is to be able to

A grow rice without fertilizers.

B predict the weather patterns.

C manage water resources.

23 Where is the International Rice Research Institute?

A The Philippines

B China

C Japan

24 Scientists in Bangladesh want to find a

A more effective type of fertilizer.

B strain of rice resistant to flooding.

C way to reduce the effects of global warming.

Questions 25-30
Which country do the following statements apply to?

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

A Japan

B China

C Thailand

25
They grow the most rice in the world.

26
They export the most rice in the world.

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27
They aim to increase the nutritional value of rice.

28
Less rice is eaten than in the past.

29
An annual rice festival takes place.

30
A new type of rice is now popular locally.

Questions 31-33
Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each answer,

RADIO WRITING

You may have to ignore some of the ordinary 31 of writing.

Written words do not indicate things like emphasis, the 32 of reading or

where to pause.

A script needs to sound like a 33

Questions 34-40
Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Know who you are talking to

Imagine a typical listener:

e.g. imagine telling your 34 about a film.

Create an informal tone:

e.g. use words like 35

Work out what you are going to say

Remember:

listeners cannot ask questions

you cannot 36 ideas
Make your script logical:

37 the information.
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Use concrete images e.g. compare the size of a field to a 38
Use the 39 to get attention.
Check the script by 40

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 Solution:

1 Anthony 2 1(st) June

3 University Hall 4 Health for Life

5 September 2006 6 (in the) distance

7 (for) driving 8 (the) full frame

9 (they are) strong 10 (in/by) cash

21 B 22 C

23 A 24 B

25 B 26 C

27 B 28 A

29 C 30 A

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 11 C 12 A

13 (The) Main Gateway 14 (the) (16/sixteen) flower beds

15 (a/the) (raised) pond 16 (a/the) Mosque

17 C 18 river

19 (supply) tanks 20 fountains

31 rules 32 speed

33 conversation 34 grandmother

35 us and we 36 repeat

37 space (out) 38 football pitch

39 first sentence 40 reading (it) aloud

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 Audio Script:

SECTION 1
You will hear a conversation between an optometrist and a patient who has come for an eye
test.

Optometrist: Good morning, can I help you?

Simon Lee: Yes. I’m here for an appointment at ten o’clock with the optometrist . I’m a little
early. I know it’s only ten to ten.

Optometrist: Are you Simon Lee?

Simon Lee: Yes, I am.

Optometrist: I’m Rachel White, the optometrist here today. Come in and take a seat.

Simon Lee: Thanks.

Optometrist: Before we test your eyes, I just need to get a few details from you. So, Simon,
what’s your full name?

Simon Lee: Simon Q1 Anthony — that’s A-N-T-H-O-N• Y. And my family name is Lee: L
double E.

Optometrist: And your date of birth, Simon?

Simon Lee: The Q2 1st of June, 1989.

Optometrist: The 21st of June.

Simon Lee: No. The first of June.

Optometrist: Whoops… sony! 1989 – ah, same year my son was bom! What’s your current
address?

Simon Lee: I’m living at a hall of residence .

Optometrist: Which one?

Simon Lee: At Q3 University Hall, not far from here, in Adams terrace .

Optometrist: University Hall… And do you have any medical insurance ?

Simon Lee: Yes, I’m fully covered

Optometrist: And who are you insured with?

Simon Lee: I’m with ’ Q4 Health for life’.

Optometrist: Healthy Life.

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Simon Lee: No. People always get that wrong. It’s Health for Life. They’re part of some big
insurance company .

Optometrist: Good! Now, Simon. Have you ever had your eyes tested before?

Simon Lee: Yes, once. But not recently. It was when I was still at school.

Optometrist: So roughly when would that have been?

Simon Lee: Probably around September 2007. No, on second thoughts, it must’ve been the
year before – Q5 September 2006. And my eyesight was fine then.

Optometrist: But you’re having a little difficulty now, are you?

Simon Lee: Well, yes … since I started at university, I’ve been having difficulty with distance
vision. I can’t always see things Q6 in the distance.

Optometrist: Well, let’s have a look. Now I’m just going to cover your left eye. Can you read the
top line?

Simon Lee: Yes. R… B… Q… S…

Optometrist: Well, Simon. Your eyes have obviously got a little worse since your last test and I
think you’re going to need to wear glasses … er… not all the time and … not so much for reading
or close work but definitely Q7 for driving.

Simon Lee: Right. Yes. I thought that was probably the case.

Optometrist: So now you need to choose some frames. There’s a wide range to choose from,
as you can see.

Simon Lee: Can you give me some idea of the difference in cost? I quite liked the idea of some
frameless glasses.

Optometrist: Mm… Did you? Well, the prices vary enormously , like everything, but the
frameless ones are the most expensive. The cheapest are the ones with Q8 the full frame.

Simon Lee: Mm, perhaps I’d better go for those.

Optometrist: Or why not try these ones with the half frame?

Simon Lee: They’re not too bad.

Optometrist: Yes. They look quite nice and Q9 they’re strong far less likely to break than the
frameless ones.

Simon Lee: Oh, that’s a good point. OK, I think I’ll take those ones.

Optometrist: If you pop back next Monday, I should have them ready for you. And you can pay
for them when you pick them up.

Simon Lee: Thanks very much. Can I pay by credit card?

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Optometrist: You can, but there will be a slight charge if you do that.

Simon Lee: Right. I’ll pay Q10 by cash then, if you don’t mind.

Optometrist: No problem. Cash, credit card, debit card. All the same to us. See you on Monday.

SECTION 2
You will hear an extract from an audio guide to the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is the most popular tourist attraction in India. It is also one of the most
spectacular buildings of the world, and is considered as a symbol of love. But how many
people realise that it was actually built as a tomb or burial place for the Emperor’s wife?

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan to commemorate his beloved wife
Mumtaz Mahal when she died, and, although this was not his original intention, for he had
planned to build a black marble tomb for himself, Q11 they both lie side by side in the tomb
today. Emperor Shahjahan’s two greatest passions were architecture and jewellery and both
are represented here in all their splendor .

The most skilled architects and craftsmen came from across India and countries as far away as
Persia and Turkey. Much of the structure was built in white marble that was carried by a
thousand elephants all the way from Q12 the Indian region of Rajasthan some 300km away.
Crystal and jade came from China, sapphires from Sri Lanka and turquoise from Tibet.

But there’s a lot more to the Taj Mahal than just the tomb, so let’s have a look at the overall
plan before we take a walk through the magnificent gardens. Your tour begins here at the
point marked with an X on the plan. This is known as Q13 The Main Gateway. Walk through
the gate and you come into an magnificent garden. There are two marble canals studded with
fountains, which cross in the centre of the garden, dividing it into four equal squares. Each of
these four quarters is then subdivided into flower beds. So there are Q14 16 flower beds
altogether. The tomb stands majestically at the north end, not in the centre as you might have
expected Instead, at the centre of the garden, halfway between the tomb and the gateway ,
there’s Q15 a raised pond which provides a reflection of the Taj Mahal. It’s a magnificent sight.
On either side of the tomb there are buildings made of red sandstone . The one to the west – to
the left on our plan – is Q16 a mosque. It faces towards Mecca and is used for prayer. On the
east side of the Teg is a building known as the Rest House. It’s like the twin of the mosque, but
because it faces away from Mecca, it was never used for prayer .

Many people have asked what the Rest House was for. Was it a place for pilgrims to stay?
Was it a meeting hall of some kind? Perhaps the most likely answer to this question is that its
purpose is purely aesthetic, to act as a visual balance for the mosque and to Q17 preserve the
symmetry of the design of the whole complex.

Let’s have a look at some of the engineering features of the garden. For one thing, they require
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a constant supply of running water. When it was built, water was drawn from the Q18 river
manually , using an elaborate rope and bucket system, pulled by a team of bullocks. The water
was then brought through a broad water channel and held in a number of Q19 supply tanks.
These tanks were at varying heights off the ground and were ingeniously designed to store the
very large amounts of water required. Using an elaborate system of underground pipes, the
water was then distributed from the supply tanks to each of the Q20 fountains. To ensure
that the water pressure was the same throughout the garden, there was a copper pot under
each fountain connected to the water supply. It was undoubtedly a brilliant system.

SECTION 3
You will hear a tutor and two students discussing the crop rice.

Tutor Good morning, everyone. So ... following on from our tutorial on European agriculture last
week, Daisy and Erik are going to talk about the most commonly grown crop in Asia, which is,
of course, rice. Erik, can you tell us what you’ve been working on?

Erik Yes, sure ... We’ve been looking at the role of rice in a number of countries, how it’s grown,
ways of increasing production. As I’m sure you know, rice is the staple diet throughout Asia
and, in fact, 90 per cent of the world’s rice is grown and eaten there. Daisy’s got some
background on that.

Daisy Um ... well, rice was originally a wild plant which started out in the tropical regions of
Asia, but there are literally hundreds of varieties today and each with different qualities. For
instance, one will survive floods, Q21 while another will grow in relatively dry conditions. A
third has a really lovely smell. But wherever it grows, rice needs a lot of water.

Tutor What do you mean by‘a lot’?

Erik Well, it takes about 5,000 litres to get a kilogram of rice. This can be supplied either
naturally or by irrigation. And as most rice​growing countries suffer from unpredictable
weather, including drought - Q22 water management really is the key.

Daisy Research has become so important now that each rice-growing country in Asia has its
own research institute, whether we’re talking about Japan, China or Bangladesh ... and they’re
all co-ordinated by a group Q23 in the Philippines called the International Rice Research
Institute.

Tutor Interesting.

Daisy Bangladesh, for instance, has been successfully using different rice varieties and
fertilizers for 30 years. But because it’s such a flat, delta country, it’s very difficult for the water
to drain away after the monsoon season, so they need to find Q24 special rice crops that can
survive the floods. And with global warming, the situation is more urgent than ever.

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Erik Now I’d like to move on to our comparative study. As you can imagine, Q25 China is the
world’s biggest rice producing country. Collectively the Chinese people probably eat more than
three billion bowls of rice every day!

Tutor Quite a statistic!

Erik And of course, rice plays an important cultural role too.

Daisy We then compared China to Thailand. You know, even though Thailand only has about
64 million people, Q26 it is the world’s number one exporter of rice. Not China as you might
imagine.

Tutor Is that so?

Erik Yes. They send their rice everywhere ... in particular to Europe, as well as Africa and the
Middle East. Apparently the fact that ‘jasmine rice’ is growing in popularity is one reason why
Thailand’s rice export industry is doing so well. People want something a bit different.

Daisy And, of course, Thailand is well suited to rice growing-good climatic conditions, and lots
of fresh water.

Erik Going back to China for a minute, we should mention that at the rice research institute in
Hangzhou they are working on ways of improving rice yields, using less water.

Tutor By yields you mean ... the amount they can grow?

Erik Yes. They’re trying to find ways to get more rice from less land, improve the taste, but also
have other things in it besides carbohydrates so that Q27 it’s healthier - better for you.

Tutor Good idea, considering it’s the staple food.

Erik And then you’ve got Japan, which is totally self-sufficient when it comes to rice. This is
basically because they have a high tariff on imported rice, so everyone buys the home​grown
product. And they don’t export much.

Daisy Yes, but you know, even though rice is a kind of sacred crop there, Q28 consumption is
only half what it was in the 1960s. This trend isn’t evident in Thailand or China.

Tutor Interesting that you mentioned how rice is almost sacred in Japan. Because I believe in
Thailand it also plays an important cultural role.

Daisy Absolutely! They have the Q29 ‘royal ploughing ceremony’ every year, which the King
always attends and he actually scatters a new stock of seed to the farmers, who pour into
Bangkok for the event.

Tutor What about the global interest in organic farming? Is there such a thing as organically
grown rice?

Erik Yes - indeed. And the Q30 Japanese are getting quite a taste for it. apparently. There’s an

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experimental farm near the city of Akita in the Japanese rice belt - famous for its Sake, by the
way - which has pioneered organic rice production, and now it’s sold all across the country. It’s
a bit like the recent popularity of jasmine rice in Thailand, but that’s for the export market, of
course.

Tutor Interesting how attitudes change, isn’t it?

SECTION 4
You will hear part of a lecture about writing for radio.

Lecturer We’re going to move on today to look at some of the key principles of writing for radio.

Of course the main thing that you have to remember is that a radio script is not written to be
read, but to be spoken and heard. Now putting this into practice is more difficult than it seems
because writing as we speak involves abandoning many of the normal ‘ Q31 rules’ of writing
that have been taught to us from an early age. This is because we need to concentrate on how
the piece sounds. Written words convey information, but they don’t convey the full meaning of
what you want to say... they don’t tell you what to emphasise, what Q32 speed something
should be read at, or where the pauses should come, so these have to be indicated in a script.

Whatever is said on radio - whether it’s a link to a magazine programme, a film review, or even
a voice piece in the news - needs to sound as if it is coming from the mind of the speaker -
almost like part of a Q33 conversation - rather than something that is being read.

Before you begin to write, it’s a good idea to know who you’re talking to, to visualise a typical
member of the radio station’s audience. If you’re writing a film review for a local audience, for
example, think about how you would tell your Q34 grandmother about the film, or if you’re
reviewing a pop concert, think about how you would tell your friend about the band.

The words have much more impact if each person feels they are being spoken to directly. So
your tone needs to be informal - rather than using impersonal words like ‘listeners’ or ‘the
audience’, you can make it more informal... include them in what you’re saying by referring
to Q35 ‘us’ and ‘we’.

Once you know who you’re talking to, the next thing is to work out what you’re going to say.
Don’t forget that the person listening to you has no opportunity to ask questions, and in the
same way, you can’t Q36 repeat what you’ve just said. For these reasons it’s important that
your script is logical and progresses smoothly.

Too many facts too close together will cause confusion, so Q37 space them out evenly. The
best scripts allow listeners to visualise what you’re describing. For example, instead of giving
the physical dimensions of a field, describe it as being the size of, say, a Q38 football pitch: if

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you’re talking about a tall building, relate it to - perhaps - a ten-storey block of flats.

Now, all scripts need something that will grab the attention of the listener. You need something
that will make them say, ‘Hey, I want to stop and listen to this.’ So the Q39 first sentence has
to do this for you ... it needs to be intriguing, interesting - and then it needs to be backed up by
a second sentence that explains what you’re talking about. The last sentence should also give
your listeners food for thought and can be in the form of a question, or a statement that sums
up the item.

After you’ve finished your script you need to polish it up and the most effective method of doing
this is by Q40 reading it aloud. This also helps you to avoid tongue twisters or words that you
might find awkward to pronounce.

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