Possible answers
1. the/a garage/mechanic: a noun-person or place, which needs an article. Where would you take a car to be repaired?
2. shy/unsociable/reserved: 'unlike' signals a contrast between two subjects in the sentence. An adjective-the opposite of sociable.
3. more economical: the joining word is 'and'. Because the second clause is positive, it must be a positive comparative adjective.
4. noisier/more expensive: the joining word is 'but'. Because the second clause is positive, it must be a negative adjective. Use your general knowledge to help you, too.
5. carelessly/recklessly/too fast: an adverb describing the driving that resulted in hitting another car.
6. ( a time): 'at precisely ... '. It is about starting and being somewhere on time.
7. won't be: you need to complete the verb 'able to'. The future tense is necessary in the result clause. Also, 'unless' in the conditional clause means that the verb should be negative.
8. expensive: an adjective describing 'the cost'. Because the sentence begins with 'although', it has to contrast with the first clause idea of 'cheap'.
30 IELTS Preparation and Practice Listening & Speaking
9. increasing/rising/growing: a verb is needed to complete the clause. 'despite' means that the ideas in the two clauses contrast with an unexpected result.
10. (poisonous bites/ugly bodies): a noun or noun phrase is required, and your general knowledge helps here. There are a few possible answers, so you would need to listen carefully to eliminate other possibilities.
Demonstration-Section 3
The following is an example Section 3, which has been analysed to help in understanding how to answer the questions effectively. Listen to Section 3 of Practice Test 1 for this demonstration.
You can listen and pause the CD as you work through the exercises.
In the introduction to Section 3, it is important to listen for the number of speakers, their names, whether they are male or female, and what they are talking about. In this case, there are two speakers, Richard (male) and Shirley (female), talking about a group project.
You will then be asked to look at Questions 21-26.This section is divided into two parts: Questions 21-26 and Questions 27-30. It is important that you use the 30 seconds that you are given at the beginning to look only at Questions 21-26 first, as you will be given another 20 seconds afterwards to look at Questions 27-30.
Questions 21-26 contain two question types. Let's look at Questions 21-23 first.
Section 3, Questions 21-30
QUESTIONS 21-23
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
21. The project is about ____ _
22. It includes a group of fuels called ____ _
23. This type of fuel affects the weather by creating ____ _
'Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer' is the instruction because it is in italics. 'NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS' is the important part of the instruction because it is in BOLD ITALIC CAPITALS. These are gap fill questions, in this case sentence completion. Pay particular attention to the grammar of each question.
Question 21: We hear 'the specific area of our research, energy consumption' . Research is similar to project, and the specific area is energy consumption. According to grammar, the answer is a noun, so you write the correct answer, energy consumption, in your question booklet.
Question 22: We hear several possible answers:
• 'Coal, oil and gas' are more than two words, so this is not the answer.
• 'Coal and oil' are not a group of fuels, but individual fuels.
• 'Fossil fuels' is a group of fuels including coal and oil as mentioned in the conversation.
Unit 4 Section 3 of the Listening Test 31
According to grammar, the answer is a noun, so you write the correct answer, fossil fuels, in your question booklet.
Question 23: 'could have disastrous effects on world climate' indicates that the answer will soon follow. Effect is a form of affect, and climate is similar to weather.
'The weather could be affected by global warming.' The weather is the same, and affect is passive while create is active.
According to grammar, the answer is a noun, so you write the correct answer, global warming, in your question booklet.
Now let's look at Questions 24-26.
QUESTIONS 24-26
What percentage of each fuel is used in the world?
Write the correct Letter, A-D, for questions 24-26.
A-natu ral gas; B-nuclear; C-oil; D-other 8 per cent 24 _________ _ 20percent25 _________ _ 45percent26 _________ _
'Write the correct letter, A-D,for questions 24-26' is the instruction because it is in italics. 'A-D' is the important part of the instruction because it is in BOLD ITAUC CAPITALS. These are matching questions, where you have more answers than needed. Listen very carefully to each answer, to see whether it fits the question.
These instructions apply only to Questions 24-26. Here we are listening for types of fuel and percentages.
• Oil:' oil, accounting for almost half, at 4 5 per cent'. From the list of percentages, 45 is almost half, so C is the answer for question 26.
• Natural gas: 'Coal and natural gas are equal next at 20 per cent.' There is no coal in the answers, but we do have natural gas, so A is the answer for question 25.
• Nuclear: 'nuclear power being the lowest, at 7 per cent'. Question 24 is the lowest percentage in the list, but 8 per cent is not the lowest percentage overall. Nuclear is the lowest overall at 7 per cent. Because there are too many letters for these questions, B is not needed.
• Other: we can now predict that the answer to Question 24 is D, although it is strongly advisable to keep listening carefully to check that you have made the correct choice. 'Other sources of energy are also near the bottom, at 8 per cent.' The words other and 8 per cent confirm that D is in fact the correct answer for Question 24.
To conclude, you should write the letter D next to Question 24, A for Question 25 and C for Question 26 in your question booklet.
Now you will be asked to look at Questions 27-30. It is important that you use the 20 seconds that you are given here to look only at Questions 27-30, as you will be given another 30 seconds at the end of Section 3 to check all answers to Questions 21-30.
Let's look at Questions 27-30.
32 IHTS Preparation and Practice listening & Speaking
QUESTIONS 27-30
Choose the correct letter; A, B or C.
27. Richard believes that the main problem with using fossil fuels is A they affect everybody through global warming.
B their supply will eventually run out.
C they create gases that pollute the air and damage all living things.
28. Shirley wants to research nuclear energy because
A the fuels used in nuclear energy release radiation even after they've been used.
B she wants to know how nuclear waste is disposed of.
C of public concerns over nuclear power stations situated close to where they live.
29. Regarding other energy sources, Richard
A is going to research renewable energy sources.
B is not going to research renewable energy sources.
C hasn't decided if he's going to research renewable energy sources.
30. For the next meeting, Shirley will find some information about A the benefits of coal and oil.
B alternative energy sources.
C nuclear power stations.
'Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C' is the instruction because it is in italics. 'A, B, or C' is the important part of the instruction because it is in BOLD ITALIC CAPITALS. These are multiple choice questions. Although the three possible answers are similar, you need to choose only the one answer that is correct for each question. These instructions apply only to Questions 27-30. Let's look at each question in turn.
Question 27: The key words are:
• Richard, whom the question is about
• main problem, the most important problem
• fossil fuels, the topic to listen for.
By looking at the possible answers A, B and C, we know that we are listening for a problem specific to fossil fuels. Let's look at each possible answer in turn:
A 'Fossil fuels increase the world's temperature.' This is a problem, but not the main problem, so the answer is not A.
B 'The most serious issue is that these three types of fuel are finite, meaning that they will not last forever.' The most serious issue is similar to 'the main problem' . Finite and they will not last forever are similar to 'will eventually run out'. So B seems the correct answer, although it is strongly advisable to keep listening carefully to check that you have made the right decision.
C 'Another major disadvantage'.This is a problem but not the main problem.Therefore the answer is not C.
Unit 4 Section 3 of the listening Test 33
We can therefore conclude that B is the correct answer. You should circle the letter B in your question booklet.