This Cambridge IELTS 13 listening test 4 answers page collects the whole of Listening Test 4 in one place, with playable audio for all four parts, the complete answer key for Questions 1–40, explanations that quote each section’s transcript, and the full scripts for reading afterwards. Section 1 is a note completion phone call about a trainee programme at JPNW, Section 2 mixes multiple choice and trail matching in a Snow Centre welcome talk, Section 3 follows Jack and Alice discussing nutritional food labels, and Section 4 is a lecture on the importance of coffee. Read the Section 1 strategy before the first part and the Section 4 strategy before the last, then sit the full thirty minutes without pausing. Mark all forty questions honestly, then use the explanations to repair the exact skill that cost you each mark.

Section Walkthroughs

• Job Reference Call (Questions 1–10) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Snow Centre Welcome (Questions 11–20) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Nutritional Food Labels Report (Questions 21–30) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• The Importance of Coffee (Questions 31–40) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section

Section 1 — Job Reference Call

Questions 1–10

Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Section 1 Answer Explanations

1. Finance — the notes record where Alex did his initial training, and he states “I did my initial training in Finance”. Customer services is the trap, because “now I work in the customer services department” describes his current job, not his first placement. Write the department name with a capital letter, exactly as the recording says it.

2. Maths — the worry was one school subject, since Alex says “I was really worried because I failed Maths”. He adds that the failure “didn’t actually matter” once he began courses on the job, but the notes ask for the subject itself. Capitalise Maths, because the recording names it as a subject.

3. business — the diploma row follows Martha’s plan, because she says “I’m hoping to do the one in business skills”. Alex replies “I took the one on IT skills but I wish I’d done that one instead”, so IT skills is the nearby trap. The notes record the applicant’s diploma, and Martha is the applicant.

4. 17 — the youngest trainee’s age appears in Alex’s memory: “there was only one person younger than me, how was 17”. Alex himself was older, since he says “I was 18”, and the rest were between 18 and 20, so both of those numbers fail. The gap takes the figure alone, with no words attached.

5. holiday — trainees keep one entitlement, because Alex confirms “you get the same number of days’ holiday as everyone else”. The pay trap sits right beside it, since Martha already knows trainees earn “a lower minimum wage than regular employees”. Write holiday in the singular, matching the recording.

6. college — the monthly commitment is stated in Martha’s question: “Do you have to spend any time in college?”. Alex answers “Yes, one day each month”, and the number one belongs to the frequency, not the place. The gap needs the institution, so college fills it.

7. location — the advantage row takes its word directly from Alex: “it’s very close to the train station so the location’s a real advantage”. The station is the supporting detail, while location is the noun that names the advantage itself. Keep the singular form that the recording uses.

8. jeans — the clothing to avoid is named as an example: “Nothing too casual – like jeans, for example”. The jacket, skirt and trousers that follow are what Martha should wear, so none of them fits a gap about what not to wear. The plural noun is the answer.

9. late — the arrival advice is blunt: “They hate people who are late”. Alex frames it positively with “arrive in plenty of time”, but the notes ask what to avoid being, so the adjective late completes the sentence. The gap follows a negative structure in the notes.

10. smile — the final tip comes from Alex’s manager: “one other useful piece of advice my manager told me before I had the interview for this job – is to smile”. He adds “Even if you feel terrified”, which confirms the advice stands whatever your nerves. One word only, so smile is the whole answer.

Section 2 — Snow Centre Welcome

Questions 11–16

Choose the correct letter, A , B or C .

• The Snow Centre

11. Annie recommends that when cross-country skiing, the visitors should get away from the regular trails. stop to enjoy views of the scenery. go at a slow speed at the beginning.

• A — get away from the regular trails.
• B — stop to enjoy views of the scenery.
• C — go at a slow speed at the beginning.

12. What does Annie tell the group about this afternoon’s dog-sled trip? Those who want to can take part in a race. Anyone has the chance to drive a team of dogs. One group member will be chosen to lead the trail.

• A — Those who want to can take part in a race.
• B — Anyone has the chance to drive a team of dogs.
• C — One group member will be chosen to lead the trail.

13. What does Annie say about the team relay event? All participants receive a medal. The course is 4 km long. Each team is led by a teacher.

• A — All participants receive a medal.
• B — The course is 4 km long.
• C — Each team is led by a teacher.

14. On the snow-shoe trip, the visitors will visit an old gold mine. learn about unusual flowers. climb to the top of a mountain.

• A — visit an old gold mine.
• B — learn about unusual flowers.
• C — climb to the top of a mountain.

15. The cost of accommodation in the mountain hut includes a supply of drinking water. transport of visitors’ luggage. cooked meals.

• A — a supply of drinking water.
• B — transport of visitors’ luggage.
• C — cooked meals.

16. If there is a storm while the visitors are in the hut, they should contact the bus driver. wait until the weather improves. use the emergency locator beacon.

• A — contact the bus driver.
• B — wait until the weather improves.
• C — use the emergency locator beacon.

Questions 17–20

What information does Annie give about skiing on each of the following mountain trails?

Choose FOUR answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-F , next to Questions

• A. It has a good place to stop and rest.
• B. It is suitable for all abilities.
• C. It involves crossing a river.
• D. It demands a lot of skill.
• E. It may be closed in bad weather.
• F. It has some very narrow sections.

• Information
• Mountain trails

17. Highland Trail

18. Pine Trail

19. Stony Trail

20. Loser’s Trail

Section 2 Answer Explanations

11. A — the centre’s biggest draw is stated first: “Most visitors come here for the cross-country skiing”. Option A, the resort’s most popular activity, restates that line. The steep-slope option fails because skiers stay “on fairly flat ground for most of the time, rather than going down steep mountainsides”, and the fitness option fails because you can “just glide gently along and enjoy the beautiful scenery”.

12. B — listeners choose their role on the dog-sled trip: “you can have your own team for the afternoon and learn how to drive them”, or “you can just sit back in the sled and enjoy the ride as a passenger”. Option B, taking part in whichever way suits you, matches that pair of choices. The television option quotes “You may have seen our dogs on TV recently racing in the winter sled festival”, which describes the dogs, not the listeners.

13. A — everyone who joins the relay receives recognition, because “there’s a medal for everyone who takes part”. Option A, a reward for every participant, paraphrases that promise. The fixed-team option fails since “Participants are in teams of two to four”, and the serious-competition option fails because “Participation rather than winning is the main focus”.

14. C — the climb to the summit is described precisely: “It’s a long ascent, though not too steep”. Option C, an ascent that is long but gentle, restates both halves of that sentence. The several-days-each-way option fails because “walkers generally take a couple of days to get to the summit and return”, which covers the whole round trip.

15. A — the overnight stop costs nothing extra, because “That’s included in your package for the stay”. Option A, the hut being part of the holiday price, matches that statement. Food is the trap, since Annie stresses that “you need to take your own food”, so nothing can be bought at the hut.

16. B — the storm instruction is direct: “stay in the hut – generally the storms don’t last long”. Option B, waiting indoors until the weather clears, restates the advice. The beacon option fails because Annie says to “only use that if it’s real emergency”, and the return option fails because the airport buses “they’ll probably not be running anyway”.

17. B — Highland Trail welcomes every level, because “This trail’s been designed to give first-timers an experience they’ll enjoy regardless of their age or skill, but it’s also ideal for experts to practise their technique”. B is the letter for the option about a trail that suits beginners and experts alike. Its position “directly accessible from where we are now” is a tempting detail, but closeness is not what the question asks.

18. D — Pine Trail belongs to strong skiers only, since Annie warns “if you’re nervous about skiing, leave this one to the experts”. D is the letter for the option meaning the trail is only for highly experienced skiers. Her supporting line, “if you’ve fully mastered the techniques needed for hills, it’s great fun”, confirms the entry standard.

19. A — Stony Trail offers a mid-route rest, because “There’s a shelter half-way where you can sit and take a break and enjoy the afternoon sunshine”. A is the letter for the option about a place to stop and recover. The warning of “one or two tricky sections, but nothing too challenging” keeps the trail within reach of improving skiers.

20. E — Loser’s Trail needs a check before you leave, because Annie says “check with us before you set out to make sure the trail’s open that day”. E is the letter for the option about confirming the trail is open in poor conditions. The reason follows from her warning that “the last part is quite exposed”.

Section 3 — Nutritional Food Labels Report

Questions 21–26

Choose the correct letter, A , B or C .

• Labels giving nutritional information on food packaging

21. What was Jack’s attitude to nutritional food labels before this project? He didn’t read everything on them. He didn’t think they were important. He thought they were too complicated.

• A — He didn’t read everything on them.
• B — He didn’t think they were important.
• C — He thought they were too complicated.

22. Alice says that before doing this project, she was unaware of what certain foods contained. she was too lazy to read food labels. she was only interested in the number of calories.

• A — she was unaware of what certain foods contained.
• B — she was too lazy to read food labels.
• C — she was only interested in the number of calories.

23. When discussing supermarket brands of pizza, Jack agrees with Alice that the list of ingredients is shocking. he will hesitate before buying pizza again. the nutritional label is misleading.

• A — the list of ingredients is shocking.
• B — he will hesitate before buying pizza again.
• C — the nutritional label is misleading.

24. Jack prefers the daily value system to other labelling systems because it is more accessible. more logical. more comprehensive.

• A — more accessible.
• B — more logical.
• C — more comprehensive.

25. What surprised both students about one flavour of crisps? The percentage of artificial additives given was incorrect. The products did not contain any meat. The labels did not list all the ingredients.

• A — The percentage of artificial additives given was incorrect.
• B — The products did not contain any meat.
• C — The labels did not list all the ingredients.

26. What do the students think about research into the impact of nutritional food labelling? It did not produce clear results. It focused on the wrong people. It made unrealistic recommendations.

• A — It did not produce clear results.
• B — It focused on the wrong people.
• C — It made unrealistic recommendations.

Questions 27–28

Choose TWO letters, A-E .

27–28. Which TWO things surprised the students about the traffic-light system for nutritional labels? its widespread use the fact that it is voluntary for supermarkets how little research was done before its introduction its unpopularity with food manufacturers the way that certain colours are used

• A — its widespread use
• B — the fact that it is voluntary for supermarkets
• C — how little research was done before its introduction
• D — its unpopularity with food manufacturers
• E — the way that certain colours are used

Questions 29–30

Choose TWO letters, A-E .

29–30. Which TWO things are true about the participants in the study on the traffic-light system? They had low literacy levels. They were regular consumers of packaged food. They were selected randomly. They were from all socio-economic groups. They were interviewed face-to-face.

• A — They had low literacy levels.
• B — They were regular consumers of packaged food.
• C — They were selected randomly.
• D — They were from all socio-economic groups.
• E — They were interviewed face-to-face.

Section 3 Answer Explanations

21. A — Jack read labels only when he had to, because “I’ve always had to check labels for traces of peanuts in everything I eat because of my allergy”. Option A, checking only for a medical reason, matches the line that follows: “I’ve never really been concerned enough to check how healthy a product is”. The health-conscious shopper option is the opposite of his habit.

22. A — Alice’s regular purchase hid sugar, since she admits “the ‘healthy’ yoghurt I’ve bought for years is full of sugar” and “it’s actually quite high in calories”. Option A, a product less healthy than its claim, restates her discovery. The low-in-fat claim she used to trust is the belief the project destroyed.

23. C — the pizza figures cover a fraction of the product, because “the nutritional values given are for half a pizza”. Option C, values stated for only part of the item, matches Alice’s point. Jack underlines the trap with “When most people eat the whole pizza”, so the printed serving size misleads most buyers.

24. C — Jack’s preferred system is the daily value one, because “I liked the traditional daily value system best”. Option C, the system that gives complete information, matches his reason: “I’m not sure it’s the easiest for people to use but at least you get the full story”. The easiest-to-use option is exactly what he refuses to claim.

25. B — the crisps contain no real chicken, because Jack objects to “calling them chicken flavour when they only contain artificial additives”. Option B, a name the ingredients do not justify, restates the complaint. Alice agrees from the other side: “I’d at least have expected them to contain a small percentage of real chicken”.

26. A — the study does not settle the question, because Alice argues “Those findings weren’t that conclusive and it was quite a small-scale study”. Option A, evidence that proves little so far, matches her verdict that “I think more research has to be done”. Jack’s challenge, that “People didn’t necessarily stop buying unhealthy products”, is the finding she refuses to accept at face value.

27. B — the first criticism blames the industry, because Alice identifies “Pressure from the food manufacturers” behind the patchy adoption. B is the letter for the option about manufacturers resisting the system, and Jack’s surprise — “I’d have thought it would have been compulsory” — supports it. The speakers agree the scheme should be universal, not optional.

28. C — the second criticism targets the launch, because Alice says “it was brought in without enough consultation – a lot of experts had deep reservations about it”. C is the letter for the option about introducing the system without asking the specialists first. The reservations belong to the experts, which rules out options that blame shoppers.

29. D — the survey studied the wrong people, because Alice insists “I don’t think they targeted the right people”. D is the letter for the option criticising the choice of participants, and her fix follows: “They should have focused on people with low literacy levels”. Feedback from “all socio-economic groups” was welcome, so broad coverage is not the failing.

30. E — the method limited the numbers, because Alice notes “if they hadn’t interviewed participants face-to-face, they could have used a much bigger sample size”. E is the letter for the option about a sample that was too small. She ends on a further gap: “The thing that wasn’t stated was how often they bought packaged food”, which shows how much the survey left unmeasured.

Section 4 — The Importance of Coffee

Questions 31–40

Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

• The history of coffee
• Coffee in the Arab world
• These was small-scale trade in wild coffee from Ethiopia.
• 1522: Coffee was approved in the Ottoman court as a type of medicine.
• 1623: In Constantinople, the ruler ordered the 31 ………… of every coffee house.
• Coffee arrives in Europe (17th century)
• Coffee shops were compared to 32 ………… .
• They played an important part in social and 33 ………… changes.
• Coffee and European colonization
• European powers established coffee plantations in their colonies.
• Types of coffee were often named according to the 34 ………… they came from.
• In Brazil and the Caribbean, most cultivation depended on 35 ………… .
• In Java, coffee was used as a form of 36 ………… .
• Coffee became almost as important as 37 ………… .
• The move towards the consumption of 38 ………… in Britain did not also take place in the USA.
• Coffee in the 19th century
• Prices dropped because of improvements in 39 ………… .
• Industrial workers found coffee helped them to work at 40 ………… .

Section 4 Answer Explanations

31. destruction — the 1623 note records the ruler’s order, because he “demanded the destruction of all the coffee houses in the city”. The gap follows the word demanded, so the noun destruction completes the note. Coffee drinking survived, since “many new ones opened”, but that later detail never fills this gap.

32. universities — the European coffee shops earned a grand comparison, because “some people said that these places performed a similar function to universities”. The gap follows compared with, so the plural noun universities fits. The speaker presents this as other people’s view, which still counts as the evidence the note records.

33. political — the note about wider effects takes its adjective from the closing line: “many social movements and political developments had their origins in coffee house discussions”. The note pairs this word with social, and the recording supplies the pair in the same order. Write the adjective, not the noun politics.

34. port — the coffee names came from a shipping point, because the types “were often taken from the port they were shipped to Europe from”. Write port in the singular, since the recording says the port, and ports fails. Mocha and Java are the examples the speaker names, not the answer.

35. slaves — the Brazil and Caribbean workforce was unfree, because “the workers there were almost all slaves”. The note contrasts this system with Java, where peasants delivered part of their crop instead. The plural noun matches the plural workers in the recording.

36. taxation — Java’s crop quota worked as a levy, because “it was used as a means of taxation”. The peasants “passed a proportion of this on to the Dutch”, which is the idea the note compresses into one word. Taxation, not tax, is the exact noun in the recording.

37. sugar — the comparable colonial crop is named directly: “it became nearly as important as sugar production”. The note asks which other crop rivalled coffee under the Europeans, and the speaker adds that sugar “was grown under very similar conditions”. One word only, so sugar alone scores.

38. tea — the drink that displaced coffee in Britain is identified by name: “This was tea, and by the late 1700s it was being widely drunk”. The note’s clue about a drink introduced from China paraphrases the build-up, and the word itself arrives straight after it. Write the three-letter word exactly as spoken.

39. transportation — cheaper travel cut the price, because “new types of transportation had been developed which were cheaper and more efficient”. The note links falling prices to a development, and the noun transportation names it. Spell transportation with the full -ation ending, because transport alone fails.

40. night — industrial work ran after dark, because “they might have to continue throughout the night”. The note pairs the stimulant use with the hours worked, and the phrase throughout the night delivers the single word. Night, not nights, matches the recording.

Cambridge IELTS 13 Listening Test 4 Answers

Questions and Answers

Listening Transcripts

Section 1 Transcript

MARTHA: Hi Alex. It’s Martha Clines here. James White gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind me calling you.

ALEX: Of course not. How are you, Martha?

MARTHA: Good thanks. I’m ringing because I need a bit of advice.

ALEX: Oh yeah. What about?

MARTHA: The training you did at JPNW a few years ago. I’m applying for the same thing.

ALEX: Oh right. Yes, I did mine in 2014. Best thing I ever did. I’m still working there.

MARTHA: Really? What are you doing?

ALEX: Well, now I work in the customer services department but I did my initial training in Finance. I stayed there for the first two years and then moved to where I am now.

MARTHA: That’s the same department I’m applying for. Did you enjoy it?

ALEX: I was pretty nervous to begin with. I didn’t do well in my exams at school and I was really worried because I failed Maths. But it didn’t actually matter because I did lots of courses on the job.

MARTHA: Did you get a diploma at the end of your trainee period? I’m hoping to do the one in business skills.

ALEX: Yes. That sounds good. I took the one on IT skills but I wish I’d done that one instead.

MARTHA: OK, that’s good to know. What about the other trainees? How did you get on with them?

ALEX: There were about 20 of us who started at the same time and we were all around the same age – I was 18 and there was only one person younger than me, how was 17. The rest were between 18 and 20. I made some good friends.

MARTHA: I’ve heard lots of good things about the training at JPNW. It seems like there are a lot of opportunities there.

ALEX: Yeah, definitely. Because of its size you can work in loads of different areas within the organisation.

MARTHA: What about pay? I know you get a lower minimum wage than regular employees.

ALEX: That’s right – which isn’t great. Buy you get the same number of days’ holiday as everyone else. And the pay goes up massively if they offer you a job at the end of the training period.

MARTHA: Yeah, but I’m not doing it for the money – it’s the experience I think will be really useful. Everyone says by the end of the year you gain so much confidence.

ALEX: You’re right. That’s the most useful part about it. There’s a lot of variety too. You’re given lots of different things to do. I enjoyed it all – I didn’t even mind the studying.

MARTHA: Do you have to spend any time in college?

ALEX: Yes, one day each month. So you get lots of support from both your tutor and your manager.

MARTHA: That’s good. And the company is easy to get to, isn’t it?

ALEX: Yes, it’s very close to the train station so the location’s a real advantage.

———————

ALEX: Have you got a date for your interview yet?

MARTHA: Yes, it’s on the 23rd of this month.

ALEX: So long as you’re well prepared there’s nothing to worry about. Everyone’s very friendly.

MARTHA: I am not sure what I should wear. What do you think?

ALEX: Nothing too casual – like jeans, for example. If you’ve got a nice jacket, wear that with a skirt or trousers.

MARTHA: OK. Thanks. Any other tips?

ALEX: Erm, well I know it’s really obvious but arrive in plenty of time. They hate people who are late. So make sure you know exactly where you have to get to. And one other useful piece of advice my manager told me before I had the interview for this job – is to smile. Even if you feel terrified. It makes people respond better to you.

MARTHA: I’ll have to practise doing that in the mirror!

ALEX: Yeah – well, good luck. Let me know if you need any more information.

MARTHA: Thanks very much.

Section 2 Transcript

Hi everyone, welcome to the Snow Centre. My name’s Annie. I hope you enjoyed the bus trip from the airport – we’ve certainly got plenty of snow today! Well, you’ve come to New Zealand’s premier snow and ski centre, and we’ve a whole load of activities for you during your week here.

Most visitors come here for the cross-country skiing, where you’re on fairly flat ground for most of the time, rather than going down steep mountainsides. There are marked trails, but you can also leave these and go off on your own and that’s an experience not to be missed. You can go at your own speed – it’s great aerobic exercise if you really push yourself, or if you prefer you can just glide gently along and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

This afternoon, you’ll be going on a dog-sled trip. You may have seen our dogs on TV recently racing in the winter sled festival. If you want, you can have your own team for the afternoon and learn how to drive them, following behind our leader on the trail. Or if you’d prefer, you can just sit back in the sled and enjoy the ride as a passenger.

At the weekend, we have the team relay event, and you’re all welcome to join in. We have a local school coming along, and a lot of the teachers are taking part too. Participation rather than winning is the main focus, and there’s a medal for everyone who takes part. Participants are in teams of two to four, and each team must complete four laps of the course.

For your final expedition, you’ll head off to Mount Frenner wearing a pair of special snow shoes which allow you to walk on top of the snow. This is an area where miners once searched for gold, though there are very few traces of their work left now. When the snow melts in summer, the mountain slopes are carpeted in flowers and plants. It’s a long ascent, though not too steep, and walkers generally take a couple of days to get to the summit and return.

You’ll spend the night in our hut half-way up the mountain. That’s included in your package for the stay. It’s got cooking facilities, firewood and water for drinking. For washing, we recommend you use melted snow, though, to conserve supplies. We can take your luggage up on our snowmobile for you for just ten dollars a person. The hut has cooking facilities so you can make a hot meal in the evening and morning, but you need to take your own food.

The weather on Mount Frenner can be very stormy. In that case, stay in the hut – generally the storms don’t last long. Don’t stress about getting back here to the centre in time to catch the airport bus – they’ll probably not be running anyway. We do have an emergency locator beacon in the hut but only use that if it’s real emergency, like if someone’s ill or injured.

—————

Now, let me tell you something about the different ski trails you can follow during your stay here.

Highland Trail’s directly accessible from where we are now. This trail’s been designed to give first-timers an experience they’ll enjoy regardless of their age or skill, but it’s also ideal for experts to practise their technique.

Then there’s Pine Trail … if you’re nervous about skiing, leave this one to the experts! You follow a steep valley looking right down on the river below – scary! But if you’ve fully mastered the techniques needed for hills, it’s great fun.

Stony Trail’s a good choice once you’ve got a general idea of the basics. There are one or two tricky sections, but nothing too challenging. There’s a shelter half-way where you can sit and take a break and enjoy the afternoon sunshine.

And finally, Loser’s Trail. This starts off following a gentle river valley but the last part is quite exposed so the snow conditions can be challenging – if it’s snowing or windy, check with us before you set out to make sure the trail’s open that day.

Right, so now if you’d like to follow me, we’ll get started …

Section 3 Transcript

JACK: I’ve still got loads to do for our report on nutritional food labels.

ALICE: Me too. What did you learn from doing the project about your own shopping habits?

JACK: Well, I’ve always had to check labels for traces of peanuts in everything I eat because of my allergy. But beyond that I’ve never really been concerned enough to check how healthy a product is.

ALICE: This project has actually taught me to read the labels much more carefully. I tended to believe claims on packaging like ‘low in fat’. But I now realise that the ‘healthy’ yoghurt I’ve bought for years is full of sugar and that it’s actually quite high in calories.

JACK: Ready meals are the worst … comparing the labels on supermarket pizzas was a real eye-opener. Did you have any idea how many calories they contain? I was amazed.

ALICE: Yes, because unless you read the label really carefully, you wouldn’t know that the nutritional values given are for half a pizza.

JACK: When most people eat the whole pizza. Not exactly transparent is it?

ALICE: Not at all. But I expect it won’t stop you from buying pizza?

JACK: Probably not, no! I thought comparing the different labelling systems used by food manufactures was interesting. I think the kind of labelling system used makes a big difference.

ALICE: Which one did you prefer?

JACK: I liked the traditional daily value system best – the one which tells you what proportion of your required daily intake of each ingredient the product contains. I’m not sure it’s the easiest for people to use but at least you get the full story. I like to know all the ingredients in a product – not just how much fat, salt and sugar they contain.

ALICE: But it’s good supermarkets have been making an effort to provide reliable information for customers.

JACK: Yes. There just needs to be more consistency between labelling systems used by different supermarkets, in terms of portion sizes, etc.

ALICE: Mmm. The labels on the different brands of chicken flavour crisps were quite revealing too, weren’t they?

JACK: Yeah. I don’t understand how they can get away with calling them chicken flavour when they only contain artificial additives.

ALICE: I know. I’d at least have expected them to contain a small percentage of real chicken.

JACK: Absolutely.

ALICE: I think having nutritional food labeling has been a good idea, don’t you? I think it will change people’s behaviour and stop mothers, in particular, buying the wrong things.

JACK: But didn’t that study kind of prove the opposite? People didn’t necessarily stop buying unhealthy products.

ALICE: They only said that might be the case. Those findings weren’t that conclusive and it was quite a small-scale study. I think more research has to be done.

JACK: Yes, I think you’re probably right.

——————

JACK: What do you think of the traffic-light system?

ALICE: I think supermarkets like the idea of having a colour-coded system – red, orange or green – for levels of fat, sugar and salt in a product.

JACK: Buy it’s not been adopted universally. And not on all products. Why do you suppose that is?

ALICE: Pressure from the food manufacturers. Hardly surprising that some of them are opposed to flagging up how unhealthy their products are.

JACK: I’d have thought it would have been compulsory. It seems ridiculous it isn’t.

ALICE: I know. And what I couldn’t get over is the fact that it was brought in without enough consultation – a lot of experts had deep reservations about it.

JACK: That is a bit weird. I suppose there’s an argument for doing the research now when consumers are familiar with this system.

ALICE: Yeah, maybe.

JACK: The participants in the survey were quite positive about the traffic-light system.

ALICE: Mmm. But I don’t think they targeted the right people. They should have focused on people with low literacy levels because these labels are designed to be accessible to them.

JACK: Yeah. But it’s good to get feedback from all socio-economic groups. And there wasn’t much variation in their responses.

ALICE: No. But if they hadn’t interviewed participants face-to-face, they could have used a much bigger sample size. I wonder why they chose that method?

JACK: Dunno. How were they selected? Did they volunteer or were they approached?

ALICE: I think they volunteered. The thing that wasn’t stated was how often they bought packaged food – all we know is how frequently they used the supermarket.

Section 4 Transcript

In my presentation, I’m going to talk about coffee, and its importance both in economic and social terms. We think it was first drunk in the Arab world, but there’s hardly any documentary evidence of it before the 1500s, although of course that doesn’t mean that people didn’t know about it before then.

However, there is evidence that coffee was originally gathered from bushes growing wild in Ethiopia, in the northeast of Africa. In the early sixteenth century, it was being bought by traders, and gradually its use as a drink spread throughout the Middle East. It’s also known that in 1522, in the Turkish city of Constantinople, which was the centre of the Ottoman Empire, the court physician approved its use as a medicine.

By the mid-1500s, coffee bushes were being cultivated in the Yemen and for the next hundred years this region produced most of the coffee drunk in Africa and the Arab world. What’s particularly interesting about coffee is its effect on social life. It was rarely drunk at home, but instead people went to coffee houses to drink it. These people, usually men, would meet to drink coffee and chat about issues of the day. But at the time, this chance to share ideas and opinions was seen as something that was potentially dangerous, and in 1623 the ruler of Constantinople demanded the destruction of all the coffee houses in the city, although after his death many new ones opened, and coffee consumption continued. In the seventeenth century, coffee drinking spread to Europe, and here too coffee shops became places where ordinary people, nearly always men, could meet to exchange ideas. Because of this, some people said that these places performed a similar function to universities. The opportunity they provided for people to meet together outside their own homes and to discuss the topics of the day had an enormous impact on social life, and many social movements and political developments had their origins in coffee house discussions.

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In the late 1600s, the Yemeni monopoly on coffee production broke down and coffee production started to spread around the world, helped by European colonization. Europeans set up coffee plantations in Indonesia and the Caribbean and production of coffee in the colonies skyrocketed. Different types of coffee were produced in different areas, and it’s interesting that the names given to these different types, like Mocha or Java coffee, were often taken from the port they were shipped to Europe from. But if you look at the labour system in the different colonies, there were some significant differences.

In Brazil and the various Caribbean colonies, coffee was grown in huge plantations and the workers there were almost all slaves. But this wasn’t the same in all colonies; for example in Java, which had been colonized by the Dutch, the peasants grew coffee and passed a proportion of this on to the Dutch, so it was used as a means of taxation. But whatever system was used, under the European powers of the eighteenth century, coffee production was very closely linked to colonisation. Coffee was grown in ever-increasing quantities to satisfy the growing demand from Europe, and it became nearly as important as sugar production, which was grown under very similar conditions. However, coffee prices were not yet low enough for people to drink it regularly at home, so most coffee consumption still took place in public coffee houses and it still remained something of a luxury item. In Britain, however, a new drink was introduced from China, and started to become popular, gradually taking over from coffee, although at first it was so expensive that only the upper classes could afford it. This was tea, and by the late 1700s it was being widely drunk. However, when the USA gained independence from Britain in 1766, they identified this drink with Britain, and coffee remained the preferred drink in the USA, as it still is today.

So, by the early nineteenth century, coffee was already being widely produced and consumed. But during this century, production boomed and coffee prices started to fall. This was partly because new types of transportation had been developed which were cheaper and more efficient. So now, working people could afford to buy coffee – it wasn’t just a drink for the middle classes. And this was at a time when large parts of Europe were starting to work in industries. And sometimes this meant their work didn’t stop when it got dark; they might have to continue throughout the night. So, the use of coffee as a stimulant became important – it wasn’t just a drink people drank in the morning, for breakfast.

There were also changes in cultivation …

Listening Band Score Conversion

Your raw score out of 40 converts to an IELTS band score using the official listening conversion table below.

Key Vocabulary and Spelling

Study Tips

Sit the paper in one thirty-minute pass. The real test plays four sections back to back, and concentration dips are what turn the Section 4 lecture into the lowest-scoring part. Reproduce exam conditions at home, with one playthrough, no pausing and answers written as you listen, then mark all forty questions together.

Switch strategy at each page turn. Note completion dominates Sections 1 and 4 and rewards predicting word types, while the multiple choice, matching and choose-TWO work in Sections 2 and 3 reward elimination and speaker tracking. The Band 8 listening strategy shows how to change mode cleanly between the two halves of the paper.

Guard capitals and long spellings. Finance, Maths, universities, transportation and destruction all punish rushed transfers, and singular answers such as port, holiday and night fail when a plural sneaks in. Read every answer aloud once during checking time, because the ear catches missing letters that the eye skips.

Classify every error before moving on. Sort your mistakes into words you never heard, words you heard but attached to the wrong question, and words you spelled wrongly, because each fault has a different fix. The explanations above label the trap in every question, so use them to diagnose each loss precisely and retake only the sections that cost you marks.

Practice More Listening Tests

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