Cambridge IELTS 20 Listening Test 2 answers are gathered on this page in full: the official answer key for all 40 questions, playable audio for each of the four parts, an explanation for every question with the exact transcript line that proves it, and complete transcripts for reading along. The paper runs from a conversation about council support for carers, through a town volunteer scheme talk and a student discussion choosing a human geography topic, to a lecture on food fashions and the marketing behind them.

Parts 1 and 4 are note completion tasks with different word limits, while Parts 2 and 3 mix matching boxes with three-option multiple choice, so the question type swings twice before the end. Before you press play, skim the gaps in Part 1 and fix the word class each needs with the Section 1 strategy, and hold your place through the ten-question closing lecture with the Section 4 strategy.

Section Walkthroughs

• Carer Support Advice (Questions 1–10) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Town Volunteer Scheme Talk (Questions 11–20) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Human Geography Assignment (Questions 21–30) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Food Fashions Lecture (Questions 31–40) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section

Section 1 — Carer Support Advice

Questions 1–10

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

Local Councils can Arrange Practical Support to Help those Caring for Elderly people at Home.

This can give the carer:

– time for other responsibilities

This may include discussion of:

What types of tasks are involved, e.g.:

– help with dressing

– shopping

– helping with meals

Any aspects of caring that are especially difficult, e.g.:

– help with housework

• Complete the notes below.
• – a 1 …………
• Assessment of mother’s needs
• – how much 2 ………… the caring involves
• – helping her have a 3 …………
• – dealing with 4 …………
• – loss of 5 …………
• – 6 ………… her
• – preventing a 7 …………
• Types of support that may be offered to carers
• – transport costs, e.g. cost of a 8 …………
• – car-related costs, e.g. fuel and 9 …………
• – help to reduce 10 …………

Section 1 Answer Explanations

1. break — the first note lists what council support gives a carer, and the man says carers “sometimes need a break” beside time for their other responsibilities. Responsibilities is already printed, so the second benefit, break, is the answer.

2. time — the assessment asks how much the caring involves, and the council wants to know “the amount of time you spend looking after your mother”. Day is the trap, because “every day” only marks when the caring happens.

3. shower — the daily-task note is heard as “I help her get into the shower in the morning”. Morning tells you when, not what, so the thing helped with is shower.

4. money — the next task is caught by the question “whether she can cope using money”. Cope with becomes the note’s dealing with, and shopping and mealtimes stay printed examples.

5. memory — the difficult aspect is her having “quite bad problems with her memory”. Forgetting to eat is an effect, and the note names the cause, memory.

6. lifting — the man names the physical difficulty himself: “Lifting her, for example?”. The back fear is the consequence, so the action performed is lifting.

7. fall — advice also covers “how to avoid the possibility of your mum having a fall”. Avoid becomes the note’s preventing, and the article a calls for the singular fall.

8. taxi — under transport costs the example is a claim to “get a taxi to take your mother for an appointment”. Petrol belongs to the next row, so the transport cost is taxi.

9. insurance — the car-cost row prints fuel for petrol and waits for “you can claim for the insurance too”. Spelled with -ance, insurance completes the pair.

10. stress — the final note is proved by “it seems to me you under quite a bit of stress” and the advice “on how to minimise it”. Minimise is the note’s reduce, so stress is the answer.

Section 2 — Town Volunteer Scheme Talk

Questions 11–16

What is the role of the volunteers in each of the following activities?

Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-I, next to Questions

• A. providing entertainment
• B. providing publicity about a council service
• C. contacting local businesses
• D. giving advice to visitors
• E. collecting feedback on events
• F. selling tickets
• G. introducing guest speakers at an event
• H. encouraging cooperation between local organisations
• I. helping people find their seats

• Community Volunteering and Local Festival Events
• Information

11. walking around the town centre

12. helping at concerts

13. getting involved with community groups

14. helping with a magazine

15. participating at lunches for retired people

16. helping with the website

Questions 17–20

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

17. Which event requires the largest number of volunteers? the music festival the science festival the book festival

• A — the music festival
• B — the science festival
• C — the book festival

18. What is the most important requirement for volunteers at the festivals? interpersonal skills personal interest in the event flexibility

• A — interpersonal skills
• B — personal interest in the event
• C — flexibility

19. New volunteers will start working in the week beginning 2 September 9 September 23 September

• A — 2 September
• B — 9 September
• C — 23 September

20. What is the next annual event for volunteers? a boat trip a barbecue a party

• A — a boat trip
• B — a barbecue
• C — a party

Section 2 Answer Explanations

11. D (giving advice to visitors) — town-centre volunteers answer questions because “Tourists often ask how to get to a particular shop” and welcome “recommendations about what to visit”. Advising visitors is the role, not selling tickets.

12. I (helping people find their seats) — at concerts, volunteers “get everyone in the audience to the right place” after some “head for the wrong section of the hall”. Directing audience members to seats is I; the tickets were already bought.

13. H (encouraging cooperation between local organisations) — with community groups, “the volunteers talk about how groups can help each other”, such as lending a coach between clubs. Connecting organisations is the role, and no guest speakers appear.

14. E (collecting feedback on events) — the magazine relies on volunteers “to find out what people think of events they’ve attended”. Business funding is “the responsibility of the council’s advertising department”, so C fails.

15. A (providing entertainment) — at the retired clubs’ lunch, “some volunteers put on a show” of “songs and short plays”. Performing for the guests is entertainment, so A wins.

16. B (providing publicity about a council service) — the service is the council website, and volunteers help “by making sure residents know about it”. Spreading awareness of a council service is publicity, which is B.

17. B (the science festival) — volunteer need escalates: “More are needed for the music festival”, then “even more help is required for the science festival”. Music needs many, science needs the most, despite lasting “only two days long”.

18. A (interpersonal skills) — flexibility is only what they aim for, since “We try to use volunteers who are flexible”, but “What essential though is being able to get on well with other people”. The essential requirement is interpersonal skills, so A outranks C.

19. B (9 September) — training runs from the 2nd, and duties begin with “duties the following week from the 9th onward”. The week of the 23rd brings only a review chat, so work starts on the 9th.

20. A (a boat trip) — the party and barbecue are past events, and the keyword is forthcoming: “a trip along the canal from here to Dewhurst and back”. The next annual event is the boat trip.

Section 3 — Human Geography Assignment

Questions 21–25

What is Rosie and Colin’s opinion about each of the following aspects of human geography?

Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G , next to Questions

• A. The information given about this was too vague.
• B. This may not be relevant to their course.
• C. This will involve only a small number of statistics.
• D. It will be easy to find facts about this.
• E. The facts about this may not be reliable.
• F. No useful research has been done on this.
• G. The information provided about this was interesting.

• Urban Development and Human Geography Discussion
• Opinion

21. Population

22. Health

23. Economies

24. Culture

25. Poverty

Questions 26–30

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

26. Rosie says that in her own city the main problem is Crime Housing Unemployment

• A — Crime
• B — Housing
• C — Unemployment

27. What recent additions to the outskirts of their cities are both students happy about? Conference centres Sports centres Retail centres

• A — Conference centres
• B — Sports centres
• C — Retail centres

28. The students agree that developing disused industrial sites may Have unexpected costs Damage the urban environment Destroy valuable historical buildings

• A — Have unexpected costs
• B — Damage the urban environment
• C — Destroy valuable historical buildings

29. The students will mention Masdar City as an example of an attempt to achieve Daily collections for waste recycling Sustainable energy use Free transport for everyone

• A — Daily collections for waste recycling
• B — Sustainable energy use
• C — Free transport for everyone

30. When discussing the ecotown of Greenhill Abbots, Colin is uncertain about What its objectives were Why there was opposition to it How much of it has actually been built

• A — What its objectives were
• B — Why there was opposition to it
• C — How much of it has actually been built

Section 3 Answer Explanations

21. D (It will be easy to find facts about this) — Rosie finds population dull, but Colin rules that it is “quite straightforward to find on the internet”. Straightforward facts are easy to find, so D fits.

22. G (The information provided about this was interesting) — health recalls the cholera lecture and Colin’s “fascinating, wasn’t it?”. Fascinating is interest, so G wins.

23. B (This may not be relevant to their course) — economies “had been taken off the syllabus for this year”, so Rosie says “it might be best to avoid it”. The syllabus is the course, making relevance the doubt.

24. A (The information given about this was too vague) — culture disappointed because “It was all so general and the lecturer didn’t give any useful examples”. General content without examples is too vague, which is A.

25. E (The facts about this may not be reliable) — poverty figures worry the students because “They’re sometimes deliberately manipulated”. Manipulated facts are unreliable, so E fits over any claim about quantity.

26. C (Unemployment) — crime is reframed as tied to “another more serious issue, which is that a lot of people don’t have jobs”, and that problem “That’s getting worse and worse”. Homelessness is easing, so unemployment is the main problem.

27. A (Conference centres) — both students praise the outskirts, which “are ideal for buildings that need a lot of space, like for conferences”, and Rosie’s city has them too. Retail fails because “a lot of the shops in the city centre are closing down”.

28. A (Have unexpected costs) — dangerous materials mean “the whole site has to be made safe”, and Colin concludes “that can’t be cheap. And I bet it’s often not budgeted for.” Architecture fails on “Not really”, so unexpected costs win.

29. B (Sustainable energy use) — Masdar City is “a city which set out to depend entirely on renewable energy”. Recycling is parked by “let’s stick to talking about power sources”, so sustainable energy is the example’s point.

30. C (How much of it has actually been built) — Colin knows Greenhill Abbots’ aims and its critics, but admits “I’m not sure how far they’ve got with it. I’ll check.” Progress is the uncertainty, which is C.

Section 4 — Food Fashions Lecture

Questions 31–40

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

The UK food industry is constantly developing products which are newor different.

Influencers on social media become ‘ambassadors’ for a brand.

Supermarkets track demand for ingredients on social media.

— A Swedish brand’s media campaign received publicity by upsetting competitors.

— Ethical concerns

• Complete the notes below.
• Developing Food Trends
• The growth in interest in food fashions started with 31 ………… of food being shared on social media.
• Sales of 32 ………… food brands have grown rapidly this way.
• Famous 33 ………… are influential.
• Marketing campaigns
• The avocado:
• — 34 ………… were invited to visit growers in South Africa.
• — Advertising focused on its 35 ………… benefits.
• Oat milk:
• — Promotion in the USA through 36 ………… shops reduced the need for advertising.
• — It appealed to consumers who are concerned about the 37 …………
• Norwegian skrei:
• — has helped strengthen the 38 ………… of Norwegian seafood.
• Quinoa:
• — Its success led to an increase in its 39 ………… .
• — Overuse of resources resulted in poor quality 40 ………… .

Section 4 Answer Explanations

31. photos — interest grew when people began “taking photos of their food” and shared them online. Smartphone marks the era, so what was shared, photos, fills the note.

32. vegan — the pioneering brands are named directly: “Companies which sell vegan produce were pioneers”. The adjective vegan names the produce that grew fastest.

33. chefs — the supermarket teams are “particularly interested in what well-known chefs are putting on their menus”. Famous is the note’s word for well-known, so chefs scores.

34. journalists — the avocado PR firm paid “for a group of journalists to travel out to South Africa”. Farmers hosted the visit, so the invited writers, journalists, answer the note.

35. health — the fruit was sold as a superfood “rich in nutrients and therefore beneficial for health”. The note asks for the kind of benefits, so health scores and nutrients stays out.

36. coffee — in the USA the brand chose “getting the product into coffee chains” over a retail launch. The note prints shops for chains, and supermarket sampling proved weaker.

37. environment — consumers prefer oat milk because “it has less of an impact on the environment”. Less water is one reason, but the broad concern the note wants is environment.

38. reputation — skrei demand was used “to build the reputation of Norway’s fisheries”. The note’s strengthen paraphrases build, so reputation completes it.

39. price — when quinoa demand peaked, “the price soared, making it unaffordable for local people”. The note records the increase, and price is what rose.

40. soil — year-round farming left “the fertility of the soil decreased dramatically”. The note’s poor quality names the soil, while desertification is only the future risk.

Cambridge IELTS 20 Listening Test 2 Answers

Questions and Answers

Listening Transcripts

Section 1 Transcript

WOMAN It’s really good to see you, Tom. Since I had to give up work, I feel I’m losing touch with my friends and colleagues.

MAN We really miss you in the office. We were all so sorry you had to leave. But you must be relieved to have more time to look after your mother. How is she?

WOMAN Well she is very cheerful, but she needs a lot of help.

MAN Have you tried to get any support from the local council?

WOMAN No, I didn’t know I could.

MAN Yes, they offer different kinds of practical support. They realise that carers sometimes need time for all the other responsibilities they have, apart from the person they’re caring for, and also that they sometimes need a break.

WOMAN Absolutely. OK, so tell me more. How do I go about getting this support?

MAN Well, you’d have to have an assessment of your mother’s needs. That means someone would come round and talk to you about the situation and what you need. So, for a start, they’d want to know the amount of time you spend looking after your mother every day.

WOMAN OK.

MAN Then they’ll probably ask you what sorts of tasks you do for your mother during the day. Things like if she needs help with getting dressed, for example.

WOMAN Right. I help her with that. And also I help her get into the shower in the morning.

MAN Yes, that sort of thing. They’ll probably ask you if you do the shopping for her and help her at mealtimes, and whether she can cope using money.

WOMAN Yes, that’s becoming a bit of a problem. She used to be very good at it, but not anymore.

———————

MAN And be ready to tell them about anything you find particularly difficult about caring for your mother.

WOMAN So, recently I’ve noticed she’s started to have quite bad problems with her memory. If I wasn’t there, I think she’d forget to eat, for example. And often she doesn’t seem quite sure what day it is.

MAN Yes, tell them about that. And are there any physical difficulties you have caring for her? Lifting her, for example?

WOMAN Yes, she’s quite heavy and I’m afraid of hurting my back. I’d be in real trouble if that happened.

MAN They can give you advice about that and also about how to avoid the possibility of your mum having a fall.

WOMAN Great. So once they’ve done this assessment, if I’m eligible, what happens next?

MAN Well, they might support you financially. So they might help you with transport costs, like if you have to get a taxi to take your mother for an appointment, for example.

WOMAN I usually drive her myself, actually. So, could I claim the petrol?

MAN You could. And you can claim for the insurance too.

WOMAN Oh, right.

MAN And if you need help with the housework, they can arrange for someone to come along once or twice a week. And one other thing. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but it important you

look after yourself And it seems to me you under quite a bit of stress

WOMAN I am yes

MAN Well tell the council because they may be able to give you some advice on how to minimise it

WOMAN Really? Though, actually, I feel so much better having talked to you. I’ll get in touch with the council straight away. Now, shall we go for coffee or something?

Section 2 Transcript

Good morning everyone. I’m Steve Wainwright from Elmley Town Council and I organise the town’s volunteer scheme. I’m delighted you’re all interested in joining the scheme. Our volunteers help to create a sense of community among the many people who live in our historic town of Elmley and make residents and visitors feel welcome at local events. First, I’ll mention just a few of the activities that volunteers carry out. One is to walk around the town centre streets wearing our volunteer T-shirt. Tourists often ask how to get to a particular shop, and they might also be grateful for recommendations about what to visit. The town holds a large number of concerts each year and part of the volunteers’ role is to get everyone in the audience to the right place as smoothly as possible. You’d be surprised how many people buy tickets, then don’t check them, and head for the wrong section of the hall. Volunteers may get involved with community groups, such as sports clubs or gardeners’ associations. Here, the volunteers talk about how groups can help each other. For instance, a writing group might want to travel to another town to hear a talk by a well-known author, but may not know that another club has a coach they could travel in. The town produces a monthly magazine, and anyone who lives in the town can send in articles. It’s free to residents and is paid for by local businesses. That’s the responsibility of the council’s advertising department. We depend on volunteers though to find out what people think of events they’ve attended and any suggestions they have for the future. The volunteers then send a summary to the editors. There are a number of clubs for retired people and every year the council arranges lunch for all the members. The volunteers welcome the guests and when everyone’s sitting down and relaxing after the meal, some volunteers put on a show. Usually around half an hour of songs and short plays, the club members really welcome the chance to chat to the volunteers at these events. The town council has a website, of course, and volunteers are asked to help by making sure residents know about it. It updated every day with information about future activities and we want as many people as possible to use it.

——————–

As you probably know, the town arranges three major festivals every year, and they all depend on a large number of volunteers. The book festival lasts three days, and uses several venues which all need volunteers. More are needed for the music festival because that lasts a whole week, and even more help is required for the science festival, even though it’s only two days long. It involves quite a lot of venues, though. It’s a good idea to help at the festival you’re most interested in, because you can attend most of the events for free. We try to use volunteers who are flexible, though, because some festival events are held outdoors and the weather may affect the size of the audience and even whether the event can take place so there can be changes at short notice What essential though is being able to get on well with other people and also to deal with someone who’s behaving badly, as occasionally happens. Our plan is to get you all working in September, after a week’s training starting on the 2nd, so we’ll be timetabling you for duties the following week from the 9th onward. Later in the week beginning September 23rd we have a chat with each of you to find out how you feel about being a volunteer and what extra support you need. As a thank you to the volunteers we arrange an annual event. In recent years we’ve had a party in the Town Hall and last year a barbecue in Chamber Park. Our forthcoming event is a trip along the canal from here to Dewhurst and back. It’s on Saturday, September the 28th. And if you’d like to attend, you can sign up once you start work. Now, this is the Volunteer’s T-shirt.

Section 3 Transcript

ROSIE Colin, I’m really struggling to think of a topic for our human geography assignment.

COLIN Me too, Rosie. I’ll tell you what, let’s think about the different aspects of human geography and see if we can narrow the topic down a bit to help us decide.

ROSIE OK. So one aspect is population. That would be all about population density and migration and so on. Lots of facts and statistics. Maybe a bit boring?

COLIN Yeah, but quite straightforward to find on the internet.

ROSIE Suppose so. How about health? I’d never thought about the links between that and geography until Professor Lee gave us that lecture on cholera. How in the 19th century, a physician used street plans and plans of water supplies to find the source of a cholera epidemic.

COLIN Yes, fascinating, wasn’t it? Or we could do something more general like economies

ROSIE So how financial and commercial factors are linked to the physical environment

COLIN Yeah

ROSIE I thought that had been taken off the syllabus for this year

COLIN Has it?

ROSIE I’m not sure but it might be best to avoid it

COLIN OK. Maybe we could do something on culture. We had that lecture about culture and geography last week.

ROSIE I didn’t get much out of that. It was all so general and the lecturer didn’t give any useful examples.

COLIN Yeah, I hardly took any notes. It didn’t seem worth it.

ROSIE Me neither.

COLIN We could focus on poverty. That’s something that’s a global problem.

ROSIE The trouble is, Dr Lee was saying, that you have to be careful with some of the figures relating to poverty. They’re sometimes deliberately manipulated.

COLIN You mean the information gets changed for political reasons?

ROSIE That sort of thing, yes.

————————

ROSIE So what are we going to do our assignment on? I’ll tell you what. One of the possibilities we have discussed is urbanisation and now over half the world population lives in cities. That really important

COLIN OK good idea Rosie Let do that

ROSIE I love living in a big city but of course there are problems

COLIN Things like theft and robbery?

ROSIE Yes, but where I come from, that’s linked to another more serious issue, which is that a lot of people don’t have jobs. That’s getting worse and worse. And we also still have quite a lot of people who are homeless, though that’s not quite so bad as it was.

COLIN It would be nice to talk about some positive developments, like some of the new developments on the outskirts of cities.

ROSIE Yeah, they’ve opened some massive new shopping centres outside my city.

COLIN Yeah, the same with mine, but it means a lot of the shops in the city centre are closing down. But the outskirts are ideal for buildings that need a lot of space, like for conferences. They’ve opened a couple of big ones.

ROSIE Yes, we’ve got some too. It’d be nicer to have more facilities for things like football too, but that’s not happening where I live.

COLIN Same in my area.

ROSIE We could include something about developing disused industrial sites. It seems like a good idea because you’re not doing any harm to the natural environment.

COLIN Yeah, but aren’t the buildings architecturally significant?

ROSIE Not really. And what people forget is that they often used quite dangerous materials, chemicals and things, which haven’t been properly cleared away, so the whole site has to be made safe.

COLIN Hmm, that can’t be cheap. And I bet it’s often not budgeted for.

ROSIE You’re right.

COLIN Have you read about Masdar City?

ROSIE In Abu Dhabi? Yes. It was designed to be a green city, wasn’t it? That might be a good example of a city which set out to depend entirely on renewable energy.

COLIN Yes. We should say something about that. It was designed to be totally pedestrianised too wasn’t it with the transport underground

ROSIE Yes and they had big plans for recycling to reduce waste to the lowest possible level But let’s stick to talking about power sources.

COLIN Then there’s that ecotown in England, Greenhill Abbotts. It set out to conform to the usual principles, sustainability and so on. A lot of people were against it at first. They said the plans were unrealistic. I’m not sure how far they’ve got with it. I’ll check.

ROSIE Right. So it looks as if we have a sort of plan.

Section 4 Transcript

There are trends in food much as there are trends in clothing. Interest in food fashions has risen rapidly since the birth of the smartphone when people first began taking photos of their food and instantly sharing them with their friends. The food industry in the UK in particular is obsessed with finding and exploiting the next big food trend. Marketeers aim to create a huge demand for a food item which was previously unknown or not needed. One of the most effective ways of promoting a new food product is by using social media influencers as brand ambassadors In return for free samples many influencers will post content about a product although there are influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers who can command large fees for their services Companies which sell vegan produce were pioneers in being able to increase sales really quickly in this way. For a food item to become really popular, it has to be readily available. So supermarkets have a role to play in creating a new food trend. They have dedicated teams closely following which new products or ingredients are trending on social media and are particularly interested in what well-known chefs are putting on their menus. I’d like to look at a few examples of marketing campaigns which were really successful in launching a new fashion trend. Starting in the 1990s with the avocado. A British PR company was hired to raise its profile and stimulate demand. They paid for a group of journalists to travel out to South Africa to meet avocado farmers. Articles written following this visit helped to educate the British public about the avocado, which at this time was certainly not the daily staple it’s since become. Advertisements were designed to promote the avocado as a superfood, rich in nutrients and therefore beneficial for health. Avocados became hugely fashionable, and within a few years UK avocado sales had grown from £13 million annually to around £150 million, making it one of the most successful fresh produce campaigns in UK history. Oat milk is a recent example of a new product which became fashionable very quickly. Now there are many brands available but one company which had early success was the Swedish brand Oatly They attracted a lot of attention with a media campaign which used provocation as a way of getting their message across effectively. The fact that this campaign aggravated competitors producing milk from dairy cows was seen as a plus, as it helped to make oat milk seem cool. In the USA, the brand decided against a big retail launch in favour of getting the product into coffee chains, which removed the need for a big advertising budget. This proved far more effective than offering samples in supermarkets. Oat milk had an advantage over other alternative milk products, such as almond milk. Many consumers prefer it because it has less of an impact on the environment. It requires significantly less water to produce than other alternative milk products and it also has a relatively low carbon footprint. Norwegian scray, a rarely available seasonal fish delicacy, otherwise known as Arctic cod, is now found on the menus of Michelin-starred restaurants throughout Europe. The demand for Skre has been used by a food marketing agency to build the reputation of Norway’s fisheries in general. Marketing surveys have shown that a significant number of shoppers now associate Norway with excellent seafood. Food trends can be considered a good thing in some ways, as they can benefit farmers and food producers enormously. The public can also be encouraged to buy things which are more sustainably produced. But ethical concerns have been raised about the effects a surge in demand can cause. Quinoa is a classic example. This plant is native to Peru and when demand peaked some years ago, the price soared, making it unaffordable for local people. While the popularity of quinoa has benefited farmers financially there have been other negative consequences. As demand grew, farmers began working the land all year round in order to produce more quinoa. One issue has been that the fertility of the soil decreased dramatically. which could potentially lead to desertification in some areas. Another example would be the case of…

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

The two completion parts carry different word limits: Part 1 allows ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER and Part 4 allows ONE WORD ONLY, so a number scores in Part 1 and never in Part 4. Part 1 baits you with consequences — the back fear, the forgotten meals — while Part 4 baits you with neighbours, such as nutrients beside health and desertification beside soil.

Parts 2 and 3 hang sixteen of twenty questions on option boxes, and the wrong options borrow the recording’s own words: tickets, businesses and guest speakers all feature in Part 2 without ever being a volunteer role, while retail centres and recycling feature in Part 3 only to be outweighed by conference centres and power sources. Downgrade what the speakers downgrade — “We try to use”, “a good idea” — and trust the absolute — “What essential though” — a routine the multiple choice strategy guide breaks down step by step.

Dates and ranked quantities decide several marks: training on the 2nd against duties from the 9th and chats in the week of the 23rd, the festival ladder from several through more to “even more help”, and the avocado leap from £13 million to £150 million. Write figures the moment they land, because the next sentence reframes them more often than it repeats them.

Spelling ends more answers here than hearing does: insurance with -ance, journalists with two es in the middle, environment with the n before the m, and the plural photos for Question 31. The listening spelling rules guide lists these traps and the plurals that cost candidates the most marks across all four parts.

Practice More Listening Tests

Mark all 40 answers strictly, review the quoted evidence for every miss, and keep the routine going with the free IELTS listening practice course from Simply IELTS, which drills every task type in this paper: note completion, matching and multiple choice. When a fresh full paper is the next step, try this interactive listening test: labyrinths first, then continue to the Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 1 answers page for the next test hub in the series. Compare your raw score with the answer table above, and start a new paper once paraphrase traps and dates stop costing marks.