Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 1 answers are set out in full on this page, together with the official answer key for all 40 questions, clear explanations for every item, audio for each of the four parts, and complete transcripts you can read alongside the recording.

The paper opens with a phone enquiry about sailing courses, moves to a podcast on becoming a film makeup artist, then a discussion between two students on ocean biodiversity, and closes with a lecture on natural rubber. Every explanation quotes the exact line from the recording that proves the answer, so you can see why each key word or letter is right and why the distractors fail.

Before you press play, skim the gaps in Parts 1 and 4 and predict the word class each one needs: the Section 1 strategy shows how to do this for table and note completion, and the Section 4 strategy keeps you oriented through ten lecture questions that run without a single speaker change.

Section Walkthroughs

• Sailing Club Enquiry (Questions 1–10) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Working as a Film Makeup Artist (Questions 11–20) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Ocean Biodiversity Discussion (Questions 21–30) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section
• Natural Rubber Lecture (Questions 31–40) — audio, answers and a full transcript for this section

Section 1 — Sailing Club Enquiry

Questions 1–6

Complete the table below.

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

Questions 7–10

Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

• General information
• Participants must be able to swim.
• Bring suitable clothing, a 7 ………… and toiletries (e.g. shampoo).
• There is a 8 ………… at the club.
• Online training 9 ………… are recommended.
• 10 ………… are available for course participants.

Section 1 Answer Explanations

1. ten — the table asks for the maximum group size, and the woman says “usually about eight people but no more than ten”, so the upper figure fills the gap and eight is the trap. The key accepts the word ten or the figure 10, because this part of the test allows ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER.

2. weather — the gap sits beside tides in the basic theory row, and the speaker explains “you learn about things like the weather” before adding “and also the tides”, so weather takes the first blank. Take care with the spelling: weather, never whether.

3. safety — the gap comes directly before the word information in the table, and the speaker says the instructor will “make sure you understand everything you need to know about safety”. Harbour, dinghies and instructor all appear in the same passage, but safety is the only word that completes safety information.

4. discount — the row links the £200 price to club members, and the woman says “There’s a discount for members” when the man asks about joining. The price itself and the word members are the traps; the missing noun is discount.

5. dictionary — the extra item included in the course price is “a really good dictionary explaining all the sailing terminology”. Terminology is the distractor, because it is what the dictionary explains rather than the item itself, and the spelling ends in -ary.

6. certificate — what every participant receives at the end is confirmed by the line “on completion of the course you get a certificate”. Watch the double letters and the final -ate, because certificate is a classic spelling trap in this task.

7. towel — the caller supplies the answer himself with “And a towel?”, and the woman confirms it with “Yes definitely”. Wetsuits and life jackets are the trap, because the club is the one that will “provide wetsuits and life jackets”, so you do not bring them. The notes allow ONE WORD ONLY: towel.

8. café — the note reads There is a …… at the club, and the man asks “is there a café at the club” before the woman confirms that food is available there. The official key spells the answer with the acute accent, so write café, not cafe.

9. videos — the recommended preparation is caught by the line “I recommend you watch some videos we use for training”. Link and online appear in the same sentences, but the training materials themselves are videos, and the plural is required.

10. lockers — the man says he will cycle to the club and asks “if there are lockers for people to use”, and the woman confirms there are plenty in the changing rooms. Changing rooms is the distractor; the answer is lockers, plural and lower case exactly as the key prints it.

Section 2 — Working as a Film Makeup Artist

Questions 11–16

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

11. What should trainees always expect to get when working on low budget short films? travel expenses a minimum wage meals

• A — travel expenses
• B — a minimum wage
• C — meals

12. According to the speaker, on big budget films trainees may get experience of makeup for special effects. working with different ethnicities. creating a variety of hair styles.

• A — makeup for special effects.
• B — working with different ethnicities.
• C — creating a variety of hair styles.

13. The speaker says a problem for makeup artists is dealing with difficult directors. being shouted at by their supervisor. waiting around for hours doing nothing.

• A — dealing with difficult directors.
• B — being shouted at by their supervisor.
• C — waiting around for hours doing nothing.

14. How did the speaker feel when she met famous actors for the first time? very shy very proud very disappointed

• A — very shy
• B — very proud
• C — very disappointed

15. What advice does the speaker give about makeup kits? Always carry a basic kit with you. Only buy the best products for a makeup kit. Ask other makeup artists to check your kit.

• A — Always carry a basic kit with you.
• B — Only buy the best products for a makeup kit.
• C — Ask other makeup artists to check your kit.

16. What advice does the speaker give about creating a portfolio? Keep print and digital photos. Only include a small selection of photos. Get permission to use photos.

• A — Keep print and digital photos.
• B — Only include a small selection of photos.
• C — Get permission to use photos.

Questions 17–20

What ability is required for each of the following duties?

Write the correct letter, A, B, or C, next to Questions 17-20.

• A. being well-organised
• B. being flexible
• C. working quickly

17. Prepping an actor

18. Continuity

19. General

20. Applying makeup

Section 2 Answer Explanations

11. A (travel expenses) — low budget shorts pay nothing, but the speaker warns “Make sure your transport costs are covered”, which paraphrases travel expenses. B fails because trainees “working for free” receive no wage at all, and C fails because “there’s very unlikely to be any catering provided”, so you bring your own food.

12. B (working with different ethnicities) — on big budget films “you’re likely to get the opportunity to work with a range of age groups, as well as different ethnicities”. A fails because special effects work is “highly specialised” with no practical experience offered, and C fails because hair styling is a separate department on these productions.

13. A (dealing with difficult directors) — the makeup department is “a high-pressure environment” where top artists stay calm “even when they’re having to work with directors who are impatient”. B fails because the supervisor is the person you follow, not a source of shouting, and C fails because “There are very few times when you’ll be bored or have nothing to do.”

14. A (very shy) — describing her first meetings with famous actors, the speaker says “At first, I found it overwhelming and could hardly speak. I was so in awe.”, which is shyness. B fails because “That’s preferable, by the way, to becoming too excited and asking for selfies” rejects that behaviour rather than praising it, and C fails because the remark about actors not looking special describes the actors, not her own feelings.

15. A (Always carry a basic kit with you) — every trainee needs a kit “expected to have with them at all times”, and “Just the essentials will do for the kinds of tasks you’ll be given”. B fails because products are never ranked by quality, and C fails because the advice is to look at the kits other artists carry, not to have yours checked.

16. C (Get permission to use photos) — the condition attached to the portfolio is the reminder “you’ll need to get approval from the makeup designer in charge of the department”. A fails because “you won’t need to get photos printed” when the portfolio is sent digitally, and B fails because she tells you to photograph all of your work, not a small selection.

17. C (working quickly) — prepping an actor means stepping in and getting the skin ready “without wasting any time”, otherwise the makeup artist will “get behind schedule”. A fails because organisation belongs to the continuity duty in Question 18, and B fails because flexibility belongs to the general duties in Question 19.

18. A (being well-organised) — continuity work means photos are logged digitally, printed as a hard copy and filed for each actor, and “This information needs to be kept in good order as a reshoot can mean replicating makeup months later”. Filing, logging and keeping records in order is exactly what being well-organised describes.

19. B (being flexible) — general duties stretch from “getting the teas and coffees to putting on a wash”, and a positive attitude means “being willing to do whatever is asked of you”. That constant change of task calls for flexibility rather than pure speed or filing systems.

20. C (working quickly) — trainees apply makeup to “only the extras”, and with dozens of extras they must “keep up a swift pace and not spend too long on each person”. Confidence is mentioned as what it takes to do this well, but the ability required by the box is speed, which repeats the answer to Question 17.

Section 3 — Ocean Biodiversity Discussion

Questions 21–22

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

21–22. Which TWO features of the lecture on ocean biodiversity had the greatest impact on the students? the references to local problems the broad focus of the examples the practical suggestions for solutions the type of issues discussed the implications for government policy

• A — the references to local problems
• B — the broad focus of the examples
• C — the practical suggestions for solutions
• D — the type of issues discussed
• E — the implications for government policy

Questions 23–24

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

23–24. Which TWO details about the research project particularly impressed the students? the team’s previous successes its wide geographical scale the use of new technology the extensive statistical evidence the large range of specialists involved

• A — the team’s previous successes
• B — its wide geographical scale
• C — the use of new technology
• D — the extensive statistical evidence
• E — the large range of specialists involved

Questions 25–30

What is the students’ opinion of each of the following resources related to ocean biodiversity?

Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-H, next to Questions 25-30.

• A. This is aimed at a very specialist audience.
• B. This is now rather outdated.
• C. This was an effective description of a new danger.
• D. This suggests possible ways to improve the situation.
• E. This does not give a balanced account.
• F. This is too predictable to be useful.
• G. This gives insufficient evidence for its claims.
• H. This gives a clear explanation of the problems.

25. Article on invasive lionfish

26. Documentary on microplastics

27. Podcast on ocean pollution

28. Book on coastal ecosystems

29. Article on metal toxicity

30. Podcast on floating marine cities

Section 3 Answer Explanations

21. B (the broad focus of the examples) — Phil contrasts national policy with the lecture itself: “The examples she gave were at a more global level, and they really made it clear to me just how wide-ranging the threats to ocean biodiversity are”. That global, wide-ranging spread is the broad focus of the examples. Questions 21 and 22 accept the letters B and D in either order.

22. D (the type of issues discussed) — Lucy says she “especially liked the way her lecture focused on more long-term issues”, and Phil agrees with “That impressed me too”. Issues that receive little attention now but matter in the future define the type of issues discussed. E fails because policy changes are noted only at national level, and A fails because local problems are never the focus.

23. C (the use of new technology) — the students single out “improvements in systems used for tracking marine animals and things like robots were really interesting”, and Lucy echoes the point about “how robotics can be used to investigate threats to biodiversity”. Questions 23 and 24 accept the letters C and E in either order.

24. E (the large range of specialists involved) — Phil calls it “quite unusual to have so many experts working together”, and Lucy adds they came “from such different backgrounds”. A fails because the 2009 research is background she already knew, B fails because an international team is “not unusual nowadays”, and D fails because “she didn’t bombard us with figures”.

25. G (This gives insufficient evidence for its claims) — the lionfish article claimed the fish were environmentally dangerous, “which is probably true, but he didn’t really provide much information to explain why”. Strong claims with no supporting explanation match option G exactly.

26. B (This is now rather outdated) — the microplastics documentary “was made ten years ago so I gave up”, and Lucy agrees “it was showing its age”. A ten-year-old film about a topic everybody now knows about is rather outdated, which is B.

27. F (This is too predictable to be useful) — the ocean pollution podcast drew the reaction “Most of it was stating the obvious”, and Phil adds “everybody knows that anyway”. Content that tells listeners what they already know is too predictable to be useful.

28. H (This gives a clear explanation of the problems) — the coastal ecosystems book was hard going at first, but Lucy “ended up with a much better understanding of the issues”, and Phil praises “a well-written summary of those”. A book that builds understanding of windfarms, fish farms and related issues gives a clear explanation of the problems.

29. A (This is aimed at a very specialist audience) — the metal toxicity article was “way above my head”, and Lucy finishes with “and I still don’t understand it”. Material that defeats both students is written for a very specialist audience.

30. E (This does not give a balanced account) — the floating marine cities podcast “presented a rather one-sided picture”, because “it focused on how this would benefit people and ignored the effects on the environment”. Covering only one side of the question means the account is not balanced.

Section 4 — Natural Rubber Lecture

Questions 31–40

Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Three resources which are essential for industrial civilisation

This mainly comes from the Pará rubber tree, now cultivated in South-East Asia. The supply is limited because

• Sources of rubber
• 31 …………
• fossil fuels
• rubber
• Natural rubber
• the growth of the tree is 32 ………… .
• production cannot easily be adjusted because of increasing or decreasing 33 ………… .
• the tree only grows near the 34 ………… .
• extracting the latex (rubber) is labour-intensive
• it is very difficult to 35 ………… rubber after production.
• New threats include
• lack of genetic diversity, leading to danger of disease caused by a 36 ………… .
• a shift to the cultivation of palm oil
• extreme 37 ………… events.
• Synthetic rubber
• may be used for engine parts and cooking utensils
• is less 38 ………… than natural rubber
• is unsuitable for many purposes e.g. the tyres of aircraft.
• An alternative source of natural rubber
• A wild flower (a type of dandelion) has rubber in its 39 ………… .
• It can be grown in many locations and does not require good 40 ………… .

Section 4 Answer Explanations

31. metal — the notes list the three essential resources, and the lecture opens with “One of these is metal – without that we’d have no machines and no transportation”. Fossil fuels and rubber follow in the notes, so metal fills the first blank, and the key prints the singular form.

32. slow — the evidence is “It can take eight to ten years for a tree to start producing rubber, so cultivating them’s a slow process”. The gap follows the verb is in the notes, so an adjective is needed: slow. Writing eight to ten years breaks the ONE WORD ONLY rule.

33. demand — farmers of ordinary crops can adjust quickly when they find “the demand for that crop is rising or falling”, but rubber growers cannot because planting happens so far ahead. The noun the notes require is demand.

34. equator — the tree demands the right temperature, rainfall and altitude, so it grows “only around the equator”. Temperature and rainfall are the traps, because they describe growing conditions rather than a location on the globe.

35. recycle — water and glass can be reused when finished with, and the lecture notes that “we can recycle them”, whereas with rubber the process is possible but “it’s very difficult”. The notes need a bare verb after to, so the answer is recycle.

36. fungus — low genetic diversity leaves the trees vulnerable to disease, and “The most dangerous threat is a fungus, which destroyed large numbers of rubber trees in Brazil”. Write the singular fungus, not fungi, to match the notes.

37. weather — the notes end the threats list with extreme …… events, and the lecture states that the region has been “repeatedly hit by extreme types of weather”. Weather repeats the answer to Question 2, so keep the spelling consistent between the two parts.

38. strong — synthetic rubber suits engine parts and silicone cookware, but “compared with natural rubber, it’s not anything like as strong”. The notes use the pattern less ……, so the adjective strong completes the comparison, and that weakness is why aircraft tyres need natural rubber.

39. roots — the dandelion is a weed with yellow flowers, and the lecture explains that “when it’s pulled up and its roots cut open, they’re found to contain rubber”. The rubber sits in the roots, which fills the gap after its in the notes.

40. soil — dandelions will “grow in all sorts of places, and they don’t need rich soil”. The notes paraphrase rich as good, so soil is the final answer of the lecture.

Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 1 Answers

Questions and Answers

Where two letters are shown for a single question, either order is accepted, exactly as in the official answer key.

Listening Transcripts

Section 1 Transcript

WOMAN: Hello, Oyster Bay Sailing Club. How can I help you?

MAN: Oh hi. I’d like to find out about sailing courses for beginners.

WOMAN: No problem. Is it for yourself?

MAN: Yes. I had a look online but I’m not sure which course would be best.

WOMAN: OK. Well you might be interested in our Taster Days?

MAN: Possibly.

WOMAN: So these are for people who’ve never sailed before – it’s basically an introduction to sailing to find out whether you enjoy it and want to carry on with it.

MAN: And how much is that?

WOMAN: It’s £120 for the day – but it’s reduced to £110 each if there are two of you.

MAN: No, it would just be me.

WOMAN: Oh that’s fine. You’d be in a small group, usually about eight people but no more than ten – and everyone’s always very friendly.

MAN: Uh huh. And are there any other suitable courses?

WOMAN: The other option is the Level 1 course. These are two-day weekend courses and we run those all year round.

MAN: OK. And what do you learn on that course?

WOMAN: This is a mix of theory and practical skills. So you learn about things like the weather, which is obviously really important and also the tides, as well as learning basic sailing skills. You go out into the harbour in special training dinghies for beginners, two people in each dinghy and an instructor. He or she will make sure you understand everything you need to know about safety.

MAN: It sounds like hard work!

WOMAN: Yes, but you’ll have a lot of fun too.

MAN: And the cost of that one is … ?

WOMAN: £200. But it’s a bit cheaper if you decide to join the club. There’s a discount for members.

MAN: Well, I’m not sure about that yet.

WOMAN: You’ve got plenty of time to decide.

MAN: And does the cost include everything?

WOMAN: Yes, everything’s included and you also get a really good dictionary explaining all the sailing terminology. A lot of people struggle with this at first. It’s got lots of pictures, so I’m sure you’d find it really helpful. And on completion of the course you get a certificate. Then you’re ready to move on to the Level 2 course.

MAN: Sounds good.

WOMAN: I think that’s all the info you need for now. Just a couple of general things. For example, it’s really important that you know how to swim.

MAN: Yes, I’m pretty confident in the water.

WOMAN: Great. The other thing I should tell you is that we provide wetsuits and life jackets but you need to bring swimming trunks and some old trainers.

MAN: And a towel?

WOMAN: Yes definitely. And you might want to bring your own toiletries, things like shampoo.

MAN: OK. What about food and drink? Do I need to bring that or is there a café at the club?

WOMAN: Yes, you can get sandwiches, cakes and snacks there. The food’s pretty reasonable.

MAN: OK good. Well I think I’m interested in the Level 1 course. But I know absolutely nothing about sailing so is there anything I can do to prepare myself a bit?

WOMAN: I recommend you watch some videos we use for training. They’re available online. I can send you the link. They’ll give you an idea of what to expect.

MAN: Perfect, thanks. That would be very helpful. Oh and just one other thing – I’ll be cycling to the club and will need somewhere to put valuables. I’m just wondering if there are lockers for people to use?

WOMAN: Yes, there are plenty in the changing rooms.

MAN: Great. OK well could you book me onto…

Section 2 Transcript

MAN: Hello and welcome to the film making podcast. In this week’s episode, Claire Lemarre talks to us about how to become a makeup artist. Claire’s been working as a makeup artist in the film industry for over 20 years and has lots of useful advice about how to get started.

WOMAN: Thanks Ian. Well, before you can become a makeup artist on films you have to spend about 2 years working as a makeup trainee.

A good place to get your first job would be on a low budget short film. Of course, this means that you’ll be working for free. But it’s often worth it for the experience. Make sure your transport costs are covered – and remember, there’s very unlikely to be any catering provided, so bring plenty of food.

If you’re lucky, you might start out on a big budget film where you’ll get the most useful experience. On productions like this, makeup and hair styling are separate departments – so you won’t need to bring your curling tongs! But you’re likely to get the opportunity to work with a range of age groups, as well as different ethnicities. Doing makeup for special effects is highly specialised, so don’t expect to be offered any practical experience in that.

One problem with working in the makeup department is that it’s a high-pressure environment. There are very few times when you’ll be bored or have nothing to do. It can be stressful but you’ll see that the top makeup artists are very professional – even when they’re having to work with directors who are impatient, or unhappy with the makeup artist’s work. Follow your supervisor’s lead and try to remain calm at all times.

I’ve worked with many very famous actors over the years. At first, I found it overwhelming and could hardly speak. I was so in awe. That’s preferable, by the way, to becoming too excited and asking for selfies. Now meeting the talent is just a normal part of the job and to be honest most actors don’t look that special without all the makeup!

Every makeup trainee will need a makeup kit, which they’ll be expected to have with them at all times. Just the essentials will do for the kinds of tasks you’ll be given – it won’t be anything complicated. It’s worth looking at what the other makeup artists have in their kits – but whatever you do, don’t borrow anything without asking first.

It’s very important to build your portfolio. You should take photos of all the work you do and ideally show the different stages of makeup application if you can. But remember you’ll need to get approval from the makeup designer in charge of the department. As you’ll be sending your portfolio digitally, you won’t need to get photos printed.

So what does a makeup trainee actually do? You need to think about whether you’re the right kind of person to do the job and whether you’d enjoy it. So, to give you some idea, here are some of the things you might be required to do.

You may be asked to help prep an actor ready for makeup. Some actors will arrive having already cleansed and moisturized their skin. But sometimes you’ll need to step in and get this done without wasting any time, otherwise the makeup artist will get behind schedule.

Trainees play a useful role in continuity. It will be your responsibility to take photos, log them digitally and print out a hard copy to put in each actor’s file. This information needs to be kept in good order as a reshoot can mean replicating makeup months later.

General duties mean doing anything from getting the teas and coffees to putting on a wash. Having a positive attitude and being willing to do whatever is asked of you will help you get your next film job.

You won’t be asked to apply makeup to any of the principal cast, only the extras. If there are dozens of extras involved you’ll need to keep up a swift pace and not spend too long on each person. It takes quite a lot of confidence to be able to do this well.

OK now about terms and conditions….

Section 3 Transcript

PHIL: That lecture from the visiting speaker yesterday was good, wasn’t it?

LUCY: Yeah. I learned a lot from her about ocean biodiversity. I’ve already done some reading on it, and I did an assignment on some of the problems associated with it last year, but I especially liked the way her lecture focused on more long-term issues.

PHIL: Yes, things that aren’t currently receiving widespread attention but are likely to be important in the future. That impressed me too. It wasn’t exactly a feel-good conclusion because it’s hard to see any real solution for a lot of the problems.

LUCY: No, though she did point to where policy changes could be made to protect our marine and coastal environments.

PHIL: Mm. But that’s just at a national level. The examples she gave were at a more global level, and they really made it clear to me just how wide-ranging the threats to ocean biodiversity are.

LUCY: Yes, me too.

PHIL: The research project she described was impressive, wasn’t it? I’d have thought it was quite unusual to have so many experts working together.

LUCY: Yeah, and from such different backgrounds. Must have been a really exciting team to work with. I’d heard of a couple of them before – they were involved in research way back in 2009 warning about the dangers of ocean pollution.

PHIL: But now people are much more aware of that, aren’t they?

LUCY: I suppose so.

PHIL: Another thing about the research is that the team members came from all round the world. Though I suppose that’s not unusual nowadays, now everyone can work remotely.

LUCY: Right. I liked the way she didn’t bombard us with figures – I mean, they were available, but she focused more on the general points they indicated.

PHIL: Mm. And the description of improvements in systems used for tracking marine animals and things like robots were really interesting.

LUCY: Yes, and her description of how robotics can be used to investigate threats to biodiversity.

PHIL: Absolutely.

PHIL: While you’re here, can we talk about the list of resources we have to evaluate for the seminar tomorrow. I’ve had a look at them all, but it’s been a bit of a rush.

LUCY: Yeah. What did you think of that article on invasive lionfish? The one claiming they were expanding their habitat throughout the Mediterranean Sea.

PHIL: Well, the writer went on about how dangerous they were in environmental terms, which is probably true, but he didn’t really provide much information to explain why.

LUCY: I know what you mean.

PHIL: I watched the documentary on microplastics, at least I started to, but then I found it was made ten years ago so I gave up.

LUCY: I watched to the end but you’re right, it was showing its age. People had hardly heard of microplastics then, whereas now everyone knows about them and how dangerous they are.

PHIL: Yeah. Did you listen to the podcast on ocean pollution?

LUCY: Mm. I didn’t get anything out of it though. Most of it was stating the obvious.

PHIL: Yes, it mentioned pesticides and plastic and things, and it clearly made the point that they were a bad thing, but everybody knows that anyway. Did you read that book on coastal ecosystems?

LUCY: The one by John Harper? Yes, I found it hard going at first, it went into a lot of detail about things like the effects of offshore windfarms and fish farms, but actually I ended up with a much better understanding of the issues.

PHIL: Yes, I agree and I thought it was a well-written summary of those. And the diagrams helped a lot too.

LUCY: The article on metal toxicity was way above my head, I didn’t know anything about how metals from industrial emissions react in the ocean… and I still don’t understand it.

PHIL: I gave up reading after the first chapter – I just couldn’t follow it.

LUCY: That podcast on floating marine cities was interesting, though it presented a rather one-sided picture, I thought.

PHIL: Yes, it focused on how this would benefit people and ignored the effects on the environment.

LUCY: But anyway, shall we …

Section 4 Transcript

Much of the world now lives in an industrial civilisation. But this has only become possible because we have the necessary natural resources. There are three types of natural resource without which industry could not exist. One of these is metal – without that we’d have no machines and no transportation. Another is fossil fuels, which we need to power those machines. But there’s a third resource that’s essential to connect the different parts of a machine together with belts and pipes and shock absorbers, and that is rubber. It’s now used in over 40,000 products, from waterproof footwear to surgical gloves.

At present, we have two types of rubber in common use. One is natural rubber, which nearly all comes from the Pará rubber tree. This was originally native to Brazil, but is now cultivated on plantations in South-East Asia. Recently, however, concern’s been growing that supplies may soon be insufficient for the world’s needs. So what exactly is limiting the supply of natural rubber?

Well, for one thing, rubber trees don’t just spring up overnight. It can take eight to ten years for a tree to start producing rubber, so cultivating them’s a slow process. And this leads to another problem. With most crops, farmers don’t have to think very far ahead, so they can easily change what crop they produce, or how much of a crop they produce, if they find the demand for that crop is rising or falling. But if you have to plant eight or ten years ahead, that’s much harder. And also the rubber tree’s very choosy about where it grows. It needs the right temperature, the right amount of rainfall, and the right altitude – not too high and not too low. The result is that it can’t be grown in the northern or southern parts of the globe, only around the equator. Another problem is that the rubber is basically extracted in the same way as it’s been done for hundreds of years, and that’s by hand, by making small cuts in the trunk of the tree, and putting a little cup there to catch the latex, as the rubber is called. It’s very labour-intensive. And it’s not just the initial production that’s limiting supplies. With other resources such as water and glass, when we’ve finished using them we can recycle them, but although this is also possible with rubber, it’s very difficult, so that also reduces the amount we have available.

And in the last few years, there have been new threats to the supply of natural rubber. One problem is linked to the fact that nearly all the rubber trees in South-East Asia are descended from just a small number of seeds brought from Brazil in the nineteenth century. This means that there’s very little genetic diversity among the trees, which in turn makes them very vulnerable to disease. The most dangerous threat is a fungus, which destroyed large numbers of rubber trees in Brazil, and which could cause devastation to plantations worldwide. Another problem is that farmers in South-East Asia are increasingly turning to the cultivation of palm oil, which is easier and more profitable for them. And finally, in recent years South-East Asia, like other parts of the world, has been repeatedly hit by extreme types of weather, and this looks likely to continue in the future.

However, as well as using natural rubber, it’s also possible to make rubber synthetically. This works very well for some purposes, for example, making engine parts, or silicone pots and pans used for cooking. But compared with natural rubber, it’s not anything like as strong, and this means it can’t replace natural rubber in other products. For example, while a mixture of natural rubber and synthetic rubber works well in car tyres, only natural rubber can stand up to the extreme speeds of aircraft tyres during take-off and landing.

So for some time, scientists have been looking for alternative sources of natural rubber. One that’s been known about for some time seems initially to be a rather unlikely source. It’s a wild plant with yellow flowers that we normally regard as a weed when we see it in our gardens. But when it’s pulled up and its roots cut open, they’re found to contain rubber.

Now, compared to the rubber tree, dandelions produce relatively small amounts of rubber, but unlike rubber trees, they’re very adaptable. They’ll grow in all sorts of places, and they don’t need rich soil. So at present there are several projects underway investigating the possibility of using dandelions as a source of rubber.

Another possibility is a desert shrub grown in Mexico and Texas …

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

Parts 1 and 4 of this paper are pure completion tasks, and both punish answers that break the word limit. Part 1 allows ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER, so Question 1 scores with either ten or 10, while Part 4 allows ONE WORD ONLY, so Question 32 must be the adjective slow rather than the phrase eight to ten years. Read the note headings before the audio starts and predict whether each gap takes a noun, a verb or an adjective — the table completion strategy walks through the full routine.

Spelling decides several marks in this test: café with the acute accent in Question 8, certificate with its double letters in Question 6, and the plural lockers in Question 10 all lose points when mistyped. The listening spelling rules guide lists the words that catch candidates out most often in exactly this way.

Parts 2 and 3 load the paper with multiple choice and matching, where wrong options borrow the exact words of the recording. Question 11 is the classic case: catering is mentioned only to be dismissed as unlikely, while the correct answer rephrases transport costs as travel expenses. Train yourself to eliminate options the speakers reject — the multiple choice strategy covers that elimination method step by step.

The Choose TWO questions in Part 3 accept the two letters in either order, so do not waste time deciding which box each letter belongs in; the same principle applies to the matching task in Questions 25 to 30, where the letter depends on the students’ final judgement rather than their first reaction. Give Part 4 your full attention for ten continuous questions, because there is no pause mid-lecture to catch up.

Practice More Listening Tests

Mark the paper honestly, then keep the momentum going with the free IELTS listening practice course from Simply IELTS, which drills every task type that appeared in this test: table completion, note completion, multiple choice, matching and Choose TWO questions. When you are ready for full papers under timed conditions, try this interactive listening test: labyrinths first, then follow it with the interactive listening test: boat trip around tasmania listening answers, a nautical topic that pairs neatly with the sailing club enquiry in Part 1. Compare your raw score with the band table above, review every explanation for the questions you missed, and start the next test only when completion questions and spelling stop costing you marks.