This course feedback discussion listening test page gives you Section 3 of Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2 in full: the official answer key for Questions 21–30, playable audio, an explanation for every question with the exact transcript line that proves it, and the whole recording script. Nadia and Fergus review a food science course with their tutor, tested through three Choose TWO tasks (Questions 21–26) and a flow-chart completion task (Questions 27–30).

Each Choose TWO pair scores in either order, and the flow-chart box paraphrases every project stage, so follow which speaker endorses or rejects each point and use the flow-chart completion strategy to match the paraphrases. Then log the ten marks beside Sections 1, 2 and 4 on the complete Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2 answers page.

Listening Audio — Section 3

Play the recording once, without pausing, and answer Questions 21–30 before you check the key. In the real exam you hear each section exactly once.

Questions 21–30

Questions 21–22

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

21–22. Which TWO facts in the sessions on food safety were new information for Nadia and Fergus? the amount of plastic in the ocean the number of diseases caused by contaminated food the amount of food that is wasted the number of people who are obese the result of treating animals with antibiotics

• A — the amount of plastic in the ocean
• B — the number of diseases caused by contaminated food
• C — the amount of food that is wasted
• D — the number of people who are obese
• E — the result of treating animals with antibiotics

Questions 23–24

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

23–24. Which TWO features of a project aiming to prevent food fraud impressed Fergus? the new technology it used the publicity it received the use of multiple tests on food items the variety of dietary requirements included the way information was made widely accessible

• A — the new technology it used
• B — the publicity it received
• C — the use of multiple tests on food items
• D — the variety of dietary requirements included
• E — the way information was made widely accessible

Questions 25–26

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

25–26. Which TWO topics do both students recommend should be included in the course? sustainable fishing targeted nutrition global differences in consumption sustainable agriculture digital technology and food

• A — sustainable fishing
• B — targeted nutrition
• C — global differences in consumption
• D — sustainable agriculture
• E — digital technology and food

Questions 27–30

Complete the flow-chart below.

Choose FOUR answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-F, next to Questions 27-30.

Student project: developing a new food product

Initial aim

Literature review

Product development

Product production

• A. This was challenging but enjoyable.
• B. This led to some disagreement.
• C. This was easy to decide on.
• D. This was helped by the guidelines provided.
• E. This seemed like an unnecessary stage.
• F. This involved selecting a new ingredient.

• 27 …………
• 28 …………
• 29 …………
• 30 …………

Course Feedback Discussion Listening Answers

Questions and Answers

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

Course Feedback Discussion Answer Explanations

21. B (the number of diseases caused by contaminated food) — Fergus admits “But I hadn’t realised that unsafe food causes more than 200 different diseases”, and Nadia echoes “I’d no idea it was that many”. Contaminated food paraphrases unsafe food. A fails because plastic pollution was something “most of us were already aware of that”, and D fails because obesity was “stuff I knew already”. Questions 21 and 22 score in either order.

22. E (the result of treating animals with antibiotics) — Fergus completes Nadia’s sentence: animals are treated with antibiotics and then eaten, so “the antibiotics get into the food chain”, and he adds “I had no idea about that either”. C fails because wasted food “was only mentioned in passing”, so it was never presented as a striking new fact.

23. C (the use of multiple tests on food items) — what impressed Fergus was that “these tests were carried out at different stages in the food’s journey”, which is testing at several points rather than once. A fails because DNA methods have existed “for some time now”, so the technology was not the achievement, and B fails because Nadia replies “I thought there were some problems with that, actually” about the publicity. Questions 23 and 24 score in either order.

24. D (the variety of dietary requirements included) — Fergus praises a project addressing “so many different groups”, naming “people with special religious rules, as well as vegetarians and vegans”, and Nadia adds “those with allergies”. That spread of needs is the variety of dietary requirements the option describes.

25. A (sustainable fishing) — Fergus proposes “the seafood industry, where stocks are in danger of being overexploited”, and Nadia agrees: “that’d be a good topic”. D fails because the course has “already done quite a bit on that”, and B fails because personalised diets sound “more like a medical topic than food science”. Questions 25 and 26 score in either order.

26. C (global differences in consumption) — Nadia suggests sessions on “the variety of food and eating habits around the world”, and Fergus commits both students with “the whole class would be interested”. E fails because 3D printing and smart packaging struck him as “too specialist”.

27. C (This was easy to decide on) — the initial aim stage is summarised by “We made up our minds about that pretty quickly”. Other groups “found it a lot harder to choose, and wasted a lot of time”, which confirms this pair had no such struggle.

28. D (This was helped by the guidelines provided) — the literature review was new to both students, and Nadia reports that “the handout with advice for the project was very useful here”. A handout of advice is a set of guidelines, so D matches the stage exactly.

29. F (This involved selecting a new ingredient) — product development meant “deciding what we’d use to make the falafel”, and the pair finally “decided to use jackfruit”, a fruit “even though it wasn’t something that either of us had ever tasted before”. Choosing an unfamiliar ingredient to make the product different is selecting a new ingredient.

30. A (This was challenging but enjoyable) — production was “harder than I expected because I’d never made them before”, yet after trial and error “it turned out fine and we had a lot of fun”. Difficult but fun matches challenging but enjoyable, and Fergus’s “We did!” seals the enjoyment.

Listening Transcript — Section 3

TUTOR: Thanks for coming along, Nadia and Fergus. So this is a chance for you to give us some feedback about different aspects of your course. What would you like to begin with?

NADIA: I’ve enjoyed the sessions on food safety. There was some information there that I found really surprising, although some was stuff I knew already, like the rise in rates of obesity.

FERGUS: Yeah, that’s been in the news a lot. But I hadn’t realised that unsafe food causes more than 200 different diseases.

NADIA: No, I’d no idea it was that many. And speaking of diseases, I knew resistance to antibiotics is on the increase, but I didn’t know why …

FERGUS: …that it’s partly because when animals are treated with antibiotics then consumed by humans, the antibiotics get into the food chain. I had no idea about that either.

NADIA: Then the sessions provided a lot of information about plastic pollution from food packaging in the ocean, but I think that most of us were already aware of that.

FERGUS: Yeah. But I thought we could have done more on how much food is thrown away unnecessarily through fear of it being out of date, that was only mentioned in passing.

TUTOR: OK, I’ll bear that in mind. What did you think about the sessions from visiting lecturers, Fergus?

FERGUS: For me the most interesting one was about that project to prevent companies giving incorrect information to consumers about food.

TUTOR: Ah, food fraud, yes.

FERGUS: I thought it was really good to address a problem that’s faced by so many different groups – people with special religious rules, as well as vegetarians and vegans.

NADIA: And those with allergies.

FERGUS: Yeah. And another thing, we’ve had effective ways of analysing DNA for some time now and these can easily be applied to analysing food. But what the researchers succeeded in doing was to ensure that these tests were carried out at different stages in the food’s journey from the producer to the consumer. So they knew that the food actually came from the place it was supposed to, and had the ingredients it was meant to.

NADIA: Exactly. So customers can be confident about what they buy.

FERGUS: And the researchers had a good system for publicising their findings too.

NADIA: Well, I thought there were some problems with that, actually.

TUTOR: OK. And do you have any recommendations for new topics that we could include in the course?

NADIA: Well, I’m interested in how crop yields can be increased without damaging the environment.

FERGUS: But we’ve already done quite a bit on that – but not so much on the seafood industry, where stocks are in danger of being overexploited as a food source unless we can find ways of keeping stocks up.

NADIA: Yes, that’d be a good topic. And I’m interested in the idea of a personalised approach to diet, now we have the technology to analyse exactly what individuals need.

FERGUS: That sounds more like a medical topic than food science.

NADIA: OK. What about sessions on the variety of food and eating habits around the world? That’s very relevant nowadays.

FERGUS: Yes, I think the whole class would be interested in that.

NADIA: Then there’s technological stuff, things like 3D printing of food and smart packaging.

FERGUS: Mmm – maybe too specialist.

TUTOR: Now, I’m particularly interested in your project – the one where you developed a new food product. So talk me through the stages… first you had to decide on your initial aim.

FERGUS: We decided we wanted to create something people could eat on the go rather than in a restaurant.

NADIA: Yeah so we chose falafel, which was originally a Middle Eastern snack.

FERGUS: We made up our minds about that pretty quickly. I know some students found it a lot harder to choose, and wasted a lot of time.

NADIA: Then we had to do the literature review. We hadn’t done one of these before so, the handout with advice for the project was very useful here.

FERGUS: Yes, especially the advice on how to present the information. Then product development, actually deciding what we’d use to make the falafel, and for me the interesting thing about that was that we wanted it to be something a bit different from an ordinary falafel.

NADIA: We really made the right choice when we finally decided to use jackfruit, even though it wasn’t something that either of us had ever tasted before.

FERGUS: Yeah, like the name tells you, it’s a fruit but actually it’s really good in savoury dishes. The product production, working out how to make the falafel, was harder than I expected because I’d never made them before.

NADIA: It was mostly trial and error. We started off with the basic recipe and then experimented and when it went wrong…

FERGUS: …which it did a lot of the time…

NADIA: …we just moved on and kept adapting it and in the end it turned out fine and we had a lot of fun.

FERGUS: We did!

TUTOR: Thank you. Well, your project was a very good ….

Key Vocabulary and Spelling

Study Tips

Six of the ten questions sit in Choose TWO pairs, and every pair scores in either order: 21–22 takes B and E, 23–24 takes C and D, and 25–26 takes A and C. Listen for the second voice, because one speaker’s enthusiasm is regularly cooled by the other: Fergus praises the project’s publicity and Nadia calls it problematic, and a topic only counts for Questions 25–26 once both students accept it. The multiple choice strategy covers this agreement-tracking method step by step.

The flow-chart in Questions 27–30 follows the project stages in order, and the box paraphrases each one: guidelines provided means the handout with advice, selecting a new ingredient means the jackfruit decision, and challenging but enjoyable means harder than expected followed by a lot of fun. Match the paraphrase rather than the surface words, using the flow-chart completion strategy.

Sort old news from new information before you choose. Obesity and plastic pollution were already known to the students, so neither scores in Questions 21–22, while the 200 diseases and the antibiotics in the food chain drew genuine surprise. For Questions 25–26, note exactly why options die: too specialist, more like a medical topic, and already covered in the course.

Practice More Listening Tests

Mark the ten questions, reread the explanation for every miss, and log the result beside your Section 1 and 2 scores on the full Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2 answers page, which holds the keys, explanations and transcripts for the whole paper. The free IELTS listening practice course from Simply IELTS trains the skills this section measures: tracking which speaker endorses or rejects each point and matching paraphrased stages in order. Then test both skills with this interactive listening test: stoicism ielts listening test with answers and audio, and finish the paper with Section 4, the Cruise Ship Industry lecture listening test.