This personality traits listening test page gives you Section 3 of Cambridge IELTS 15 Listening Test 1 in full: the complete answer key for Questions 21–30, playable audio, an explanation for every question with the exact transcript line that proves it, and the entire recording script. Two students, Ruth and Ed, compare notes on birth order research for a presentation, tested through a six-item matching task, two multiple choice questions and one Choose TWO question.

The discipline this section demands is separating research claims from family anecdotes: nearly every trait is illustrated by a relative who behaved the opposite way, and those stories answer nothing. Read the eight box options and the six position labels before the audio starts, apply the multiple choice strategy to Questions 27–28, then check every letter on the complete Cambridge IELTS 15 Listening Test 1 answers page covering all four sections.

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 21–26

What did findings of previous research claim about the personality traits a child is likely to have because of their position in the family?

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

• A. outgoing
• B. selfish
• C. independent
• D. attention-seeking
• E. introverted
• F. co-operative
• G. caring
• H. competitive

• Personality Traits
• Position in family

21. the eldest child

22. a middle child

23. the youngest child

24. a twin

25. an only child

26. a child with much older siblings

Questions 27–28

Choose the correct letter, A , B or C .

27. What do the speakers say about the evidence relating to birth order and academic success? There is conflicting evidence about whether oldest children perform best in intelligence tests. There is little doubt that birth order has less influence on academic achievement than socio-economic status. Some studies have neglected to include important factors such as family size.

• A — There is conflicting evidence about whether oldest children perform best in intelligence tests.
• B — There is little doubt that birth order has less influence on academic achievement than socio-economic status.
• C — Some studies have neglected to include important factors such as family size.

28. What does Ruth think is surprising about the difference in oldest children’s academic performance? It is mainly thanks to their roles as teachers for their younger siblings. The advantages they have only lead to a slightly higher level of achievement. The extra parental attention they receive at a young age makes little difference.

• A — It is mainly thanks to their roles as teachers for their younger siblings.
• B — The advantages they have only lead to a slightly higher level of achievement.
• C — The extra parental attention they receive at a young age makes little difference.

Questions 29–30

Choose TWO letters, A-E .

29–30. Which TWO experiences of sibling rivalry do the speakers agree has been valuable for them? learning to share learning to stand up for oneself learning to be a good loser learning to be tolerant learning to say sorry

• A — learning to share
• B — learning to stand up for oneself
• C — learning to be a good loser
• D — learning to be tolerant
• E — learning to say sorry

Personality Traits Listening Answers

Questions and Answers

Personality Traits Answer Explanations

21. G (caring) — the studies saw the oldest child as nurturing, because in large families they were “expected to look after the younger ones”. D attention-seeking fails because the research’s only negative claim is that oldest children are “less well-adjusted” after a sibling arrives, not that they demand attention for themselves.

22. F (co-operative) — the trait most studies mention for a middle child is being “easier to get on with than older or younger siblings”, reinforced by “Generally eager to please and helpful”. H competitive fails because fights and envy describe Ruth’s own brother, and she says the finding is “certainly not accurate as far as my family goes” — an anecdote, not a research claim.

23. A (outgoing) — the research picture of the youngest child is of “a sociable and confident child who made friends easily”. E introverted fails because that is what Ed actually was — “but I was actually terribly shy” — and the task asks what the findings claimed, not his experience.

24. E (introverted) — the twin study concluded a twin is “likely to be quite shy in social situations”, because “they always have their twin around to depend on for support”. A outgoing fails because it is the direct opposite of shyness and already labels the youngest child in Question 23.

25. B (selfish) — studies have “branded them as loners who think the world revolves around them”, a portrait of self-centredness. H competitive fails because only children have “never had to fight for their parents’ attention”, so the research does not paint them as fighters.

26. C (independent) — children with much older siblings were said to “grow up more quickly and are expected to do basic things for themselves”, such as getting dressed. D attention-seeking fails because “playing the baby role and clamouring for special treatment” is Ed’s own speculation — “I expect they’re sometimes the exact opposite” — not a finding of previous research.

27. C (Some studies have neglected to include important factors such as family size.) — Ed identifies the flaw: “what many of them didn’t take into consideration was family size”. A fails because the intelligence-test decline “has been proved in lots of recent studies”, so the evidence is consistent, not conflicting, and B fails because low socioeconomic status “can also account for differences between siblings in academic performance” — the word also keeps birth order relevant rather than outranked.

28. A (It is mainly thanks to their roles as teachers for their younger siblings.) — Ruth calls the reason surprising and gives it as the fact that “they benefit from being teachers for their younger siblings”, by verbalising processes. C fails because “It’s not only that they benefit intellectually from extra attention at a young age” — extra attention does help — and B fails because the “marginally higher academic performance” is stated as fact, not flagged as the surprise.

29. B (learning to stand up for oneself) — Ruth says the rivalry with her brother “has made me a stronger person” and “I know how to defend myself”, which paraphrases standing up for yourself. A learning to share fails because Ed admits “I was never prepared to let me brothers use any of my stuff”, so sharing is the experience he did not gain.

30. D (learning to be tolerant) — tolerance is Ruth’s other gain: “we had to put up with each other and most of the time we co-existed amicably enough”. E learning to say sorry fails because “I would have died rather than apologise to him”, and Questions 29 and 30 accept the letters B and D in either order.

Listening Transcript — Section 3

RUTH: Ed, how are you getting on with the reading for our presentation next week?

ED: Well, OK, Ruth – but there’s so much of it.

RUTH: I know, I hadn’t realised birth order was such a popular area of research.

ED: But the stuff on birth order and personality is mostly unreliable. From what I’ve been reading a lot of claims about how your position in the family determines certain personality traits are just stereotypes, with no robust evidence to support them.

RUTH: OK, but that’s an interesting point – we could start by outlining what previous research has shown. There are studies going back over a hundred years.

ED: Yeah – so we could just run through some of the typical traits. Like the consensus seems to be that oldest children are generally less well-adjusted because they never get over the arrival of a younger sibling.

RUTH: Right, but on a positive note, some studies claimed that they were thought to be good a nurturing – certainly in the past when people had large families they would have been expected to look after the younger ones.

ED: There isn’t such a clear picture for middle children – but one trait that a lot of the studies mention is that they are easier to get on with than older or younger siblings.

RUTH: Generally eager to please and helpful – although that’s certainly not accurate as far as my family goes – my middle brother was a nightmare – always causing fights and envious of whatever I had.

ED: As I said – none of this seems to relate to my own experience. I’m the youngest in my family and I don’t recognise myself in any of the studies I’ve read about. I’m supposed to have been a sociable and confident child who made friends easily – but I was actually terribly shy.

RUTH: Really? That’s funny. There have been hundreds of studies on twins but mostly about nurture versus nature…

ED: There was one on personality, which said that a twin is likely to be quite shy in social situations because they always have their twin around to depend on for support.

RUTH: My cousins were like that when they were small – they were only interested in each other and found it hard to engage with other kids. They’re fine now though.

ED: Only children have had a really bad press – a lot of studies have branded them as loners who think the world revolves around them because they’ve never had to fight for their parents’ attention.

RUTH: That does seem a bit harsh. One category I hadn’t considered before was children with much older siblings – a couple of studies mentioned that these children grow up more quickly and are expected to do basic things for themselves – like getting dressed.

ED: I can see how that might be true – although I expect they’re sometimes the exact opposite – playing the baby role and clamouring for special treatment.

——————————

RUTH: What was the problem with most of these studies, do you think?

ED: I think it was because in a lot of cases data was collected from only one sibling per family, who rated him or herself and his or her siblings at the same time.

RUTH: Mmm. Some of the old research into the relationship between birth order and academic achievement has been proved to be accurate though. Performances in intelligence tests decline slightly from the eldest child to his or her younger siblings. This has been proved in lots of recent studies.

ED: Yes. Although what many of them didn’t take into consideration was family size. The more siblings there are, the likelier the family is to have a low socioeconomic status – which can also account for differences between siblings in academic performance.

RUTH: The oldest boy might be given more opportunities than his younger sisters, for example.

ED: Exactly.

RUTH: But the main reason for the marginally higher academic performance of oldest children is quite surprising, I think. It’s not only that they benefit intellectually from extra attention at a young age – which is what I would have expected. It’s that they benefit from being teachers for their younger siblings, by verbalising processes.

ED: Right, and this gives them status and confidence, which again contribute, in a small way, to better performance.

So would you say sibling rivalry has been a useful thing for you?

RUTH: I think so – my younger brother was incredibly annoying and we found a lot but I think this has made me a stronger person. I know how to defend myself. We had some terrible arguments and I would have died rather than apologise to him – but we had to put up with each other and most of the time we co-existed amicably enough.

ED: Yes, my situation was pretty similar. But I don’t think having two older brothers made me any less selfish – I was never prepared to let me brothers use any of my stuff …

RUTH: That’s perfectly normal, whereas …

Key Vocabulary and Spelling

Study Tips

Match the research, not the relatives. Ruth’s middle brother picked fights, her cousins only played with each other and Ed was a shy youngest child, yet none of that scores a letter, because Questions 21–26 ask what the students found in what “previous research has shown”. When a speaker answers a general claim with a story about their own family, treat the claim as the answer and the story as colour.

Spend the box economically: eight letters serve six questions, and none repeats. If you give E introverted to the youngest child in Question 23, the twin in Question 24 is left without the shyness label the study gives her, so one wrong early match poisons a later one. Cross letters out as you use them, and back out of a match the moment the speakers call a claim unreliable.

Questions 29–30 score the two letters in either order, so do not deliberate over which box each letter belongs in. Elimination works fastest here: sharing is refused outright, and apologising is described in terms that rule it out, which leaves standing up for yourself and putting up with each other. The multiple choice strategy covers this elimination routine for every option-based task in the paper.

Practice More Listening Tests

Mark the ten letters strictly, reread the explanation for every miss, and record the score on the full Cambridge IELTS 15 Listening Test 1 answers page, where all four sections of the paper sit together. The free IELTS listening practice course from Simply IELTS builds the skill this section tests hardest: holding a speaker’s claim and their personal example apart. Then try this interactive listening test: stoicism ielts listening test with answers and audio for another two-voice academic discussion, and finish the paper with Section 4, The Eucalyptus Tree in Australia listening test.