This Thor Heyerdahl presentation listening test presents Section 3 of Cambridge IELTS 10 Listening Test 2, covering Questions 21–30. Two students, Victor and Olivia, plan a presentation about the Norwegian explorer, and you hear them agree, disagree and correct each other as they go. This page provides the playable audio, the full answer key, explanations for every question with quotations from the recording, and the complete transcript. The tasks are two choose-TWO-letters questions followed by six multiple-choice items, and the corrections the speakers make to each other set the main traps. Prepare with the multiple choice strategy guide and get used to different voices through practising diverse accents before you begin. The Cambridge IELTS 10 listening test 2 answers page covers all four sections of the paper.

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 hobbies was Thor Heyerdahl very interested in as a youth? camping climbing collecting hunting reading

• A — camping
• B — climbing
• C — collecting
• D — hunting
• E — reading

Questions 23–24

Choose TWO letters, A-E .

23–24. Which do the speakers say are the TWO reasons why Heyerdahl went to live on an island? to examine ancient carvings to experience an isolated place to formulate a new theory to learn survival skills to study the impact of an extreme environment

• A — to examine ancient carvings
• B — to experience an isolated place
• C — to formulate a new theory
• D — to learn survival skills
• E — to study the impact of an extreme environment

Questions 25–30

Choose the correct letter, A , B or C .

• The later life of Thor Heyerdahl

25. According to Victor and Olivia, academics thought that Polynesian migration from the east was impossible due to the fact that Eastern countries were far away. the lack of materials for boat building. the direction of the winds and currents.

• A — the fact that Eastern countries were far away.
• B — the lack of materials for boat building.
• C — the direction of the winds and currents.

26. Which do the speakers agree was the main reason for Heyerdahl’s raft journey? to overcome a research setback to demonstrate a personal quality to test a new theory

• A — to overcome a research setback
• B — to demonstrate a personal quality
• C — to test a new theory

27. What was most important to Heyerdahl about his raft journey? the fact that he was the first person to do it the speed of crossing the Pacific the use of authentic construction methods

• A — the fact that he was the first person to do it
• B — the speed of crossing the Pacific
• C — the use of authentic construction methods

28. Why did Heyerdahl go to Easter Island? to build a stone statue to sail a reed boat to learn the local language

• A — to build a stone statue
• B — to sail a reed boat
• C — to learn the local language

29. In Olivia’s opinion, Heyerdahl’s greatest influence was on theories about Polynesian origins. the development of archaeological methodology. establishing archaeology as an academic subject.

• A — theories about Polynesian origins.
• B — the development of archaeological methodology.
• C — establishing archaeology as an academic subject.

30. Which criticism do the speakers make of William Oliver’s textbook? Its style is out of date. Its content is over-simplified. Its methodology is flawed.

• A — Its style is out of date.
• B — Its content is over-simplified.
• C — Its methodology is flawed.

Thor Heyerdahl Presentation Listening Answers

Questions and Answers

Thor Heyerdahl Presentation Answer Explanations

21. B — climbing — Olivia credits his ambition to camping trips in Norway, but Victor corrects her: “it was climbing that he spent his time on as a young man”. The flat no signals that camping is the trap, and the corrected hobby is climbing. Take the second speaker’s version whenever a correction intervenes.

22. C — collecting — Olivia tells Victor to open with the boy’s “passion for collecting things”, and Victor confirms he had his own little museum. D fails because Heyerdahl “wouldn’t go hunting with his dad”, and E fails because his mother did the reading aloud. The little museum proves collecting was his own pursuit.

23. B — to experience an isolated place — Victor explains the couple wanted “to live wild in a remote location with few inhabitants”. A remote location with few inhabitants paraphrases an isolated place. D is the trap, because survival skills were learnt as preparation before they left home, not as the purpose of the move.

24. E — to study the impact of an extreme environment — Olivia says they went “to find out how harsh weather conditions shaped people’s lifestyles”. Harsh weather conditions paraphrase an extreme environment, and shaped maps onto impact. The carvings and the radical theory behind A and C only appeared after they arrived, so neither explains why they set out.

25. A — the fact that Eastern countries were far away — Victor reports that academics dismissed migration from the east “because of the huge, empty stretch of ocean” between the islands and the nearest inhabited land. That distance means Eastern countries were far away. B fails because the ship-building point concerns the communities east of Polynesia, and C fails because currents and winds were what Heyerdahl himself studied.

26. C — to test a new theory — Victor floats the idea of private reasons and spectacular adventures, but Olivia counters that the journey was “simply trying out his idea, to see if migration from the east was possible”, and Victor agrees. Trying out the migration idea means testing a new theory, so C wins and B fails.

27. C — the use of authentic construction methods — Victor says the most important factor was that he used “only ancient techniques and local materials to build his raft”. Ancient techniques paraphrase authentic construction methods. A fails because Victor has read nothing about being first as his motivation, and the 97-day crossing only answers a side question about speed, so B fails as well.

28. A — to build a stone statue — on Easter Island, Heyerdahl wanted to discuss the “old stone carvings and then make one himself” to learn the process. Making a carving himself means building a stone statue. B fails because the reed boat belongs to a later trip, as the correction “No, that was later on in Egypt” shows, and C fails because talking about carvings is not learning a language.

29. B — the development of archaeological methodology — Olivia credits him as the first to establish “what modern academics call practical archaeology”, recreating the past through experiments like the raft trip. That is a legacy in method, so B wins. A fails because his ideas about Polynesian origins were “completely discredited”, and C fails because archaeology was already an academic subject.

30. A — Its style is out of date — Victor found “the overall tone somewhat old-fashioned” and calls for a new, revised edition, which is a criticism of style. C fails because “the research methods he used were very sound”. B fails because Olivia’s word challenging describes the subject matter, not over-simplified content.

Listening Transcript — Section 3

VICTOR: Right, well, for our presentation shall I start with the early life of Thor Heyerdahl?

OLIVIA: Sure. Why don’t you begin with describing the type of boy he was, especially his passion for collecting things.

VICTOR: That’s right, he had his own the little museum. And I think it’s unusual for children to develop their own values and not join in their parents’ hobbies; I’m thinking of how Heyerdahl wouldn’t go hunting with his dad, for example.

OLIVIA: Yeah, he preferred to learn about nature by listening to his mother read to him. And quite early on he knew he wanted to become an explorer when he grew up. That came from his camping trips he went on in Norway I think …

VICTOR: No, it was climbing that he spent his time on as a young man.

OLIVIA: Oh, right … After university he married a classmate and together, they decided to experience living on a small island, to find out how harsh weather conditions shaped people’s lifestyles.

VICTOR: As part of their preparation before they left home, they learnt basic survival skills like building a shelter. I guess they needed that knowledge in order to live wild in a remote location with few inhabitants, cut of by the sea, which is what they were aiming to do.

OLIVIA: An important part of your talk should be the radical theory Heyerdahl formed from examining mysterious ancient carvings that he happened to find on the island. I think you should finish with that.

VICTOR: OK.

————————-

OLIVIA: All right, Victor, so after your part I’ll talk about Thor Heyerdahl’s adult life, continuing from the theory he had about Polynesian migration: Up until that time of course, academics had believed that humans first migrated to the islands in Polynesia from Asia, in the west.

VICTOR: Yes, they thought that travel from the east was impossible, because of the huge, empty stretch of ocean that lies between the islands and the nearest inhabited land.

OLIVIA: Yes, but Heyerdahl spent ages studying the cloud movements, ocean currents and wind patterns to find if it was actually possible. And another argument was that there was no tradition of large ship-building in the communities lying to the east of Polynesia. But Heyerdahl knew they made lots of coastal voyages in locally built canoes.

VICTOR: Yes, or sailing on rafts, as was shown by the long voyage that Heyerdahl did next. It was an incredibly risky journey to undertake – sometimes I wonder if he did that trip for private reasons, you know? To show others that he could have spectacular adventures. What do you think, Olivia?

OLIVIA: Well, I think it was more a matter of simply trying out his idea, to see if migration from the east was possible.

VICTOR: Yes, that’s probably it. And the poor guy suffered a bit at that time because the war forced him to stop his work for some years …

OLIVIA: Yes. When he got started again and planned his epic voyage, do you think it was important to him that he achieve it before anyone else did?

VICTOR: Um, I haven’t read anywhere that that was his motivation. The most important factor seems to have been that he use only ancient techniques and local materials to build his raft.

OLIVIA: Yes. I wonder how fast it went.

VICTOR: Well, it took them 97 days from South America to the Pacific Island.

OLIVIA: Mm. And after that, Heyerdahl went to Easter Island, didn’t he? We should mention the purpose of that trip. I think he sailed there in a boat made out of reeds.

VICTOR: No, that was later on in Egypt, Olivia.

OLIVIA: Oh, yes, that’s right.

VICTOR: But what he wanted to do was talk to the local people about their old stone carvings and then make one himself to learn more about the process.

OLIVIA: I see. Well, what a great life. Even though many of his theories have been disproven, he certainly left a lasting impression on many disciplines, didn’t he? To my mind, he was first person to establish what modern academics call practical archaeology. I mean, that they try to recreate something from the past today, like he did with his raft trip. It’s unfortunate that his ideas about where Polynesians originated from have been completely discredited.

VICTOR: Yes. Right, well, I’ll prepare a PowerPoint slide at the end that acknowledges our sources. I mainly used The Life and Work of Thor Heyerdahl by William Oliver. I thought the research methods he used were very sound, although I must say I found the overall tone somewhat old-fashioned. I think they need to do a new, revised edition.

OLIVIA: Yeah, I agree. What about the subject matter – I found it really challenging!

VICTOR: Well, it’s a complex issue …

OLIVIA: I thought the book had lots of good points. What did you think of …

Key Vocabulary and Spelling

Study Tips

Section 3 is a conversation, so track who agrees and who objects. When one speaker says no and replaces a detail, as climbing replaces camping here, the corrected detail carries the mark. The multiple choice strategy covers this question type in depth.

In choose-TWO-letters questions the two answers arrive in any order and both must survive the whole exchange. Hold both candidates in mind until the speakers settle their disagreement, because an early idea is often replaced a few turns later.

The final six questions test opinion, so listen for the moment agreement lands. When Victor accepts Olivia’s reading of the raft journey with a yes, that is probably it, her reason becomes the answer the speakers share.

Read the options before the audio starts so that synonyms are already primed: authentic construction methods for ancient techniques and local materials, isolated place for remote location, and out of date for old-fashioned all appear in this section.

Practice More Listening Tests

Join both halves of the paper together on the Cambridge IELTS 10 listening test 2 answers page, where Sections 1 to 4 share one answer key. If the two-speaker format slowed you down, revisit the gentler City Centre Developments Talk in Section 2 first; if you want the toughest task, go straight to The Future of Management in Section 4. The free IELTS listening practice course at Simply IELTS breaks multi-speaker discussions into repeatable drills. Then test yourself on a new recording: try this interactive listening test: boat trip around tasmania listening answers and listen for the same correction traps you met here.