IELTS 9 Test 3 keys for LISTENING

SECTION 1
1. 300
2. Sunshade
3. balcony
4. forest/forests
5. 319
6. 10,000
7. relative
8. missed
9. item
10. Ludlow

SECTION 2
11. C -  I went on a trip to a theme park near Birmingham and decided we could do a much better job!
12. A -  So we set up a small one ourselves based on the miniature railway and we opened to the public for iust a month that year. 1984 - in July - our driest month - because our children said thev didn't want our quests to have a miserable, wet visit.
13. C - a million and a half people have been through our doors since we opened.
14. E -  I only concern mvself with looking after the mechanical side of things
15. H - Liz now devotes all her energies to recruiting and supporting the large sguadron of workers,
16. F - Sarah has now returned to the park and makes sure the visitors are kept fed and watered,
17. C - Duncan, has been a stalwart of the park for the last ten years, taking over from me in the area of construction
18. G - and his new wife. Judith, has also joined the team in charge of retail.
19. 120 -  the Go-Kart arena which is 120 souare metres in area.
20. 5 to 12 - We wanted to enable 5-12 year olds to use the oo-karts.


SECTION 3
21. fishing industry - Yes, it's the fishing industry.
22. statistics -  I think I'm coping well with statistics, and I'm never bored by it.
23. note-taking - I'm very weak at note-taking. My teachers always used to say that.
24. confidence - It really helps build confidence, you know, having to present something to others
25. ideas - The drawback is that everyone in the group seems to share the same ideas ... thev keep being repeated in all the dissertations
26. student support - You could also try a service called 'Student Support'
27. places - Yes, unfortunately there are only a few places.
28. general - They'll be a good source of reference but the problem is thev are sometimes too general
29. 3. times - Read everything three times - that'll really fix them in your mind.
30. 25 - Fine, we'll go for the 25

SECTION 4
31. B - Their chief aim was to create somewhere that was as environmentallv-friendiv as possible.
32. A - The price was relatively low, and they liked the idea of recycling the land, as it were
33. glass - That was made of a double laver of very strong glass.
34. insulation - And the walls had a laver of foam around them too, to increase the insulation.
35. windows -  Sunlight floods in through the glass wall, and to maximise it there are lots of mirrors and windows inside the house
36. electricity - it's possible that in future the house mav even generate an electricity surplus
37. floor/floors - For example, the floors are made of reclaimed wood.
38. waste - the system for dealing with the waste produced in the house. This is dealt with organically
39. concrete - It's true that the actual construction of the house was harmful to the environment, mainly because thev had to use massive amounts of concrete
40. 15. years - However, once the initial ,debt' has been cleared - and it's been calculated that this will only take fifteen years - this underground house won't cost anything

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IELTS 9 Test 2 keys for LISTENING

SECTION 1
1. Bhatt
2. 31. March
3. nursing
4. 2
5. meat
6. bedsit
7. theatre/theater
8. mature/older
9. town
10. shared

SECTION 2
11. trees - Then there's Holt Island, which is noted for its great range of trees.
12. Friday/Sunday - The island is only open to the public from Friday to Sunday, because it's quite small, and if there were people around every day, much of the wildlife would keep away
13. farm - Lonafield has a modern replica of a farm from over two thousand years ago.
14. C - You'll start with a tour of our herb garden, practise the technique of using them as colour dves for cloth
15. B - We keep to a small number of people in the group, so if vou want to go you'll need to phone the park ranger a few davs ahead.
16. A - One thing, though, is to make sure you're wearing something that you don't mind getting dirty or torn.
17. A - As you can see, there's a lake in the north west of the park, with a bird hide to the west of it, at the end of a path.
18. I - Fairly close to where refreshments are available, there,s a dog-walking area in the southern part of the park
19. F - you can go to the flower garden: that's the circular area on the map surrounded by paths.
20. E - And finally, there's a wooded area in the western section of the park, between two paths.

SECTION 3
21. C - The majority of students say that they enjoy using it because it provides a variation on the classroom routine and thev see it as a pretty maior component of their course
22. B - Some of us also think that we could benefit a lot more bv relocating the Self-Access Centre to the main University library building.
23. B - Our main worry would be not being able to ao to a teacher for advice.
24. C - It's not so much the expense that I'm worried about, and we've certainly got room to do it, but it's the problem of timetabling a teacher to be in there outside class hours
25. reading - Yes, one of the comments that students frequently make is that thev find it difficult to find materials that are appropriate for their level, especially reading resources
26. CD - The CD section especially needs to be more current.
27. workbooks - What do you think of the idea of introducing some workbooks? If we break them up into separate pages and laminate them, they,d be a great resource
28. timetable/schedule - I'll have to talk to the teachers and make sure we can all reach some agreement on a timetable to supervise the centre after class.
29. alarm - What about putting in an alarm?
30. email/emails - The other thing I'd like to do is talk to our technicians and see whether we could somehow limit the access to email.
 

SECTION 4
31. central - It's the type of culture that needs a central source of power to be effective, and because control is in the hands of just one or two people there aren't many rules or procedures
32. conversation/conversations - Another characteristic is that communication usually takes the form of conversations rather than, say, formal meetings or written memos
33. effectively - But on the negative side, this type of organisation doesn't always act effectively, because it depends too much on one or two people at the top
34. risk/risks - And the kind of person who does well in this type of business culture is one who is happy to take risks, and for whom job security is a low priority
35. levels - The next type is known as Role Culture - that,s R-O-L-E, not R-O-double L, by the way, and this type is usually found in large companies, which have lots of different levels in them.
36. description/descriptions - Each one is co-ordinated at the top by a small group of senior managers, and typically everyone's job is controlled by sets of rules and procedures-for example, there are specific job descriptions, rules for discipline, and so on.
37. technical - it is particularly successful in business markets where technical expertise is important
38. change - On the other hand, this culture is often very slow to recognise the need for change, and even slower to react
39. responsibility - What kind of person does this type of culture suit? Well it suits employees who value security, and who don't particularly want to have responsibility
40. flexible - Now one of the major benefits of this culture is that it's flexible.

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IELTS 9 Test 4 keys for LISTENING

SECTION 1
1. babies
2. Eshcol
3. evening
4. Gormley
5&6. IN EITHER ORDER
B E
7. heart
8. primary school
9. 4.30
10. ages

SECTION 2
11. B - The first one - the round one on the far left - is the most important one for the heating and hot water. It's the main control switch
12. C - Below the heating controls in the middle is a small round plastic button. If there isn't enough water in the pipes, sometimes the heater goes out. If this happens you'll need to press this button to reset the heater.
13. E - Then there's a little square indicator under the third knob that's a kind of alarm light.
14. B - Pillows ... ves. If you look in the cupboard, the large white one upstairs - to the left of the bathroom door - there should be four or five on the top shelf
15. E - there's some powder for that... probably by the back door. There's a kind of shelf there above the sink
16. D - the spare kev to the back door is hanging on a hook on the wall bv the sitting room window.
17. A - And if you have any trouble with the lamps, you'll find some spare bulbs in a large cardboard box. It,s on top of the washing machine with all kinds of useful things in it
18. C - I've left you a local map, so you'll be able to find your way around easily. It shows the whole area. I put it in the top drawer of the chest under the TV in your bedroom
19. 732281 - But if you want a takeaway, the Italian one does really good pasta and pizzas. Call 7-3 double 2. 8-1 for that one
20. Thursday/Thursdays - The exhibition is small but really good. It gets very crowded on Sundays, so I suggest you visit it on a quieter day, later in the week, but not on Thursdays which is market day - you won't find anywhere to park and it's also the only day of the week when they're not open


SECTION 3
21. A - Yes. And, as I'd already finished a course in it in my country.
22. C - in fact, it is more a question of altering your viewpoint towards academic study
23. approach - Here, they're much easier to approach.
24. mature - Maybe you found them different because you're a more mature student now
25. interest - In my faculty, they all seem to make appointments - usually to talk about something in the course that's worrying them, but sometimes iust about something that might really interest them
26. groups - We did these in small groups. I had to go and work four hours every week in a community pharmacy
27. every 2 days - Then in second semester, we had to get experience in hospital dispensaries, so every second dav we went to one of the big hospitals and worked there.
28. 2 weeks - Oh, I nearly forgot, between first and second semesters, we had to work full-time for two weeks in a hospital.
29. confident - Yeah, I do feel much more confident, which I suppose is the most important thing
30. education system - Well, as I said before, the biggest problem for me was a lack of familiarity with the education system here

SECTION 4
31. C - Well, there are four of us in the group and one day while we were discussing a possible focus, two of the group mentioned that they had seen vet more sparrow-hawks - one of Britain's most interesting birds of prev - in their own citv centre gardens and wondered whv they were turning up in these gardens in great numbers.
32. A - We estimated that it was about one fifth, and this was endorsed bv looking at large-scale usage maps in the town land survey office
33. B - survey garden owners from different areas of the citv. Just over 100 of them completed a survey once every two weeks for twelve months - ticking off species they had seen from a pro forma list - and adding the names of anv rarer ones.
34. B - We deliberately chose smaller ones because they were bv far the most typical in the citv. The whole point of the project was to look at the norm not the exception.
35. A - Alongside this primary research, on urban gardens, we were studying a lot of books about the decline of wild animals in the countryside
36. C - What we've decided to present today is information about just three species - because we felt these gave a good indication of the processes at work in rural and urban settings as a whole.
37. frog/frogs - The first species to generate a lot of interesting information was frogs.
38. predators - Hedgehogs are also finding it easier to live in urban areas - this time because their predators are not finding it quite so attractive to leave their rural environment, so hedgehogs have a better survival rate in cities.
39. count - We had lots of sightings, so all in all we had no difficulties with our efforts to count their numbers precisely
40. seed/seeds - On the decline in the countryside, they are experiencing a resurgence in urban gardens because these days gardeners are buying lots of different plants which means there's an extensive range of seeds around, which is what they feed on.

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Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 #12

Women and men are commonly seen as having different strengths and weaknesses. Is it right to exclude males or females from certain professions because of their gender?

Model answer

There have always been differences in the types of work men and women have done. However, the trend in modern times has been for both men and women to have greater freedom of choice in terms of employment. Some people might say that there is no need to go further. However, in my view, wherever possible, gender equality should be encouraged.

There may indeed be good arguments for allowing certain posts to remain predominantly male or female. Where all-male or all-female groups exist, there may be a need for related posts to be held by men and women respectively. Patients in all-female hospital wards, for example, would probably appreciate having female nurses to took after them. It could also be argued that certain jobs requiring a great deal of physical strength, coal mining or logging, for example, should continue to be done mainly by men.

However, in the vast majority of situations, making occupations more open to both genders has distinct advantages. Men and women can bring slightly different perspectives and approaches to a job. Female police officers, for example, may have a greater understanding of domestic violence and a better range of strategies for dealing with this problem. Male primary school teachers probably have a better understanding of the needs of young boys and can serve as good role models for them.

The changes that result from allowing men into female-dominated occupations and vice versa may be subtle, but they are far-reaching. However, to benefit the most from this development, it is important not to expect males and females to approach work in identical ways.

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Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 #11

Convenience foods will become increasingly prevalent and eventually replace traditional foods and traditional methods of food preparation. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Model answer

          The increasing availability of convenience foods has been a significant feature of modern life in many developed countries. Some people have predicted that with advances in food technology, traditional foods and traditional methods of food preparation will disappear. In this essay, I will argue that this is unlikely to happen.

          It is true that nowadays many people do not have enough time to cook and that convenience foods present an attractive option. These foods have improved significantly in terms of quality and availability and the range for sale in the average supermarket is quite impressive. It is possible to find even very sophisticated ready-prepared microwavable meals.

          However, the growing popularity of television cookery programmes, 'celebrity chefs', and cook books suggest that people continue to value traditional ways of preparing foods. Farmers markets selling fresh, locally-produced food continue to be the norm in many parts of the world. In fact, they are growing in popularity in countries such as the UK, where they had virtually disappeared from many cities. This may be partly because cooking with basic, natural ingredients is cheaper than buying processed foods.

          Moreover, traditional foods are an important aspect of culture and social life. In many countries, traditional meals continue to be shared in regular family gatherings. Important celebrations such as weddings, Christmas and Chinese New Year are marked by traditionally prepared feasts.

          In spite of the utility of convenience foods, people are unlikely to abandon practices that are economically sound and give them great pleasure. It is hard to imagine a world in which people do not continue to enjoy traditional, home-cooked meals at least some of the time.

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IELTS 9 Test 1 keys for LISTENING

SECTION 1

01. answer(ing) (the) phone

02. Hillsdunne Road

03. library

04. 4.45

05. national holidays

06. after 11 (o'clock)

07. clear voice

08. think quickly

09. 22 October

10. Manuja

SECTION 2

11. branch - Well, most of you probably know Sports World - the branch of a Danish sports goods company that opened a few years ago.

12. west - It's going to be in the shoping center to the west of Bradcaster.

13. clothing - The first three floors have a huge range of sports clothing

14. 10 - If they haven't got exactly what you want in stock they promise to get it for you in ten days.

15. running - They cover all majoer sports, including football, tennis and swimming, but they particulerly focus on running.

16. bags - As well as that, a whole section of the third floor is devoted to sports bags.

17. A - he will be staying around until about midday

18. A - the first person to get all the questions correct gets a year's free membership of the Bradcaster Gym.

19 & 20 (IN EITHER ORDER)

      A - This wwould mornally cost 30 pound but is available at half price for this month only.

      E - There are only a limited number of places avalable for this, so to make a booking phone 560341.

SECTION 3

21. B - I did quite a good job because my overall style was quite professional.

22. C - They didn't worry about their presentation style or keeping eye contact with their audience.

23. B - I didn't feel any real sense of satisfaction.

24. A - I am not so pleased with my actual performance right now in the tutorials

25. C - Also, they are very familiar with each other, so because they don't know each other's habits, they can let each other into the discussion.

26. B - But recently, I've been trying to speak up more and I just jump in.

27. A - At first I couldn't understand what the lecturers ware talking about, so I had to turn to the books and journals.

28. B - My reading speed is quite low, though I'm much better at dealing with vocablary than I used to be.

29. C - I wanted to concentrate on my own field, but we didn't read anything about engineering.

30. B - I would have flet much better working on reading from my own field.

SECTION 4

31. tide/tides - Unfortunately, this type of event is a frequant occurrence in some of the locations that you'll be travelling to, where sometimes the tide goes out suddenly, confusing the animals.

32. hearing/ear/ears - Since merine animals rely heavily on their hearing to navigate, this type of infestation has the potential to be very harmful.

33. IN EITHER ORDER, BOTH REQUIRED FOR ONE MARK

      plants

      animals/fish/fishes

 - Many toxins, as I'm sure you're aware, originate from plants, or animals

34. feeding - examination of the animals' stomach content reveal that most had not been feeding as they stranded.

35. noise/noises - Noises such as those caused by military exercises are of particular and have been pinpointed as the cause of some strandings of late.

36. healthy - For one, all the stranded animals were healthy.

37. group

38. social - This is a particularly interesting theory since the whales that to be most social - the toothed whales - are the group that strand the most frequently.

39. leader - Examination of the dead animals reveal that apart from the leader, all the others had been healthy at the time of their death.

40. network/networks - I recommend John Connor's Marine Mammals Ashore as an excellent starting point if you're interested in finding out more about these networks.

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Sample IELTS Writing Task 2 #10

Many people believe that formal 'pen and paper" examinations are not the best method of assessing educational achievement. What is your view of examinations?

Model answer

          Examinations are one of the most common methods of measuring learning in education systems throughout the world. At virtually every stage of the learning process, exams are used to verify that the learner is ready to move on to the next stage. However, many people believe that the role of examinations should be reconsidered.

          There are clearly certain advantages to exams. They help to ensure fairness by imposing the same conditions on all exam candidates. They are also relatively versatile; different types of exam questions, for example, multiplechoice questions and essay tasks, can test different sorts of reasoning ability. However, exams also have clear drawbacks. Test-wise candidates can often perform well on exams without having good underlying knowledge or skills. On the other hand, some test-takers perform poorly in exams simply because of anxiety. Some teachers and learners focus only on those aspects of the curriculum that are likely to be tested, thus narrowing the educational experience for all.


          A number of measures should be taken to address these concerns. Wherever possible, exams should match the content and activities of the learning environment. Exam tasks should be varied to give fair opportunities to candidates with different types of skills. Other types of assessment should also be considered; assignment writing, for example, to assess independent learning and research skills, or group projects, to measure teamwork ability.
           Exams clearly have a role to play in ensuring proper, objective assessment of achievement. However, exams need to be carefully designed and supplemented with other forms of assessment if they are to be a truly useful component of the educational system.

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