Free IELTS Listening Exam Questions and Answers

Section 4. You will hear a lecturer talking about dendrochronology, the dating of wood by tree rings. Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for the answer. Question 31: Tree rings - A tree normally adds one ring each year - Wide ring = wet growing season - Narrow ring = a ______ or other poor growing conditions Transcript: Lecturer: Today I'd like to look at dendrochronology. The basic idea is simple. In most temperate climates a tree adds one ring of new wood every year, so counting the rings tells you the tree's age. But the rings also vary in width. A wide ring usually means a wet growing season with plenty of water. A narrow ring suggests the tree was under stress, most often because of a drought, although a very cold summer can have the same effect. By matching these patterns against timber from old buildings, researchers can date a beam to the exact year it was cut.

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Section 1. A student is phoning a pottery studio to ask about a weekend workshop. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C. Question 3: How much will the student pay for the Saturday workshop? Transcript: Student: Hello, I'm interested in the Saturday pottery workshop. How much is it? Receptionist: It's twenty-eight pounds for adults. There's a sixteen-pound rate for under-sixteens. And if you're a student, it's nineteen pounds, as long as you bring your student card with you. Student: I'm at the university, so that'll be fine. Does that include the clay? Receptionist: Yes, all materials are included, and the glazing is free too.

• AA. £16
• BB. £19
• CC. £28

Section 1. A man is booking a coach ticket to Manchester. Complete the booking form below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for the answer. Question 2: COACH BOOKING Destination: Manchester Type of ticket: Single Seat number: ______ Transcript: Agent: National Coaches, how can I help? Man: Hello, I'd like a single ticket to Manchester for the nineteenth, please. Agent: Certainly. Would you like to reserve a seat? It's an extra pound. Man: Yes, please, if there's one by a window. Agent: Let me see. Yes, I can give you coach D, seat thirty-six. That's by the window on the left-hand side. Man: Perfect. Thank you.

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Section 2. A manager is giving a talk to new users of a community centre. Answer the question below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for the answer. Question 15: Where should visitors leave their bicycles? Transcript: Manager: Just a few practical points before you go. Parking at the front is for staff and minibuses only, and please don't lock bicycles to the railings there, as the council has asked us to keep the pavement clear. We've put in a covered rack in the courtyard behind the main building, and that's where bikes should go. It's quite safe, as the gate is locked at eight every evening.

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Section 2. A council officer is talking to residents of Fenwick village about local services. Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer. Transcript: Speaker: Now, a few words about the mobile library. Many of you will remember that it used to call every Monday. That changed in January, and it now stops outside the village hall every second Thursday, from ten until twelve. You can borrow up to eight books at a time, and if the book you want isn't on the van, the driver can order it for you free of charge. Mobile library Visits Fenwick every second ______ (Question 11) Maximum number of books: ______ (Question 12)

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1. Question 11
2. Question 12

Section 4. A lecturer is talking about green roofs in cities. Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer. Transcript: Lecturer: When green roofs first became popular, planners expected their main benefit to be insulation, keeping buildings warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Insulation does improve, but only by a small amount. Monitoring over several years has shown that the far bigger effect is on rainwater. A roof covered in plants and soil can hold back a large share of a storm's rainfall, which reduces the runoff entering the drains and lowers the risk of flooding. Green roofs - Original expectation: better ______ (Question 31) - Largest benefit found: less ______ entering the drains (Question 32)

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1. Question 31
2. Question 32

Section 2. A volunteer is giving a tour of the Eastgate Arts Centre. Label the plan below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer. Plan (described): The main entrance is at the bottom of the plan and leads into a foyer. A single corridor runs north from the foyer. On the left (west) side of the corridor are, in order from the foyer: the café, the toilets and the office. On the right (east) side are, in order from the foyer: the box office, Room 7 and the stairs. Transcript: Speaker: Come through the main doors into the foyer and head up the corridor. The café is on your left, and you'll probably want to start there. Opposite the café is the box office, and you can collect your tickets from there. Carry on and you'll see the stairs at the far end on the right. People often think the room just before the stairs is a storeroom, but it's actually our darkroom, where the photography group meets on Tuesdays. Question 16. Room 7 is the ______

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Section 2. A member of the parish council is speaking at a public meeting about a new skate park. Choose the correct letter, A, B or C. Transcript: Speaker: Several sites were suggested for the skate park. The field behind the library was popular, but neighbours worried about the noise. Building beside the sports hall would have meant moving the car park, which was too expensive. In the end, the council chose the open ground next to the river path, which is far enough from houses and already has street lighting. Question 17. Where will the skate park be built?

• AA. Beside the sports hall
• BB. Behind the library
• CC. Next to the river path

Section 4. Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for the answer. Notes: Natural ice trade - Ice cut from frozen lakes and stored in insulated buildings - Supply shortages were caused by ________ winters Transcript: Lecturer: Before mechanical refrigeration, many households relied on ice cut from frozen lakes in winter. The blocks were packed in sawdust inside thick-walled storehouses, where they could last until the following summer. The trade had its difficulties. Heavy snowfall sometimes made it hard to move the blocks to the railway, but the real threat to supply was a mild winter, when the lake ice was too thin to cut and prices rose sharply.

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Section 3. A tutor is speaking to three students about a group report. Complete the sentence below. Write ONE NUMBER ONLY for the answer. The word limit for the group report is ________ words. Transcript: Dr Okafor: Right, Mei, Jack and Sofia, a quick word about the report. I know the course guide says three thousand words, but for a group report I'm lowering that. Jack: So how long will it be? Dr Okafor: Two thousand five hundred words, no more. Sofia: That's a relief. Mei: Does that include the reference list? Dr Okafor: No, only the main text.

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