Hi
A common mistake in multiple choice questions in the IELTS Listening test is to get distracted by words in the audio recording that match words in one of the possible answers.
To show you what I mean, here’s a multiple choice question from Section 2 of the Listening test in the Official IELTS Practice Materials and a transcript of the audio recording.
The Bridge Hotel is located in
A) the city centre
B) the country
C) the suburbs
Transcript: “Set in a quiet residential area on the attractive outskirts of Belford, about three miles from the city centre, the Bridge Hotel is a popular choice for conferences.”
In this example, many candidates may be distracted when they hear ‘the city centre’ in the recording and choose ‘A’ . The correct answer, however, is ‘C’ because the hotel is on the outskirts of Belford and ‘outskirts’ is a synonym of ‘suburbs’ (i.e. ‘outskirts’ is a word with a similar meaning to ‘suburbs’).
Here’s another example from the same test:
The newest sports facility in the hotel is
A) a swimming pool
B) a fitness centre
C) a tennis court
Transcript: “The Bridge Hotel is set in three and a half hectares of grounds with an open-air swimming pool and four tennis courts. There is also a newly opened gym with fitness suite, which is considered one of the best equipped in the area.”
I’ll post the answer in a couple of days.
Pete
See our IELTS tutor profiles to find out more about our qualified and experienced English language teachers.
Average rating
It’s a very good idea if you post some examples of IELTS tests that sometimes make us confused. Would you mind sending some tips about how to do listening ang grammar test in IELTS tests? Thank you for your full attention …
I’m glad you found the examples useful, Willian.
Check out our blog post ‘You now have half a minute…‘ for a tip for the IELTS Listening test.
There isn’t a separate grammar test in IELTS, but your grammar will be assessed in the IELTS Writing and Speaking tests. For some suggesions about how to improve your grammar, have a look at our posts ‘How to make fewer mistakes in your writing‘ and ‘Compared to… (2)‘.
Best wishes,
Pete
Dear Sir
It is very difficult for me to solve matching type questions in ielts listening. Please tell me any tip to solve it.
Thanks
Hi Rashid,
I can understand why you find matching questions in IELTS Listening difficult; in these questions, there’s usually a lot of information to look at while you’re trying to listen.
To show you one way to make this type of question easier, here’s an example from Section 3 of the same Listening test as the examples in the post above.
In this example, I think it’s easier to concentrate and take notes on what Katy and Harry will do, and then use your notes to match the options to the answers once the recording has finished.
If you try to listen and match at the same time, you may not be able to keep up with the recording.
Best wishes,
Pete