Ielts General Training Volume 1 - Listening Practice Test 1 v9 707

IELTS General Training
Volume 1
Listening Practice Test 1
HOW TO USE
You have 2 ways to access the listening audio
1. Open this URL http://link.intergreat.com/dc1lV on your computer
2. Use your mobile device to scan the QR code attached
Access https://ieltsonlinetests.com for more practices page 1

Questions 1-5
Complete the form below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR SOME NUMBERS for each

answer.
BUS PASS APPLICATION FORM
Example: PASS APPLIED FOR Answer: 1 month
NAME Nathalie 1
ADDRESS 45 2 Newlands Adelaide
POSTCODE 8490
DATE OF BIRTH 3 , 1982
TEL NUMBER 4
UNIVERSITY CARD SHOWN Yes
ZONES REQUIRED 5
Questions 6-10
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR SOME NUMBERS from

the audio for each answer.
Adelaide Day Trips on the Bus
The MacDonald
Nature Park
Outward Journey
8.00am
Leaves
Length of Journey 2 hours
Return Journey Leaves 6
Things to do/see Walk nature trails + MacDonald River
Bring A camera
Pearl Bay
Outward Journey
9.00am
Leaves

Length of Journey 7
Return Journey Leaves 4.00pm
Walk along 8 + see view Lie on the beach +

Things to do/see
swim
Bring Swimming gear + a towel
The Huron Gold Mine
Outward Journey
9.30am
Leaves
Length of Journey Half an hour
Return Journey Arrival

9
time
Things to do/see Go round the museum and tunnels, find some gold!!
Bring 10
Questions 11-16
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.
The highest point of the bridge is 134m above 11
The two pairs of pylons are made of 12
13 % of the steel for making the bridge came from the UK.
Approximately 14 families moved without compensation to

accommodate the construction of the approaches to the bridge.
People 15 was the main cause of death of workers while

constructing the bridge.
Three 16 were made to mark the opening of the bridge. One is

worth several hundred dollars today.
Questions 17-20
Which FOUR of the following facts are NOT true about the Sydney

Harbour Bridge today?
Choose FOUR letters (A – J) and write them in boxes 17–20 on your

answer sheet.
A There are no more trams crossing the bridge.
B There are eight traffic lanes on the bridge.
C Trains still cross the bridge.
D People are allowed to walk across the bridge.
E Buses are allowed to cross the bridge.
F The Harbour Tunnel has not helped traffic congestion on the

bridge.
G More than 182 000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.
H Horses can no longer cross the bridge.
I Bicycles are not allowed to cross the bridge.
J To go back and forward across the bridge costs $6.
Questions 21-27
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.
While waiting for Phil, Mel and Laura were 21
A telephone survey was rejected because it would be 22
A mail survey was rejected because it would 23
The best number of people to survey would be 24
If their survey only included 100 people, it would not be 25
The number of people that Laura, Phil and Mel agree to survey was
26
The number of questions in the survey was agreed to be 27

Questions 28-30
Circle THREE letters A – G.
What are the three locations that Laura, Phil and Mel chose for their
survey?
A The town square
B The train station
C The university cafeteria
D Dobbins department store
E The corner of the High Street and College Road
F The bus station
G The corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road
Questions 31-34
Complete the table below by matching the individual with their role
(Questions 31-34) in the lecture on the coelacanth.
Write the approprate letters (A – F) on your answer sheet.
NB There are more roles than individuals so you will not need to use
them all.
INDIVIDUAL ROLE
Dr. J.L.B. Smith 31
Marjorie Courtney-Latimer 32
Dr. Mark Erdmann 33
Captain Goosen 34

ROLES
A Paid fishermen for unidentified finds.
B Caught a strange looking fish.
C Contacted scientists in Indonesia.
D Photographed a coelacanth seen by accident.
E First recognised the coelacanth for what it was.
F Bought a specimen of a coelacanth in a market.
Questions 35-40
Choose the correct letters A – C.
35 The coelacanth was…
A well known to Indonesian fishermen.
B unknown to Indonesian fishermen.
C a first in the market.
36 The only difference between the Comoros coelacanth and the Sulawesi
coelacanth is…
A their intercranial joint.
B their paired fins.
C their colour.
37 Coelacanths seemed to have their greatest population…
A 360 million years ago.
B 240 million years ago.
C 80 million years ago.
38 Modem coelacanths probably left no fossilised remains over the past

80 million years because…
A of too much clay sediment.
B conditions where they lived were not favourable for fossilisation.

C volcanoes are needed for fossilisation.
39 Scientists had a better understanding of the coelacanth after 1991

because…
A the French government had previously limited study on the

Comoros coelacanth.
B the Comoros were far away and difficult to reach.
C the Comoros opened an airport.
40 On the 1991 expedition, scientist studied the coelacanth…
A only from fishermen’s specimens.
B through the windows of their submarine.
C from diving down.

Solution:
1 Janeson 2 Forest Avenue
3 13th of May 4 6249 7152
5 1 – 5/1 to 5 6 4:30pm
7 1 hour/one hour 8 the cliffs
9 2.00pm 10 (a) sweater
11 mean sea level 12 concrete and granite
13 (about) 79 14 800/ eight hundred
15 falling off 16 (postage) stamps
17
20
D,F,G,J 21 chatting/ talking

22 too expensive 23 take too long
24 1000/thousand people 25 statistically significant
26 500/five hundred 27 5/five
28
30
A,D,E 31 E
32 A 33 D
34 B 35 A
36 C 37 B
38 B 39 A
40 B

Review and Explanations
1 Answer: Janeson
The keyword concerned in Q1 is “name”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be aname.
The answer for Q1 is quite noticeable as the woman directly tells and spell us her
surname, which is Janeson.
Note: The only obstacle is candidate’s personal.
2 Answer: Forest Avenue

The keyword concerned in Q2 should be “address”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must benumbers or names.
The woman 2’s question “And what’s your address? ” can be seen as a suggestion
for the answer’s appearance.
The women 1 answer is “ins , Newlands, Adelaide” and the women2 asked:” Is that
forest with 1 R or 2 Rs” Since no more than three words and/or numbers are
allowed in each question, the candidate may get baffled a little bit.
However, candidates with good listening skills and average concentration can easily
solve the trick.
3 Answer: 13th of May

The keyword concerned in Q3 is “date of birth”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must bea date.
The answer for Q3 is quite noticeable as the woman 1 directly tells us her birthday
which is the 13th of May.
4 Answer: 6249 7152

The keyword concerned in Q4 is “your telephone number”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must be a group ofnumber.
The answer for Q4 is quite noticeable as the woman 1 directly spell us her
telephone number, which is six two four nine seven one five two.
Note: The only obstacle is candidate’s personal confusion because of the long,
unexpected line. Nonetheless, the woman 1 has taken a break before moving on to
the next sentence. For that reason, candidate is expected to pass Q4 with ease.
5 Answer: 1 – 5/1 to 5
The keyword concerned in Q5 should be “zones”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must bea range of numbers.
The woman 1’s answer predict that the woman 2’s decide is 1 to 5
The sentence “The nearest bus stop is in Zone 5. That’s lucky” is the first clue.
Zones 1 – 6 is the distracted detail that might make the listener wrongly think.
However, candidates with good listening skills and average concentration can easily
solve the trick by find out the difference between the voice of woman1 and the woman
2.
6 Answer: 4:30pm
Before turn into the next section, listener has about 30s to take a quick scanning to
the form.
You can see the similar between 3 different locations in the listening. Thank to that,
we can assume that the answer must be a specific timeline.
The keywords concerned in Q6 are “leaves for the return”. The answer of the
woman 1 is told in order and go straight to the point. Nonetheless, the candidate is
expected to pass Q6 with ease.
Hence, the answer for Q6 is 4.30 in the afternoon or 4.30pm
7 Answer: 1 hour/one hour

The keywords concerned in Q7 are “How far is that”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer must benumbers or amount of
time.
The answer of the woman 2 is went straight to the point: “It’s an hour”
Thus, the answer for Q7 should be “an hour”.
8 Answer: the cliffs

The keyword concerned in Q8 should be “Things to do/see”.
From the hint in the question, we can assume that the answer must belocations.
The woman 2’s introduction line :“walk along” can be seen as a suggestion for the
answer’s appearance.
The student’s answer is “the cliffs” and it’s the “ s “ in the answer.The candidates with
good listening skills and average concentration can easily solve the trick.
9 Answer: 2.00pm
The keyword concerned in Q9 is “Return Journey Leaves”.
From the sample of the previous locations, we can assume that the answer must bea
specific time.
The woman 2’s introduction has paraphrased the word “ return ” to “ arriving back ”
The answer is 2.00pm. Since the trip has started at 9.30 am, and it’s a half day trip so
obviously the ending time must be in the afternoon.
10 Answer: (a) sweater

The keyword concerned in Q10 is “Bring”.
From the sample of the previous locations, we can assume that the answer must be
nouns.
This is a thing that suggested to bring, so the person who provide the informations must
be the woman 2. For that reason, be focusing on the woman 2’s lines.
By catching the woman 2’s advice “the mines can be quite cold ”, the candidates
can predict the answer will revolve around clothes, scarf, etc.
The answer is a sweater.
11 Answer: mean sea level

The keywords concerned in Q11 are “134m above” and “increase by as much as
18 centimeters on hot days”.
The keywords “measure + above” are frequently used to talk about the sea level.
even if you missed the answer “mean sea level“ you still can guess the answer by
catch the next explanation of George.
Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earth's oceans
from which heights such as elevation may be measured.
View more here at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level so you have to write the full
definition "Mean sea level". The answer "sea level" is NOT accepted.
12 Answer: concrete and granite

The keyword concerned in Q12 is “made of” and “two pairs of pylons”
From the keyword, we can assume that the answer can bea noun or a noun phrase.
The speaker has taken a break between 2 sentence, so the listener cannot wrongly
think the answer of the Q12. The answer for Q12 must be concrete and granite.
Listener might wrongly think the steel is the answer of Q12, but if you listen carefully,
this is used for the bridge, not pylons.
13 Answer: (about) 79
T h e keyword concerned in Q13 is “came from the United Kingdom” which is
mentioned in the question.
From the root sentence, we can assume that the answer must bea number.
The answer for Q13 must be About 79 percent eight hundred.
14 Answer: 800/ eight hundred

The keyword concerned in Q14 are “without compensation”.
From the question, we can assume that the answer could be a number or an adjective
as it is followed by the noun "families".
Following the speaker, we can hear clearly that "eight hundred families move without
compensation". Thus, you should write the answer "eight hundred" or "800" in the
blank space.
15 Answer: falling off

The keyword concerned in Q15 is “died” and “construction “ which is paraphrased
in the question.
From the root sentence, we can assume that the answer can bea noun phrase or
adjective.
The answer for Q15 must be falling off.
16 Answer: (postage) stamps

T h e keyword concerned in Q16 is “three” and “One of these stamps“which is
The keyword “issued to commemorate” is paraphrase of “made to mark”
From the root sentence, we can assume that the answer can bea noun or noun
phrase.
The passive sentence is used in the sentence, for that reason, we can assume that the
answer must be a thing.
The expression of quantity is “ three”, so the answer should be in plurals form.
From above analysis, the answer for Q16 must be postage stamps.
17-20 Answer: D,F,G,J

In these questions, you must be aware thatQ17 to Q20 only concern about FOUR of
the following facts are NOT true about the Sydney Harbour Bridge today.
In 1957, Sydney abolished its trams. “abolish” means to end an activity
officially. For that reason, the option A “ There are eight traffic lanes on the
bridge” is correct, we can eliminate it.
Today it carries eight traffic lanes , two railroad lanes and a footpath along its
eastern side.” Railroad” means the mental tracks on which trains run. For that reason,
the option B “There are no more trams crossing the bridge” and the option C ”
Trains still cross the bridge” are correct, we can eliminate them
Pedestrians, horses and push bikes are not allowed on the bridge anymore.
“Pedestrian” means a person who is walking, especially in an area where vehicles go.
For that reason, the option D “People are allowed to walk across the bridge” is
incorrect, we can select it as one of four requirements. We also can eliminate the
option H and I.
One of the eastern traffic lanes is now a dedicated bus lane. “a dedicated bus
lane” means a part of a wide road that only buses are allowed to travel on, especially
during busy times of the day. For that reason, the option E “Buses are allowed to
cross the bridge” is correct, we can eliminate it.
the Harbour Tunnel was opened to help carry the traffic load. “carry the
traffic load” is paraphrase of “traffic congestion”. For that reason, the option F “The
Harbour Tunnel has not helped traffic congestion on the bridge ” is incorrect, we can
select it as one of four requirements.
More than 160,000vehicles cross the bridge each day. The given number of the
option G “ More than 182 000 “ is completely different from the answer For that
reason, the option G “More than 182 000 vehicles cross the bridge daily” is
incorrect, we can select it as one of four requirements.
The toll fee is “ three dollars”. So obvious the option J “To go back and forward
across the bridge costs $6” is the last answer of these questions
21 Answer: chatting/ talking

The keywords concerned in Q21 are “Mel and Laura”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer must beverbs.
Since this is an explanation for Mel and Laura's actions, we need to focus on the
dialogue of one of these two.
Therefore, the answer for Q21 must be “chatting”.
22 Answer: too expensive

The keywords concerned in Q22 are “a telephone survey” and “the phone one”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can bean adjective.
Before showing the answer, the speaker has listed the survey options “a telephone
survey, a street survey and a mail survey” which are mentioned in the question.
Thanks to that, we can predict that the answer will soon appear.
Therefore, the answer for Q22 must be “too expensive”.
23 Answer: take too long

The keywords concerned in Q23 are “a mail survey” and “the postal one”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can bean adjective.
“postal” relating to post or to the public service that collects and delivers the post. For
that reason, “the postal one” is paraphrase of the mail.
Before showing the answer, the speaker has listed the survey options “a telephone
survey, a street survey and a mail survey” which are mentioned in the question.
Thanks to that, we can predict that the answer will soon appear.
Therefore, the answer for Q23 must be “take too long”.
24 Answer: 1000/thousand people

The keywords concerned in Q24 are “The best number” which is paraprhase of “the
ideal figure”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can bea number.
The listener might wrongly think the answer is “100” since it’s appeared as a number
form. However, if the listeners take a quick look to the after question, Q25, you can
easily eliminate the answer “ 100 “ for the Q24.
Therefore, the answer for Q24 must be “a thousand/ 1000”.
25 Answer: statistically significant

T h e keywords concerned in Q25 are “100 people” and “won’t be” which are
From this question, we can assume that the answer can be an adjective or a noun
phrase.
Therefore, the answer for Q25 must be “statistically significant”.
26 Answer: 500/five hundred

The keywords concerned in Q26 are “The number of people” and “Laura, Phil and
Mel agree to survey”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer can bea number.
In the conversation, we can catch the answer for the question after hear the sign of Mel
and Phil’s agreement to Laura’s opinion, “ OK ”
When you hear the Mel said “Still too many “ for the Phil’s question “What about
600? “, and Laura said “ Let’s split the difference” for the Mel’s opinion “ 400”,
you can assume that the answer will range from 400 to 600.
Therefore, the answer for Q26 must be “500”.
27 Answer: 5/five
The keywords concerned in Q27 are “The number of questions” and “was agreed
to be”.
From this question, we can assume that the answer must bea number.
In the conversation, we can catch the answer for the question after hearing Laura
question “And how many questions?”
They said that their professor suggest having no more than 10 questions. Then Phil
suggested having 8 questions. This number is still not the answer, because after that,
Laura said they should be 3 fewer questions, which means there would be 5 questions
in total (a simple subtraction can be made here: 8 - 3 = 5). And all of them agree with
that idea. Therefore, 5 or five is the correct answer.
28-30 Answer: A,D,E

In these questions, you must be aware thatQ28 to Q30 only concern about Three
locations that Laura, Phil and Mel chose for their survey.
By hearing the line of Phil and Laura “the square is great but the people at
the train station will be traveling and often in a hurry” and “ the bus station
will have the same problem as the train station”, we can eliminate the
option B and F and circle letter A as the first answer.
By hearing the line of Mel and Laura “The High Street corner with College
Road will be good but the corner with Wilkins Road is too far out” and “We
should use Dobbins department store instead.” We can select D and E for
the last options.
31 Answer: E
The keywords concerned in Q31 is “Dr. J.L.B. Smith”.
The phrase “ “paid fishermen “ is paraphrase of “bounties to fishermen”
We also have catched the phrase “unfamiliar fish” which is mentioned in the
The fish is the generic term forthe coelacanth which is introduced in the first lines.
For that reason, the roles E “First recognised the coelacanth for what it was” is the
remaining answer for Q31.
32 Answer: A

The keywords concerned in Q32 is “Marjorie Courtney-Latimer”.
The phrase “ “initially identified “ is paraphrase of “First recognised”
For that reason, the roles A “Paid fishermen for unidentified finds.” is the remaining
answer for Q32.
33 Answer: D
The keywords concerned in Q33 is “Dr. Mark Erdmann”.
The phrase “ “snapped a picture “ is paraphrase of “Photographed”
The listener might wrongly think option F “Bought a specimen of a coelacanth in
a market” is the answer for Q33. “ spot” means to see or notice someone or
something. For that reason, we can eliminate the option F.
The roles D “Photographed a coelacanth seen by accident.” is the remaining answer for
Q33.
34 Answer: B
The keywords concerned in Q34 is “Captain Goosen”.
For that reason, the roles B “Caught a strange looking fish.” is the remaining
answer for Q34.
35 Answer: A
The keywords concerned in Q35 is “Indonesian” and “market”
There are 2 clues leading to the option A. One is “an American scientist
discovered a Coelacanth population in Indonesia “ and “had a name for it,
raja, ‘king of the sea”.
For that reason, the option A “well known to Indonesian fishermen .” is the
remaining answer for Q35.
36 Answer: C
The keywords concerned in Q36 is “Comoros” and “Sulawesi”
The answer of Q36 is not given directly. The sentence “Both Sulawesi and Comoros
coelacanths are quite different from all other living fish “can be seen as a
suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
The following sentences have distorted the mind of the listener by listing a list of
Coelacanth’s characteristics.
For that reason, the option C “their colour.” is the remaining answer for Q36.
37 Answer: B

The keywords concerned in Q37 is “Coelacanths” and “greatest population”
The sentence “Coelacanths are known from the fossil record dating back
over..” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
“greatest population” has paraphrased as “peaked in”
The following sentences have distorted the mind of the listener by putting on the
numbers “360 million years” on the listening.
For that reason, the option B “240 million years ago.” is the remaining answer for
Q37.
38 Answer: B
The keywords concerned in Q38 is “80 million years” and “fossil”
“80 million years “ can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
The speaker said that "coelacanths [...] inhabit caves and overhangs in vertical reefs,
[...], environments not conducive to fossil creation".
"not conducive" means not helpful. In this context, it can be interpreted that the
environment where coelatcanths live is not suitable to form fossil.
For that reason, option B is the answer for Q38.
39 Answer: A
The keywords concerned in Q39 is “In 1991”,” scientists” and “understanding of
the fish”
The year “ 1991” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
“ restriction” means an official limit on something.
For that reason, the option A “the French government had previously limited
study on the Comoros coelacanth.” is the remaining answer for Q39
40 Answer: B
The keywords concerned in Q40 is “In 1991”,” scientists
The year “ 1991” can be seen as a suggestion for the answer’s appearance.
The listener might wrongly think the option A “only from fishermen’s specimens “
as the answer of Q40. But this option has used before 1991.
The phrase “ but this time” has referred to the time of 1991. For that reason, the
option B “through the windows of their submarine.” is the remaining answer for
Q40
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Great thanks to volunteer Mai dong xuan has contributed these explanations.
If you want to make a better world like this, please contact us.

Audio Script:
Section 1
You will hear a conversation between two women as one of the women buys a
bus pass.
Woman 1: Good morning. I’m here to get a student passport please.
Woman 2: Of course Madam. Do you want to buy a month passport , a six-

month passport or a year pass?
Woman 1: Oh, just Example a month passport please.
Woman 2: Right then. I’ll just have to take a few details .
Woman 1: Yes. Of course.
Woman 2: First of all, what’s your name?
Woman 1: Nathalie Janeson .
Woman 2: And how do you spell Janeson?
Woman 1: Q1 J-A-N-E-S-O-N.
Woman 2: Thank you. And what’s your address?
Woman 1: 45 Q2 Forest Avenue, Newlands, Adelaide.
Woman 2: Is that Forest with 1 R or 2 Rs?
Woman 1: Just 1.
Woman 2: And what’s the postcode please?
Woman 1: Oh yes… It’s eight four nine oh.
Woman 2: Thanks. Now what’s your date of birth … If you don’t mind me
asking?
Woman 1: Not at all. It’s the Q3 13th of May, 1982.
Woman 2: I also need to know your telephone number here in Adelaide.
Woman 1: OK. I just need to check that as I only moved here last week. Now,
where is it. Here we are. It’s Q4 six two four nine seven one five two Do you
need a code or anything?
Woman 2: Oh no, that’s OK thank you. Can I see your university card please?
Woman 1: Yes, here it is.
Woman 2: Good. That’s fine. Now, for which zone do you need a pass?
Woman 1: Well, I’m not sure. I was hoping you’d be able to help me as I don’t
really know my way around here yet. As you know, I live in newlands and I have
to get to the university campus ir the centre of town every day.
Woman 2: Well, the university is in Zone 1 and Newlands has 2 zones. The side
nearer to the town centre is owned five but the far side is owned six . What
road is it you live in again?
Woman 1: Forest Avenue.
Woman 2: Let’s see on this map. There it is. The nearest bus stop is in Zone 5.
That’s lucky. Zones 1 – 6 are six or fifteen dollars more expensive
Woman 1: Great! Make the pass out for Zones Q5 1 – 5 then please.
Woman 1: I’ve got some other questions too if you don’t mind.
Woman 2: Sure. Go ahead.
Woman 1: Well, this weekend my friend and I aren’t doing anything so we

thought we’d take a trip out of town and visit somewhere new. Does the
bus service run any trips like that?
Woman 2: Yes, we’ve got a selection of trips. I’ll tell you about some of them.

Woman 1: Thanks.
Woman 2: Right the first one goes up to MacDonald Nature Park. The bus
leaves at 8 o'clock and takes about 2 hours to get there and leaves for the
return at Q6 4.30 in the afternoon. Once there you can walk around the
nature trails . It’s really nice and the Macdonald River runs through there and
that’s really beautiful so take a camera with you. Then there’s the Pearl Bay
trip. The bus leaves at 9:00 a.m. and goes up the coast to Pearl Bay.
Woman 1: How far is that?
Woman 2: Q7 It’s an hour away. Once there you can walk along
Q8 the cliffs up to Rocky Point, which has a famous view up the coast, or you
can just lie on the beach and swim. Don’t forget to take your swimming gear
and a towel! The water’s pretty safe there and there are always lifeguards .
The bus arrives back in Adelaide at 5:00 .
Woman 1: Mm. That sounds nice. What else?
Woman 2: Well there’s the Huron Gold Mine. It’s just a half-day trip leaving
here at 9.30am Q9 and arriving back at 2.00pm. It only takes half an hour to
get there which is good. It’s an old worked out mine that has
been changed into a sort of museum . They have all the old equipment and a
guide takes you round some of the tunnels and shows you some of the
techniques they used to use. You might even find some gold they missed .
Woman 1: Yeah. I could do with that.
Woman 2: It’s pretty interesting but the mines can be quite cold so take
Q10 a sweater . So, how do those three sound?
Woman 1: Quite interesting. I really like the idea of going up the coast and
spending a day on the beach but my friend Karen will like the idea of the
nature park. I’d better wait and check outwith her what she wants to do before
booking.
Woman 2: No problem at all. You just need to pop in some time during the
week and we’ll make the booking.
Woman 1: Thanks very much. You’ve been very helpful .

Woman 2: No problem. See you later.
Section 2
You will hear a radio presenter interviewing a man about the Sydney Harbour
Bridge
Anne: Well, good morning again everyone and welcome to “perspective ”, the
weekly New South Wales Radio programme on subjects of general interest
from our local area. Today I have in the studio Mr. George Symonds. Good
morning George.
George: Good morning Anne.
Anne: So, what are you going to talk to us about today George?
George: Well, for people from New South Wales and particularly Sydney, this
will be of great interest – I hope. I’m going to tell you a little about Sydney
Harbour bridge .
Anne: Wow. That’ll be so interesting.
George: I think so. To start with I’d like to tell you a little about the size of the
bridge. The arch span is five hundred and three metres and the weight of the
steel arch is thirty-nine thousand tonnes . The summit is 134m above
Q11 mean sea level, though it can actually increase by as much as 18
centimeters on hot days as the result of steel expanding in heat. The two pairs
of pylons at each end are about 89 meters high and are made
of Q12 concrete and granite . The steel used for the bridge was largely
imported. Q13 About 79percent came from the United Kingdom but the rest
was Australian-made. The granite was quarried in Moruya down the coast, and
the concrete is also Australian.
Anne: So, most of the steel used to make our great bridge actually came from
England?
George: Yes, I’m afraid so. However the work force were all Aussie!
Anne: Thank God for that. When was the bridge actually built?

George: The bridge was opened in 1932 but work first began in 1924, with the
construction of the bridge approaches and spans, with two separate teams
building the arch on each side working towards each other. The arch was
successfully joined on august the 19th 1930 . I’m afraid that working practices
weren’t very fair in those days and the local government demolished 438
homes which were in the way of the approaches, and as many as Q14 800
families living there were displaced without compensation. The standards of
industrial safety were inadequate too. 16 workers died during its construction,
mainly from Q15 falling off the bridge.
Anne: I didn’t realise that.
George: Yes. The bridge was formally opened on the 19th March 1932 by the
Premier of New South Wales, Mr Jack Lang. When it was opened, it was the
longest single span steel arch bridge in the world and it was one of the greatest
engineering pieces of its time. Several songs were also composed in advance
for the occasion but these have now been largely lost or forgotten. However,
three Q16 postage stamps were issued to commemorate the opening of the
bridge and these still exist. One of these stamps, with a face value of
five shillings , is now worth several hundred dollars today.
Anne: So, that’s the history of the bridge. Is the bridge still the same today as
when it was built?
George: No, it’s quite different. The basic structure is the same of course.
Originally the bridge was constructed to carry a road, two sets of tram lines
and railways . In 1957, the two tram lines were removed when
Sydney abolished its trams, thus giving the bridge two more traffic lanes.
Today it carries eight traffic lanes, two railroad lanes and a footpath along its
eastern side. One of the eastern traffic lanes is now a dedicated bus lane. The
bridge is often crowded and in 1992 the Harbour Tunnel was opened to help
carry the traffic load. Q17 More than 160,000 vehicles cross the bridge each
day. Before the Harbour Tunnel was opened, this figure was as high as 182
thousand Q17 and would be much higher today if it were not for the
Tunnel.Pedestrians, horses and push bikes are not allowed on the bridge
anymore .
Anne: Wow. The bridge actually carries that much?

George: Oh yes. Actually, before the Harbour Bridge opened, it was completely
packed with railway carriages , trams and buses to stress test its load
bearing capacity. While it has had many traffic jams since and half a million
people walked across it on its 50th anniversary , it has probably never been
asked to carry that much of a load since.
Anne: Amazing. And I suppose the toll for crossing the bridge has changed a bit
too?
George: I’m afraid so!! The initial toll charged for a car was 6 pence while a
horse and rider was charged 3 pence. Today the toll
costs Q18 Q19 Q20 three dollars but is only charged when travelling to the
South as an efficiency measure to speed up traffic flow.
Section 3.
You will hear 3 students discussing a survey they are going to do
Phil: Hi Mel. Hi Laura. Sorry I’m a bit late. I got held up by the bus. It just didn’t
come for ages.
Mel: Don’t worry. You’re only a couple of minutes behind and we’ve only just
been Q21 chatting.
Laura: Right then. We’re here to organize the survey that we’re going to do.
Mel, you said that you’d discuss with Professor Donald Walker what type of
survey we were going to do.
Mel: Yes. I spoke to Professor Walker two days ago and I told him that
the surveys that we were considering were a telephone survey, a street survey
and a mail survey. He thought that the phone one would be Q22 too
expensive for us and the postal one would Q23 take too long so we decided
we should do the street one.
Phil: I think that’s right. If we do the street one then we can get the whole thing
done in one day and we can get on with analyzing the results.
Mel: Yes, that’s right. Now, there are some other things that Professor Walker
wanted to know about. How big should the survey be?

Laura: Well, the ideal figure for a survey such as this should be about Q24 a
thousand people but that will take us about a month to get that many people
and we just don’t have that much time. On the other hand, if we just choose
100 people, the survey won’t be Q25 statistically significant.
Phil: So, what about something in the middle. What about 600 ?
Mel: Still too many. That’ll take us ages. 400?
Laura: Let’s split the difference and say Q26 500.
Mel/Phil: OK
Laura: And how many questions? If there are too many we’ll just have the same
problem.
Mel: Professor Walker said we should have no more than 10 or people

get bored ten . 10 then?
Phil: I think even fewer. 8.

Q27 Laura: I think 3 fewer again to make sure we can get the numbers
done quickly okay .
Q27 Phil: OK, I agree with that.
Mel: I’m not sure but I suppose so.
Mel: Now, Professor Walker asked where we were going to do the survey.
Laura: Does he want to avoid that area then?
Mel: Probably! Now we can either all stay together or split up and do
different locations .
Laura: Well, if we split up then I think we’ve got a better chance of getting
more people surveyed .
Phil: Yes. I agree with Laura.
Mel: OK. Now, I made a list of the possible locations in Westley where we could
station ourselves Q28 Q29 . Q30 There’s the town square, at the entrance to
the train station, at the University cafeteria, outside Dobbins department store,
on the corner of the High Street and College road, the bus station and the
corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road. What do you think?
Phil: I think the square is great but the people at the train station will
be traveling and often in a hurry.
Laura: I agree with all that and I think the bus station will have the same
problem as the train station.
Mel: OK, that’s those two out then.
Laura: I think the other ones in town were good too. The cafeteria will have too
many students and that will create too great a bias to our survey . We need a
good cross section of the population and anywhere too close to the university
won’t give us that.
Phil: Laura’s right. So, out of the other town ones, I think that the two on the
High Street corners are good.
Mel: I don’t agree. The High Street corner with College Road will be good but
the corner with Wilkins Road is too far out. Not enough people will come by
there.
Laura: Yes, Mel’s right there. We should use Dobbins department store instead.
Phil: I can see your point. OK, that’s settled then. All three of us will
be stationed in town then but not the Wilkins Road position.
Section 4.
You will hear part of a further education marine biology lecture.
Good morning everyone and welcome to this further education lecture

on marine biology. Today we are going to look at the coelacanth . Q31 The
discovery of the coelacanth has been compared to finding a dinosaur walking
around today over 85 million years after it went extinct.
The story began a few days before Christmas in 1938 when the first living

coelacanth was discovered off the east coast of South Africa, at the mouth of
the Chalumna River. Q34 The fish was caught in a shark gill net
by captain Goosen and his crew who, recognising the bizarrenature of their
catch, alerted the local museum in the small South African town of East
London.
Q32 The Director of the East London Museum at the time was Miss Marjorie
Courtney-Latimer after whom the Coelacanth was eventually named. Miss
Courtney-Latimer offered bounties to fishermen for unfamiliar fish. It was Miss
Courtney-Latimer who alerted the prominentSouth African exci Q31 Dr J.L.B.
Smith, who initially identified the fish, and subsequentlyinformed the world
about this amazing discovery. This first coelacanth led to the discovery of the
first documented population, off the remote Comoros Islands, between the
mainland of Africa and madagascar . For 60 years this was presumed to be the
only coelacanth population in existence .
Originally it was a concern that the Coelacanth might have a very limited range
and that over fishing along the Comoros Islands might wipe it out. However,
scientists were amazed when, on july the 30th 1998 , Q35 an American
scientist discovered a Coelacanth population in Indonesia. Dr. Mark Erdmann
was on a honeymoon trip to the area investigating a coral reef research site
when he spotted a strange fish being wheeled into the fish market. Q33 He
recognized the fish as a coelacanth and snapped a picture before it was sold.
Dr. Erdmann’s subsequent research revealed that the people from Sulawesi
had a name for it, raja, ‘king of the sea’. The Sulawesi coelacanth colony is
about 10,000 kilometers east of where the Coelacanths were previously known
to occur in the Western Indian Ocean.
Both Sulawesi and Comoros coelacanths are quite different from all other living
fish. But perhaps the most interesting feature of the Coelacanth is that it has
paired, lobed fins, which move in a similar fashion to our arms and legs.
Coelacanths also have an extra lobe on their tail and a vertebral column that is
not fully developed. They are the only living animal to have a fully
functional inter-cranial joint, a division that separates the ear and brain from
the nasal organs and eye, and allows the front part of the head to
be lifted when the fish is feeding. Q36 The brown Sulawesi coelacanth and the
steel blue Comoros shared share these unusual characteristics.
The discovery of the Coelacanth in 1938 is still considered to be

the zoological find of the century. This living fossil comes from a lineage of fish
that was thought to have been extinct since the time of the dinosaurs.
Coelacanths are known from the fossil record dating back over 360
million years, and peaked in Q37 abundance about 240 million years ago.
Before 1938 they were believed to have become extinct approximately 80
million years ago, after mysteriously disappearing from the fossil record.
How could the Coelacanth disappear for over 80 million years and then turn up
alive and well in the 20th century? The answer seems to be that fossil
Coelacanths appeared to live in environments with clay sedimentation with
plenty of volcanic activity. Q38 Modern coelacanths, both in the Comoros and
Sulawesi inhabit caves and overhangs in vertical marine reefs, at about 200
metres , environments not conducive to fossil creation.
In 1991 scientists got a better understanding of the fish when Q39 the
Comoros got their independence from France and French restrictions on
research were lifted. This allowed scientists to study the fish off the Comoros
Islands. As the animal hides in underwater caves some 300 to 700 feet down
during the day and Q40 comes out at night to feed, diving is not an option and
previously only fisherman specimens had been available for study. But this
time the scientists had their own submarine so they could study the coelacanth
in its natural habitat through portholes .

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IELTS General Training

1. Open this URL http://link.intergreat.com/dc1lV on your computer

2. Use your mobile device to scan the QR code attached

Access https://ieltsonlinetests.com for more practices page 1

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR SOME NUMBERS for each

BUS PASS APPLICATION FORM

Example: PASS APPLIED FOR Answer: 1 month

ADDRESS 45 2 Newlands Adelaide

DATE OF BIRTH 3 , 1982

UNIVERSITY CARD SHOWN Yes

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR SOME NUMBERS from

Adelaide Day Trips on the Bus

Length of Journey 2 hours

Return Journey Leaves 6

Things to do/see Walk nature trails + MacDonald River

Access https://ieltsonlinetests.com for more practices page 2

Return Journey Leaves 4.00pm

Walk along 8 + see view Lie on the beach +

Bring Swimming gear + a towel

The Huron Gold Mine

Length of Journey Half an hour

Return Journey Arrival

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.

The highest point of the bridge is 134m above 11

The two pairs of pylons are made of 12

Approximately 14 families moved without compensation to

People 15 was the main cause of death of workers while

Three 16 were made to mark the opening of the bridge. One is

Access https://ieltsonlinetests.com for more practices page 3

Choose FOUR letters (A – J) and write them in boxes 17–20 on your

A There are no more trams crossing the bridge.

B There are eight traffic lanes on the bridge.

C Trains still cross the bridge.

D People are allowed to walk across the bridge.

E Buses are allowed to cross the bridge.

F The Harbour Tunnel has not helped traffic congestion on the

G More than 182 000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.

H Horses can no longer cross the bridge.

I Bicycles are not allowed to cross the bridge.

J To go back and forward across the bridge costs $6.

Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.

While waiting for Phil, Mel and Laura were 21

A telephone survey was rejected because it would be 22

A mail survey was rejected because it would 23

The best number of people to survey would be 24

If their survey only included 100 people, it would not be 25

The number of questions in the survey was agreed to be 27

Access https://ieltsonlinetests.com for more practices page 4

A The town square

B The train station

C The university cafeteria

D Dobbins department store

E The corner of the High Street and College Road

F The bus station

G The corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road

Write the approprate letters (A – F) on your answer sheet.

Dr. J.L.B. Smith 31

Dr. Mark Erdmann 33

Access https://ieltsonlinetests.com for more practices page 5

A Paid fishermen for unidentified finds.

B Caught a strange looking fish.

C Contacted scientists in Indonesia.

D Photographed a coelacanth seen by accident.