Teacher’s notes

Listening Lesson 12

Listening practice test

IELTS SKILLS 10 mins

Students check their understanding of the IELTS Listening test format and revise possible strategies they can use.

1. Students discuss these question in pairs. Elicit answers from the class and answer any other questions that
students may have about the test format. Answers are provided on    slide 4.

Answers:
1. Four

2. 40

3. Ten minutes

2. Students discuss the list of listening strategies and think about which ones they will use in pairs (all strategies
in the list are relevant, and may be useful to students). Elicit ideas, then ask the class if they can suggest any
other strategies to use in the test.

IELTS PRACTICE 80 mins

Students practise doing a full IELTS Listening test, check their answers and plan how they can improve their
performance in the test.

3. Set the test. Allocate 30 minutes for students to do the test and ten minutes for students to transfer their
answers to the answer sheet. Do not provide support to students as this will make it unauthentic in comparison
with the real test.

4. Check answers as a class and discuss any answers students are not sure about, especially those that might not
fit grammatically. Make sure students do not give themselves marks for incorrectly spelled words or answers
that use too many words for a gap.

Answers are provided below and on    slide 7 to 10.

5. Students reflect on any problems that they experienced and discuss their plans to improve in the future in
pairs. If this is students’ first attempt at doing the Listening test they may have struggled to keep up with the
pace of the speakers and write answers while listening. Then ask students to share their ideas with the class.

6. Put students into groups and ask them to read about and discuss the techniques. Encourage them to
choose one technique and practise it as a self-study activity. Ask students to tell you how they got on
with this technique in the next lesson if your classroom situation allows.

7. Put students into pairs and ask them to discuss the words from the Listening practice test. Allow them to use
dictionaries if necessary. Then ask them to test each other. One student should cover the words and take a
blank sheet of paper. Their partner should read the words aloud for them to write down.

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Answers:
Section 1, Questions 1–10 Section 3, Questions 21–30
1. Avalon accounting 21. key areas
2. (the) 25th September 22. survey
3. sailing 23. questions
4. lunch box 24. focus group
5. camping 25. future directions
6. bus 26. draft
7. strong shoes 27. case study
8. safety form 28. people
9. large screen 29. theory
10. email 30. diary

Section 2, Questions 11–20 Section 4, Questions 31–40

11. A 31. the natural world
12. C 32. heights
13. B 33. significant proportion
14. E 34. panic
15. G 35. negative feelings
16. A 36. stronger
17. B 37. memory
18. B 38. B
19. C 39. C
20. A 40. A

Note: The following recording script does not contain the narrator’s instructions to the candidates.
These can be heard on the audio, however.

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Recording script
Section 1
RECEPTIONIST: Hi, Milford outdoor activity centre, how can I help?

MANAGER: Hi, good morning. I’d like to book a teambuilding course for the staff in my department.

RECEPTIONIST: Sure, how many people are going to attend the course?

MANAGER: We’re a group of fifteen.

RECEPTIONIST: That’s fine. We can organise several activities for a group that size. Could I just take a few
details? What’s the name of your organisation?

MANAGER: It’s Avalon accounting. That’s A-V-A-L-O-N accounting.

RECEPTIONIST: Great, thank you. Are you looking for a one-day course or a longer course?

MANAGER: We’d like to book a three-day course please. In the morning, we’d like to use one of your
seminar rooms for meetings and presentations and then in the afternoon we’d like a
different activity each day.

RECEPTIONIST: That would be fine. Do you know when you’d like to come?

MANAGER: Yes, we’d like to start on 18th September. Do you have any availability then?

RECEPTIONIST: Let me just check … No, sorry we don’t. We have a slot starting on Monday a
week later.

MANAGER: The 25th September? That’s fine for us.

RECEPTIONIST: OK, great. I’ll book that slot for you. Now, you only want activities in the afternoon. Do you
have any ideas about what you’d like to do?

MANAGER: I think we’d like fun things. Just games, not actual tasks.

RECEPTIONIST: OK, so nothing like raft building?

MANAGER: No, just something a bit competitive and fun. Perhaps something like archery.

RECEPTIONIST: Yes, we offer that. Let’s book that for one afternoon. How about paintballing on
another afternoon?

MANAGER: Yes, that sounds great. Do you have bikes that we can hire?

RECEPTIONIST: No, I’m afraid not. There’s a big lake that we use. How about sailing on another afternoon?

MANAGER: OK, that sounds fine. Can we also book lunch each day?

RECEPTIONIST: Of course, would you like a hot or cold lunch?

MANAGER: Hmm … I’m not sure. We don’t have much time, so whichever is the quickest.

RECEPTIONIST: The best option is probably a healthy lunch box, then.

MANAGER: Right. Let’s book that.

RECEPTIONIST: Now, are you planning to stay with us during the course?

MANAGER: Yes, we’d like to do that.

RECEPTIONIST: OK, we have two options. You can stay in the house, we have enough single rooms for
everyone, or we can provide camping facilities.

MANAGER: Camping sounds fun. Is everything set up?

RECEPTIONIST: It is, and bedding is provided.

MANAGER: Fine, let’s book camping.

RECEPTIONIST: How will everyone be arriving? We have some parking available for cars.

MANAGER: Actually, we’re going to meet at work and travel together by bus.

RECEPTIONIST: OK, great.

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RECEPTIONIST: Now, do you have any questions about the course or the facilities?

MANAGER: Yes, I do actually. When does the deposit need to be paid by?

RECEPTIONIST: We ask for 20 per cent one month before, and then the rest of the money one week before
the course starts.

MANAGER: That’s fine. Do we need to bring any special equipment?

RECEPTIONIST: We provide everything. You just need to make sure everyone wears strong shoes. Even if
the weather is good you still need to protect your feet.

MANAGER: Are some of the activities dangerous?

RECEPTIONIST: Obviously, there’s a slight danger with archery and paintballing. Also the lake is quite
deep. However, we provide you with all the safety equipment and training that you need.
Before everyone starts we’ll ask you to each fill out a safety form.

MANAGER: OK, when do we get that?

RECEPTIONIST: I’ll email everything to you later. If you could then distribute the form among the
participants, that would be great.

MANAGER: In the mornings we’ll need to use some technology.

RECEPTIONIST: Unfortunately, we don’t have any computers for use in the seminar rooms so you’ll need
to bring your own laptop. However, each room is fitted with a large screen so you can run
talks or give presentations.

MANAGER: OK, that’s fine. Who’s going to be in charge of coordinating things on the day?

RECEPTIONIST: There’ll be a different team to help you with each activity, but the overall person will be
Tim Holmes.

MANAGER: Sorry, Tim?

RECEPTIONIST: Holmes, H-O-L-M-E-S.

MANAGER: OK. What’s the best way to contact him?

RECEPTIONIST: I can give you his phone number but it’s probably better to email him. I’ll send his details
with the booking confirmation.

MANAGER: That’s great. Thank you.

Section 2
Good morning everyone. As you know, next Friday we’re going to be attending the education fair in Glasgow’s
conference centre. You should have all received a pack but I’m just going to talk you through a few things so that
you can make the most of the day.

Now, if you take a look at this map here, you’ll see that as you go in through the entrance there’s a café just to the
left. In the top left-hand corner you’ll see there are the seminar rooms. There’s a programme of talks throughout
the day that will either be held here or in the lecture theatre on the opposite side of the hall. I’ll talk about these a
bit later. If you have any problems at all there’s a help desk in the bottom left-hand corner of the room. I’ll also be
around the hall all day to help you if you need it.

Now, for those of you considering going on to university there is an area above the help desk that has individual
university stands. This is your opportunity to speak to their staff and probably to meet some of their students.
You can also pick up course information or university prospectuses from here.

If you’re considering going on to do vocational work, such as training to be a plumber, hairdresser or electrician,
then you’ll need to look for the college area. This is located right in the centre of the hall. Just to the right of the
government scheme programme.

The government schemes are also educational but at the same time you get on-the-job training. Another option,
if you are looking for on-the-job training rather than a purely academic training course, is to visit the company
stands. These are located on the right-hand side of the map in the centre, below the student counsellors.

The student counsellors are great if you’re still not clear about what area you are interested in.

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The last area I’d like to point out is the computer area. All the stands will be very busy so, although you’ll have a
chance to ask some questions, I advise you to head there if you need to do some more detailed research. This can
be found just to the right of the entrance. Now I’d like to move on to talk about some of our expectations of the day.

When you arrive you will be given a pack. This contains a handbook for the day, various leaflets and a badge for
you to wear. Now, it’s really important that you wear the badge. It shows our school name and your name, but it
also provides a discount in the café, the Wi-Fi code and free access to the talks. I want you to wear it at all times.

There are a lot of useful talks taking place throughout the day. I suggest you look through the programme before
we go and make a list of any talks you want to go to. Obviously, you don’t have to go to any but they’re all free so
you can if you want to.

Now all of the institutions and organisations are very keen to sign up good students for their courses on the day.
Many will have forms for you to complete on the spot. Please don’t feel any pressure to do this, but if you are certain
that a course is for you then feel free to sign up. If your course is very competitive it can be good to show this level
of commitment on the day.

Now, we’re all obviously going together but please don’t spend the whole day together. It’s really not a good idea to
just see this as a day out. You have to focus on yourself and not each other.

One last thing. As I said, you get all the information in the pack but there’s also an app available to download. It’s
vital you do this as it’s the only way you’ll get updates throughout the day. Please make sure it’s on your phones
before you get there.

Section 3
JACK: Hi Ana, how’s your thesis going?

ANA: OK, I’ve done a lot of the research and found a lot of good sources, so I think I’m ready
to move to the next stage.

JACK: What are you going to do next?

ANA: I think I’m going to identify factors that affect students’ success. First, I need to work
out exactly what my research questions are going to be. I’ll choose about four to six
key areas. I have a meeting with my supervisor next Monday. She’s going to take a look
through them and approve them.

JACK: What if she doesn’t like them?

ANA: I’m going to have more than six so the meeting will largely be about shortening and
focusing my list.

JACK: OK, then what do you have to do?

ANA: I’m going to use a couple of different methods. First, I need to produce my survey. I want
to get some quantitative data to analyse. I’ll need to pilot this.

JACK: Why do you have to do that?

ANA: Well sometimes it doesn’t work how you want so piloting the survey gives you a chance
to revise the questions. If you don’t do this you’ll definitely lose marks for poor research
methods.

JACK: What are you going to do with all the data?

ANA: I’ll have to look through it and analyse it. Then I’ll choose a few individuals to take part in a
focus group. This will allow me to get more detailed information. I’ll then have to analyse it
and write it up.

JACK: And then you’re finished?

ANA: Not quite. I’ll need to suggest some future directions for research.

JACK: What kind of areas?

ANA: I’ll have to think about what my research means. What it does and doesn’t show.

JACK: Wow, that’s a lot of work! How long does it have to be, and when’s it due?

ANA: It’s 12,000 words. Luckily, I can hand in a draft first. I then have a few more weeks to
revise it.

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ANA: So why don’t you have to complete a thesis?

JACK: Well, our course involves more hands-on work. We do lots of training in real life situations so
our assessment is different. All social work students need to do a case study.

ANA: Sounds interesting. I’ve never done one of those. What does it involve exactly?

JACK: For the last two years we’ve been working on real projects with experienced professionals.
That experience is used as the basis of our assessment. What we have to do is investigate
people in daily life.

ANA: Ok. My work is based a lot more on just reading the literature and trying to add to
the research.

JACK: Yes, but I’m on an applied course. For us it’s much more important to link theory with
what is actually happening in people’s lives.

ANA: So who are you basing it on?

JACK: We’re not allowed to say. We have to keep it confidential, in the same way that social
workers do.

ANA: I can imagine that some of the cases are quite emotional. You might have to help people in
very difficult situations.

JACK: We do, so as well as writing up the case study we all need to produce a diary. It’s part of our
personal and emotional development. It helps us understand our decisions and why we
made them.

ANA: It sounds really interesting! What will you do after …

Section 4
Good afternoon everyone. In today’s lecture I’d like to take a look at fear. We’re going to look at how we react to
fear and cope with it, as well as how fear can help people and animals. Now a lot of people have a fear of things
such as snakes, heights, water and small spaces. If many people have similar fears, then how do we develop them?
Well, there was a time when we did not live in houses and we needed to develop fear to protect ourselves from
threats in the natural world. Of course these are natural fears but not all fears are innate. For example, if you see
someone falling from a ladder when you are a child then you could develop a fear of heights. It’s not only our own
experiences that cause us to develop fears though – we can also develop fears from the people around us. Many
people have fears simply because their parents were afraid of a situation or thing.

Now, one important distinction to make is the difference between a fear and a phobia. A phobia is a much stronger
fear and a significant proportion of people have a phobia of one kind or another. Unfortunately, people that have
one phobia tend to develop at least one more. A kind of nervous nature develops in people with phobias.
Fortunately, because many fears are learned during our lives, we can also unlearn them. When people confront
their fears, they gradually learn not to panic. The fear might not go completely but it becomes much more minor.

People often connect fear with negative feelings. However, danger can often unlock abilities we do not know we
have. The brain has developed to react to fear by either fighting or running away if the danger is close. Or if it is far
away a common reaction can be to freeze. In dangerous situations the chemicals in our body can react to make us
stronger or faster. Research has shown that danger can increase these abilities by up to 20 per cent.

Sometimes, when faced with danger, people have commented that they feel time slows down. They say that one or
two seconds feel more like 30 seconds. No one knows for certain why this is, but dangerous situations are often
new. When we are faced with a new situation our brain creates a more detailed memory. This may give us the feeling
that time is moving slowly.

Another, contrasting reaction to danger is fearlessness. When faced with extreme danger some people actually
stop worrying. They do not feel scared at all. There is almost a feeling of calm, or no reaction at all. It is only after
the threat has gone that some people feel nervous or panic. Others around them are often taken by surprise by
their reaction.

In fact, in the modern world, fearlessness can be a very useful trait, and certainly there can be disadvantages in
worrying too much about risk. For example, most people are more worried about losing £100 than they are
motivated by the idea of making £150, as they aim to maintain stability in their life. But this is not necessarily a
logical view to take. Successful people often do not have this fear of losing. Rather than trying to avoid mistakes,
they are prepared to take risks and see potential gains as more important than possible failure.

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In addition, there are also many situations where fear is far from useful. When we think things are going to be
difficult or unpleasant, we’re usually surprised to find out that they are not as bad as we thought they would be.
A lot of stress is therefore based on unjustified fear. It isn’t the actual event that causes stress but the thought of
the event. We worry that things won’t happen in the way we want them to. Depending on how we respond to these
thoughts, we are often more or less stressed. Trying not to worry about an event before it has happened can help
us to deal better with a situation.

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