IELTS Listening Test

Listening Part 1 │Questions 1 – 10

Questions 1 - 6
Complete the table as follow

Write the correct letter A, B, or C for each answer.

A if she says it is ESSENTIAL

B if she says it is RECOMMENDED

C if she says it is NOT RECOMMENDED

Example : Answer

Documents :A

At least £50 : [1] _____________________.

Warm clothing : [2] _____________________.

Personal computer : [3] _____________________.

Food from home : [4] _____________________.

Favourite tapes or CDs : [5] _____________________.

Photos from home : [6] _____________________.

Questions 7 - 10
Complete the table as follow

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

The labels on Dan’s luggage must state ‘Mr & Mrs [7] _____________________’ and their
address.

Lisa says he should carry some spare clothes in [8] _____________________. For health

reasons, Dan intends to wear [9] _____________________ during the flight.

Dan should practice carrying his luggage for a minimum distance of [10]
_____________________.
Listening Part 2 │Questions 11 – 20
Questions 11 - 13
Complete THREE letters A-F.

What does Sally say about universities?

A Most universities don’t want students aged over 25.

B Compared to the general population, few students are disabled.

C All university buildings have to provide facilities for the disabled.

D Old universities can present particular difficulties for the disabled.

E Some disabilities advisors can do little to help disabled students.

F There are very few university disability advisors.

Questions 14 - 20
Complete the table below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Disability Facilities

General Personal care and assistance

Mobility impairment Ramps and easy access, fire and emergency procedures
[14] _____________________ lavatory facilities

[15] Induction loops, flashing sirens, [16]

_________________
_____________________
__ __.

Sight impairment Braille translators, [17] _____________________

on stairs, floors, etc. fire and emergency procedures.

[20] Use of computer [18] _____________________ to

_________________ finish work.
__ __.

Other difficulties Access to treatment: medication/therapy [19]

_____________________ procedures.

Listening Part 3 │Questions 21 – 30

Questions 21 – 26
What do the students decide about each topic for Joe’s presentation?
Write the correct letter A, B, or C next to questions 21-26.

A Joe might include this topic.

B Joe will not include this topic.

C Joe will definitely include this topic

21. cultural aspects of naming people.

22. Similarities across languages in naming practices

23. Meaning of first names

24. Place names describing geographic features

25. Influence of immigration on place names

26. Origins of names of countries

Questions 27 – 30
Complete the summary below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer

Researchers showed a group of students many common nouns, brand names and [27]
_____________________. Students found it easier to identify brand names when they
were shown in [28] _____________________.

Researchers think that [29] _____________________ is important in making brand

names special within the brain. Brand names create a number of [30]
_____________________ within the brain.

IELTS Listening Part 4 │Questions 31 – 40

Questions 31 – 40

Complete the sentences below

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer
 Gas Balloons
Uses:
● Instead of [31] _____________________in the US civil war.
● To make [32] _____________________.
● To [33] _____________________ for research.
● As part of studies of [34] _____________________

Hot Air Balloons

Create less [35] _____________________ than gas balloons.

Airships
Early examples had no [36] _____________________ for crew.
To be efficient, needed a [37] _____________________.
Development of large airships stopped because of:
● Success of [38] _____________________
● Series of [39] _____________________.

Recent interest in use for carrying [40] _____________________.

Reading Passage 1

The Ingenuity Gap

What we need and how much we get
Ingenuity, as I define it here, consists not only of ideas for new technologies like computers
or drought-resistant crops but, more fundamentally, of ideas for better institutions and
social arrangements, like efficient markets and competent governments.
How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society requires depends on a range of factors,
including the society’s goals and the circumstances within which it must achieve those goals
– whether it has a young population or an aging one, an abundance of natural resources or a
scarcity of them, an easy climate or a punishing one, whatever the case may be.
How much and what kinds of ingenuity a society supplies also depends on many factors,
such as the nature of human inventiveness and understanding, the rewards an economy
gives to the producers of useful knowledge, and the strength of political opposition to social
and institutional reforms.
A good supply of the right kind of ingenuity is essential, but it isn’t, of course, enough by
itself. We know that the creation of wealth, for example, depends not only on an adequate
supply of useful ideas but also on the creation of wealth, for example, depends not only on an
adequate supply of useful ideas but also on the availability of other, more conventional
factors of production, like capital and labour. Similarly, prosperity, stability and justice
usually depend on the resolution, or at least the containment, of major political struggles
over wealth and power. Yet within our economies ingenuity often supplants labour, and
growth in the stock of physical plants is usually accompanied by growth in the stock of
ingenuity. And in our political systems, we need great ingenuity to set up institutions that
successfully manage struggles over wealth and power. Clearly, our economic and political
processes are intimately entangled with the production and use of ingenuity.
The past century’s countless incremental changes in our societies around the planet, in our
technologies and our interactions with our surrounding natural environments, have
accumulated to create a qualitatively new world. Because these changes have accumulated
slowly, it’s often hard for us to recognize how profound and sweeping they’ve been. They
include far larger and denser populations; much higher per capita consumption of natural
resources; and far better and more widely available technologies for the movement of people,
materials and especially information.
In combination, these changes have sharply increased the density, intensity, and pace of our
interactions with each other; they have greatly increased the burden we place on our natural
environment; and they have helped shift power from national international institutions to
individuals and subgroups, such as political special interests and ethical factions.
As a result, people in all walks of life – from our political and business leaders to all of us
day-to-day-must cope with much more complex, urgent, and often unpredictable
circumstances. The management of our relationship with this new world requires immense
and ever-increasing amounts of social and technical ingenuity. As we strive to maintain or
increase our prosperity and improve the quality of our lives, we must make far more
sophisticated decisions, and in less time, than ever before.
When we enhance the performance of any system, from our cars to the planet’s network of
financial institutions, we tend to make it more complex. Many of the natural systems critical
to our well-being, like the global climate and the oceans, are extraordinarily complex to begin
with. We often can’t predict or manage the behaviour of complex systems with much
precision, because they are often very sensitive to the smallest of changes and perturbations,
and their behaviour can flip from one mode to another suddenly and dramatically. In
general, as the human-made and natural systems we depend upon become more complex,
and as our demands on them increase, the institutions and technologies we use to manage
them must become more complex too, which further boosts our need for ingenuity.
The good news, though, is that the last century’s stunning changes in our societies and
technologies have not just increased our need for ingenuity; they have also produced a huge
increase in its supply. The growth and urbanisation of human populations have combined
with astonishing new communication and transportation technologies to expand interactions
among people and produce larger, more integrated, more efficient markets. These changes
have, in turn, vastly accelerated the generation and delivery of useful ideas.
But – and this is the critical “but” – we should not jump to the conclusion that the supply of
ingenuity always increases in lockstep with our ingenuity requirement: while it’s true that
necessity is often the mother of invention, we can’t always rely on the right kind of ingenuity
appearing when and where we need it. In many cases, the complexity and speed of operation
of today’s vital economic, social, and ecological systems exceed the human brain’s grasp.
Very few of us have more than a rudimentary understanding of how these systems work.
They remain fraught with countless “unknown unknowns,” which makes it hard to supply
the ingenuity we need to solve problems associated with these systems.
In this book, I explore a wide range of factors that will limit our ability to supply the
ingenuity required in the coming century. For example, many people believe that new
communication technologies strengthen democracy and will make it easier to find solutions
to our societies’ collective problems, but the story is less clear than it seems. The crush of
information in our everyday lives is shortening our attention span, limiting the time we have
to reflect on critical matters of public policy, and making policy arguments more superficial.
Modern markets and science are an important part of the story of how we supply ingenuity.
Markets are critically important, because they give entrepreneurs an incentive to produce
knowledge. As for science, although it seems to face no theoretical limits, at least in the
foreseeable future, practical constraints often slow its progress. The cost of scientific
research tends to increase as it delves deeper into nature. And science’s rate of advance
depends on the characteristic of the natural phenomena it investigates, simply because some
phenomena are intrinsically harder to understand than others, so the production of useful
new knowledge in these areas can be very slow. Consequently, there is often a critical time
lag between the recognition between a problem and the delivery of sufficient ingenuity, in
the form of technologies, to solve that problem. Progress in the social sciences is especially
slow, for reasons we don’t yet understand; but we desperately need better social scientific
knowledge to build the sophisticated institutions today’s world demands.
Questions 1 – 4

Complete each sentence with the appropriate answer, A, B, C, or D. write the correct
answer in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

A depends on many factors including climate.

B depends on the management and solution of disputes.
C is not only technological advancement, but more of an institutional
renovation.
D also depends on the availability of some traditional resources.

1. The definition of ingenuity

2. The requirement for ingenuity
3. The creation of social wealth
4. The stability of society

Questions 5 – 7
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. write your answers in boxes 5 – 7 on your answer
sheet.
 5. What does the author say about the incremental change of the last 100 years?
A. it has become a hot scholastic discussion among environmentalists. B. it
has reshaped the natural environments we live in.
C. it benefited a much larger population than ever.
D. its significance is often not noticed.

6. The combination of changes has made life:

A. faster
B. easier
C. slower
D. less sophisticated

7. What does the author say about the natural systems?

A. new technologies are being developed to predict change with precision. B.
minor alterations may cause natural systems to change dramatically. C. natural
systems are often more sophisticated than other systems. D. Technological
development has rendered human beings more independent of natural systems.
Questions 8 – 14

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1. In
boxes 8 – 14 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

8. The demand for ingenuity has not been growing during the past 100 years. 9.
The ingenuity we have may be appropriate for solving problems at hand. 10. There
are many who can understand the complex systems of the present world. 11. More
information will help us to make better decisions.
12. The next generation will blame the current government for their
conduct. 13. Science tends to develop faster in certain areas than others.
14. Social science develops especially slowly because it is not as important as natural
science.

Reading Passage 2
A. Sculpture, the practice of creating a three-dimensional object for artistic and aesthetic
purposes, dates back as far as prehistoric times. Since objects created are intended to be
enduring, traditionally sculptures have been forged from durable materials such as bronze,
stone, marble and jade; however, some branches of the art also specialise in creating
figurines of a more ephemeral nature, such as ice sculpture. The practice of sculpting in
many countries has traditionally been associated with religious philosophy; for example, in
Asia many famous sculptures are related to Hinduism or Buddhism.
B. In Africa, perhaps more than any other region in the world, three-dimensional artwork is
favoured and given more emphasis than two dimensional paintings. Whilst some experts
hold that the art of sculpture in the continent dates back to the Nok civilisation of Nigeria in
500 BC, this is disputed due to evidence of the art’s existence in Pharaonic Africa.
C. To the expert eye, African art is clearly defined by the region from which it is from and
easily identifiable from the differences in technique used and material from which it is made.
Figurines from the West African region are sculpted in two distinctly different forms. The
first is characterised by angular forms and features with elongated bodies, such sculptures
being traditionally used in religious rituals. Conversely, the traditional wood statues of the
Mande speaking culture possess cylindrical arms and legs with broad, flat surfaces. Metal
sculptures which hail from the eastern regions of West Africa, are heralded by many as
amongst the most superior art forms ever crafted.
D. Central African sculpture may be a little more difficult to identify for the novice observer
as a wider variety of materials may be used, ranging from wood to ivory, stone or metal.
However, despite tills, the distinct style of usage of smooth lines and circular forms still helps
to define the origin of such works. In both Eastern and Southern Africa, typically, art depicts
a mixture of human and animal features. Art from the former region Is usually created in the
form of a pole carved in human shape and topped with a human or animal image which has a
strong connection with death, burial and the spiritual world. Such creations are less
recognised as art in the traditional sense than those from other parts of Africa. In Southern
Africa, the human/animal hybrid representations are fashioned from clay, the oldest known
examples dating back to from between 400 and 600 A.D.
E. Although these distinct and defining regional differences in artistic expression exist, there
are also universal similarities which define African art as a whole. Primarily a common
characteristic is that focus is predominantly on representation of the human form. A second
common trait of African art is that it is often inspired by a ceremonial or performance
related purpose; the meaning behind the art and its purpose often intended to be interpreted
in a different way depending on an individual’s age, gender or even social and educational
status.
F. Throughout the African continent, artworks tend to be more abstract in nature than
intending to present a realistic and naturalistic portrayal of the subject in question. Artists
such as Picasso, Van Gogh and Gauguin are said to have been influenced and inspired by
African art. Its ability to stimulate emotional reaction and imagination generated a great deal
of interest from western artists at the beginning of the 20th century. As a result, new
European works began to emerge which were of a more abstract nature than previously
conceived. More intellectually and emotionally stimulating art was born than had been seen
before in a culture which had traditionally faithfully represented and depicted the true and
exact form of its subjects.
G. The ‘Modernism’ movement of the 20th century embraced innovation in literature and
art, its devotees wishing to move beyond realism in artistic expression. The sculptor Henry
Spencer Moore, born in 1898 in Yorkshire, was one of the key players involved in
introducing and developing his own particular style of modernism to the British art world.
He is best known for his abstract bronze sculptures of the human form, many critics drawing
parallels between the undulating landscapes and hills of his home county Yorkshire and the
shapes and lines of his sculptures.
H. By the 1950s, Moore’s work was increasingly in demand and he began to secure high
profile commissions including an artwork for the UNESCO building in Paris. By the end of
Moore’s career, due to his popularity and the scale of the projects he undertook, the sculptor
was extremely affluent; however, a huge proportion of his wealth was donated to the Henry
Moore Foundation established with the aim of supporting education and promotion of the
arts. The foundation is a registered charity and has continued to offer funding to a wide
range of projects including grants to arts institutions and bursaries and fellowships for
students and artists since Moore’s death in 1986.

Questions 15–18
Complete the summary
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 15-18 on your answer sheet.
In Africa, (15) _____________ is more predominant and more highly favoured than
canvas art, for example. Sculpture is an ancient art in which figurines are created from
materials which are, in the main, [16] _____________ to ensure longevity of the art form;
however, though more [17] ____________, materials such as ice are used in certain
spheres. In Asia, many prestigious works are connected to [18] ______________ values.
Questions 19 – 23

Complete the table

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer. Write your answers in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.

REGIONAL AFRICAN ART

Region Style Additional Information

Western Style 1 Conventionally made for

the purpose of [19]
Africa Sharp lines, long bodies ________________

Style 2 Made by Mande speakers

Cylindrical, broad and

flat lines crafted from
 [20]
_______________

Central Africa Smooth lines & circular Often more difficult to

forms recognise due to the diversity
of [21]
_____________used.

Eastern Africa Subjects similar to the [22] Less sought-after than other
_____________ area of styles of African art.
the country.

Southern Africa Artwork representing Made from [23]

human & animal form ________________

Questions 24 – 27

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet.

24. Verification of art in which civilisation sheds doubt on the theory that African art
dates back to the Nok period?
25. What material is used for the African sculptures many consider to be the best?
26. What ceremonial event are the creations from Eastern Africa connected with? 27.
Due to African influence, what did Western art become that allowed it to be more
intellectually and emotionally stimulating?

Reading Passage 3

Managing cultural diversity is a core component of most masters programmes these days.
The growth of Japanese corporations in the sixties and seventies reminded us that there
were other models of business than those taught by Harvard professors and US-based
management consultants. And the cultural limits to the American model have more recently
been underlined by developments in Russia and central Europe over the past decade.
Yet in Britain, we are still more ready to accept the American model of management than
most other European countries. As a result, UK managers often fail to understand how
business practices are fundamentally different on the Continent. One outcome is that many
mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures between British and
European companies do not achieve their objectives and end in tears.
Alternatively, managers may avoid a merger or joint venture which makes sense from a hard
nosed strategic point of view because they fear that different working practices will prevent
their goals from being achieved.
Essentially, Anglo-Saxon companies are structured on the principles of project management.
In the eighties, companies were downsized, with tiers of management fashion embraced the
ideas of business process re-engineering, so organizations were broken down into customer
focused trading units. Sometimes these were established as subsidiary companies, at other
times as profit-and-loss or cost centres.
Over the past ten years, these principles have been applied as vigorously to the UK public
sector as to private-sector corporations. Hospitals, schools, universities, social services
departments, as well as large areas of national government, now operate on project
management principles – all with built-in operational targets, key success factors, and
performance-related reward systems.
The underlying objectives for this widespread process of organizational restructuring have
been to increase the transparency of operations, encourage personal accountability, become
more efficient at delivering service to customers, and directly relate rewards to performance.
The result is a management culture which is entrepreneurially oriented and focused almost
entirely on the short term, and highly segmented organizational structures – since employee
incentives and reward are geared to the activities of their own particular unit.
This business model has also required development of new personal skills. We are now
encouraged to lead, rather than to manage by setting goals and incentive systems for staff.
We have to be cooperative team members rather than work on our own. We have to accept
that, in flattened and decentralized organizations, there are very limited career prospects.
We are to be motivated by target-related rewards rather than a longer-term commitment to
our employing organization.
This is in sharp contrast to the model of management that applies elsewhere in Europe. The
principles of business process re-engineering have never been fully accepted in France,
Germany and the other major economies, the attempt to apply them in the nineties brought
the economy virtually to its knees, and created huge opportunities for corrupt middle
managers and organized crime.
Instead, continental European companies have stuck to the bureaucratic model which
delivered economic growth for them throughout the twentieth century. European
corporations continue to be structured hierarchically, with clearly defined job descriptions
and explicit channels of reporting. Decision making, although incorporating consultative
processes, remains essentially top-down.
Which of these two models is preferable? Certainly, the downside of the Anglo=American
model is now becoming evident, not least in the long-hours working culture that the
application of the decentralized project management model inevitably generates.
Whether in a hospital, a software start-up or a factory, the breakdown of work processes into
project-driven targets leads to over-optimistic goals and underestimates of the resources
needed. The result is that the success of projects often demands excessively long working
hours if the targets are to be achieved.
Further, the success criteria, as calibrated in performance targets, are inevitably arbitrary,
and the source of ongoing dispute. Witness the objections of teachers and medics to the
performance measures applied to them by successive governments. This is not surprising. In
a factory producing cars the output of individuals is directly measurable, but what criteria
can be used to measure output and performance in knowledge-based activities such as R&D
labs, government offices, and even the marketing departments of large corporations?
The demands and stresses of operating according to the Anglo-American model seem to be
leading to increasing rates of personnel burn-out. It is not surprising that managers queue
for early retirement. In a recent survey, just a fifth said they would work to 65. This could be
why labour market participation rates have declined so dramatically for British 50-year-olds
in the past twenty years.
By contrast, the European management model allows for family -friendly employment
policies and working hours directives to be implemented. It encourages staff to have a long
term psychological commitment to their employing organizations. Of course, companies
operating on target-focused project management principles may be committed to family
friendly employment policies in theory. But, if the business plan has to be finished by the end
of the month, the advertising campaign completed by the end of next week, and patients
pushed through the system to achieve measurable targets, are really going to let down our
‘team’ by clocking out at 5 p.m. and taking our full entitlement of annual leave?
Perhaps this is why we admire the French for their quality of life.

Question 28 – 31
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? Write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO if the statement does not agree with the views of the writer NOT
GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage

28. Attempts by British and mainland European firms to work together never
fail. 29. Project management principles discourage consideration of long-term
issues. 30. There are poor opportunities for promotion within segmented
companies.
31. The European model gives freedom of action to junior managers.

Question 32 – 37
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in
boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
Adopting the US model in Britain has had negative effects. Managers within this culture
are finding the [32] __________________ of work too great, with 80% reported to
be [33] __________________ to carry on working until the normal retirement age.
These include the [34] __________________ hours spent at work, as small sections
of large organizations struggle to [35] __________________ unrealistic short-term
objectives. Nor is there [36] __________________ on how to calculate the
productivity of professional, technical, and clerical staff, who cannot be assessed in the
same way as [37] __________________ employees.

Question 38 – 39

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the reading passage 3 for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 38-39 on your answer sheet.

38. ______________________ in mainland Europe are in practice more likely to be

family friendly.

39. UK managers working to tight deadlines probably give up some of their

__________________.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. write your answer in box 40 on your answer sheet.
Which of the following statements best describes the writer’s main purpose in Reading
Passage 3?

A. To argue that Britain should have adopted the Japanese model of management many
years ago
B. To propose a completely new model that would be neither American nor European
C. To point out the negative effects of the existing model on the management of
hospitals in Britain
D. To criticize Britain’s adoption of the US model, as compared to the European model.
IELTS Writing Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table below shows the primary funding sources of international students in the
US during the years 2003/04 and 2013/14.
Write a report for a university lecturer describing the data and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some people say that supermarkets and manufacturers have a responsibility to
reduce the amount of packaging on products they sell. Others believe that it is the
consumer’s responsibility to avoid buying products which have a lot of packaging.
Discuss both views and give your opinions.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge or experience
You should write at least 250 words.