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GENERAL ENGLISH · IELTS COURSE · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

UNICORNS

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1 Warm up
Look at the pictures of unicorns. How could you define a unicorn in one sentence? Match each picture
with one or more relevant words from the box and explain your ideas.

educational / historic / political / psychological / religious / scientific / sociological / spiritual

1. a tapestry from ~1500 2. royal coat of arms of the United

Kingdom

3. an inflatable unicorn 4. unicorn cakes

1. What do these pictures show about how our ideas about unicorns have changed over time?
2. Do you think we’ve reached peak unicorn (the highest possible level of popularity)? Why/not?

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2 Vocabulary
Use words from the box to complete the labels in each row of the table. Add one more example to
each.

exotic / fierce / jewels / poison / senses /wealthy

examples another example?

1
things a Ferrari and a house with a
people have swimming pool

2
types of diamonds and rubies

3
the five smell and touch
include

things that can contain some mushrooms and some

4
products that you clean your
house with
5
animals bulls and bears

animals that British people giraffes and elephants

6
think are

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Read the notes that an Art History student wrote and try to understand the words in bold. Then
match the words with the meanings below.

1. : ideas that many people believe and follow for a long time

2. : not wild or dangerous, used to humans

3. : pictures made by painters or photographers

4. : strange events that can only be explained by saying that God made them
happen
5. : took someone or something into your control, using force

6. : views of particular places or events

3 Before you listen

First, read the information about IELTS listening section 4.

IELTS listening section 4

In Section 4 of the IELTS listening exam you will hear one speaker giving a lecture or
presentation about an academic topic. Matching questions require you to match information
or ideas with the correct options. On the exam, there are two types of this question: in
this lesson, there are more options than questions, so some are extra. Read the whole task
carefully so you know what to listen for. You will hear words with the same meaning as the
information and ideas A-H.

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Look at the task instructions and answer questions 1-4 below to make predictions about the answers
to the matching questions.

1. How many options will be extra?

2. The numbered statements are given in the same order as in the recording. Look through and notice
the order.

3. What might the word something in options C and G refer to?

4. What does creature mean, in option E?

Look through the three multiple choice questions, underline the key words, and think about which
two answers are most likely to be correct.

What does each of the images show? Choose five answers from the box and write the correct letter
A-H next to questions 1-6.

1. a tapestry about Taste:

2. a tapestry about Smell:

3. a tapestry about Hearing:

4. a tapestry about Sight:

5. a tapestry about Touch:

6. the sixth tapestry:

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Choose two letters a-e.

7. Which two sources refer to the same three colours?

a. medieval stories

b. scientific documents

c. ancient Greek texts

d. the Cluny tapestries

e. Victorian novels

8. What two types of stories did medieval artists tell using images of unicorns?

a. love stories

b. medical stories

c. natural histories

d. political stories

e. religious stories

9. What two things did people believe about unicorn horns until the 17th century?

a. a cup made of unicorn horn removed poisons

b. the horn itself made any water drinkable

c. removing the horn made the unicorn tame

d. the horns had no reflection in a mirror

e. the horns were used to produce a perfume with a special smell

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4 Listening
Listen to the recording and complete the missing information in the matching features and multiple-
choice questions. Check answers in pairs.

Tip

• On the day of the exam, you can only hear the recording once. However, in class it can
be helpful to hear the recording a second time.
• Remember: on the exam, you will have ten minutes at the end of the listening to record
your answers on the answer sheet. Always answer every question, even if you are not
sure.

5 Language point: pronunciation

Pronunciation skills are tested indirectly in the listening and speaking papers of the IELTS exam. This
includes being able to hear and pronounce -th- sounds - /T/ and /ð/ - accurately. Read the information
in the box.

• Words with -th- spellings can be some of the most difficult to pronounce in English. This
sound can be pronounced as voiced /ð/, for example there, or unvoiced /T/, for example
think.
• To say -th- sounds, you need to put your tongue between your teeth and push air through
your mouth. When you say a voiced sound, you can feel a vibration in your throat if you
touch your neck with your hand. You won’t feel a vibration for an unvoiced sound.

Read the tapescript from the first part of the recording and decide if the words in bold are pronounced
with a voiced /ð/ sound or an unvoiced /T/ sound. Listen to this part of the recording again to check.

1. Good afternoon. I’m going to jump right into this week’s presentation. The theme I’ll be exploring
is unicorns, which hardly need any introduction as they seem to be everywhere nowadays.
2. ... Around the year 1500, the wealthy French de Viste family commissioned six tapestries ...
3. These images deal mainly with the five senses and the first one here relates to taste. ... Now,
at that time, this type of bird was quite exotic, and its position next to the unicorn is thought to
indicate that unicorns are also exotic but real.

Practise saying the words in bold and concentrate on saying the -th- sounds.

Can you think of any other words with these sounds?

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6 Practice

Read the text from the transcript and complete the sentences with these -th- words. Decide how they
are pronounced. Practise reading the sentences out loud and try to say the -th- sounds correctly.

although / birth / death / further / other / sixth / thinking / through / together / whether

1
In the images, similar themes appear. In the hearing tapestry, the woman
plays a musical instrument to the lion, unicorn, and various small animals. All appear tame
2
and relaxed and bring to mind the Garden of Eden, a place where did not
exist. In the tapestry relating to sight, the lady shows the unicorn a mirror for it to admire
itself. Surely, only a real animal would have a reflection. Finally, the touch tapestry shows
the lady looking away with her hand on the unicorn’s horn, again suggesting that only a real
3
animal could be experienced this sense.

4
The tapestry shows the lady outside a tent, which has the words “to
my sole, or only, desire” written across the top. Her servant holds a box of jewels, but it
5
is unclear the lady is taking these out of the box or putting them away.
We are also not sure if she is going in or out of the tent. This series of images explores the
changing religious and popular traditions of this important time at the end of the medieval
period in Europe.

During this time, we see a real change between the medieval religious ideas and a more
6
scientific outlook. It pays to examine some earlier about unicorns.

The ancient Greeks wrote about unicorns, and even described the colour of the horns as
black, white and red - interestingly the same colour scheme we see in the Cluny tapestries.
7
These animals were considered to be real, very fierce and difficult to capture.
8
This idea was developed in the medieval period, when the unicorn was seen
9
as a symbol of Christ. It was often shown with a young woman, and the angel
Gabriel appeared in the scene as a hunter. This was one way of telling the Christian story of
10
the miracle of Jesus’ . At the same time, in this period, these scenes also
related to popular stories about romantic love, with the unicorn standing in for the man, who
was “hunted” by his love for the lady, who would tame him.

1. Find a pair of words with opposite meanings.

2. Which two words have the same spelling pattern but two different sounds?

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7 Optional extension

Read the sentences from the recording and explain what the phrases in bold mean.

1. Good afternoon. I’m going to jump right into this week’s presentation.

2. All appear tame and relaxed and bring to mind the Garden of Eden, a place where death did not
exist.

3. It pays to examine some earlier thinking about unicorns.

Give examples of these things:

1. Something you’d be keen to jump right into and something you wouldn’t.
2. Something that always brings to mind your hometown.
3. Something it pays to do before you go on holiday.

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