IELTS Listening: more practice

The link below takes you to some more official listening practice exercises on the British Council website. Start with some simple multiple choice questions:

Click here

Note: To hear the recording, click on the blue writing above the clock pictures.

Comments

[Ghyath]

Dear Simon,
I have got my IELTS results ..In listening,it was 6.5,so I would like to ask about something.In case of filling a gap with no more two words. For example twenty first of June,can I write 21st June,or 21 june..and 25th of December(in conversation),can i put 25th December or it must be 25 December..
Another thing, how many questions are needed to be correct to achieve score 7.
Thank you in advance

[Simon]

Hi Ghyath,

Both "21 June" and "21st June" are accepted.

You need 30 correct answers to get a 7.

[Nafiseh]

Hi dear Simon,
My answers are:
1-c
2-B
3-C
4-D
5-Amin
6-Electronic
7-92YG3044
8-Spring Court
9-Average
10-3-5

[Simon]

Hi Nafiseh,

I don't have the answers - they are available on the website as one of the options on the recording.

[maji]

that is helpful thanks.

[L]

Hi Simon. I noticed that several times people asked about scores to get one band. Maybe you will put this on your site)

[Mehdi]

Hi Simon,

Is it enough to read the first and second sentence of each paragraph
to find the answer if the question is "paragraph headings"? In other words, does answer appears at the beginning of each paragraph or we should read all the paragraph to find the best heading?

Best wishes,
Mehdi

[Simon]

Hi L,

It's already here on the site, but I guess it's not easy to find amongst all of the lessons:

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2010/08/students-questions-reading-scores.html

...

Hi Mehdi,

Sometimes it's enough to read the first sentence - try this if you haven't got much time. However, the first and second sentences don't necessarily give you the main idea of the whole paragraph. Sometimes you need to read it all.

[Christina]

Hi Simon,
Is it ok that i wrote 18 March instead of 18th March in the listening exam? In the Cambridge practice book, it says all standard alternatives for numbers, dates and currencies are acceptable. just to confirm if my alternative is correct.

2. What about compound words such as noticeboard. in The Cambridge book, the only answer is notice board as two separate words, so im confused as noticeboard should be the more common one according to the Cambridge's advanced learner's dictionary

[Nafiseh]

Hi dear Simon,
Thank you very much for the advice,I will go to the website to find out the listening answers.
Thanks again

[L]

And what about half points?
So there is`nt any fixed scores?
For example, here:
http://canada.sokolovnet.com/ielts-ocenka-za-ekzamen-i-pravilnye-otvety/
The scores are illustrated in table.
And how to check yourself, if they differ? In one listening I had 32 correct answers, it was counted as 6.5.
I am confused)

[Simon]

Hi Christina,

Yes, 18 March is fine.

Unless the question asks for "one word only" I think you can write compound words as 1 or 2 words.

...

No problem Nafiseh.

...

Hi L,

I disagree with that table. The bands I gave are the official advice from IELTS.

Score boundaries can change because some tests are slightly easier than others. Each exam is trialed many times and the IELTS people analyse the difficulty level very carefully before deciding on score boundaries.

If you want more information than this, I'm afraid it's an IELTS secret. They don't tell us what exact score is needed for each band for any of the official practice papers, so all we have are general guidelines.

[L]

I didn`t know that,thanks)

[Leslie]

Hi Simon

There are some questions may need your help

1. The speaker said Electronics foundation course, so is it ok to put "Electronics foundation"?... it seems BC's website only accepts "Electronics" :P

2. The number "92YG3044", because she said three O double four, so i put "O" instead of "0<-Zero"...consequently i failed this one, but is it ok in the real exam?

3. The address 36D Spring Court <- i did catch this one but i put Spring Court 36D (based on the sequence being mentioned in the tape)... er...but.... :P

4. One more question bout the 3rd question of the 1st part, Anna Maria said "you want northbound Bakerloo", but the answer was not C but B, could you help to explain why?

Thank you very much

[UT]

Hi Simon,

Could you explain me why the answer of question 17 in listening section 2 is 12 not 6?
Thank you very much in advance.

[Leslie]

Hi UT,

The speaker said 6 headphone sockets with each television receiver, so it is 6 x 2=12

[Simon]

Hi Leslie,

They never mention all of the possible correct answers, but your answers to points 1,2 and 3 would all be correct in the real exam.

I think number 3 must be a mistake. I definitely heard "northbound Bakerloo" too.

...

Hi UT,

Leslie explains well - see above comment.

[UT]

Thank Leslie and Simon very much.