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    IELTS Listening · Practice test

    Ashcombe: IELTS Listening practice test

    Booking a boat trip, a harbour redevelopment, an oceanography dataset and a lecture on noise in the sea.

    • 4 parts
    • 40 questions
    • About 35 minutes
    • Challenging
    Sit this test with the recording

    Part 1 · Questions 1–10

    Booking a boat trip

    You will hear a conversation between a woman and a man who runs boat trips.

    Questions 1–6

    Complete the form below.

    Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

    Boat Trip Booking

    Name
    Jill 1
    Party
    2 adults and 2 children (aged 12 and 2)
    Trip chosen
    the 3 trip, three hours
    Total price
    £4
    Date
    Thursday 5, departing at 10 a.m.
    Trips are cancelled if the sea is too 6; decision made at 8 a.m.

    Questions 7–10

    Complete the notes below.

    Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

    What to bring

    Warm layers and a 7, because of the spray
    Flat shoes with a grip; the deck and the 8 are slippery
    Bring 9 and water: there is nothing to buy on the island
    Seasickness tablets must be taken an 10 before boarding

    Part 2 · Questions 11–20

    The harbour redevelopment

    You will hear a project officer describing plans to redevelop a harbour area.

    Questions 11–15

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 11What does the speaker say about the fishing fleet?
      • AIts lease has been made longer.
      • BIt will move to a smaller quay.
      • CIt will share the quay with the ferry.
    2. 12The most expensive part of the scheme is
      • Athe covered market.
      • Brebuilding the quay wall.
      • Cthe new housing.
    3. 13What does she say about the affordable housing?
      • AIt is fewer units than the council wanted.
      • BIt will be built on the quay itself.
      • CIt has not yet been agreed.
    4. 14Why does she warn against trusting the dates?
      • AThe funding is not confirmed.
      • BMarine work can be stopped by weather.
      • CThe contractor has not been chosen.
    5. 15The number of parking spaces will
      • Astay the same.
      • Bfall by about twenty-five.
      • Cincrease slightly.

    Questions 16–20

    Label the plan below. Write the correct letter, A–H, next to questions 16–20.

    Ashcombe Harbour: the proposed scheme
    HarbourMain roadHarbour StreetWestern quayABCDEFGH
    1. 16Covered market
    2. 17Workshops
    3. 18Public square
    4. 19New housing
    5. 20Ferry landing

    Part 3 · Questions 21–30

    An oceanography dataset

    You will hear two oceanography students, Cai and Petra, discussing a dataset with their supervisor.

    Questions 21–26

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 21What is wrong with the oxygen record?
      • AThe readings decline steadily over time.
      • BThe sensor stopped part way through.
      • CThe readings are too widely spaced.
    2. 22What makes it possible to correct the oxygen record?
      • Athe two calibration measurements
      • Bthe clean temperature record
      • Ca second oxygen sensor
    3. 23What does the supervisor say about the eleven-day gap?
      • AIt should be filled by interpolation.
      • BIt should be left visible in the figures.
      • CThe whole month should be discarded.
    4. 24What is the students' unexpected finding?
      • AStratification begins earlier than expected.
      • BStratification ends later than expected.
      • CThe water never fully mixes.
    5. 25How does he suggest they investigate the cause?
      • Aby comparing the wind record with a long-term average
      • Bby repeating the deployment next year
      • Cby consulting the published literature
    6. 26What does he tell them to change in their figures?
      • Athe colour scale
      • Bthe depth axis
      • Cthe size of the labels

    Questions 27–30

    What does the supervisor say about each of the following? Choose the correct letter, A–F, next to questions 27–30.

    Advice

    • AUse it to show the wider setting.
    • BAsk, but do not depend on it.
    • CMention it only as future work.
    • DThe decision is theirs.
    • EIt should replace their own measurements.
    • FIt is required by the department.
    1. 27the satellite temperature data
    2. 28the neighbouring project's moorings
    3. 29running the shelf model
    4. 30presenting a conference poster

    Part 4 · Questions 31–40

    Noise in the ocean

    You will hear part of a lecture about noise in the ocean.

    Questions 31–40

    Complete the notes below.

    Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

    Noise in the ocean

    Why sound matters at sea

    sound travels at about 31 metres per second in seawater
    32 is effectively gone below two hundred metres, but low sounds carry for hundreds of kilometres

    Natural sources

    physical: wind, waves, rain and cracking 33 in polar seas
    biological: whales, fish and snapping 34 on tropical reefs

    Human sources

    shipping: propellers cause 35, raising the background permanently
    - low-frequency noise has risen about 36 decibels per decade since the 1960s
    seismic surveys: arrays of air 37 fire every 10–15 seconds for weeks
    military 38 has been linked to strandings of beaked whales

    Effects

    injury, behaviour change, 39 of calls the animal needs to hear, and chronic stress

    Why there is hope

    noise leaves no 40: stop it and the sea is quiet within seconds

    Question types in this test

    Next step

    Hear the recording once, on the clock, and get every mark explained

    Sit this Listening test