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    IELTS Listening · Practice test

    Meadowbank: IELTS Listening practice test

    A leisure-centre membership, a cycle-hire scheme, a salt-marsh field study and a lecture on sleep.

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

    Part 1 · Questions 1–10

    Joining a leisure centre

    You will hear a conversation between a woman and a receptionist at a leisure centre.

    Questions 1–6

    Complete the form below.

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

    Leisure Centre Membership

    Name
    Rachel 1
    Address
    14 2 Road
    Type of membership
    3
    Cost
    £4 per month
    Also included
    use of the gym, the pool and the 5
    Gym induction booked for 6 at 10.00

    Questions 7–10

    Complete the notes below.

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

    Using the centre

    The pool is closed for cleaning on 7 mornings
    Lockers need a £1 8
    Classes are best booked on the centre's 9
    Members get 10% off in the cafe

    Part 2 · Questions 11–20

    A cycle-hire scheme

    You will hear a council transport officer giving a talk about a new cycle-hire scheme.

    Questions 11–15

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 11The main purpose of the scheme is to
      • Aattract more visitors to the town.
      • Breplace short journeys made by car.
      • Cimprove residents' general health.
    2. 12Before using a bike for the first time, riders must
      • Apay at the docking station.
      • Bregister and receive a code.
      • Ccollect a key from the library.
    3. 13Members of the scheme pay nothing for
      • Athe first half hour of a journey.
      • Bany journey under two miles.
      • Cthe first year of membership.
    4. 14What has changed since last summer's trial?
      • AThere are more docking stations.
      • BThe app has been replaced.
      • CThe bikes now have motors.
    5. 15A rider who finds a fault with a bike should
      • Atelephone the council.
      • Bleave the bike where it is.
      • Chold down a button on the handlebars.

    Questions 16–20

    What does the speaker say about each of the following docking stations? Choose the correct letter, A–F, next to questions 16–20.

    Comments

    • AIt will open later than the others.
    • BIt has been moved from its original site.
    • CIt is the busiest early in the morning.
    • DIt is the largest station.
    • EIt cannot be used at night.
    • FIt is used mainly at weekends.
    1. 16Market Square
    2. 17the railway station
    3. 18the hospital
    4. 19the leisure centre
    5. 20the Beechwood estate

    Part 3 · Questions 21–30

    A salt-marsh field study

    You will hear two environmental science students, Nadia and Callum, planning a field study of a salt marsh.

    Questions 21–24

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 21Why do the students reject the Barrow Creek site?
      • AIt is harder to reach than the alternative.
      • BAnother group is already working there.
      • CThe marsh zones there are unclear.
    2. 22How long will they be able to spend on the marsh each visit?
      • Atwo hours
      • Bthree hours
      • Ca whole morning
    3. 23What does Callum want to change about the quadrat sampling?
      • Athe number of quadrats
      • Bthe way their positions are chosen
      • Cthe time spent on each one
    4. 24What has their supervisor advised them to do?
      • Astudy a second site as well
      • Bnarrow the research question
      • Cread more of the background literature

    Questions 25–26

    Choose TWO letters, A–E.

    2526Which TWO arrangements have the students still to make?

    • Abooking transport
    • Bcompleting a risk assessment
    • Cgetting the landowner's permission
    • Dreserving laboratory time
    • Earranging insurance

    Questions 27–30

    What do the students decide about each of the following methods? Choose the correct letter, A–E, next to questions 27–30.

    Decisions

    • Amake it the main method
    • Bask a technician for help with it
    • Cdo it only if time allows
    • Dleave it out because the results would be unreliable
    • Euse data collected by another group
    1. 27quadrat sampling
    2. 28drone photography
    3. 29salinity readings
    4. 30sediment cores

    Part 4 · Questions 31–40

    Sleep and memory

    You will hear part of a lecture about sleep and memory.

    Questions 31–40

    Complete the notes below.

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

    Sleep and memory

    The three stages of a memory

    encoding, then 31, then retrieval
    the middle stage is now thought to happen mainly during sleep

    Two kinds of sleep

    slow-wave sleep: associated with 32 memory (facts, names, dates)
    REM sleep: associated with skills, e.g. 33 tasks

    What happens in the brain

    in rats, cell sequences from the day are 34 about twenty times faster
    the 35 appears to pass the day's events to the cortex

    Evidence in humans

    students who slept recalled about 36% more word pairs
    a 37 of ninety minutes gives much of the same benefit
    the effect is greatest when sleep follows 38 closely

    Advice

    do not stay 39 the night before an examination

    A caution

    the experiments use very 40 materials, tested a day later

    Question types in this test

    Next step

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

    Sit this Listening test