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    IELTS Listening · Practice test

    Stonebridge: IELTS Listening practice test

    A tenant's repairs call, a restored watermill, a botany report and a lecture on seed banks.

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

    Part 1 · Questions 1–10

    Reporting repairs

    You will hear a conversation between a woman and a lettings agent about repairs to her flat.

    Questions 1–5

    Complete the form below.

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

    Repairs Job Sheet

    Tenant
    Anya 1
    Address
    Flat 4, 16 Marlowe 2 (behind the station)
    Problem 1
    no hot water; the 3 radiators stay cold
    Problem 2
    mould in the bathroom; the 4 does not work
    Problem 3
    a dripping 5 in the kitchen

    Questions 6–10

    Complete the notes below.

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

    What happens next

    Always quote the job 6 when contacting the agency
    Emergencies are dealt with in 7 hours; other repairs take up to 28 days
    If the deadline is missed, write in, then contact the 8 after seven days
    The contractor will telephone the day 9 to agree a time
    Clean the mould with a mould cleaner rather than 10

    Part 2 · Questions 11–20

    A restored watermill

    You will hear a guide welcoming visitors to a restored watermill.

    Questions 11–15

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 11The present mill building dates from
      • Athe thirteenth century.
      • B1826.
      • C1952.
    2. 12The mill stopped working commercially because
      • Athe machinery wore out.
      • Btransport changed the price of flour.
      • Cthe river became unreliable.
    3. 13What does the guide warn visitors about the machinery?
      • AIt is not running today.
      • BIt is not fitted with guards.
      • CIt is very noisy.
    4. 14Which part of the site cannot be reached by everybody?
      • Athe upper floors
      • Bthe waterwheel
      • Cthe shop
    5. 15What does he say about the flour sold at the mill?
      • AIt should be used within a few weeks.
      • BIt is ground more finely than usual.
      • CIt is only on sale on grinding days.

    Questions 16–20

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

    Stonebridge Mill
    MillABCDEFGH
    1. 16Waterwheel
    2. 17Mill pond
    3. 18Shop
    4. 19Tea room
    5. 20Kiln

    Part 3 · Questions 21–30

    A plant experiment

    You will hear two biology students, Ines and Rory, discussing an experiment on plant growth.

    Questions 21–22

    Choose TWO letters, A–E.

    2122Which TWO problems with the experiment do the students identify?

    • APlants were watered inconsistently.
    • BThe greenhouse was too cold at night.
    • CThe trays were never moved.
    • DThe seeds came from different suppliers.
    • EMeasurements were taken at the wrong time of day.

    Questions 23–26

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 23What do they decide to do about the leaf area measurements?
      • Aleave them out of the report
      • Bmeasure them again using software
      • Chave one person repeat them by hand
    2. 24How will they describe the effect of nitrogen?
      • Aas clearly demonstrated
      • Bas consistent with, but not proved by, the data
      • Cas too small to be worth reporting
    3. 25What will they do about the three replacement plants?
      • Aexclude them and explain why
      • Binclude them in the averages
      • Cgrow them for two more weeks
    4. 26How will they write the report?
      • Aeach taking separate sections
      • Bone drafting and the other rewriting
      • Cwriting every section together

    Questions 27–30

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

    Decisions

    • Aput it at the front of the results
    • Binclude it in an appendix without discussing it
    • Cdevote part of the discussion to it
    • Dsuggest it as work for another group
    • Eask a technician to do it for them
    • Frepeat it at the end of the experiment
    1. 27the dry mass measurements
    2. 28the soil pH readings
    3. 29the comparison with the Lindqvist paper
    4. 30the photosynthesis measurements

    Part 4 · Questions 31–40

    Seed banks

    You will hear part of a lecture about seed banks.

    Questions 31–40

    Complete the summary below.

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

    Seed banks

    Conserving a species in its own habitat is called 31 conservation, and it is always preferred; a seed bank is an insurance policy alongside it. A second reason for banking seed is agricultural: the local varieties that farmers abandoned carry 32 to diseases that have not yet appeared.

    Seed is dried to a moisture content of about 33% and then frozen at minus eighteen degrees, after which it may stay viable for a 34 or more.

    The vault at Svalbard, opened in 2008, holds no collection of its own: it is a 35 for national banks. Its material was withdrawn for the first time in 2015, to replace seed lost in 36.

    Three difficulties remain. About a tenth of species are 37: their seeds are killed by drying, so they must be kept as living plants. Viability also falls, so accessions must be grown again once germination drops below about 38%, a process called 39 that is a bank's largest cost and that narrows the genetic variety held. Finally, material belongs to its country of origin, which makes international collections slow to build.

    The Millennium Seed Bank holds seed from about sixteen per cent of wild plant species and is aiming at a 40.

    Question types in this test

    Next step

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

    Sit this Listening test