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    IELTS Listening · Practice test

    Tarnside: IELTS Listening practice test

    A hostel booking, a walking festival, a peat coring project and a lecture on bogs and carbon.

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

    Part 1 · Questions 1–10

    Booking a hostel

    You will hear a conversation between a man and someone taking bookings at a youth hostel.

    Questions 1–6

    Complete the form below.

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

    Hostel Booking

    Name
    Owen 1
    Group size
    2
    Rooms
    one dormitory of 8 and one room of 3
    Arriving
    4 March, for two nights
    Cost
    £5 per person per night, including breakfast
    Total
    £6

    Questions 7–10

    Complete the notes below.

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

    About the hostel

    No mobile signal; there is wifi in the 7 room only
    In the drying room, boots go at the bottom and 8 on the rail
    No evening meals: use the kitchen or book the 9 down the lane
    The door 10 is given on arrival and changes weekly
    Leave a copy of the day's route in the book by the door

    Part 2 · Questions 11–20

    A walking festival

    You will hear an organiser describing a hill-walking festival on local radio.

    Questions 11–14

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 11The walks at the festival are
      • Afree but must be reserved.
      • Bcharged for individually.
      • Copen to anyone who turns up.
    2. 12Which walks fill up first?
      • Athe most difficult ones
      • Bthose with a particular subject
      • Cthose on the Saturday
    3. 13What does the speaker advise about choosing a grade?
      • APick one easier than you think you need.
      • BStart at grade three whatever your experience.
      • CAsk the leader to decide for you.
    4. 14Why do leaders check equipment?
      • AThe weather on the tops can be very different.
      • BThe insurance requires it.
      • CWalkers often forget food.

    Questions 15–19

    What does the speaker say about each of the following? Choose the correct letter, A–F, next to questions 15–19.

    Comments

    • ABook it as early as you possibly can.
    • BPrevious experience must be proved.
    • CDogs may come on this one.
    • DIt is never fully booked.
    • EA particular item must be carried.
    • FIt is only for festival volunteers.
    1. 15the dawn walk
    2. 16the geology walk
    3. 17the ridge traverse
    4. 18the family walk
    5. 19the night navigation session

    Question 20

    Answer the question below.

    Write ONE NUMBER ONLY.

    1. 20How many places are there on the night navigation session?

    Part 3 · Questions 21–30

    A peat coring project

    You will hear two students, Gita and Fraser, discussing a peat coring project with their supervisor.

    Questions 21–25

    Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

    1. 21Why does the supervisor want a second core?
      • Ato check the first one against
      • Bto reach a greater depth
      • Cto sample a different plant community
    2. 22What is wrong with sampling every centimetre?
      • AIt would take far too long.
      • BThe samples would be too small.
      • CThe core would be destroyed.
    3. 23How does he advise them to sample instead?
      • Aat wide intervals, then closely where the record changes
      • Bonly in the upper half of the core
      • Cat random positions along the core
    4. 24Why should radiocarbon dates not be taken from bulk peat?
      • ARoots from above can contaminate a layer.
      • BPeat contains too little carbon.
      • CIt is considerably more expensive.
    5. 25If the students must choose, he advises spending money on
      • Amore radiocarbon dates.
      • Bmore pollen counts.
      • Cbetter coring equipment.

    Questions 26–29

    What does the supervisor say about each of the following? Choose the correct letter, A–F, next to questions 26–29.

    Advice

    • AIt can be done at the same time at little cost.
    • BIt belongs in a later project.
    • CDo it before going into the field.
    • DThe students can please themselves.
    • EIt must be done by a technician.
    • FIt would duplicate work already published.
    1. 26counting charcoal
    2. 27identifying testate amoebae
    3. 28consulting the estate maps
    4. 29the drone survey

    Question 30

    Answer the question below.

    Write ONE WORD ONLY.

    1. 30What must the students send the supervisor before booking the corer?

    Part 4 · Questions 31–40

    Peat bogs and carbon

    You will hear part of a lecture about peat bogs.

    Questions 31–40

    Complete the notes below.

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

    Peat bogs and carbon

    The basic fact

    peatlands are 3% of the land but hold twice the carbon of all the world's 31

    How peat forms

    saturated ground holds little 32, so decomposition nearly stops
    peat accumulates at about one 33 a year

    Sphagnum moss

    holds about 34 times its dry weight in water
    it 35 the water, which suppresses the bacteria that would break it down

    Two types

    a fen is fed by groundwater and is relatively rich in 36
    a bog is fed only by 37, so plants such as sundews catch insects for nitrogen

    Damage and its effects

    drainage, extraction, burning and 38 all remove the water or the surface
    drained peatlands produce about 39% of human greenhouse gas emissions

    Restoration

    block the ditches; the 40 recovers within a year or two, the peat takes centuries

    Question types in this test

    Next step

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

    Sit this Listening test