Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 20

IELTS PRACTICE TESTS

LISTENING
TEST 13
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
Good Luck!

Please note that while we truly hope that the pack will help you to achieve the IELTS test band
score you need, by purchasing this pack you agree to the 'Terms and Conditions of Use'. This
pack, which includes all pages and the associated audio files, is for your own individual study
only. The pack or any of its contents can not be shared or transmitted in any form without the
prior written consent of TruLern Ltd.

Please remember copyright laws exist to help us ALL. Breach of copyright kills creativity,

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
innovation and healthy competition. If you breach this copyright you could face legal action
against you.

Respecting copyright makes our world a better place. Please respect our copyright.

Once again, many thanks and once again, the very best of luck with your IELTS test.

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

Terms and Conditions of Use

The terms ‘IELTS PRACTICE TESTS’, 'TRULERN', ‘us’ and ‘we’ refer to the owners of the IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS website.
The term ‘you’ refers to the user or viewer of our website.

Copyright Notice
Unless otherwise expressly stated, copyright or similar rights in all material presented on this website, apart from those held
on any 'links' page and used as hyperlinks to other websites, are owned by TruLern Ltd.

You are entitled to download and print the practice tests for your own individual study use only and you are not permitted to share
free or commercialy, or distribute free or commercially any of the contents in any form. Copies of the website pages which you
have saved to disk or to any other storage system or medium may be used for subsequent viewing purposes or to print for your
own individual study use only. You may not (whether directly or indirectly including through the use of any program) create a
database in an electronic or other form by downloading and storing all or any part of the pages from this website without prior
written consent save as expressly authorised by an agreement in writing between us. Unless with our prior permission no part of
this website may be reproduced or transmitted to or stored in any other website, nor may any of its pages or part thereof be
disseminated in any electronic or non electronic form, nor included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
Terms of Use
You agree that all the materials displayed on or available through this website including without limitation any and all names,
logos, data, information, graphics, underlying software, displayed on or available from this website are protected by copyright,
trade mark and other intellectual property laws and are available for your own individual study use only. You must not copy,
modify, alter, publish, broadcast, distribute, sell, transfer or share any of these materials without our express written permission.
You agree to use this website and its content, and the services and products delivered herein only for lawful purposes.

Warranties and Disclaimers


Your use of this website including all content downloaded or accessed from or through this website is at your own risk. Every
effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, we take no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the
website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control. In no event will we be liable for any loss or
damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from
loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Whilst precautions are taken to detect computer viruses and ensure security, we cannot guarantee that the website is virus-free
and secure. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage which may occur as a result of any virus or breach of security. We give
no warranties of any kind concerning the web site or the content. In particular, we do not warrant that the website or any of its

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
contents is virus free. You must take your own precautions in this respect as we accept no responsibility for any infection by virus
or other contamination or by anything which has destructive properties.

Whilst making every attempt to secure personal data, we cannot accept responsibility for any unauthorised access or loss of
personal information that is beyond our control.

Through this website you may be able to link to other websites which are not under our control. We have no control over the
nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse
the views expressed within them.

You agree to indemnify and hold TruLern Ltd and its subsidiaries, affiliates, shareholders, officers, directors, agents, licensors,
suppliers, employees and representatives harmless from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of
the use or connection to this website (including any use by you on behalf of your employer or your violation of any rights of
another).

Website and Content


In compiling the content contained on, and accessed through this website, we have used our best endeavours to ensure that the
information is correct and current at the time of publication but we take no responsibility for any error, omission or defect therein.
All study materials are generally hypothetical or imaginary and are included for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to
individuals, companies, institutions or otherwise in real life is entirely coincidental. The opinions expressed in any third party
materials are not necessarily those of TruLern Ltd but are provided for academic practice and educational purposes only.

We reserve the right to change these terms at any time and you will be considered to have accepted such changes if you use this
web site after we have published the changed terms on this web site. If you have any questions about this document or our
privacy policy, please contact us.

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

Listening Test 13
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 1 Questions 1 - 10
Questions 1 - 5
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Conference Enquiry

Name: 1 .................................

Organisation: ICDF

Number of attendees: 2 ..................................

Dates: 3 .................................. in November

Number of attendees All of them

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
requiring guest rooms:

Food: Friday evening require a 4 .................. with drinks


and light food. Standard menu for other meals but
Sunday evening require 5 .................. dinner.

Car Park: Perhaps nobody

Questions 6 - 10
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Brookfields Hotel

Small conference room facilities:


- high speed wireless connection
- 6 ............... and screen
- 7 ............... and pens

Guest rooms
- bathrobes
- full range of men & women 8 ...............
- daily newspaper of choice
- 9 ...............

Hotel facilities
- Swimming pool opens 6:30 till 22:00

Best Price:
- 10 ............... per room per night

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 2 Questions 11 - 20
Questions 11 - 16
Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

11 When you ask donors for contributions you should not tell them
A all the details about the event.
B that the challenge is easier than it really is.
C how hard the event is going to be.

12 Before people agree to donate, they should be told that


A the majority of their contributions goes to helping people who need it most.
B the charity does not use their contributions to pay for events.
C 30% of their money will cover administration costs.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
13 You need to train for
A about 2 hours a day.
B about 4 or 5 hours a day.
C about 3 hours a day.

14 Next week you must start training with


A all your luggage on the bicycl.
B your panniers on the bicycle.
C your backpack on.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
15 The cyclists will be required to cycle uphill
A on Day 1.
B on Day 2.
C on Day 4.

16 On the last day the cyclists will be cycling through


A a hilly region.
B a sandy region.
C a hot and humid region.

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

Questions 17 - 20
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Day 1 Arrive in Agra. Afternoon excursion to Taj Mahal.

Day 2 Leave from Khanua. All day cycling. Little time for
17 .................

More relaxed. 18 ................. countryside. Forts and valleys.


Day 3
Overnight in Sariska Park - see monkeys.

All day, and night, in the sand dunes - 19 .................


Day 4
experience

Day 5 Last day of cycling, arrive at Lal Mahal.

Day 6 Jaipur / Pink City and Amber Fort

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
Day 7 Lunch together to 20 ................. completing the challenge

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 3 Questions 21 - 30
Questions 21 - 25
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Student Assignment
Tasks Progress Suggestions / Comments

Decided on
Focus on just - Laos Good to focus on
three countries - Vietnam 21 ....................... countries
- Cambodia

Found useful websites Focus on the source which


Look at IMF, WHO, UN ECOSOC matches 23 ......................
- Average weekly wage
- Numbers in poverty Problem getting consistent Give a range of values and
22 ................

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
quote all references used

Consider writing as inverted


pyramid
Include history of
None yet Include short summary of history
the three countries

Show how it 24 ................ to


research assignment

Include information Don't go to wide because:


Read about the topic and - Could exceed word limit
about other
found some connections. - Be too 25 ...............
neighbours? Thailand?

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
Questions 26 - 30

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

NEXT TASK: Look into the 26 ............................... of each country

REASONS: Get a 27 ............................ of the situation today

ADVANTAGES: Give the assignment far more 28 ......................

RECOMMENDED
READING: World Bank / 29 .......................... Nexus

Reference section provides useful list of relevant articles.


NOTES:
Most useful published between 30 ............................

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 4 Questions 31 - 40
Questions 31 - 34
Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

31 According to the speaker, the main positive impact of oil in Nigeria is that
A the country is now very rich.
B oil has provided a lot of money for the country.
C the GDP has increased from $20 billion to $80 billion since 1970.

32 According to the speaker, what has been the end result of the conflicts?
A an unstable society
B a lot of corruption throughout the country
C some buyers have bought oil from other countries

33 The money received by the Nigerian government from oil


A represents less than 50% of the countries income.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
B is normally spent on improving the local economy.
C has resulted in a lack of interest in other industries.

34 When oil is found in Nigeria, the authorities


A do not have enough money to protect the environment.
B do not seem to care about the possible risks to the environment.
C are forced to spend more money on hospitals, schools and housing.

Questions 35 - 40

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

New problems facing the oil companies in Nigeria:

From militant groups:


recent attacks on offshore oil units
- used for production, 35 ................ and off-loading
- attack stopped production of about 36 ................ per day
- need to improve 37 ................ for the staff
recent attacks onshore
- one pipeline 38 ................ by a militant group
- stopped some production
- 39 ................ world oil prices

From the Nigerian government:


claim oil companies are making too much money
oil companies say the government are changing the rules and trying to back-date them
multinationals also say the government has not provided 40 ................ of the joint
venture investment

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Answers

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 1 SECTION 2 SECTION 3 SECTION 4

1 Richard Jones 11 B 21 neighbouring 31 B


2 50 to 60 12 A 22 data 32 C
3 third week 13 C 23 most closely 33 C
4 reception 14 B 24 links 34 B
5 buffet style 15 A 25 shallow 35 storage
6 projector 16 B 26 natural resources 36 220,000 barrels
7 flipchart 17 photos 27 deeper understanding 37 safety
8 toiletries 18 Scenic 28 depth 38 blown up
9 bowl of fruit 19 atmospheric 29 Poverty Environment 39 increased
10 £154.80 20 celebrate 30 2000 and 2008 40 its full share

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Tapescripts

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 1

(on the phone)


MAN 1: Brookfields Hotel. Good morning. How can I help you?
MAN 2: Good morning. My name’s Richard Jones. I’m a representative for the ICDF, the
International Cooperation and Development Fund, based in Taiwan.
MAN 1: Sorry, the IC ...
MAN 2: The ICDF, the International Cooperation and Development Fund of Taiwan.
MAN 1: The ICDF, I see. And sorry, I didn’t catch your name?
MAN 2: Richard Jones.
MAN 1: Richard Jones. OK, so how can we help you?
MAN 2: Well, we’re organising a conference in November next year and we currently in the process
of looking for venues.
MAN 1: Oh, I see.
MAN 2: So, I understand from your website that you offer conference facilities and I’m just

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
phoning to discuss the possibility of holding the conference on your premises.
MAN 1: I see. Well, firstly could I ask you how many people will be attending?
MAN 2: In the region of 50 to 60. Would that be a problem for you? If so, there’s not much point in
continuing.
MAN 1: No, Ms Jones, not at all. The main conference room can seat over 200, and we have a
smaller room which accommodates 90. That may suit you best. Regarding accommodation,
as you can see from the website, we have 300 guest rooms in the hotel.
MAN 2: Right, and we’re looking at the third weekend in November next year. How’s your
availability for then?
MAN 1: Well, at the moment, we could accommodate you quite comfortably for that weekend.
MAN 2: I see, OK.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
MAN 1: Um ... and could I just check before we go any further? How many of the attendees will be
staying in the hotel? All of them?
MAN 2: Yes, that’s right.
MAN 1: OK. Regarding food and refreshments. What will you require?
MAN 2: Well, we were hoping for a reception on the Friday evening with wine, beer and soft drinks,
along with some light finger food. Then we’d require breakfast, lunch and dinner on the
Saturday and breakfast and lunch on the Sunday. On the Sunday night we’d prefer a buffet
style dinner so we can mingle more easily. And then we’d also require breakfast on the
Monday morning.
MAN 1: I see. So the standard menus would be OK for all meals except Sunday evening.
MAN 2: Yes, I think so.
MAN 1: And, if I may, one more question.
MAN 2: Yes, of course.
MAN 1: Would you have any idea how many of the guests would arrive by car? We have a large car
park at the rear of the hotel but during the weekend ...
MAN 2: Oh, very few. Probably nobody I would imagine ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAN 2: If I could just check though a few more points with you.

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

MAN 1: Yes, of course.


MAN 2: Firstly regarding the conference facilities, in the smaller conference room you mention,
what kind of internet access do you have?
MAN 1: The internet connection is the same as in the main conference room. It’s a high speed
wireless connection.
MAN 2: OK, and what equipment do you have in the room for presentations?
MAN 1: We have a projector for PowerPoint presentations and a screen, of course. We also have a
flipchart and we provide pens for that. We can also supply pads and pens on each table if
you require.
MAN 2: OK, that takes care of the conference room, I think. Um ... regarding the guest rooms,
presumably they have bathrobes?
MAN 1: Yes, they do.
MAN 2: And what other extras do you provide?
MAN 1: Well, there is free wireless broadband in every room; we also provide a complete range of
ladies and gents toiletries; your choice of daily newspaper is delivered every morning and

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
we also provide a bowl of fruit to conference guests.
MAN 2: Oh, that’s a nice touch.
MAN 1: Well, we hope so.
MAN 2: And regarding the hotel facilities, um ... could I just check with you the opening hours for
the swimming pool?
MAN 1: Yes, the pool opens at 6:30 and closes at 10:00 o’clock in the evening.
MAN 2: OK, very good, so that just leaves the issue of price. I would be looking for a considerable
discount for this block booking.
MAN 1: Yes, of course. For the number of guests you mentioned you’d be looking at a discount of
12% on the standard room rates. For November the standard rate will be £180 per room
per night. So after a 12% discount that would be £158.40 per room per night.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
MAN 2: One hundred and fifty eight pounds ... forty. Right, I’ve got that.
MAN 1: Now we would be able to improve on that for an early booking. If you confirmed 3 months
before the conference date, we would be able to offer a 14% discount, and that would bring
the price to £154.80 per room per night, that would be the lowest price we could offer.
MAN 2: OK, I see. So that’s one hundred and fifty four pounds eighty.
MAN 1: Yes, that’s it.
MAN 2: OK, well I think that’s about it for the time being. It sounds quite promising. We’ll need to
evaluate it against other options of course.
MAN 1: Yes, of course.
MAN 2: Could I just take a note of your name please before I go?
MAN 1: Of course, Richard Ackroyd.
MAN 2: Sorry, Richard, could you spell your surname, please?
MAN 1: Of course. That’s A-C-K-R-O-Y-D.
MAN 2: OK, got it, many thanks. And um ... I’ll get back to you Richard in a couple of weeks time.
MAN 1: Well, we look forward to hearing from you. Could I just take a contact number for you?
MAN 2: Oh, yes, sure, it’s ...

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 2

Good afternoon everyone. Great to see so many of you here. Well, let’s make a start. As you know, I’m
going to talk about the charity bike run, which is coming up, just 3 months away now, in Rajasthan,
India, of course. So, these 3 months are going to fly by, and you’ll need to make sure that you manage
to get your sponsors sorted out and to reach the required level of fitness for the ride.

So, firstly, regarding sponsorship, you should have started collecting a list of potential donors, people
you intend to contact, in the near future. Now, when you do contact them don’t make light of the
challenge because, well, there’s nothing light about it! And, although we intend to thoroughly enjoy it,
our ultimate goal here is to raise as much as we can for the Heart Foundation. So, as I say, don’t make
light of it tell people exactly what’s involved, tell them about the weather conditions, the road
conditions, the distance that you’re expected to travel daily, and, tell them about the accommodation

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
too, we don’t want people thinking that you’re staying in five star hotels at the end of each day!

Also, again regarding donors, it’s important for people to know beforehand how their money will be
spent. So please don’t forget to tell them that this charity has a track record of spending just 30% of
donations on covering the costs of events and the remaining 70%, always goes directly to the people
in need. Any questions I’ve not answered regarding sponsorship, please have a word with me later.

So, next thing on the list, fitness. Now, it really is impossible for me to overstate the importance of
reaching the required fitness level. You should be well into the fitness program by now and you really
can’t afford to miss a single day. You need to be putting in about 3 hours training on a daily basis and
you should be getting to the point where you’re quite comfortable with this. Anything below this, 2

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
hours say, is not going to be enough, and if you’re doing 4 or 5 hours, well, you may be overdoing it.

OK, if you’ve looked ahead at the fitness program, you’ll have seen that next week we recommend
training with your pannier racks and panniers fitted. So you’ll need to load the equivalent weight of a
full pack in your panniers and if you’re intending to bring a small backpack then you should be
carrying that as well, during your training. You don’t have to start with a full pack of course, you
could build up in stages, but it’s important to get to train with the load of a full pack as soon as
possible.

To continue to emphasise, the importance of fitness, just let me show you some slides from last year’s
event, and you can perhaps get a better idea of the kind of terrain, you’ll be faced with. So in this first
slide, you can see how we start off through some small villages where the road is narrow, uneven and
quite windy, and it starts to climb! So right from the start, with a full pack, you’re going to be pushing
uphill. This next slide shows the terrain on Day 2. Here we’re on the hill tops, we’re pretty high up,
and the humidity can be high, too. Skipping Day 3, here’s a Day 4 slide, we’re on the flat, travelling

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

past some ancient temples, but you can see the road surface is not exactly up to Formula 1 standard!
Just one more slide, this is the last day, and you can see we’re travelling through almost desert terrain.
It’s hot and it’s dry.

OK, from your expressions I think you’re starting to get a clearer picture of the challenge ...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Right then, as promised, a quick look at the itinerary for the 7 days. If you’d like to turn to that, it’s on
page 10 of the handout. So Day 1, we arrive in Agra, that will be at 5:45 local time. It will then take us
a good hour to get through baggage claim and customs, if not longer. Then we’ve got an hour’s bus
ride to the hotel. So arrival time at the hotel is going to be about eight, eight-thirty. The plan is then
to get some much-needed rest. So hopefully, we’ll all be able to get about 4 hours sleep. For those of
you who are up for it, there’ll be an afternoon excursion to the Taj Mahal. We’ll be back at the hotel

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
quite early. We’ve requested a fairly plain evening meal, by the way, grilled chicken, rice and
vegetables. We’ll then be getting an early night, because as you probably know, we start cycling at 7:00,
the following morning.

So Day 2, we start cycling from Khanua at 7 in the morning. It’s about 30 minutes from the hotel so
we’ll leave here at 6:30. We’ll be spending most of the day cycling through fields, small villages, and
past many temples. There won’t be many photo opportunities, I’m afraid, because we want to reach
the overnight camp, at Bashawar, before dark.

On Day 3, the pace will be a little slower. We’ll be travelling though some of the most scenic

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
countryside in Rajasthan and, weather permitting, you should be able to get some incredible shots of
the ancient hill-top forts and the valleys below. The overnight camp is on the edge of Sariska Park,
and if we’re lucky, we should be able to watch the monkeys playing in the trees!

Day 4, well, the terrain will change quite unbelievably, we’ll be cycling in pretty arid conditions,
through sand dunes, and in fact we’ll be camping down in the sand dunes overnight. This itself is an
incredible, very atmospheric, experience. Day 5 will be the last day of cycling, and at that point, you
probably won’t be sorry! The challenge will end at Lal Mahal, where a more comfortable night’s sleep
awaits us! On Day 6, we’ll travel to Jaipur, or ‘The Pink City’ as it is known, and you’ll have time to
look around there and to visit the Amber Fort. Then, on the final day, we have a celebratory lunch
together in a really great restaurant there ... um ... before starting the journey home.

OK. No doubt you have some questions …

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 3

TUTOR: Hi Karen. How are you getting on with the latest assignment?
KAREN: OK, thanks. I’ve been trying to follow through on what we agreed in the last tutorial. Some
of its fine and some of it ... well, I’m not sure about, to be honest.
TUTOR: I see. Well, would you like to talk me through what you’ve done so far? And then we can
go on to look at the parts you’re unsure about.
KAREN: Fine, thanks. OK, well, last time we agreed that I should narrow my focus to three
countries. And so I decided on Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia ...
TUTOR: OK, I see. I think that’s a good choice ... I mean to consider countries who are neighbours.
KAREN: Oh good, and ... the task you set was to research average weekly wages in three countries,
along with numbers of people living below the poverty line ... in each country.
TUTOR: That’s right. Yes, I have a note of that here. So how did you get on with that?
KAREN: Well, I found several development aid agency websites which were very useful but ... quite
often they seem to be publishing different answers to the same question ... I mean if you

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
look at the figures for Cambodia, for example, on the websites of the IMF, the WHO and
the UN ECOSOC, The Economic and Social Council, you get a slightly different story
from each one.
TUTOR: Well, yes, there will of course be variations if these organisations are carrying out their
own independent research.
KAREN: I see. Yes, I hadn’t really considered that. So what figures should I include?
TUTOR: Well, you have several options. You could quote figures from just one source, from the
research which you feel is the closest match to what you’re looking at. Another option
would be to quote a range of values and give a list of the sources you have used in your
references section.
KAREN: OK, then. Thanks for that.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
TUTOR: Right. Well, was there something else you were unsure about?
KAREN: Yes, the other thing was how much time or space I should devote to the history of the three
countries, the political side and the conflicts that have taken place between them, in the
last 60 years.
TUTOR: Well, the history is background information. As we mentioned before you need to think of
this like an inverted pyramid. You start with the broader picture but you really don’t need
to go into too much detail ... and then you focus down on to the relatively small part of this
picture that you are researching. What you write in terms of the bigger picture should be
relevant to your research so that the reader can see how everything links together.
KAREN: OK. Thanks. I think I’m clear about that now.
TUTOR: There’s a good example of this in writing guide handout, week three.
KAREN: Oh yes, sorry. I remember seeing that now.
TUTOR: No problem, was there anything else?
KAREN: Actually there was just one other thing, if I may?
TUTOR: Sure, fire away.
KAREN: I was wondering whether I need to talk about the role of some of the neighbouring
countries, such as Thailand for example ... well, I read a little about other neighbours and
there are some connections.

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

TUTOR: Well, again, you have to be careful not to go too wide and to spread yourself too thinly. If
you do this, your assignment is going to become very large and probably exceed the word
limit, or if you manage to stay within the word limit, it may become just too shallow.
Remember that what you’re trying to do is to mention the main environmental or
background factors to this situation, but then focus on just one aspect. So you need to
assess for yourself really how relevant Thailand’s role is to your research.
KAREN: OK. So I need to have another think about that.
TUTOR: Yes, I think so. So shall we move on? ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUTOR: So additional tasks for this assignment ...
KAREN: Right.
TUTOR: I think you should have a closer look at the natural resources of each country.
KAREN: Would that not be outside the scope of what I’m looking at?
TUTOR: I don’t think so. If you have a closer look at the natural resources available, such as the
forestry industry, agriculture, iron ore etc. and the problems government sometimes face

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
in accessing these, some of these countries’ valuable resources are located in protected
areas in World Heritage sites, for example ... I think the purpose of doing this is that it
should give you a deeper understanding of why we are where we are, today.
KAREN: I see. That sounds very interesting. Thank you very much.
TUTOR: You’re very welcome. I also think that the main benefit of doing this is that it will give your
assignment far more depth.
KAREN: OK. Well, thanks again. Um ... regarding reading ... any suggestions as to where I should
start?
TUTOR: Yes, just a second ... a good starting point is a report published just over a year ago by the
World Bank. You’ll need to go to ‘worldbank.org’ ...
KAREN: OK ... worldbank ... dot org

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
TUTOR: And the title of the article you’re looking for is Poverty Environment Nexus ...
KAREN: Poverty Environment ... Nexus, OK.
TUTOR: If you have any problems finding it, just send me an email. I’m sure I’ve got a link to it
somewhere.
KAREN: OK, I’m sure I’ll be able to find it. Thanks, again.
TUTOR: Now, also at the end of that article there is of course a reference section and in there you’ll
find some interesting stuff which will help direct your reading on natural resources
KAREN: Oh, I see. Excellent. That’s great.
TUTOR: My advice would be to focus on articles between 2000 and 2008, that’s when most of the
in-depth studies were carried out, there’s not really been much more of any relevance since
then.
KAREN: That’s really great. Thanks ever so much ...
TUTOR: You’re welcome. Let me know when you’re ready to sit down again for the next, well, for
the last tutorial ...

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

SECTION 4

Now, we’re going to continue our analysis of Nigeria, or the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as it is
officially named. The next item on our list is ‘oil’. Nigeria has a lot of it. It’s oil reserves are estimated
at 36 billion barrels and its current crude oil production is around 1.6 million barrels a day. With this
capacity level it is of course a member of OPEC the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
So, what kind of positive, and negative, impact has this commodity had on the nation?

Well, somewhat tragically, there would seem to be very few positive outcomes and rather a large
number of negative ones. I will just mention the positive side first because I won’t need to spend
much time on it! Since Nigeria became part of OPEC, back in 1970 when their GDP started to be
recorded, revenue from oil production had been between approximately 20 billion and 80 billion US
dollars annually ... clearly a huge income for the country. And from these numbers, if we didn’t know

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
otherwise, it would be fair to assume that Nigeria is a wealthy and prosperous land. Unfortunately, we
do know otherwise and that brings me rather quickly to the negative impact of oil, in Nigeria.

The negative issues can be grouped into three main categories: the political, the economic, and the
environmental. Starting with the political, there are two main points, First of all, the presence of ‘the
dark nectar’ in Nigeria has led to some of the terrible conflicts which have taken place since its
discovery in 1956. This social disorder and unrest has had on knock-on effect on the stability of
production resulting in buyers often having to look for more reliable sources to supply their demand.
Secondly, oil in Nigeria has led to widespread corruption, racketeering, and fighting between rival
ethnic groups.

IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com
Economically, despite the huge revenues generated, Nigeria remains one of the poorest countries in
the world, with the vast majority of Nigerians still living in poverty. The main reasons behind this are
threefold. Firstly, most of the revenue from oil production goes to the foreign, multinational oil
companies with the Nigerian government apparently receiving less than 50% of the profits. Second, of
the income which the government does receive, far too much is squandered and not invested back
into the local economy. Thirdly, with oil responsible for a staggering 96% of total GDP, there has been
an overdependence on it as an industry. This has led to neglect, both in terms of government interest
and government investment in others sectors, notably agriculture and light manufacturing, two
sectors which, at one time, showed great potential.

Moving on then, to our third negative, the effect on the environment ... as I just mentioned, there has
been a complete lack of investment in the local economy, which has meant that the infrastructure, the
hospitals, the schools, housing etc. is simply not there on the level required. In addition, whenever
and wherever oil deposits are discovered the Nigerian authorities give little to no thought to the local
environmental risks. This often leads to severe damage to crops and the ecosystem.

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.
IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com Practice Test / Listening

So until these three main issues are addressed ...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moving to my next point, it seems that the situation in Nigeria at the present time is one of ‘lose-lose’,
that is to say, it is hard to find any stakeholders who are winning, who are benefitting, from the
situation right now. I say this because earlier I implied that the multinational oil companies were the
ones who were profiting most, but they too have their share of the problems, problems which, in fact,
could pose a threat to the limited progress achieved so far.

Only last week, two of the major oil companies were hinting that they may pull out of the country as
the situation there, which they had previously imagined could not get much worse, did indeed
become so. Clearly, if these giants of the oil industry were to leave the consequences for the country,
could be catastrophic.

So, what are these issues which are making life for the oil companies, so much harder? Well, firstly,
some of the militant groups, it seems, are now able to attack oil facilities in deep water off the
Nigerian coast. These structures, which are used for, production, storage and off-loading, were
previously thought to be out of reach of the militant groups. But one such attack recently forced an oil
company to halt its production and this effectively blocked off in the region of 220,000 barrels per day.
Aside from the commercial problems however, there is of course now serious concern for the safety
of the staff on board these vessels.

And ‘security’ is not only an issue out at sea, but on land, too. One of the oil companies who are
hinting that they may pull out, pointed to an onshore pipeline which was blown up by militants last
month. Again, the commercial damage was in the region of 120,000 barrels along with an increase in
oil prices globally.

Coupled with the violence, is a second major headache, for the oil companies: the reinterpretation of
contracts by the new government. The government is claiming that oil companies have, for too long,
reaped excessive profits and benefited unfairly, and therefore they, the government, want to impose
new legislation on the multinationals. The multinationals claim that the government is trying to
rewrite the rules and apply them retroactively. They also claim that the government has failed to
deliver its full share of the investment required of them under their joint venture agreements.

So, as you can imagine, if this legislation is passed it could result in the companies shifting their
attention and their considerable resources to other areas of the world, and that could leave Nigeria
with less stability than it already has.

We will look at where these battles are likely to take us after the break...

© IELTS-PRACTICE-TESTS.com, All Rights Reserved.


The contents are for your own individual study only. Non compliance could result in legal action against you.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi