SECTION 1
Question 1 – 5
Complete the form below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR SOME NUMBERS for each answer.
BUS PASS APPLICATION FORM
Example Answer
PASS APPLIED FOR 1 month
NAME Nathalie
ADDRESS 45 (2)…………………………………….
Newlands
Adelaide
POSTCODE (3)…………………………………………
DATE OF BIRTH 13th May 1982
TEL NUMBER (4)…………………………………………
UNIVERSITY CARD SHOWN Yes
ZONES REQUIRED (5)…………………………………………
Questions 6 – 10
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR SOME NUMBERS for each answer.
Adelaide Day Trips on the Bus
– The MacDonald Nature Park
Outward Journey Leaves 8.00am
Length of Journey 2 hours
Return Journey Leaves (6)…………………………………………..
Things to do/see Walk nature trails + MacDonald River
Bring A camera
Pearl Bay
Outward Journey Leaves 9.00am
Length of Journey (7)……………………………………………
Return Journey Leaves 4.00pm
Things to do/see Walk along (8)……………………………….. + see view
Lie on the beach + swim
Bring Swimming gear + a towel
The Huron Gold Mine
Outward Journey Leaves 9.30am
Length of Journey Half an hour
Return Journey Leaves (9)…………………………………………..
Things to do/see Go round the museum and tunnels
Find some gold!!
Bring (10)………………………………………..
SECTION 2
Questions 11 -16
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.
11. The highest point of the bridge is 134m above ……………………………………………………..
12. The two pairs of pylons are made of …………………………………………………………………..
13. ……………………………………………………… % of the steel for making the bridge came from the UK.
14. 800 families from…………………………………….. compensation to accomodate the construction of the approaches to the bridge.
15. People……………………………………………was the main cause of death of workers while constructing the bridge.
16. Three …………………………………………… were made to mark the opening of the bridge. One is worth several hundred dollars today.
Questions 17 – 20
Which FOUR of the following facts are NOT true about the Sydney Harbour Bridge today?
Choose FOUR letters (A – J) and write them in boxes 17 – 20 on your answer sheet.
A. There are no more trams crossing the bridge.
B. There are eight traffic lanes on the bridge.
C. Trains still cross the bridge.
D. People are allowed to walk across the bridge.
E. Buses are allowed to cross the bridge.
F. The Harbour Tunnel has not helped traffic congestion on the bridge.
G. More than 182 000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.
H. Horses can no longer cross the bridge.
I. Bicycles are not allowed to cross the bridge.
J. To go back and forward across the bridge costs $6.
SECTION 3
Questions 21 – 27
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.
21. While waiting for Phil, Mel and Laura were ……………………………………………
22. A telephone survey was rejected because it would be ………………………………………………
23. A mail survey was rejected because it would …………………………………………..
24. The best number of people to survey would be ………………………………………………………
25. If their survey only included 100 people, it would not be ……………………………………………………..
26. The number of people that Laura, Phil and Mel agree to survey was ……………………………………………
27. The number of questions in the survey was agreed to be …………………………………………………….
Questions 28 – 30
Circle THREE letters A – G.
What are the three locations that Laura, Phil and Mel chose for their survey?
A. The town square
B. The train station
C. The university cafeteria
D. Dobbins department store
E. The corner of the High Street and College Road
F. The bus station
G. The corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road
SECTION 4
Questions 31 – 34
Complete the table below by matching the individual with their role (Questions 31-34) in the lecture on the coelacanth.
Write the approprate letters (A – F) on your answer sheet.
NB There are more roles than individuals so you will not need to use them all.
| INDIVIDUAL | ROLE |
| Dr. J.L.B. Smith | (31)…………………………………… |
| Marjorie Courtney-Latimer | (32)………………………………….. |
| Dr. Mark Erdmann | (33)………………………………….. |
| Captain Goosen | (34)………………………………….. |
ROLES
A. Paid fishermen for unidentified finds.
B. Caught a strange looking fish.
C. Contacted scientists in Indonesia.
D. Photographed a coelacanth seen by accident.
E. First recognised the coelacanth for what it was.
F. Bought a specimen of a coelacanth in a market.
Questions 35 – 40
Choose the correct letters A – C.
35. The coelacanth was…
A. well known to Indonesian fishermen.
B. unknown to Indonesian fishermen.
C. a first in the market.
36. The only difference between the Comoros coelacanth and the Sulawesi coelacanth is…
A .their intercranial joint.
B. their paired fins.
C .their colour.
37. Coelacanths seemed to have their greatest population…
A. 360 million years ago.
B. 240 million years ago.
C. 80 million years ago.
38. Modem coelacanths probably left no fossilised remains over the past 80 million years because…
A. of too much clay sediment.
B. conditions where they lived were not favourable for fossilisation.
C. volcanoes are needed for fossilisation.
39. Scientists had a better understanding of the coelacanth after 1991 because…
A. the French government had previously limited study on the Comoros coelacanth.
B. the Comoros were far away and difficult to reach.
C. the Comoros opened an airport.
40. On the 1991 expedition, scientist studied the coelacanth…
A. only from fishermen’s specimens.
B. through the windows of their submarine.
C. from diving down.
Answer key:
- Jameson
- Forest Avenue
- 8490
- 6249 7152
- 1 – 5
- 4.30pm
- 1 hour
- The cliffs
- 1.30pm
- A sweater
- Mean sea level
- Concrete and granite
- About 79
- 438
- Falling
- (Postage) stamps
- D
- F
- G
- J
- Chatting/ talking
- Too expensive
- Take too long
- 1000
- Statistically significant
- 500
- 5
- A
- D
- E
- E
- A
- D
- B
- A
- C
- B
- B
- A
- B
BONUS EXERCISE: GAP-FILLING
The texts below are transcript for your IELTS Listening Practice Test. To make the most out of this transcript, we removed some words from the texts and replaced with spaces. You has to fill each space with the missing word by listening to the audio for this IELTS listening practice test.
Section 1. You will hear a conversation between two women as one of the women buys a bus pass.
Woman 1 Good morning. I’m here to get a student bus pas please.
Woman 2 Of course Madam. Do you want to buy a month pass, a [………………………………]pass or a year pass?
W 1 Oh, just a month pass please.
W 2 Right then. I’ll just have to take a few [………………………………].
W 1 Yes. Of course.
W 2 First of all, what’s your name?
W 1 Nathalie [………………………………].
W 2 And how do you spell Jameson?
W 1 J-A-M-E-S-O-N.
W 2 Thank you. And what’s your address?
W 1 [………………………………], Newlands, Adelaide.
W 2 Is that Forest with 1 R or 2 Rs?
W 1 Just 1.
W 2 And what’s the postcode please?
W 1 Oh yes… It’s [………………………………].
W 2 Thanks. Now what’s your date of birth … If you don’t mind me asking?
W 1 Not at all. It’s the [………………………………].
W 2 I also need to know your telephone number here in Adelaide.
W 1 OK. I just need to check that as I only moved here last week. Now, where is it. Here we are. It’s [………………………………]Do you need a code or anything?
W 2 Oh no, that’s OK thank you. Can I see your university card please?
W 1 Yes, here it is.
W 2 Good. That’s fine. Now, for which zone do you need a pass?
W 1 Well, I’m not sure. I was hoping you’d be able to help me as I don’t really know my way around here yet. As you know, I live in [………………………………]and I have to get to the university campus ir the centre of town every day.
W 2 Well, the university is in Zone 1 and Newlands has 2 zones. The side nearer to the town centre is [………………………………] but the far side is [………………………………]. What road is it you live in again?
W 1 Forest Avenue.
W 2 Let’s see on this map. There it is. The nearest bus stop is in Zone 5. That’s lucky. Zones 1 – 6 are [………………………………]more expensive
W 1 Great! Make the pass out for Zones 1 – 5 then please.
W 1 I’ve got some other questions too if you don’t mind.
W 2 Sure. Go ahead.
W 1 Well, this weekend my friend and I aren’t doing anything so we thought we’d take a trip out of town and visit somewhere new. Does the bus [………………………………]run any trips like that?
W 2 Yes, we’ve got a selection of trips. I’ll tell you about some of them.
W 1 Thanks.
W 2 Right the first one goes up to MacDonald Nature Park. The bus leaves at [………………………………]and takes about 2 hours to get there and leaves for the return at 4.30 in the afternoon. Once there you can walk around the nature [………………………………]. It’s really nice and the Macdonald River runs through there and that’s really beautiful so take a [………………………………]with you. Then there’s the Pearl Bay trip. The bus leaves at [………………………………]and goes up the coast to Pearl Bay.
W 1 How far is that?
W 2 It’s an hour away. Once there you can walk along the [………………………………]up to Rocky Point, which has a famous view up the coast, or you can just lie on the beach and swim. Don’t forget to take your swimming gear and a towel! The water’s pretty safe there and there are always [………………………………]. The bus arrives back in Adelaide at [………………………………].
W 1 Mm. That sounds nice. What else?
W 2 Well there’s the Huron Gold Mine. It’s just a half-day trip leaving here at 9.30am and arriving back at 2.00pm. It only takes half an hour to get there which is good. It’s an old worked out mine that has been [………………………………]into a sort of [………………………………]. They have all the old [………………………………]and a guide takes you round some of the [………………………………]and shows you some of the techniques they used to use. You might even find some gold they [………………………………].
W 1 Yeah. I could do with that.
W 2 It’s pretty interesting but the mines can be quite cold so take a [………………………………]. So, how do those three sound?
W 1 Quite interesting. I really like the idea of going up the [………………………………]and spending a day on the beach but my friend Karen will like the idea of the nature park. I’d better wait and [………………………………]with her what she wants to do before booking.
W 2 No problem at all. You just need to pop in some time during the week and we’ll make the booking.
W 1 Thanks very much. You’ve been very [………………………………].
W 2 No problem. See you later.
Section 2. You will hear a radio presenter interviewing a man about the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Anne: Well, good morning again everyone and welcome to “[………………………………]”, the weekly New South Wales Radio programme on [………………………………]of general interest from our local area. Today I have in the studio Mr. George Symonds. Good morning George.
George: Good morning Anne.
Anne: So, what are you going to talk to us about today George?
George: Well, for people from New South Wales and [………………………………]Sydney, this will be of great interest – I hope. I’m going to tell you a little about Sydney Harbour [………………………………].
Anne: Wow. That’ll be so interesting.
George: I think so. To start with I’d like to tell you a little about the size of the bridge. The arch span is [………………………………]and the weight of the steel arch is [………………………………]. The summit is 134m above mean sea level, though it can actually increase by as much as [………………………………]on hot days as the result of steel expanding in heat. The two pairs of pylons at each end are about [………………………………]high and are made of [………………………………]and [………………………………]. The steel used for the bridge was largely imported. About [………………………………]came from the United Kingdom but the rest was Australian-made. The granite was [………………………………]in Moruya down the coast, and the concrete is also Australian.
Anne: So, most of the steel used to make our great bridge actually came from England?
George: Yes, I’m afraid so. However the work force were all Aussie!
Anne: Thank God for that. When was the bridge actually built?
George: The bridge was opened in 1932 but work first began in 1924, with the construction of the bridge [………………………………]and spans, with two separate teams building the arch on each side working towards each other. The arch was successfully joined on [………………………………]. I’m afraid that working practices weren’t very fair in those days and the local government [………………………………]438 homes which were in the way of the approaches, and as many as 800 families living there were [………………………………]without compensation. The standards of industrial safety were [………………………………]too. 16 workers died during its construction, mainly from falling off the bridge.
Anne: I didn’t realise that.
George: Yes. The bridge was formally opened on the 19th March 1932 by the Premier of New South Wales, Mr Jack Lang. When it was opened, it was the longest single span steel [………………………………]bridge in the world and it was one of the greatest engineering [………………………………]of its time. Several songs were also [………………………………]in advance for the occasion but these have now been largely lost or forgotten. However, three [………………………………]stamps were issued to [………………………………]the opening of the bridge and these still exist. One of these stamps, with a face value of five [………………………………], is now worth several hundred dollars today.
Anne: So, that’s the history of the bridge. Is the bridge still the same today as when it was built?
George: No, it’s quite different. The basic [………………………………]is the same of course. Originally the bridge was constructed to carry a road, two sets of tram lines and [………………………………]. In 1957, the two tram lines were removed when Sydney [………………………………]its trams, thus giving the bridge two more traffic lanes.
Today it carries eight traffic lanes, two [………………………………]lanes and a footpath along its eastern side. One of the eastern traffic lanes is now a [………………………………]bus lane. The bridge is often crowded and in [………………………………]the Harbour Tunnel was opened to help carry the traffic load. More than [………………………………]vehicles cross the bridge each day. Before the Harbour Tunnel was opened this figure was as high as [………………………………]and would be much higher today if it were not for the Tunnel. Pedestrians, horses and [………………………………]are not allowed on the bridge anymore.
Anne: Wow. The bridge actually carries that much?
George: Oh yes. Actually, before the Harbour Bridge opened, it was completely packed with railway [………………………………], trams and buses to stress test its load bearing [………………………………]. While it has had many traffic jams since and half a million people walked across it on its [………………………………], it has probably never been asked to carry that much of a load since.
Anne: Amazing. And I suppose the toll for crossing the bridge has changed a bit too?
George: I’m afraid so!! The [………………………………]toll charged for a car was 6 pence while a horse and rider was charged 3 pence. Today the toll costs [………………………………]but is only charged when travelling to the South as an [………………………………]measure to speed up traffic flow.
Section 3. You will hear 3 students discussing a survey they are going to do
Phil Hi Mel. Hi Laura. Sorry I’m a bit late. I got held up by the bus. It just didn’t come for ages.
Mel Don’t worry. You’re only a couple of minutes behind and we’ve only just been chatting.
Laura Right then. We’re here to [………………………………]the survey that we’re going to do. Mel, you said that you’d [………………………………]with Professor Donald Walker what type of survey we were going to do.
Mel Yes. I spoke to Professor Walker two days ago and I told him that the [………………………………]that we were [………………………………]were a telephone survey, a street survey and a mail survey. He thought that the phone one would be too expensive for us and the [………………………………]one would take too long so we decided we should do the street one.
Phil I think that’s right. If we do the street one then we can get the whole thing done in one day and we can get on with [………………………………]the results.
Mel Yes, that’s right. Now, there are some other things that Professor Walker wanted to know about. How big should the survey be?
Laura Well, the ideal figure for a survey such as this should be about [………………………………]but that will take us about a month to get that many people and we just don’t have that much time. On the other hand, if we just choose 100 people, the survey won’t be [………………………………]significant.
Phil So, what about something in the middle. What about [………………………………]?
Mel Still too many. That’ll take us ages. 400?
Laura Let’s split the difference and say 500.
Mel/Phil OK
Laura And how many questions? If there are too many we’ll just have the same problem.
Mel Professor Walker said we should have no more than 10 or people get [………………………………]. 10 then?
Phil I think even fewer. 8.
Laura I think 3 fewer again to make sure we can get the numbers done [………………………………].
Phil OK, I agree with that.
Mel I’m not sure but I [………………………………]so.
Mel Now, Professor Walker asked where we were going to do the survey.
Laura Does he want to avoid that area then?
Mel Probably! Now we can either all stay together or split up and do different [………………………………].
Laura Well, if we split up then I think we’ve got a better chance of getting more people [………………………………].
Phil Yes. I agree with Laura.
Mel OK. Now, I made a list of the possible locations in Westley where we could station [………………………………]. There’s the town square, at the [………………………………]to the train station, at the University cafeteria, outside Dobbins [………………………………]store, on the corner of the High Street and College road, the bus station and the corner of the High Street and Wilkins Road. What do you think?
Phil I think the square is great but the people at the train station will be [………………………………]and often in a hurry.
Laura I agree with all that and I think the bus station will have the same problem as the train station.
Mel OK, that’s those two out then.
Laura I think the other ones in town were good too. The [………………………………]will have too many students and that will create too great a bias to our [………………………………]. We need a good cross section of the population and anywhere too close to the university won’t give us that.
Phil Laura’s right. So, out of the other town ones, I think that the two on the High Street corners are good.
Mel I don’t agree. The High Street corner with College Road will be good but the corner with Wilkins Road is too far out. Not enough people will come by there.
Laura Yes, Mel’s right there. We should use Dobbins [………………………………]store instead.
Phil I can see your point. OK, that’s settled then. All three of us will be [………………………………]in town then but not the Wilkins Road position.
Section 4. You will hear part of a further education marine biology lecture.
Good morning everyone and welcome to this further education lecture on [………………………………]biology. Today we are going to look at the [………………………………]. The discovery of the coelacanth has been compared to finding a [………………………………]walking around today over [………………………………]years after it went extinct.
The story began a few days before Christmas in [………………………………]when the first living coelacanth was discovered off the east coast of South Africa, at the mouth of the Chalumna River. The fish was caught in a shark gill net by [………………………………]Goosen and his crew who, recognising the [………………………………]nature of their catch, alerted the local [………………………………]in the small South African town of East London.
The Director of the East London Museum at the time was Miss Marjorie Courtney-Latimer after whom the Coelacanth was eventually named. Miss Courtney-Latimer offered bounties to [………………………………]for unfamiliar fish. It was Miss Courtney-Latimer who alerted the [………………………………]South African [………………………………]Dr J.L.B. Smith, who initially identified the fish, and [………………………………]informed the world about this amazing discovery. This first coelacanth led to the discovery of the first documented population, off the remote Comoros Islands, between the mainland of Africa and [………………………………]. For 60 years this was presumed to be the only coelacanth population in [………………………………].
Originally it was a concern that the Coelacanth might have a very limited range and that [………………………………]along the Comoros Islands might wipe it out. However, scientists were amazed when, on [………………………………], an American scientist discovered a Coelacanth population in Indonesia. Dr. Mark Erdmann was on a [………………………………]trip to the area investigating a coral reef research site when he [………………………………]a strange fish being [………………………………]into the fish market. He recognized the fish as a coelacanth and [………………………………]a picture before it was sold.
Dr. Erdmann’s subsequent research [………………………………]that the people from Sulawesi had a name for it, raja, ‘king of the sea’. The Sulawesi coelacanth colony is about [………………………………]east of where the Coelacanths were previously known to occur in the Western Indian Ocean.
Both Sulawesi and Comoros coelacanths are quite different from all other living fish. But perhaps the most interesting feature of the Coelacanth is that it has paired, lobed fins, which move in a similar fashion to our arms and legs. Coelacanths also have an extra [………………………………]on their tail and a [………………………………]column that is not fully developed. They are the only living animal to have a fully functional [………………………………]joint, a division that separates the ear and brain from the nasal organs and eye, and allows the front part of the head to be [………………………………]when the fish is feeding. The brown Sulawesi coelacanth and the steel blue Comoros [………………………………]share these unusual characteristics.
The discovery of the Coelacanth in 1938 is still considered to be the [………………………………]find of the century. This living fossil comes from a lineage of fish that was thought to have been extinct since the time of the dinosaurs. Coelacanths are known from the [………………………………]record dating back over [………………………………]years, and peaked in abundance about 240 million years ago. Before 1938 they were believed to have become extinct [………………………………]80 million years ago, after [………………………………]disappearing from the fossil record.
How could the Coelacanth disappear for over 80 million years and then turn up alive and well in the [………………………………]century? The answer seems to be that fossil Coelacanths appeared to live in environments with clay [………………………………]with plenty of [………………………………]activity. Modern coelacanths, both in the Comoros and Sulawesi inhabit caves and [………………………………]in vertical marine reefs, at about [………………………………], environments not [………………………………]to fossil creation.
In 1991 scientists got a better understanding of the fish when the Comoros got their independence from France and French [………………………………]on research were lifted. This allowed scientists to study the fish off the Comoros Islands. As the animal hides in underwater caves some 300 to [………………………………]feet down during the day and comes out at night to feed, diving is not an option and previously only [………………………………]specimens had been available for study. But this time the scientists had their own [………………………………]so they could study the coelacanth in its natural habitat through [………………………………].
Practice every day to improve your IELTS listening skills. Don’t forget to visit IELTS Material website on a daily basis to find more practice tests for every skill in the IELTS Test.
Main IELTS Pages:
This website is to develop your IELTS skills with tips, model answers, lessons, free books, and more. Each section (Listening, Speaking, Writing, Reading) has a complete collection of lessons to help you improve your IELTS skills.
Subscribe for free IELTS lessons/Books/Tips/Sample Answers/Advice from our IELTS experts. We help millions of IELTS learners maximize their IELTS scores!
Huy Quoc
Latest posts by Huy Quoc (see all)
- English Collocations in Use – Intermediate (Ebook) - May 26, 2017
- Fall From Grace – Idiom Of The Day For IELTS - February 7, 2017
- Stir Up A Hornet’s Nest – Idiom Of The Day For IELTS - February 5, 2017
