Unit 1: Exercise 1

In this unit, you will learn about IELTS Listening Section 3 and practise the
skills you need to answer three-option multiple choice questions.

The conversation in this unit is about the natural world. Complete the
definitions. Use the words in the box.

In IELTS Listening Section 3, you will hear a conversation between at least two people. The
conversation will always involve people in education or training.

Behavior coast dangerous marine rare sociable wild

1. Animals that live in forests, the jungle and mountains, and do not live at home as pets are
_____________ animals. (adj.)
2. We say that an animal is ________________ when there are only a few still alive in the
world. (adj.)
3. A _______________ animal lives only in the sea, for example, a dolphin or a shark. (adj.)
4. A _______________ person or animal likes being with others, rather than being alone.
(adj.)
5. Lions, tigers or sharks can harm you, so these animals are ______________ , not safe.
(adj.)
6. The __________________ is the area of land next to the sea. (noun)
7. When scientists study the _________________ of animals, they find out what they eat,
when they sleep and how they communicate. (noun)

Unit 1: Exercise 2
Complete the sentences with vocabulary related to the natural world. Use the
words in the box.

Behavior coast dangerous marine rare sociable wild

1. I really want to go on safari so I can see some _____________ animals.

2. My dog is incredibly ______________ – she has to say ‘hello’ to every dog we
meet on our walk!
3. In summer, dolphins arrive here and swim all along the west ________________ .
4. Because of the rubbish polluting our seas, ___________ animals are dying in large
numbers.
5. In the past, there were lots of bears in our country but now sadly, they are very
________________ .
 6. The ___________ of my last cat was quite strange. She only wanted to sleep on my
computer.
7. Some of the most ________________ snakes in the world live in Australia.

Unit 1: Exercise 3
Listen to a conversation about a project someone is working on.

Choose the correct answers.

In the IELTS Listening test, you will only hear each recording once. For three-option
multiple choice questions, you may see:

 a question with three possible answers, or

 the beginning of a sentence with three possible endings.

To answer this type of question, you may need to choose:

 the correct reason for something

 an opinion a speaker expresses
 a specific number, quantity or measurement
 a specific place or location
 a name
 the correct description of someone or something
 whether the speakers agree or disagree about something.

Tom: Hi, Anne. How are you doing? Are you enjoying life at college?

Anne: Yes, it’s great. And I really like my tutor for Ecology.

Tom: Steven Bakerman? I was in his class, too.

Anne: The thing is, I need to start doing some research for my project on
the natural world, and I’m not sure what to write about.

Tom: Well, you can’t write about pets like the cat that you have at home!
You’ll have to write about animals that live in the wild. Which wild play.MP3

animals are you interested in?

Anne: Well, I like pandas, but everyone will write about those, you know,
because they’re rare. There aren’t many of them left in the wild. Most of
the ones still alive are in zoos.

Tom: You could write about another endangered animal – like the red
panda in India.
Anne: The what? I don’t think so. I prefer marine life – you know, animals
that live in the sea.

Tom: Oh, like sharks? Yes, they’re fascinating. We have a lot of those in
Australia.

Anne: And you can keep them!

Tom: But most of them are not as dangerous as people think.

Anne: Maybe, but I think our coast in New Zealand is safer. You can go
into the water any time you like and not worry about it. What we do have
are dolphins, Maui dolphins, and I think I’d prefer to write about those. We
still have a lot to learn about their behaviour, you know? Where they prefer
to swim, how the adult dolphins look after the young ones – that kind of
thing.

Tom: I guess that everyone likes dolphins because they’re so sociable – I

mean, they always seem to enjoy being with other dolphins. And humans,
too.

Anne: Well, that’s something I need to research. It might not be true for all
dolphins. Anyway, I suppose I should find photos from the Internet to put
into my presentation.

Tom: Good idea. But I wouldn’t use too many. You want the other
students to be listening to what you’re saying, not staring at a screen.

Anne: OK, good point. Could we meet again later so that I can ask you
some more questions?

Tom: Of course! Just let me know when you’re free …

1. How many speakers are there?

o Two
o Three
o Four
2. What is the relationship between the two people?
o They are a student and her teacher.
o They are both teachers.
o They are both students.
3. Which animals does the woman decide to do her project on?
o Pandas
o Sharks
o dolphins
4. What does the woman have to do for her project?
o write a report on an animal
o give a presentation about New Zealand
 o take some photographs of wild animals

Unit 1: Exercise 4
Read the information. Then read the IELTS Listening three-option multiple
choice questions.

Match the questions with the types of information you would expect to need in
the answer.

By reading the questions before you listen, you can get an idea of what information to listen
for. For example:

Why has Anne asked Tom to help her? (Why tells you to listen for a reason, possibly starting
with the word because.)

In this exercise, the key words which give you this information are shown in bold.

adjective of character and behavior number and measurement of distance

number and measurement of length number showing quantity

place or location

1. How long is an adult male Maui dolphin?

_________________________________
2. Where are Maui dolphins found in New Zealand?
_________________________________
3. The population of Maui dolphins is now likely to be…
_________________________________
4. What do Anne and Tom agree is typical behaviour for Maui dolphins?
_________________________________
5. How far along the coastline do Maui dolphins swim?
_________________________________

Unit 1: Exercise 5
In IELTS Listening multiple choice activities, it is often important to recognise
different forms of the same word, which are used in paraphrasing.
Match the adjectives on the left with the nouns on the right.

When we paraphrase something, we use different words to express the same or a similar
meaning. Sometimes a paraphrase will include a different form of the same word. For
example, you hear a noun (e.g. danger) but the question or answer needs an adjective (e.g.
dangerous):

You read: When is a tiger most dangerous?

You hear: ‘If you see a tiger trying to catch fish in a river, you may be in great danger.’

Other times, we use an adjective that relates to a noun but is a completely different word, for
example large (adjective) and size (noun).

Height width length distance weight speed

Far
Wide
Long
Heavy
High
fast

Unit 1: Exercise 6
Complete the questions. Use the words in the box.

Fast heavy high length speed width

1. How __________ can a dolphin swim?

2. How __________ do you think that dolphin is?
3. What __________ can a dolphin travel at?
4. What is the ___________ of time that young dolphins stay with their mother?
5. How __________ can an adult dolphin jump?
6. What is the ____________ of the pool that the dolphin lives in?

Unit 1: Exercise 7
Look at the five questions from different IELTS Listening tests with the extracts
from the conversations that answer them.

Listen to the recording. Choose the correct answers.

It is also possible to paraphrase the meaning of parts of a conversation.

You read: Which animals are the most difficult to photograph?

A bears ×

B lions ×

C tigers 

You hear: ‘Taking pictures of wild animals is never easy – bears are really dangerous, for
instance, and so are lions of course! But the hardest? I’d say tigers. They aren’t very
sociable so they can be hard to find!’

In the example above, the most difficult matches the hardest and the verb photograph
matches Taking pictures. The correct option is therefore C tigers.

Notice that the speaker mentions all three options – bears, lions and tigers. This is common
in multiple choice questions so listen carefully and do not choose an option just because you
hear the word in the conversation.

Announcer: One. How does the man describe female elephants?

Speaker 1: Many people think elephants are dangerous, but they’re really
not. Or at least they’re very rarely a danger to people. The most important
thing to know about elephants is that they are group animals. The family is
very important to them and especially to the cows – the females, that is.
While male elephants often spend time alone, the cows live in groups of up
to 25.

Announcer: Two. People should not keep wolves as pets because …

Speaker 2: Wolves and dogs come from the same family of animals, but
they are very different. Wolves do not belong in people’s homes and they do
not make good guard dogs for rich people. Wolves need to be in the forests play.MP3

and to hunt and kill their own food.

Announcer: Three. How fast does a great white shark usually swim?
Speaker 3: It’s true that sharks don’t usually move very quickly – they
usually swim at just two and a half kilometres per hour. But that’s because
they’re not hunting. When they’re looking for food, they can swim at
amazing speeds. For instance, the top speed of a great white shark is about
56 kilometres per hour, and a Mako shark can swim as fast as 74 kilometres
per hour.
Announcer: Four. In what unexpected place do sea lions sometimes sleep?
Speaker 4: Well, sea lions live at the coast and so of course they usually
sleep where you might expect them to – on the beach. But surprisingly, they
have also been found asleep in the sea. They keep their noses above water
and lie back for a rest!

Announcer: Five. How long is a giraffe’s neck?

Speaker 5: Not many people know this, but the length of a giraffe’s neck is
the same as the length of their leg.
Speaker 6: Actually, I’d heard that before – they’re both about one point
eight metres long. Is that right?

Speaker 7: Yes, it is. So that means they can eat leaves from trees that are
between about three point five and four point five metres in height.

1. How does the man describe female elephants?

o Rare
o Dangerous
o sociable

2. People should not keep wolves as pets because they are

o wild animals.
o dangerous.
o very expensive to feed.

3. How fast does a great white shark usually swim?

o 56 kph
o 2.5 kph
o 74 kph

4. In what unexpected place do sea lions sometimes sleep?

o on the beach
o along the coast
o in the sea

5. How long is a giraffe's neck?

o 3.5 m
o 1.45 m
o 1.8 m
Unit 1: Exercise 8
Listen to two students talking about an ecology project on Maui dolphins.

Decide which two of the five topics they talked about. Choose the correct
answers.

Remember that in the real IELTS Listening test you will only hear the conversation once.

Announcer: You will hear an ecology student called Anne talking to

someone called Tom, who is helping her with her project on dolphins.

Anne: Hi, Tom. Thanks so much for agreeing to help me with my dolphin
project. I hope you don’t mind that I asked you.

Tom: No problem, Anne. I remember when I was in my first year at

university – it was always good to get as much help as possible.

Anne: Yes, I can’t believe how quickly my first year is going. There’s so
much work to finish off. Does it get any easier in the second year?

Tom: Not in my experience, no!

Anne: Anyway, I wanted to do a project on the Maui dolphin because it’s so

rare. And my tutor told me that you’d done the same thing last year – I mean,
you’d studied the Maui dolphin off the coast of New Zealand, and written
about it and given a presentation on it too, like I have to now. That’s why I
thought you’d be the best person to talk to.
play.MP3
Tom: Well, I wouldn’t say that I know everything about the Maui dolphin –
but I can probably tell you a few things about it.

Anne: Well, that’s great. Thanks so much. Um, the first thing I wanted to
check – because I keep seeing different information about it – is the length of
the Maui dolphin. I think young dolphins – they’re about a metre when
they’re a year old, aren’t they?

Tom: Yes, about that. But an adult dolphin is bigger – the males grow up to
1.5 metres in length, eventually. Still pretty small for a dolphin.

Anne: And the females are larger than the males, I think? They can reach 1.7
metres, I read.

Tom: That’s correct.

Anne: OK, I’ll just write that down.

Tom: Are you going to say something in your project about where you can
find Maui dolphins? Have you ever seen one?

Anne: You mean along the west coast of the North Island? I’m afraid I
haven’t had a chance to go there yet. I grew up in the South Island and I only
came to the North Island to go to university. And as you know, even though
we have other types of dolphin all along the coast of the South Island, we
don’t ever see Maui dolphins there.

Tom: Well, I think you’d be quite lucky to see one. Even if you did take a trip
out there on a boat.

Anne: Yes, that’s the problem, isn’t it? That their population is so small.

Tom: About ten years ago, there were approximately 100 Maui dolphins still
alive.

Anne: But now scientists believe that number has really dropped. They
counted just under 50 this year. It’s terrible.

Tom: Yes, the situation is worse than they expected. We can’t be sure that the
Maui dolphin won’t disappear completely until numbers increase to 500 – and
that doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

Anne: Unfortunately not. Now, I should say something about their typical
behaviour, I suppose.

Tom: Well, they’re certainly very sociable animals. In the past, when their
population size was much, much bigger, there were about 30 dolphins in a
group – and they’d play and swim together. That’s unlike other kinds of
dolphin that only travel in pairs or with a few others.

Anne: Yes, that’s true. And something that’s perhaps different about them,
too, is that, in general, they tend to avoid boats. They’re frightened of them.

Tom: And so they should be. One of the biggest problems for Maui dolphins
is that when people use a particular type of fishing net – when they throw the
net off the side of the boat and just leave it in the ocean – then the Maui
dolphins sometimes swim into the net and they can’t get out again.

Anne: I don’t think most people who go fishing would want to hurt a dolphin.

Tom: No, but sometimes their behaviour is dangerous. They should

remember that we have to share the water with dolphins and whales and other
animals.

Anne: Yes, we do. Oh, I’ve got one more thing I need to check with you.
How far along the coastline do Maui dolphins swim?

Tom: Good question. Well, they’re actually quite fast for a small dolphin.
They only go up to about 50 kilos in weight. Their top speed is about 40
kilometres per hour. But scientists think they only swim a distance of about 30
kilometres – up and down the same part of the coast – just staying in a fairly
small area.

Anne: I see. Well, you’d think that it would be easy for the government to do
more to protect them but …

1. the appearance of the dolphins

o Yes, they discuss this.

o No, they don’t discuss this.

2. the size of the dolphins

o Yes, they discuss this.

o No, they don’t discuss this.

3. how dolphins hunt for their food

o Yes, they discuss this.

o No, they don’t discuss this.

4. how many dolphins are still alive

o Yes, they discuss this.

o No, they don’t discuss this.

5. how the government is trying to

help the dolphins

o Yes, they discuss this.

o No, they don’t discuss this.

Unit 1: Exercise 9
Listen to the recording. Choose the correct answers.

Announcer: You will hear an ecology student called Anne talking to

someone called Tom, who is helping her with her project on dolphins.

Anne: Hi, Tom. Thanks so much for agreeing to help me with my dolphin play.MP3

project. I hope you don’t mind that I asked you.

Tom: No problem, Anne. I remember when I was in my first year at
university – it was always good to get as much help as possible.

Anne: Yes, I can’t believe how quickly my first year is going. There’s so
much work to finish off. Does it get any easier in the second year?

Tom: Not in my experience, no!

Anne: Anyway, I wanted to do a project on the Maui dolphin because it’s

so rare. And my tutor told me that you’d done the same thing last year – I
mean, you’d studied the Maui dolphin off the coast of New Zealand, and
written about it and given a presentation on it too, like I have to now.
That’s why I thought you’d be the best person to talk to.

Tom: Well, I wouldn’t say that I know everything about the Maui dolphin
– but I can probably tell you a few things about it.

Anne: Well, that’s great. Thanks so much. Um, the first thing I wanted to
check – because I keep seeing different information about it – is the length
of the Maui dolphin. I think young dolphins – they’re about a metre when
they’re a year old, aren’t they?

Tom: Yes, about that. But an adult dolphin is bigger – the males grow up
to 1.5 metres in length, eventually. Still pretty small for a dolphin.

Anne: And the females are larger than the males, I think? They can reach
1.7 metres, I read.

Tom: That’s correct.

Anne: OK, I’ll just write that down.

Tom: Are you going to say something in your project about where you can
find Maui dolphins? Have you ever seen one?

Anne: You mean along the west coast of the North Island? I’m afraid I
haven’t had a chance to go there yet. I grew up in the South Island and I
only came to the North Island to go to university. And as you know, even
though we have other types of dolphin all along the coast of the South
Island, we don’t ever see Maui dolphins there.

Tom: Well, I think you’d be quite lucky to see one. Even if you did take a
trip out there on a boat.

Anne: Yes, that’s the problem, isn’t it? That their population is so small.

Tom: About ten years ago, there were approximately 100 Maui dolphins
still alive.
Anne: But now scientists believe that number has really dropped. They
counted just under 50 this year. It’s terrible.

Tom: Yes, the situation is worse than they expected. We can’t be sure that
the Maui dolphin won’t disappear completely until numbers increase to
500 – and that doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

Anne: Unfortunately not. Now, I should say something about their typical
behaviour, I suppose.

Tom: Well, they’re certainly very sociable animals. In the past, when their
population size was much, much bigger, there were about 30 dolphins in a
group – and they’d play and swim together. That’s unlike other kinds of
dolphin that only travel in pairs or with a few others.

Anne: Yes, that’s true. And something that’s perhaps different about them,
too, is that, in general, they tend to avoid boats. They’re frightened of
them.

Tom: And so they should be. One of the biggest problems for Maui
dolphins is that when people use a particular type of fishing net – when
they throw the net off the side of the boat and just leave it in the ocean –
then the Maui dolphins sometimes swim into the net and they can’t get out
again.

Anne: I don’t think most people who go fishing would want to hurt a
dolphin.

Tom: No, but sometimes their behaviour is dangerous. They should

remember that we have to share the water with dolphins and whales and
other animals.

Anne: Yes, we do. Oh, I’ve got one more thing I need to check with you.
How far along the coastline do Maui dolphins swim?

Tom: Good question. Well, they’re actually quite fast for a small dolphin.
They only go up to about 50 kilos in weight. Their top speed is about 40
kilometres per hour. But scientists think they only swim a distance of about
30 kilometres – up and down the same part of the coast – just staying in a
fairly small area.

Anne: I see. Well, you’d think that it would be easy for the government to
do more to protect them but …

1. Anne has asked Tom to help her with her dolphin project because

o he is in the same class as Anne.

o he is an expert on dolphins.
o he once did a similar project to Anne.
 2. How long is an adult male Maui dolphin?

o 1.5 metres
o 1 metre
o 1.7 metres

3. Where are Maui dolphins found in New Zealand?

o around most of the coast of the North Island

o around the west coast of the North Island
o around the whole coast of the South Island

4. The population of Maui dolphins is now likely to be

o around 100
o well over 500
o less than 50

5. What do Anne and Tom agree is typical behaviour for Maui dolphins?

o They prefer to live with many other Maui dolphins.

o They often choose to follow boats to catch fish more easily.
o They are friendly towards people who swim near them.

6. How far along the coastline do Maui dolphins swim?

o 40 kilometres
o 50 kilometres
o 30 kilometres

Unit 1: Exercise 10
Think about what you’ve learnt from doing this unit.

Choose the correct answers.

1. Use the time before the recording starts to read the questions carefully and

o think about the type of information you might hear.

o use your own knowledge to answer some of the questions.

2. When you listen to the recording, you may hear the speakers mention
 o some details or information from all of the A, B, C options.
o only the details and information from the correct option.

3. You can find the answer to a three-option multiple choice question by

o matching an option to exactly the same sentence in the recording.

o listening for paraphrases of the A, B, C options.

4. It’s best to choose a number or measurement from a set of options

o only after the speakers have mentioned and discussed all of them.
o which the speakers mention first or more than once in their discussion.