The final section of the listening test, Section 4, requires students to listen to a long talk given by one person. Again, students must listen and fill in the correct answers. The topic of the talk is an academic subject, meaning some high level vocabulary. As well as some information to confuse students, the talk will use synonyms for words in the questions – for instance, the question may ask about ‘luck’ but the speaker talk about ‘fortune’. This is the most difficult listening part of the test – although sometimes the answers can be guessed – so students should not expect to know every answer.
– The recording is played only once.
– Students are highly encouraged to make notes of any information that sounds useful while they listen. This means they can think about answers later and not miss any of the talk.
– Note that before listening students are given some time to look at the questions. Students should use this time to understand what answers they are listening for.
– When the recording is finished, students are also given a short time to write their answers. This is when notes to think about difficult questions are useful.
– The entire listening test, of 4 sections, lasts 40 minutes (30 minutes of recordings, and 10 minutes for writing answers) and has 40 questions. Section 4 will last around 8-10 minutes and usually contains 8-10 questions.
Sample Questions and Answers
britishcouncil.org
Practice Test, Section 4
www.ieltsbuddy.com
Test 2, Section 4
Test 3, Section 4
Test 4, Section 4
ielts-up.com
Test 1, Section 4
Test 2, Section 4
Test 3, Section 4
Test 4, Section 4
Test 5, Section 4