IELTS Academic Listening practice test 2

Listen and answer questions 1 to 10.

1. • Day: every {{1}}

2. • Length: {{2}} weeks

3. • First session: how {{3}} form and grow

4. • Later session: making a simple {{4}} from fruit and coins

5. • Name: Dr Fiona {{5}}

6. • Previously worked in a {{6}} laboratory

7. • Bring an old {{7}} to wear over clothes

8. • {{8}} are not allowed in the laboratory

9. • Cost: £{{9}} (includes all materials)

10. • Nearest bus stop: outside the {{10}}

Listen and answer questions 11 to 20.

11. What made Ruth decide to start making apple sweets as a business?

A) finding an old family recipe

B) a large amount of unused fruit

C) a request from a local café

12. Ruth uses mainly one type of apple because it

A) gives the sweets a sharper flavour

B) is grown by farmers close to the town

C) helps the mixture stay light and firm

13. What will visitors not be able to see on today's tour?

A) the apples being baked

B) the mixture being whipped

C) the sweets being dried

14. Visitors who want to join a hands-on class should

A) book through the website

B) telephone the workshop

C) add their name to a list in the shop

15. Which TWO things does Ruth say customers most often comment on?

A) how light the sweets are

B) the design of the boxes

C) the range of seasonal flavours

D) how long the sweets stay fresh

E) the low price

16. Which TWO things does Ruth say customers most often comment on?

A) how light the sweets are

B) the design of the boxes

C) the range of seasonal flavours

D) how long the sweets stay fresh

E) the low price

17. Which TWO difficulties did the business have in its first year?

A) finding somewhere suitable to work

B) fruit that was too watery

C) staff leaving at a busy time

D) a machine breaking down

E) a supplier raising prices

18. Which TWO difficulties did the business have in its first year?

A) finding somewhere suitable to work

B) fruit that was too watery

C) staff leaving at a busy time

D) a machine breaking down

E) a supplier raising prices

19. Which TWO plans does Ruth have for next year?

A) opening a second shop

B) selling at markets in other towns

C) adding a new fruit flavour

D) starting visits for schools

E) selling the sweets abroad

20. Which TWO plans does Ruth have for next year?

A) opening a second shop

B) selling at markets in other towns

C) adding a new fruit flavour

D) starting visits for schools

E) selling the sweets abroad

Listen and answer questions 21 to 30.

21. Why did the students choose leadership succession as the topic for their project?

A) Their tutor recommended it to them

B) It was connected to Tom's work placement

C) A lot of research has been published on it

22. What surprised Priya about the situation at Harwell Tiles?

A) The founder had set a date to leave without choosing a successor

B) Most employees had not been told about the founder's plans

C) None of the founder's family wanted to run the business

23. What do the students agree was the main weakness in the company's approach to succession?

A) It gave too much weight to personal loyalty

B) It did not take account of customers' views

C) The process had been allowed to go on too long

24. Tom finally suggests that their presentation should

A) open with the Harwell Tiles case

B) compare large and small companies

C) include recorded extracts from interviews

25. What does Priya say about the interview with the finance manager?

A) It gave a different picture from the founder's interview

B) It provided figures they can use in the project

C) It was too short to be of much value

26. What will the students do next?

A) arrange a meeting with their tutor

B) rewrite the section on previous research

C) send a draft to the company for approval

27. moving the candidate between departments

A) Its benefits tend to be overestimated

B) It works better in larger organisations

C) It takes up too much of the founder's time

D) It should be combined with another method

E) It is often done just to look good

F) Staff value it more than managers do

28. sending the candidate on an external leadership course

A) Its benefits tend to be overestimated

B) It works better in larger organisations

C) It takes up too much of the founder's time

D) It should be combined with another method

E) It is often done just to look good

F) Staff value it more than managers do

29. having the candidate shadow the founder

A) Its benefits tend to be overestimated

B) It works better in larger organisations

C) It takes up too much of the founder's time

D) It should be combined with another method

E) It is often done just to look good

F) Staff value it more than managers do

30. announcing the chosen successor early

A) Its benefits tend to be overestimated

B) It works better in larger organisations

C) It takes up too much of the founder's time

D) It should be combined with another method

E) It is often done just to look good

F) Staff value it more than managers do

Listen and answer questions 31 to 40.

31. What does the lecturer say about the symptoms that residents most often report?

A) They are also common among people who live nowhere near turbines

B) They usually appear only after a turbine has been running for several years

C) They are mainly reported by people living closest to the turbines

32. The lecturer mentions the nocebo effect in order to explain

A) why complaints rose after local news reports about the turbines

B) why symptoms differed among people living at the same distance from the turbines

C) why laboratory volunteers reacted when no turbine sound was being played

33. Survey; Residents complete a single {{33}}; Cannot show that the turbines caused the symptoms

34. Laboratory test; Volunteers wear {{34}} while recorded turbine sound is played; The setting is {{35}}

35. Laboratory test; Volunteers wear {{34}} while recorded turbine sound is played; The setting is {{35}}

36. Long-term study; The same households are followed for several {{36}}; sleep is measured with a wrist {{37}}; Expensive; some participants leave

37. Long-term study; The same households are followed for several {{36}}; sleep is measured with a wrist {{37}}; Expensive; some participants leave

38. • Volunteers may be less {{38}} than residents who refuse to join.

39. • Turbine sound levels change with the {{39}}.

40. • Record residents' {{40}} before the turbines are built.