IELTS Preparation and Practice Sample Pages

Collins English for Exams

ielts

preparation and practice

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Contents Title

Page

Title

Page

Introduction

4

Unit 3:

Task response (Task 2)

88

The IELTS Test

6

Unit 4:

Coherence

92

Unit 5:

Cohesion

96

Unit 6:

Lexical resource 1: range

100

Listening Unit 1:

General & academic listening

8

Unit 2:

Listening to English

12

Unit 7:

Lexical resource 2: accuracy

104

Unit 3:

Short-answer questions

16

Unit 8:

Grammatical range

108

Unit 4:

Completion questions 1

20

Unit 9:

Grammatical accuracy

112

Unit 5:

Multiple-choice questions

24

Unit 10:

Review

116

Unit 6:

Matching questions

28

Unit 7:

Completion questions 2

32

Unit 1:

Speaking assessment criteria

120

Unit 8:

Labelling questions

36

Unit 2:

Fluency

124

Unit 3:

Coherence

128

Reading

Speaking

Unit 1:

Locating answers in reading texts

40

Unit 4:

Lexical resource 1: range

132

Unit 2:

Reading for detail

44

Unit 5:

136

Unit 3:

Completion tasks

48

Lexical resource 2: accuracy

Unit 6:

Grammatical range

140

Unit 4:

Multiple-choice tasks

52

Unit 7:

Grammatical accuracy

144

Unit 5:

Identification tasks

56

Unit 6:

Matching tasks

60

Unit 8:

Pronunciation 1: words & sounds

148

Unit 7:

Matching headings

64

Unit 9:

Pronunciation 2: rhythm & intonation

152

Unit 8:

Matching sentence endings

68

Unit 10:

Review

156

Unit 9:

Flow-chart & diagram completion

72

Audio scripts

160

Unit 10:

Short-answer questions

76

Answer key

176

Unit 1:

Writing assessment criteria

80

Unit 2:

Task achievement (Task 1)

84

Writing

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Unit 1

2

Read the scenarios in 1–8. In which part of the IELTS test would you expect to see them?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A talk on how languages affect our emotional development.

A man buying some new clothes.

A man explaining facilities in a new shopping centre.

Two students talking about their environmental project work.

A woman explaining the holiday camp rules and timetable.

A woman asking for information about nearby restaurants.

A lecture about the development of driverless cars.

A tutor helping a student with their research project.

Exam tip You will always hear the answers in the order that that you hear the audio.

Part 2: Understanding general and academic English features Exam information: Understanding general and academic English features The language used in general and academic contexts is slightly different. In Parts 1 and 2 of the IELTS Listening test, you will hear English that is more general in style. Part 4 will use more academic language (Part 3 to a lesser extent will also use some academic features of language). There can be a mixture of these features, and you are likely to hear this in Part 3 of the test, where students and tutors are speaking in a conversation.

General and academic listening 9

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2 Listening to English Aims | Typical speakers in the Listening paper (speakers’ accents); Features of English pronunciation (following connected speech, weak and strong forms, the schwa sound, intonation and emphasis); Practising multiple-choice

Part 1: Typical speakers in the Listening paper Exam information: Speakers’ accents In the Listening test, you will hear people talking naturally at an average speed, not too fast or slow. You will hear a range of gentle accents from different parts of the UK, the USA and Australia. Familiarize yourself with different accents before you take the test.

1

Listen to four speakers and match them to accents A–D.

03

Speaker 1 Speaker 2 Speaker 3 Speaker 4 A B C D

American Australian English Scottish

Exam tip You can use the Internet, films and TV programmes to practise listening to different English accents.

Part 2: Features of English pronunciation Exam information: Following connected speech When people speak naturally, their words flow and connect together and they don’t pause between each word. This is called connected speech and there are different ways speakers do this.

12 Listening 53213_P012_015.indd 12

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5

Which one of these questions 1–4 is similar to the phrase value for money?

Exam information: Paraphrasing in matching questions The recording will use synonyms and paraphrases so you should think of other ways to express the information in the questions before you listen. You may hear some of the words from the questions on the recording and the speaker(s) may mention the options in the list more than once. You must listen carefully to match the correct ideas or information.

6

Read the audio script in exercise 3 again and write the part which paraphrases statement 1.

1 Statement 1 = It is good value for money.

Paraphrase =

7

Paraphrase statements 2–4.

2 The app is free for students.

3 The staff are knowledgeable.

4 It’s an excellent choice for families.

8

Listen to the rest of the talk and answer the questions.

20

Question 1: What does the speaker say about the museums? Write the correct letter A, B or C. 1 It is good value for money.

C

2 The app is free for students.

3 The staff are knowledgeable.

4 It’s an excellent choice for families.

A The National Gallery of Landscapes B The Gallery of Textiles C The Ancient Arts Gallery

30

Listening

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Exercises 10–11 Students’ own answers

Unit 7 Exercise 1 Band 7: frequently produces error-free sentences, though some grammatical mistakes persist.

Band 6: may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these rarely cause comprehension problems.

Band 5: produces basic sentence forms with reasonable accuracy; uses a limited range of more complex structures, but these usually contain errors and may cause some comprehension problems.

Exercise 2 1 Yes, four of the nine sentences are complex.

2 b) frequent – there are ten errors 3 The errors do not cause significant misunderstanding as they are relatively minor, and the overall message is clear.

Exercise 3 (a) twelve years old [3] (b) how to make [2] (c) I’ve been sewing [1] (d) for a long time [4] (e) I really enjoy [1]

(f) you make/are making [1] (g) no one else has [5] (h) the same opportunities [4] (i) had to sew [1] (j) After graduating [1]

Exercise 4 1 have been making 2 weren’t 3 are becoming 4 were wearing 5 hadn’t seen 6 continues Exercise 5 1 I think it’s easier ...

2 My sewing teacher’s been very good ...

3 He always says you shouldn’t be afraid ...

4 Some things are difficult to do, like when you’re making a pattern ...

5 So far everybody in my class has been willing ...

6 The workshop’s just like my second home now.

Exercise 6 1b 2f 3d 4c 5a 6g 7e Exercise 7 1 trying 2 to study 3 to come 4 on coming 5 to stay 6 go 7 complaining 8 from travelling Exercise 8 1g 2d 3e

4f

5c

6b

7a

Exercise 9 There are many ways that crafts can improve our quality of life, but I think the most important benefit is maintaining cultural traditions. Every county has its own crafting traditions.

Crafts like weaving or wood carving are a part of people’s

identity. Objects that are made of natural materials like the wood or stone also help us to connect with the natural world. If everything you own has been made by a machinery, you lose the connection. Handmade objects are also more interesting because they are unique. I remember the first time my grandmother gave me something she made – it was a basket she’d made when she was a little girl – I felt like I had a treasure. Whenever I hold the basket, I remember her.

Exercises 10–12 Students’ own answers

Unit 8 Exercise 1 1 Good articulation of individual words and sounds are often essential for the clarity of your message. Frequent mispronunciation can reduce the intelligibility of your speech and have a disproportionate effect on your overall score. Unit 8 focuses on this aspect of pronunciation.

2 Good sentence stress, rhythm, and intonation contribute to effective communication because they allow you to emphasize key information and engage the listener’s interest. Unit 9 will focus on these features of pronunciation.

Exercise 2 maɪ ˈfeɪvərɪt dɪˈzɜːt

ɪz ˈʧɒkəlɪt

keɪk

Exercise 3 To make this dessert you have to beat eggs and sugar together until you’ve caught / got the right consistency.

Then, you need to melt / meld butter and chocolate and bore / pour it into the pole / bowl with the eggs and sugar.

Add flour, then dip / tip the mixture into a white / wide tray and put it in a hot oven for about thirty minutes.

The speaker has difficulty pronouncing voiced consonants /g/ /b/ /d/.

Exercises 4–5 Students’ own answers Exercise 6 1 red, the speaker says /led/ instead of /red/ so has difficulty differentiating /l/ and /r/ 2 Something, the speaker says /sʌmsɪŋ/ instead of /sʌmθɪŋ/ so has difficulty differentiating /s/ and /θ/ 3 very, the speaker says /weri/ instead of /veri/ so has difficulty differentiating /w/ and /v/ Exercises 7–8 Students’ own answers Exercise 9 1 lived /d/ 2 liked /t/ 3 called /d/ 4 means /z/ 5 dishes /ɪz/ 6 succeeded /ɪd/ 7 tastes /s/

Answer key 203

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