Unit 1: Exercise 1
Read the information about Section 2 of the IELTS Listening test. Choose two answers for
each question.
1. What might you hear in Section 2 of the listening test?
An academic lecture by a university professor.
A talk by a manager to new staff members, explaining some company rules.
A conversation between two friends.
A speech by a counsellor, giving advice about dealing with stress.
2. What will you need to do in this part of the test?
Give your opinion on a topic.
Understand the general context of what you hear.
Listen and find the specific information you need.
Write an essay about the topic you hear.
3. What should you do before listening?
Read the questions carefully.
Answer all the questions.
Decide what type of information you need to listen for.
Unit 1: Exercise 2
Read the information. Then quickly read the questions from Section 2 of an
IELTS Listening test and decide what the most important words are in each
question.
Choose the correct answers.
1 What is the general focus of Giles Watson’s training session?
2 What does Giles think is the key part of making customers feel happy?
3 In another session, Giles will offer advice about …
4 What does Giles say is the most difficult thing to achieve?
5 What experience has Giles had of unpleasant customers?
1. The key words in Question 1 are general focus/ training session.
2. The key words in Question 2 are feel happy/key part .
3. The key words in Question 3 are another session/offer advice .
4. The key words in Question 4 are the most difficult thing/ to achieve.
5. The key word in Question 5 is experience/ unpleasant.
Unit 1: Exercise 3
You will listen to extracts from a talk about customer satisfaction.
Read the information. Then look at questions 1–5. Listen and match the
underlined words with the words and phrases the speaker uses.
1 What is the general focus of Giles Watson’s training session?
2 What does Giles think is the key part of making customers feel happy?
3 In another session, Giles will offer some advice in …
4 What does Giles say is the most difficult thing to achieve?
5 What experience has Giles had of unpleasant customers?
Crucial main reasons remind you the basics uninterested
1. Instead of ‘general focus’, Giles says: overall theme
2. Instead of ‘the key part’, he says: the most important aspect
3. Instead of ‘offer advice’, he says: give tips
4. Instead of ‘most difficult thing ’, he says: main challenge
5. Instead of ‘unpleasant’, he says: rude
Unit 1: Exercise 4
In the next exercise, you are going to complete Section 2 of an IELTS Listening
test.
Read the questions quickly and decide what you will probably hear. Are the
statements True or False? Choose the correct answers.
1 What is Anne Smith’s principal role at Star Travel
Agency?
A She is in charge of new staff.
B She is responsible for big tour groups.
C She hires people to work for the agency.
2 What does Anne find is the best thing about
working for Star Travel Agency?
A the opportunity to travel.
B the good wages that are paid.
C the friendliness of the other staff.
3 Later in the morning, Anne will provide some
training in
A using the company computers.
B recommending places to visit.
C dealing with telephone bookings.
4 What skill does Anne say is the most important for
working in a travel agency?
A You should be able to deal calmly with
annoyed customers.
B You must be able to speak several languages.
C You have to be a good listener.
5 The person now in charge of paying wages is
A Andrew Brown.
B Julia Summers.
C Joe Ramsay.
1. You are going to listen to a woman called Anne Smith.
o True
o False
2. She will talk about why she would like to work for a travel agency.
o True
o False
3. She doesn’t like her job.
o True
o False
4. She will give other people useful information.
o True
o False
5. She will give some advice about what abilities people need in order to work at the
travel agency.
o True
o False
6. Her main responsibility in the job is making sure her staff are paid on time.
o True
o False
Unit 1: Exercise 5
Read the information. Then listen and choose the correct answers.
1. What is Anne Smith’s principal role at Star Travel Agency?
o A She is in charge of new staff.
o B She is responsible for big tour groups.
o C She hires people to work for the agency.
2. What does Anne find is the best thing about working for Star Travel Agency?
o A the opportunity to travel
o B the good wages that are paid
o C the friendliness of the other staff
3. Later in the morning, Anne will provide some training in
o A using the company computers.
o B recommending places to visit.
o C dealing with telephone bookings.
4. What skill does Anne say is the most important for working in a travel agency?
o A You should be able to deal calmly with annoyed customers.
o B You must be able to speak several languages.
o C You have to be a good listener.
5. The person now in charge of paying wages is
o A Andrew Brown.
o B Julia Summers.
o C Joe Ramsay.
Unit 1: Exercise 6
Look at the questions, with the key words underlined.
Listen and decide what phrases Anne Smith uses instead of the underlined
words. Choose the correct answers.
1 What is Anne Smith’s principal role at Star Travel Agency?
2 What does Anne find is the best thing about working for Star Travel Agency?
3 Later in the morning, Anne will provide some training in …
4 What skill does Anne say is the most important for working in a travel agency?
5 The person now in charge of paying wages is …
1. Instead of ‘principal role’, she says:
o main responsibility
o mainly deals with
2. Instead of ‘best thing’, she says:
o isn’t bad
o what I like most
3. Instead of ‘provide’, she says
o Explain
o show
4. Instead of ‘the most important’, she says:
o the main one
o you need
5. Instead of ‘in charge of paying wages’, she says:
o the correct amount
o responsible for making sure you get paid
Unit 1: Exercise 7
You are going to hear one speaker talk about a topic related to tourism. This is a
common topic in IELTS so it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with
vocabulary related to tourism.
Match the words in the box with the correct definitions.
1. an agreement in which you pay a company money and they pay for your costs if you
have an accident: insurance
2. someone who has a lot of experience, knowledge, or skill in a particular
subject: specialist
3. something that you must do: obligation
4. to make a meeting or arrangement certain, often by phone, email or in person: confirm
5. a business that represents one group of people, e.g. tourists, when dealing with
another group, e.g. hotels: Agency
6. the place where someone is going or where something is being taken: destination
7. a time of year when the demand for a service, e.g. a travel agency, is at its highest:
peak season
8. an arrangement you make to have something, e.g. a hotel room, at a particular time in
the future: booking
Unit 1: Exercise 8
Read the information. Then, look at the underlined key words in the questions.
Match the information you need to listen for with the questions.
1. What should staff do when they first arrive at work? an action
2. When is the busiest time of year for Star Travel Agency? A month
3. Where in Fiji do people like to go to at this time of year? the name of a place
4. What must staff see before confirming a booking? an object
5. Who should staff contact if they have a problem with the the name of a person
computer?
Unit 1: Exercise 9
Listen and answer the questions.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
1. What should staff do when they first arrive at work? Answer emails
2. When is the busiest time of year for Star Travel Agency? January
3. Where in Fiji do people like to go to at this time of year? Taveuni
4. What must staff see before confirming a booking? Passport
5. Who should staff contact if they have a problem with the computer? Ofelia
Unit 1: Exercise 10
Think about what you have learnt in this unit.
Are the statements True or False? Choose the correct answers.
1. In Section 2 of the IELTS Listening test, you will never hear more than one main
speaker.
o True
o False
2. You will have a short time to look at the questions before listening.
o True
o False
3. It is better to listen without looking at the questions first.
o True
o False
4. Before you listen, you will have no idea about what the speaker will talk about.
o True
o False
5. The speaker will always use the same words as in the questions.
o True
o False
