Ielts course

Distractors

There will often be distractors in the text – that is, extra information that sounds as if it could be right, which candidates need to listen to carefully to rule out as an answer.

In Section 1, candidates are often asked to listen to and write down numbers, dates and to spell out words, usually names. This involves very intensive listening.
Task
Listen to Audio 1 on your course page.
Now answer the questions:

1. 
   What is the topic of the talk?
   

2. 
   How many people are talking?
   

3. 
   What is the purpose of the recording?
   

Task
Look at the following questions. Which do you think are the key words?
1 What type of film does John prefer?
2 What sport does he play?
Suggested answers are in bold.
1 What type of film does John prefer?
2 What sport does he play?


Look at the audio script for the questions above. The answers to the questions have been underlined. The words that are acting as distractors are highlighted.
Teacher:  What do you like doing in your free time?
John:  I like reading and going to the cinema.
Teacher:   What kind of films do you prefer?
John:  Well, if I had a choice I would go to see horror movies  but my friends prefer  action films.
Teacher:   And do you play any sports?
John: Well, I used to play basketball but  I gave up  a couple of years ago. Now I play badminton at the weekend with my friends.

English speakers highlight the important words by making them slightly louder, slower and higher in pitch than the other words in the sentence. The words that are stressed in this way are usually content words – e.g. nouns and verbs – as they are the words which carry the message. The other words in the sentence – function words like articles, prepositions and auxiliaries – are difficult to hear because they are said more quickly. Often, however, these words are not so important.

Section 2: Listening to a general monologue

In Section 2 of the Listening test, candidates hear a monologue in an everyday social context. This could be, a guided tour or a talk about a museum or place of interest and so on.

Map/plan/diagram labelling

Section 2 sometimes features a map or diagram that candidates have to label. The map or diagram gives the candidates important visual clues to what the listening is about. As we saw earlier, making predictions is an important listening skill, which can help candidates to answer correctly.

Candidates are given some time to look at the map, plan or diagram before the listening starts.