IELTS Listening Practice: Sentence Completion

This IELTS listening lesson for section 4 sentence completion questions. These types of questions are gap fill questions. Section 4 of the IELTS test is an academic lecture with one speaker using academic language. All IELTS candidates take the same IELTS Listening Test (both GT and Academic candidates).

IELTS Listening Practice: Sentence Completion Question

Comet Landing

Questions 1-6: Complete the following sentences using no more than two words and/or a number.

  1. Philae’s goal is to collect information about the makeup of the comet’s surface and also to capture ………….. of the surface.
  2. Philae could have missed the landing because of an ………………. in Rosetta’s orbit.
  3. The time delay between Rosetta and the controllers on Earth was ……………….
  4. The lander found its own way down to the comet after release as there was no ………… on the lander.
  5. There is an element of ………. in landing in a good location on the comet.
  6. The lander can drill ……………… into the exterior of the comet for stability.

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Transcript and Answers:
To see the transcript and answers, click below. You only check them after you complete the listening lesson. Also see the vocab section below.

Transcript
Rosetta spacecraft released Philae lander which landed successfully on a comet on 12 November 2014 at 08:35 GMT. The Philae lander achieved the first-ever controlled touchdown on a comet nucleus. The aim of Philae is to obtain the first images of the surface of the comet as well as make the first in situ analysis to determine the composition of the comet.
An inaccuracy of a few millimetres per second in Rosetta’s orbit could have resulted in Philae completely missing the comet. The descent, monitored from Esa’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, lasted about seven hours. Because the comet is about 510 million km from Earth, communication between Rosetta and controllers takes about 28 minutes each way. As a consequence, confirmation of the landing came through just after 16:04 GMT.
There was no steering of the lander down to the comet’s surface. Once released, it was on a path of its own. A certain amount of luck was needed for Philae to land in a nice spot. When the lander hit the surface, harpoons were fired to be used as anchors, although they do not appear to have anchored the craft as intended. The lander also has footscrews to drill into the surface of the comet to keep it secure. Now it’s on the surface of the comet, Philae can get to work. Drills, ovens, cameras and sensors onboard Philae will analyse everything from the surface composition and temperature to the presence of amino acids – essential building blocks in the chemistry of life. (from BBC news)
Answers
  1. images
  2. inaccuracy
  3. (about) 28 minutes / (about) 28 min
  4. steering
  5. luck
  6. footscrews
VocabBuilder
  • nucleus = center / core
  • in situ = in position
  • to determine = establish / conclude / decide
  • composition = makeup / consistency
  • an inaccuracy = mistake / error
  • to release = liberate / let go
  • to anchor = fasten / secure
  • to fire = to discharge / shoot
  • intended = planned

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