Below you can find the answers and transcript to the listening practice lesson about a sponsored walk. If you have not completed this lesson, please do so before looking at the answers. Click here: Listening Practice Lesson
I have posted the audio under the transcript so that you can listen and read together. I also recommend that you use the audio to practise your pronunciation.
Transcript
Army veteran Tom Moore did a sponsored walk at the age of 99 years old to raise money for the NHS (the National Health Service in the UK). His aim was to raise £1,000. This was an ambitious walk of 1.6 miles in his back garden given that he had recently been treated for a broken hip and skin cancer.
As he began his sponsored walk, he was surprised to see the response from the British public as donations started pouring in. By the end of this sponsored walk, he had raised not £1,000 but a staggering £21 million. Many around the country are now calling for Tom Moore to be knighted for his remarkable fund-raising efforts.
Tom Moore has stated that he was “overwhelmed by this sum of money” that was donated. His praise for the NHS struck a chord with many around the country today as the population watch doctors, nurses, other hospital staff and all front-line workers put themselves in harms way to save lives as they battle against the coronavirus crisis. This story truly is an example of how a humble, unambitious person can stir the nation and effect incredible change. Surely we should all be doing more in one way or another. As the saying goes “Every little helps” and who knows whether your modest attempt to help might not also create a flame of support throughout your own country.
Audio
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Answers
The answers are highlighted in bold below.
- Does Tom serve in the army?
- NO
- How much does he hope to raise?
- £1,000
- You do not need the comma, but it is recommended to use it because it is easier for the person marking.
- Where was his sponsored walk to take place?
- GARDEN
- back garden is two words and not a possible answer.
- Tom eventually raised a …………. £21 million.
- STAGGERING
- Many hope that Tom will be ……….. for his efforts.
- KNIGHTED
- This is a high band score answer and people who are around band score 6 level will probably not get this right.
- to be knighted means to be given a special award by the Queen of a knighthood and from that moment on that person would use the title “Sir” instead of “Mr”.
- Tom’s aims to support the NHS have struck a ……… with many people in the UK.
- CHORD
- This is a high band score answer and people who are under band score 8 probably might not get it right.
- The spelling must be correct or the answer is marked wrong.
- The “h” is a silent letter for pronunciation.
- “to strike a chord” means:
- a) to say or do something that other people agree or approve of.
- b) to say or do something that causes emotions to rise or triggers memories in another person.
- This is idiomatic.
- Tom has shown how a single person can ……….. the nation.
- STIR
- “to stir someone” means to awaken strong feelings.
- Please be careful because there is a phrasal verb which is “to stir someone up” and this means to “awaken bad feelings in someone – to bother them”. Don’t confuse these two idiomatic expressions.
- Every ……. helps.
- LITTLE
- This expression (every little helps) means that even small deeds or small amounts of money will help.
I hope you find this both useful and inspiring 🙂
All the best
Liz
………………………….
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could you please explain to me why no 1 answer is “NO” while in the passage shows that Tom is a army veteran?
This is all about grammar. Question 1 is a present tense question. It is asking if he now, today, serves in the army. The word “veteran” means someone who once served but doesn’t any more. Also, the audio does declare his age of 99 years.
Hi Liz,
I answered “cord” instead of “chord” in number 6. The meanings I’m seeing online feels like they’re both interchangeable in this case. Would I still be marked wrong?
When there are two possible spellings for an answer, IELTS will always put those options into the answer key for the listening test.
Hi Liz, If I answered in the question 2: “One thousand” would that be correct?
I read that the written numbers still count as a single word, but I’m not sure.
Thanks!
You are being marked on your spelling. So, it’s much better to write in digits “1,000” and avoid potential mistakes with spelling. Also, “one thousand” is actually two words. the word “two” is one word.
Hi Liz,
With respect to question (2): I do not have the symbol for pounds on my keyboard, so I instead wrote “E1000”, which is the closest resemblance to the pound symbol… Would this be marked as correct…? Otherwise, do you have a suggestion on how to deal with this situation?
Cheers!
As IELTS are now doing computer based tests, they will most likely require answers without symbols of currency.
I really appreciate it. love you mam
Many thanks for that excercise! Regards
Thanks Liz for the correction especially the back garden forgetting the instruction is just a word but if i must say going through google to help out ,i still find the steer confusing to be the answer, can you please explain more on this “”steer””
Thanks in anticipation .
Joseph.
There is no answer which is “steer”. There is an answer which is “stir”. Check the spelling because they are two very different words. Also you need to look up “stir emotions”, rather than just “stir”.
Thanks a lot ☺️ We all love you, Liz!
I missed no 2 because i wrote the pounds in words instead of using the symbol. Also I wrote Cord instead of Chord. I think my listening skills has really improved. Thanks Liz
Thanks ma for the practice lessons. Did it this morning. Got 6/8. I’m learning more from the details in the answer section.
Thank you so much especially for the clear and useful explanations
You’re welcome 🙂
Hi Liz,
Your videos on IELTS are very informative and have been watching all those for my preparations. But got a doubt, in my paper based exam if I’m using CAPITALS in Liestening and Reading sections, may I know if we could use sentence case in Writing Section? Or should it CAPITALS through the test?
Please let me know about this, look forward for your early reply. Thanks.
See this page for your answer and may other answers to concerns about IELTS: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-help-faq/
Thanks, Liz.
Thank you Liz for your encouragement and answers then my answers are 4/8 but trying my best for progress.
With best regards
Keep trying 🙂
In fact it was arduous , I get only two, I will concentrate during listening and try my best to improimprove my listening skill, thank toi for awesome and help full listening for us as a student
Thanks
Looking for the next practice question,.
God bless
The test was easy for me owing to constant follow up on covid – 19 update on BBC news and Sky news.
hello Liz,
I got 5/8. 4th,6th,7th was wrong.
thanks for this great work. will wait for another lesson.
Thanks a lot Liz. I was truly inspired by the story. I also watched it on the news yesterday.
I scored 7/8. I missed the back garden question. I was confused even though I knew it was one word required.
Now I understand we should always pick the important word if one answer is required. Thanks for this.
That’s right. It’s about getting rid of unnecessary words in an answer. A garden is a garden whether it is front or back. However, just take a look at the instructions – only one word. Another thing you can do is learn more about common compound nouns – some are two words and some are just one. Google them and start reviewing them.
Will do that. Thank you.
I am really thankful to you, and really appreciate helping us.
speechless, wonderful I have learned something
It’s quite helpful, although i got some spellings wrong, i mean chord and stir, thanks Liz
Thanks so much for the listening practice, it’s quite helpful, though a little bit tough.
Yes, there were some challenging questions 🙂
Yes, helpful. I learnt two new vocabularies.
Thanks indeed Liz for providing the answers along with their explanations.
I got 9/10, failing only question 3. I was distracted by the adjective ‘back’ , and thought it would be acceptable to use ‘backgarden’. Meanwhile , there were other distractors like ‘UK’ and ‘Britain’.
Thanks for sharing
Hi Liz,thanks for the listening exercise,it was useful.
I got the first 3part and missed the rest,guess I need more practice thanks
So helpful and inspiring. I was confused as to whether or not I should put the pound sign as I thought it would be regarded as another word.
I have learnt a new word “knighted”
So grateful for your help Liz
Thanks a lot Liz, it’s absolutely useful and inspirational wee listening practice no question!
I’ve struggled to figure out No (6), though its really good exercise to attempt. Please keep it up!
Glad it was useful 🙂
Honestly, I am amazed on how I confidently got most of the answers wrong.
I really need to practice more.
Thank you so much Liz. Stay safe
I love to read your posts regularly as to improve myself for next IELTS exam
I am really very thankful to you for putting in your great efforts to get other people equip with essential knowledge.
Regards
🙂