Hi guys,

I wanted to let you know that my Android App is ready to be installed.

The app contains useful IELTS quizzes to test your understanding of the test. If you score under 70% in the quizzes, you should really spend more time learning about the test. One of the reasons that people struggle with IELTS is that they don’t fully understand it. So, do the quizzes today and test how ready you are.

The app also contains an easy gateway for you to access my website and my Youtube channel.

The app is called IELTS Liz.

Click here: IELTS Liz App

Iphone users: If this app is popular with Android users, I will consider making another app for you later on. Lets see how things go with this app first.

All the best

Liz

In some IELTS books, the listening answers are written using brackets. The common question I am asked is:

Question : Can I use brackets for my answers in IELTS listening or IELTS reading?

Answer: No, you can’t use brackets in your IELTS listening or reading test. Read the information below to understand why.

What are brackets?

Here is an example of some answers using brackets:

1. charity (work)
2. detail(s)
3. (a) reception (room)

Brackets are used to provide optional answers ( more than one answer).

Why are brackets used in IELTS test books?

The brackets are used in the answer keys of books to show different possible answers for one question. It is a quick easy way to show multiple answers. For example:

• charity (work)
  • charity or charity work (both answers are correct)
• detail(s)
  • detail or details (both answers are correct)
• (a) reception (room)
  • reception or a reception or reception room or a reception room (all 4 answers are correct)

Even though the answer key in books show different possible answers, you cannot do that in your test.

You must choose ONE ANSWER ONLY. You can’t give two possible options for your answer. If you think the answer is “detail”, then you must write it like that. You must decide if the answer is plural or singular. If the answer is plural, your answer will be marked wrong. So, take your time deciding if you need to give a plural answer or not. Or if you need to use an article (a/the) or not.

Can you use brackets in your test?

No, not for IELTS listening or IELTS reading. However, if you are taking Academic writing, you can use brackets in your writing task 1 to present data. See the writing section of this website for examples of this.

Want to learn more about IELTS Listening?

If you want to know more about counting words, writing answers and improving your score for IELTS listening, click here: IELTS Listening Free Tips & Lessons

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Below you will find the transcript and answers to this listening practice.

If you have not completed this lesson, please do so before looking at the transcript or answers. Click here: Rainforest Listening Lesson

Transcript to Rainforest Fires Listening Practice

Use the transcript to listen and read at the same time. This is a useful way to develop better listening skills and improve your pronunciation.

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The Amazon rainforest—home to one in 10 species on Earth – is on fire. And as of last week, 9,000 wildfires were raging simultaneously across the vast rainforest of Brazil and spreading into Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. The blazes are now burning in massive numbers, an 80 percent increase over this time last year. The fires can even be seen from space.

For the thousands of mammal, reptile, amphibian, and bird species that live in the Amazon, the wildfires’ impact will come in two phases: one immediate, one long-term.

Generally, in the midst of wildfire, animals have very few choices. They can try to hide by burrowing or going into water. They can be displaced. Or they can perish. In this situation, a lot of animals will die, from flames, heat from the flames, or smoke inhalation.

The entire ecosystem of the burning sections of rainforest will be altered. For example, the dense canopy of the Amazon rainforest largely blocks sunlight from reaching the ground. Fire opens up the canopy at a stroke, bringing in light and fundamentally changing the energy flow of the entire ecosystem. This can have cascading effects on the entire food chain.

Furthermore, environmentalists are also calling attention to the consequences that a burning Amazon—often called the lungs of the planet—would have on climate change.

Source: Read the full article at the National Geographic published Aug 23rd.

Answers

1. SPECIES
2. SPACE
3. AMPHIBIAN (This is not plural. If you wrote this as a plural, it would be marked wrong. You can see from the grammar in the question statement that this word needs to be singular: ” The fires affect thousands of mammal, reptile, ……..and bird species. ” – the words of each species is singular = mammal, reptile, bird” = singular. In this case, the following word in the list would also be singular. So, this isn’t just a case of listening skills, it is also about paying attention to grammar in the question statement given. Also note, if your spelling is wrong, the whole answer is marked as wrong.)
4. SMOKE INHALATION
5. FOOD CHAIN (note the word “food chain” is a compound noun written as two separate words. It cannot be written with a hyphen. The word count is only two – so you can’t use the word “entire” in your answer.)
6. LUNGS (This is plural. If you wrote it without the “s”, it would be marked wrong.)

I hope you enjoyed this lesson 🙂 Remember, this topic can easily appear in writing task 2 or the speaking test. For more listening practice, click here: IELTS Liz’s Listening Section

All the best, Liz

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Hi guys,

Below are the answers to the reading lesson based on matching headings about The Greenhouse Effect.

If you have not completed this reading lesson, please do it before look at the answers. Click here: Matching Headings Reading Practice

Below you will find the headings options and the answers.

Matching Headings Options

• i  Changing temperatures
• ii. The Greenhouse
• iii. Creating Global Warming
• iv. Use of a Greenhouse
• v. Our Choices
• vi. How the greenhouse effect works
• vii. Earth’s Atmosphere
• viii. Reversing the Damage
• ix. Effects of Carbon Dioxide

Paragraph A = ii

• The answer can’t be iv. The paragraph did contain information about how the greenhouse was used, such as growing vegetables. But that information was not the main aim of the paragraph, it was additional information. 
• The paragraph actually talked about what it was made of, what it was used for and how it works. The best title would be “The greenhouse” because it gave a clear overview of it.
•  

Paragraph B = vi

• The answer isn’t i because the paragraph actually explains that this natural effect keeps the temperature of Earth stable.
• The answer is vi which explains how Earth’s atmosphere works to keep our planet at a stable temperature.

Paragraph C = iii

• The answer isn’t viii because the paragraph isn’t not aimed at explaining carbon dioxide and in fact only mentions it along side other greenhouse gases.
• The answer isn’t ix because although climates are affected around the world, the whole paragraph aim isn’t to discuss climates in different countries.

Paragraph D = v

• The answer isn’t vii because the paragraph doesn’t actually discuss his research, but rather his opinion’s about what options we have to deal with our changing climate.

 

I hope you found this useful 🙂 From Liz. 

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Hi guys,

I’ve just made a new Matching Headings Reading Lesson for you.

Click here: Matching Headings Reading Lesson

I think this reading practice lesson gives you a challenge and will help you understand how to avoid difficulties with this type of question. I hope you find it useful 🙂

All the best

Liz

Below are the answers for the practice lesson on uncountable nouns. If you have not completed this lesson, please do it before looking at the answers. To view the lesson, click here: Uncountable Noun Practice Lesson

I’ve also put a link to a list of Uncountable Nouns under the answer key below.

Answers

1. Luck plays
   1. The word “lucky” is an adjective, not a noun. The word luck is uncountable and is never plural. With uncountable nouns the verb is always third person singular, which means you need an “s” (play =plays)
2. advice
   1. This is uncountable.
3. courage
   1. This is uncountable.
4. Economics plays
   1. The noun is “economics”. The “s” is part of the noun and does not create a plural noun. “Economics” is a singular, uncountable noun but it is irregular because it contains an “s”. The other noun form is “economy” and that is countable. The word “economic” is an adjective. The other adjective is “economical”. As you see, this word can take different forms.
5. wisdom
   1. This is uncountable.
6. employment
   1. This is uncountable.
7. equipment
   1. This is uncountable.
8. News is
   1. This is another irregular uncountable noun because it contains an “s” in the singular form.
9. pollution
   1. This is uncountable.
10. hairs
    1. This word is both countable and uncountable.  In most cases, it is not possible to count how many hairs a person has on their head. This means it would be uncountable when referring to hair on people’s head. However, in this example, the person was almost bald. This means it was actually possible to count each individual hair. This made the noun countable. You could also see that the sentence contained the quantifier “a few” and this can only be used with countable nouns. It was a tricky question and don’t worry if you didn’t get it right. If you did get it right – well done 😊

Uncountable Word List

If you would like to learn more about uncountable nouns. See my comprehensive list, click here: Uncountable Noun List

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Hi guys,

This is a quick email to let you know that my website is having technical work done Monday 5th Aug at about 7pm UK time. This might (or might not) cause disruption to my site.

Update: The technical work is now complete. Hopefully my website will be stable from this point onwards. Thanks for your patience and support.

I’ll post a new lesson on Thursday this week. If you don’t receive it by email, it means you need to check your spam folder and possibly subscribe again.

Thanks for your understanding.

All the best

Liz

Hi guys,

I’ve just changed the RED menu bar at the top of the website. I hope it will help you find the information you want more easily.

Can you take a look and let me know if you find it useful?

Thanks

Liz