Hi guys,
I have posted the answers to yesterday’s listening lesson with the transcript as well.
I’ve posted them back on the lesson page. Click this link to see the answers: Office Etiquette Listening Lesson
Thanks
Liz
Listening Practice: Office Etiquette
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This is a listening exercise based on a current IELTS topic. The topic of modern office layout was reported in writing task 2 this year, 2017. This lesson will give you listening practice and also useful ideas for the topic.
Modern Office Layout: Listening Exercise
Instructions
Listen once to the recording and write down your answers at the same time. In the real test, you will only be able to listen once. So, use this practice lesson to try focusing and getting the answers in the first listening.
Questions 1-5
Choose no more than one word from the recording to complete each sentence below. Listen only once and write down your answers.
- Many offices favour the ………….. interior design.
- There is less ……………. in the modern office design.
- The ability to focus on work becomes a problem if there is too much ……………..
- Being ………… of other people’s beliefs is important.
- If you are ………………., it’s better for everyone if you stay at home.
Recording:
Answers
Click below to reveal the answers and the transcript:
Transcript
Office etiquette is all about common courtesy to other people in the work place. It is becoming more common for offices to have a modern open-plan design with members of staff all working in one large room without dividers. This type of office design unfortunately does result in a lack of privacy which means staff need to be more mindful and considerate than ever before of each other.
Here are a couple of rules for common office etiquette. Keep your desk tidy. There’s nothing worse than working along side someone who has spread their chaos. Focus on keeping your desk clear and avoid too much mess. Also keep the noise level to a minimum as noise can be distracting to others who need to concentrate on their work. Another rule is to be friendly but, at the same time, respect people’s boundaries and wish for solitude. Working in close proximity to other staff means that you need to be tolerant of other people’s beliefs and also work methods. Lastly, keep your illness to yourself and stay at home. Don’t come to work, if you’re sick. Spreading illness will not help you, your colleagues or the company you work for.
- open-plan / modern
- This answer means that you can have the word “open-plan” as your answer or the word “modern” as your answer. You can’t have both words. Also you can’t have the answer “open”
- You can’t write “open plan” as your answer as that is too words. There should be a hyphen between the words.
- privacy
- noise
- In the transcript you will see that the information about “ability to focus on work” is paraphrased as “distracting to others who need to concentrate on their work”. This is about noise levels.
- The topic of mess is before this and is not about focusing on work. But it is easy to get confused due to the words “too much…”.
- If you got this question wrong, read through the transcript and see how you made the mistake by focusing too much on words and less on meaning.
- tolerant
- You can’t have the answer “respectful” because that word is not given in the recording. Your answer must come from the recording – you can’t use synonyms as answers.
- You can’t have the word “friendly” as the answer. “Being friendly of other people’s beliefs” has not meaning in English and is grammatically incorrect. Your answer must make sense and be grammatically correct.
- sick
- You can’t have the word “ill” or “unwell” because that word was not used in the recording.
- The word “illness” was in the recording but it grammatically incorrect to use in this sentence and is an incorrect answer.
I hope you found this lesson useful.
Liz
If you would like more listening exercises, see my main listening page: IELTS Listening Lessons & Tips
Main IELTS Pages
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- IELTS Listening
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Answers to Yesterday’s TFNG Reading
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The answers to yesterday’s TFNG reading lesson are now available.
I’ve posted them on the lesson page.
Please visit the lesson page to see the answers: Yesterday’s TFNG reading lesson
Message from Liz:
I hope you did well 🙂 If you didn’t get them correct, I hope you will understand why when you read the answers and explanation. IELTS is all about learning and improving your technique 🙂
Liz
IELTS Reading Practice: Google’s Self Drive Car
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This is a practice lesson for TFNG questions in IELTS reading.
Google’s Self Driving Car
Google has finally built its own car from scratch. And it looks similar to a gondola with wheels. The two-seater prototype vehicle is Google’s idea of what the modern automobile should look and feel like if you took the human out of the transportation equation and designed something solely to chauffeur passengers from point A to B.
The car — which was conceived and designed by Google, unlike the ones it previously modified — lacks many of the trappings of a normal car, and that includes three of the most essential parts. It has no steering wheel, no accelerator pedal and no brake pedal. The company that designed the world’s simplest home page also decided to lose the mirrors, the backseat, the glove compartment and the stereo. What’s left are lots of sensors, and a transplant of the self-driving software system Google has built to use on the Toyota Priuses and Lexus SUVs it has trained to drive on highways and city streets over the past five years.
Passage from recode.net
Questions 1-3
Decide if the statements below are true, false or not given according to the information in the passage above.
- The Italian gondola was used as a design model for the new car.
- The new car is aimed at transporting passengers from one place to another using a chauffeur.
- The new car has more features than the modern car.
Answers
Click below to reveal the answers
Answers- Not Given
- There is no mention of what Google used as a design model. It does mention that it likes like a gondola but not that this was a design model. So, the answer is NG.
- False
- The answer comes from “designed something solely to chauffeur passengers from point A to B“. The questions says “The new car is aimed at transporting passengers from one place to another…” this part of the sentence is the same as the passage. The word “chauffer” in the passage is a verb = to transport. So, this part of the sentence is correct.
- However, the second part of the question sentence “using a chauffer” is wrong. In the question statement, the word “chauffeur” is a noun and it means a person who is paid to drive the car. The passage clearly contradicts this because the new car has no human driver. Therefore the answer is FALSE.
- This question is really testing your vocabulary. Do you know the difference between “chauffer” and “chauffeur” = one is a verb = transport / one is a noun = a person who is a paid driver
- A false answer means that part of the question statement is contradicted in the passage. The passage shows that it the statement is written incorrectly.
- NG
- The passage says that the new car doesn’t have many of the features of the modern car – steering wheel, mirror etc. The passage also says that the new car has many new features such as a lot of new sensors and new software. But the passage does not compare the number of features. The passage does not clearly state that the new car has more features than the modern car. There is plenty of information about the features but no clear comparison of the number of features. This means the answer is NG
- Always look out for comparison statements in TFNG questions.
More Reading Practice for IELTS
You can find more reading practice and tips on the main reading page: IELTS Reading Lessons & Tips
If you want to learn IELTS writing task 2 or speaking etc, just visit the main pages of this website through the red bar at the top of each page.
Answers to paraphrasing practice 2
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Yesterday I asked you to choose words in order to paraphrase the paragraph below. If you didn’t see the lesson, please check it before you see the answers: Paraphrasing Practice Exercise 2
It is sometimes thought that it is beneficial for companies to sponsor sports events through advertising. By doing this, extra funding, which is often lacking, can be raised to support sports events and ensure that they continue to run. Furthermore, companies can also contribute clothing or equipment which supports the event, teams and players.
Answers
Below you will find two answers; two paragraphs and a list of changes. The first answer is for the yesterday’s lesson. The second answer is a free paraphrasing example to show you how this paragraph can be altered further.
Answer 1: Some people believe that it is advantageous for business to sponsor sports events through advertisements. In this way, extra funding, which is often in short supply, can be raised to support sports events and ensure they continue to run. Furthermore, companies can also contribute clothing or equipment which supports the event, team and players.
Word Changes and Tips
- It is sometimes thought that = Some people believe that
- it is beneficial = it is advantageous
- companies = businesses (you should not paraphrase companies as industries)
- By doing this = In this way (you should not write “When we”, it is too informal for an IELTS essay)
- extra funding should not be paraphrased as extra cash (it is too informal in this context. Although, the word “cash” can be used in other situations, such as talking about using cash or cards)
- is often lacking = in short supply (you should not paraphrase it as “a lack of” because it is grammatically incorrect)
- sports events – it’s best not to paraphrase this. The words “sports occasion” is incorrect in meaning. Not all words can be paraphrased. But you can give examples of sports events instead. Some words will be repeated in English.
- Furthermore can’t be paraphrased as And. The reason is that “and” never goes at the start of a sentence in a formal essay.
- clothing should not be paraphrased as attire in this context. Certainly the meaning is similar but the word attire does not relate to sports wear. The word “sports wear” is the best paraphrase to use.
- players should not be paraphrased as “performers”. The word “performers” is not used in sport in this context.
Free Paraphrasing
Answer 2: Some people think it is advantageous for sports companies to use advertising to sponsor sports events, such as football matches or the Olympics. The extra funding from businesses is frequently much needed, as government funding can be limited. Sports events benefit from the extra finances as the money allows them to continue running and also, at times, provides teams and players with free sports wear or equipment, which are often too costly for them to buy.
IELTS Writing Task 2 Paraphrasing Practice 2
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Paraphrasing Practice Exercise 2
The aim of this lesson is paraphrase the paragraph by using the words given below. This is a great practice for IELTS writing task 2. It is all about choosing the right words. The paragraph below is based on a writing task 2 topic that has been reported this month, May 2017: Companies Sponsoring Sports Events.
This is the second paraphrasing practice exercise for writing task 2. If you want to see the first one, click here: Paraphrasing Practice Exercise 1
Paragraph:
Paraphrase the words in this paragraph using the words in the box below. Only paraphrase a word if you are sure it is appropriate to do so.
It is sometimes thought that it is beneficial for companies to sponsor sports events through advertising. By doing this, extra funding, which is often lacking, can be raised to support sports events and ensure that they continue to run. Furthermore, companies can also contribute clothing or equipment which supports the event, teams and players.
Paraphrasing Options:
You must write the paragraph above again by paraphrasing it using the words below. You do not need to use all the words. You must decide which words to use and which words not to use.
some citizens believe / some people believe / advantage / good / advantageous / industries / businesses / sporting occasions / matches / when we do this / in this way / extra cash / a lack of / in short supply / sports matches / And / industries / businesses / give / donate / attire / groups / performers / coordinate
Answers :
You can now view the answers: Answers to this lesson
Answer to yesterday’s lesson
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Yesterday I posted a lesson about how to write your answers for listening and reading. Make sure you complete the lesson before checking the answers: How to write Answer for Listening & Reading
Answers
- a (the $ sign is already given so you don’t need to repeat it.)
- a ( you can’t paraphrase the answer in listening or reading. You must write the exact word from the passage. The word “access” isn’t in the passage and would be marked wrong.
- d (you can write the time in any way as long as it is clear to read. You can also write it in words if the word count allows)
- For question 3, I want you to pay attention to the instructions. The instructions do not say “no more than three words and/or a number”. The word number is plural = numbers. It is essential that you notice if you can have one number or more than one number. However, for the answer to this question the times given are actually counted as one number anyway – so no problem.
I hope you found that lesson useful 🙂
IELTS Reading Skills: Keywords Practice
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Keywords can help you locate answers in IELTS reading. Try this lesson and see if it helps you.
Can you see the keywords in the question that help you spot the answer in the passage?
Alexander Fleming and Penicillin
Alexander Fleming was born in Ayrshire on 6 August 1881, the son of a farmer. He moved to London at the age of 13 and later trained as a doctor. In 1928, while studying influenza, Fleming noticed that mould had developed accidentally on a set of culture dishes being used to grow the staphylococci germ. The mould had created a bacteria-free circle around itself. Fleming experimented further and decided to call the active substance penicillin. It was two other scientists however, Australian Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, a refugee from Nazi Germany, who developed penicillin further so that it could be produced as a drug. They decided to unravel the science beneath what Fleming called penicillium’s ”antibacterial action.” At first supplies of penicillin were very limited, but by the 1940s it was being mass-produced by the American drugs industry. In the war, penicillin proved its mettle. Throughout history, the major killer in wars had been infection rather than battle injuries. In World War I, the death rate from bacterial pneumonia was 18 percent; in World War II, it fell, to less than 1 percent.
Notice: This passage is from BBC History. You can read the full article on this page: BBC History Alexander Fleming
Questions
You have 2 tasks in this lesson. a) tell me the keywords in the question. b) tell me the answer to the questions (using no more than one word).
- Where did Fleming study medicine? (tell me the keywords and answer)
- What was Fleming studying when he realised that mould grew on a set of culture dishes? (tell me the keywords and answer)
- Who gave penicillin its name? (tell me the keywords and answer)
- When did penicillin show it’s true worth?
- What was responsible for most deaths in war prior to this discovery?
Quote from Fleming: “When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did.“.
Answers
Click below to reveal the answers:
Answers- keywords:
- where – this shows you are looking for a name of a place. So, you should scan the passage for a place name.
- other key words are: study medicine – this is paraphrased as “training to be a doctor”. Always be ready for keywords to be paraphrased.
- Answer to question: London
- keywords
- what – this key words shows the answer must be a noun.
- studying – this keyword usually signifies a subject, but in this case it signifies a type of illness.
- culture dishes – VERY useful key words to locate the answer in the passage. These types of words can’t be paraphrased so you can find them easily and quickly.
- Answer to question: influenza
- keywords
- who: this shows you are looking for a name or names.
- other key word: name – this is paraphrased as “call” in the passage.
- “penicillin” is not a keyword. This is because the passage is about penicillin so this word will be used very often in the passage and might not help you locate the answer.
- Answer to question: Fleming
- keywords
- when: this often means you need to look for a date, but in this case, it is a time period. Always be aware of that with this particular keyword.
- it’s worth. This is a high band score test question. The paraphrase is “proved its mettle”.
- Answer to question: war
- keywords
- what: you are looking for a noun.
- deaths – this is paraphrased as “killer”. Remember, this is not a direct paraphrase, but the meaning is similar and that is all you are looking for to locate the area of the passage where the answer lies.
- responsible – you now need to find a cause of death.
- prior – this is not paraphrased as a word. However, you can find the meaning in the grammar tense “had been” which refers to something in a period in the past which is no more.
- Answer to question: infection
You can see that keywords are vitally important to find answers. But be careful as some keywords can be paraphrased so be prepared for that.
I hope you found this lesson useful 🙂
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