IELTS Basic - Listening - Lesson 5
1. C
W OK... um, his name's Mahmoud Kaboor and he's a film. maker in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
M Sounds good.
W Yes. He's the managing director of a very big film company.
M So what made him successful?
W Apparently his uncle was a film student and because of that, he started making short films when he was only 16.
M That's quite young... and were they good?
W Yup. He won a scholarship to go to Canada and study film, and that's how his career developed.
M Great.
2. A
M Um here's one of my suggestions. She was a ballet dancer born in St Petersburg in Russia in 1881.
W Anna Pavlova. OK - why have you picked her?
M Well, firstly, because her parents weren't wealthy - they were very poor, in fact and yet she still went to the School of Imperial Ballet at ten years of age.
W That's so young! Was she very talented?
M Yes, she was, but she didn't follow the rules of ballet. She was very individual and did things that were different from other ballerinas at the time.
W Ah- and that's what made her stand out...
3. E
W OK. I've got another woman - Marie Curie.
M She's very famous. Wasn't she Polish?
W Yeah, born in 1867, but did you know that she was the first women professor at the University of Paris and the first women to win a Nobel prize?
M Yes amazing!
W There were many brilliant scientists around when she was working.
M So why did she do better?
W Other scientists couldn't get ahead of her because she sensibly published her ideas straight away.
4. D
M This is an African-American guy who worked as a chef in the 1850s. His name was George Crum.
W Did he make a famous dish or something?
M Not exactly- but without him, we wouldn't have the potato chip. Or crisps, as the British call them.
M Yeah. Apparently, he had a customer who was annoyed because his French fries were too fat and soft. So he sliced a new potato as thinly as he could and fried it until it was hard and crunchy. Added lots of salt...
W... and a new snack was created.
5 & 6. B, E
Keywords: criteria, choose, successful person
W Well, why don't we agree on some criteria that will help us?
…
W Yeah except I'm not sure how old they all were! Um. what about choosing a woman....
M Is it fair to select someone because of their gender? And look at celebrities - there are lots of women.
W But it was different in the past.
M Oh, I see. Yeah, OK, let's pick a woman. ⇒ gender
…
W No... so we should pick someone who's done something great on an international level. ⇒ global importance
7 & 8. B, C
Keywords: students agree, do before, meet again
So what do we need to do before we meet again?
…
W OK so before we meet again, let's both find out as much as we can. It's always better to have too much information. ⇒ conduct more research
M Yeah, you're right. What about pictures? ⇒ find photographs
W Yeah I don't even know what this person looks like!
M OK well, we might get some from the library - but I can look on the Internet as well.
9 & 10. C, D
Keywords: students agree, linked to success
W Yes it's made me think about success and what it really means.
M It isn't about money, is it?
W No- and you don't have to be experienced to achieve it. It can just be luck.
M But perhaps in most cases you need to have some natural ability. ⇒ talent
W Yeah I agree. And I also think you do have to work hard and be determined. ⇒ effort
M Yeah - and really want to succeed.
W No matter where you are or what you've done before.
1. B
Keywords: is, local
BRYSON: Well, Amina, thanks for letting me have your draft in such good time. AMINA: Oh, that’s alright. I was just very anxious to hear what you think of it. You can see that I decided to change the topic - I had been interested in looking at Barings Factory. BRYSON: Oh, I think the hospital was a much better choice. In fact... well... I have to say that I thought it was good.
2. C
Keywords: particularly liked
BRYSON: But there’s plenty of good ideas. It opens well and the first chapter is fine but the middle section really stood out for me ... most interesting.
3. C
Keywords: surprised, because
AMINA: That’s amazing because I really didn’t find it a bit easy to write
Note to Teachers: Explain to students that these questions are a little outdated since option A is not used. In this case, all three options should be used. (Also, since C is used twice, the instruction should have had the line N.B. You can use any letter more than once.)
4. C
BRYSON: Now, this information on local housing ... I can see why you put it there but it really isn’t relevant to the approach you’ve taken.
5. B
BRYSON: what did I say about the interviews? AMINA: I worked very hard on those. I really thought they were valuable. BRYSON: They are, Amina, but they’re very complex and rather unclear at the moment. You’re going to have to spend a bit of time making the data a lot clearer.
6. C
AMINA: What about the chronology ... the list of dates? I wasn’t sure whether I should rewrite those. BRYSON: My advice on that is to take them out.
1. F
there's a professor at Nottingham University, a guy called Richard Tunney, and he suggests that the more close friends we have, the happier we are. And if you see these friends regularly, go out with them and so on, well, that's even better.
2. C
The next one is a bit more interesting, though. Martin Seligman, …he did was tell half his students to take part in fun activities, like playing video games or going to the cinema, and the other half to do good things, like visiting elderly people at a care home, or some other kind of voluntary work. And it was those students who reported a more lasting feeling of happiness.
3. A
Then there's George Vaillant, … the thing that really makes people happy is having something to aim for, you know, a goal in the future…but Vaillant has a warning here. You need to be realistic. It's no good setting yourself impossible goals, because, well...
4. E
Melanie Hodgson…claims that people are happier when they're getting ready to go on holiday…the things you do leading up to it. Deciding what you're going to take with you, what you're going to see and do, packing your case, that kind of thing.
5 & 6. B, C
Keywords: Amy, personality tests
Amy: I've also found one of those personality tests on the Internet. You know, answer these questions to find out how happy you are. Oh, those. They're a bit of a waste of time, aren't they? I did one on 'How healthy are you?' and the results were completely wrong.
M: But they're quite good fun though, aren't they?
A: Well, yes, especially if you do them with friends.
7 & 8. A, D
Keywords: Amy happy
M: OK, I take your point. So what makes you happy?
A: Oh, I don't know. Spending time with people I know and like, I guess. I need people around me.
A: That doesn't really bother me. I grew up in a big family, so I'm used to someone always being in the room. If I wanted to be alone, to get away from people, I had to go out for a walk or something. I still do that occasionally. In fact, that's one thing that makes me happy. A long walk in the countryside.
9 & 10. A, E
Keywords: Matt, do next
A: OK, so you'll be off to the library, then?
M: I would if I knew I could find something useful, but you know how disorganised it is there. It's impossible to find what you want, especially when it comes to psychology books.
A: Oh, I know.
M: No, give me a computer and the Internet any day.
A: Well, good luck with that. If you get bored and want a break, you know where to find me.
M: Thanks, but if I don't get this done, I'll be in trouble.
A: Why don't you email Tony? He did a similar assignment last year, so he might have a few suggestions.
M: That's a good idea.
1. C
Keywords: get work experience, South America
W: I've been reading your personal statement, Paul. First, let's talk about your work experience in South America. What took you there? Was it to gain more fluency in Spanish?
P: Well, as I'm combining Spanish with Latin American studies, my main idea was to find out more about the way people lived there. My spoken Spanish was already pretty good in fact.
2. C
Keywords: originally intend
W: What kind of work?
P: Well, there were several possibilities.
W: You mean construction? Engineering work?
P: Yes, getting involved in building projects was an option. Then there was tourism - taking tourists for walks around the volcanoes - which I actually chose to do, and then there was work with local farmers.
3. A
Keywords: why, change
W: But you I didn't continue with that project. Why not?
P: Because I never really knew whether I'd be needed or not. I'd thought it might be difficult physically, but I was certainly fit enough... no, I wanted to do something that had more of a proper structure to it, I suppose. I get de-motivated otherwise.
4. B
Keywords: how important
P: Yes, but it was difficult at first to be accepted by the locals. It was a very remote village and some of them were reluctant to speak to me - although they were always interested in my clothes and how much I'd had to pay for them.
W: Well, that's understandable.
P: Yes, but things soon improved. What struck me was that when people became more comfortable with me and less suspicious, we really connected with each other in a meaningful way.
5. C
Keywords: manager
W: What about management. Did you have a project manager?
P: Yes and he gave me lots of advice and guidance.
6. A
Keywords: surprised, given
W: And did anything on the administration side of things surprise you? What was the food and lodging like?
P: Simple... but there was plenty to eat and I only paid seven dollars a day for that which was amazing really. And they gave me all the equipment I needed... even a laptop.
7. C
W: The first one here is Gender Studies in Latin America. It looks at how gender analysis is reconfiguring civil society in Latin America. Women are increasingly occupying positions in government and in other elected leadership positions in Latin America. I think you'd find iT interesting.
P: If it was to do with people in the villages rather than those in the public sphere, I would.
8. A
W: What about Second Language Acquisition?
P: Do you think I'd find that useful?
W: Well, you've had some practical experience in the field, I think it would be.
P: I hadn't thought about that. I'll put that down as a definite, then.
9. B
W: What about Indigenous Women's Lives. That sounds appropriate.
P: I thought so too, but I looked at last year's exam questions and that changed my mind.
W: Don't judge the value of the course on that. Maybe, talk to some other students first and we can talk about it again later.
P: Okay.
10. C
W: will you sign up for Portuguese lessons?
P: My Spanish is good, so would I find that module easy?
W: Not necessarily. Some people find that Spanish interferes with learning Portuguese... getting the accent right too. It's quite different in a lot of ways.
P: Well, I'd much sooner do something else, then.