YouTube Transcript:
Get Band 9 After Using These Listening Tips

you've just found the Ultimate Guide to
IELTS listening this is the longest most
detailed most comprehensive guide to
IELTS listening on the internet it will
help you succeed by helping you
understand the test format tips and
strategies that only ban nine students
really understand we're also going to
show you where to find real IELTS
listing practice tests for free and how
to use those practice tests to
constantly improve your score to a band
9. and at the end we're also going to
give you one of our VIP IELTS listening
practice tests for free so all you have
to do is sit back watch this video and
get the score that you need for IELTS
listening
let's start off by talking about the
IELTS listening test format because bar
9 students understand things about the
format of the test and then adapt their
preparation to match that format the
IELTS listening test is the same for
General training and academic and band 9
students understand this and what they
do is they use a range of different
sources to practice with both academic
and general social situations to listen
to they expose themselves to all of
these different inputs which means that
on test day they are totally comfortable
with what they hear on test day you're
going to have to answer 40 questions and
the goal is to answer 40 out of 40
correctly so you need to understand the
test format so part one part two part
three part four as you go along these
four parts they progressively get more
and more difficult online students
understand this and what they do to
combat this is they will spend a lot
more time during the preparation on
Parts three and four because Parts three
and four really separate out the band
sevens from the band eights from the
band nines now normally band eight band
nine students are getting a hundred
percent of their answers correct in part
one and part two and then they really
focus their preparation on part three
and part four in order to feel a hundred
percent comfortable and know that
they're going to do well on test day and
band 9 students also understand the
different styles of listening script
that they're going to hear on test Day
part one part two part three and part
four are all different so let's look at
each of those parts part one is going to
be in a general or social setting with
more than one speaker normally two
speakers and often this will be someone
phoning someone else and then form
filling or taking down information such
as taking down a telephone number or a
license plate number or an address now
this is quite an unusual way to listen
to English in normal situations we are
not normally listening to someone
writing down a telephone number so the
best way to prepare for this and
practice this is actually use the
official listening test that you get
from Cambridge and I'll show you where
to find those for free later on in this
video but if you want to really nail
part one practice those get used to
those practice tests in part one and you
should be absolutely fine part two gets
a little bit more difficult on the
listening test this is where you are
again listening to a social or a general
situation but only one person is talking
at this time so this could be someone to
talking about their holiday or reviewing
a book or something like that so what
successful students do is they listen to
this type of social situation with one
person talking when they're practicing
their listening examples of this could
be a podcast where someone is just
talking by themselves on the podcast
they are excellent for practicing your
listening skills or there are many many
YouTube channels like this one where
there's one person talking to camera and
again this is great practice what I
would recommend doing is pick something
that you love pick a YouTube channel
that you love not a IELTS Channel
because IELTS is pretty boring or a
podcast that you love think of something
you enjoy listening to and when you are
on the bus or on your way to work or on
your lunch break you can just listen to
this and you are improving your ability
to do part two of the listening test
part 3 gets a little bit more difficult
again the context switches to an
academic context but don't worry you
don't have to be an academic person you
don't have to be at University studying
a very academic subject to do well in
this part remember academic and general
training exactly the same for the
listening test the key here for part
three of the listening test is you're
going to have to listen to multiple
people speaking at the same time so
where can you find that successful
students usually listen to podcasts so
there are lots and lots and lots of
podcasts out there where they will
invite guests on so two three four
guests and they will all debate a topic
again what I would recommend doing is
find a podcast either on your podcast
app or on YouTube where you have
multiple people discussing an academic
topic this could be history or science
or health anything that you are mildly
and interested in and really what you're
trying to do is differentiate between
the different accents the way that
people interject the way that people
show their opinion the way that people
agree with one another or disagree with
one another that's what you should be
thinking about when you're practicing
for part three of the listening test
part four is the most difficult part it
is an academic context and there is just
one person talking normally this will be
an academic lecture like someone giving
a lecture at a university a great way to
practice this is through TED Talks go on
to ted.com or go to their YouTube
channel and find some TED Talks that you
enjoy listening to that you think might
benefit you or you're just interested in
them and try and listen to how the
person gets their points across how they
stage what they're saying they are
probably going to use words like first
or firstly we're going to talk about
this and then we're going to talk about
that think about how they use this type
of language to make what they are
talking about clearer to you the
listener so now that we know what each
part comprises of and we know what's
going to come up in each part of the
listening test we need to now I think
about the types of questions that will
come up on the listening test because if
you know the context how many people are
talking in each part and you're
comfortable using the different types of
questions then you will be in a very
very good position to get a band 8 or
band 9 on test day because you know
exactly what is coming up you're not
stressed and you're going to feel very
comfortable and just listen get the
answer write it down and get the score
that you need now the most important
thing when it comes to the different
types of questions is to understand that
there are many different there are more
than 10 different types of listening
question that you might get for example
you might get a multiple choice question
you might get summary completion or you
might get labeling a map or filling in
information the key thing to remember
here is that they are asking you a
variety of different questions to test a
variety of different listening skills
therefore the biggest thing that you
should not do is just go into the test
and have one strategy for all the
different types of questions because
they're all very very different so what
we're going to do in this video later on
we're going to give you strategies for
all of the different types of questions
right now all you need to know is that
there are different types of questions
that require different strategies later
on in the video we're going to give you
those but keep watching because there's
some really important information coming
you will have to listen to the IELTS
listening test for 30 minutes this is
really crucial should understand because
many people for the first time in their
lives are listening to 30 minutes of
English continuously on test day you do
not want the first time that you ever
continuously focus on Listening to
English for 30 minutes you don't want
that to be test day many students that
we work with have great listening skills
but they lack the stamina the focus to
listen continuously for 30 minutes so
what can you do about that you need to
get used to listening and focusing on
what you're listening to for long
periods of time but what you should not
do is just on day one get some practice
tests try and listen for 30 minutes and
then what will happen is after five or
ten minutes you'll lose focus and then
you'll beat yourself up you'll be like
Oh I'm terrible I'm going to fail don't
do that all right imagine you are
running a marathon Race all right how
long is a marathon Race I don't know
exactly let's say it is 25 miles on day
one you don't go and try and run 25
miles you might run five miles then
eight miles then 12 then 16 then 20 and
then eventually you get to 25 you should
do the exact same thing when you're
preparing for the test what I would do
is get a little clock like this you know
put five minutes on and do some practice
tests or listen to a podcast or a TED
talk and be completely focused on that
actually listen to what the person is
saying and then the next day try and go
to seven minutes or ten minutes and then
the next day 12 minutes or 15 minutes
listening is just like a muscle you need
to build that up over time all right and
if you do that over the course of a few
weeks you will be able to 100 Focus for
30 minutes and that's what we need if we
want to buy nine if we miss one question
or two questions or three questions then
it's unlikely we're going to get that
score you need to be able to focus
completely for 30 minutes another common
reason why students don't do so well and
don't get a Band-Aid or about a nine is
because they're not used to listening to
recordings in English once on test day
you will only hear the listening once is
this because
Cambridge are horrible people and they
want you to fail no what are they doing
they are recreating real life in real
life if you go to university the
university lecturer is not going to
repeat themselves multiple times if you
get a job and someone asks you to do
something they're not going to repeat it
multiple times if you are at an airport
and you hear you know information about
your flight they won't do it five times
because you don't know what they are
actually saying many English teachers
spoil their students most English
teachers want their students to like
them so what they do is they'll play
recordings two three four times this is
like a mother or father spoiling their
child they want them to do well but they
need to get a little harsher in order to
get the child to actually perform and
not be spoiled that's exactly what you
need to get used to when you're
practicing when you're listening to
podcasts when you're listening to you
YouTube when you're practicing your
listening try to get used to listening
to things once and thinking about the
answer and what they said once then
after that you can check your answer you
can listen back but don't make it the
very first time on test day that you are
listening to things once because you
will get a very low score right these
are very very important headphones on
test day you will either be given a pair
of headphones like this or you will be
played the recording from a large
speaker in a room what I would recommend
doing is try to book the computer-based
test because on the computer-based test
you're going to be in a smaller room
with fewer people and you are going to
have headphones you're guaranteed to
have headphones on the computer-based
test I've done both both the paper-based
test on the computer-based test and
headphones dramatically improve your
focus so not so much it makes the test
easier it just makes it easier to hear
and it is a listening test so that does
improve your score if you live in a part
of the world that doesn't have computer
delivered IELTS tests and you must do a
paper-based test
try to choose the test center that is
going to have the best audio quality
available so what you can do is you know
when you're booking your test with IDP
or the British console whoever it is ask
them about the quality of the audio tell
them that you're worried about that and
if on test day and this does happen they
either you know give you a terrible set
of headphones or the recording is just
terrible quality or you're in a big room
full of people and you can't hear it
complain on test day if you do not
complain on test day it doesn't matter
you would not believe the number of
students that email us IELTS advantage
and say we had a problem with the audio
what can I do I don't know I'm not the
British console I'm not IDP you are
paying money to IDP you're paying money
to the British Council they don't
provide you with a good enough service
complain to them on test a big
difference between the reading test and
the listening test is with the reading
test you can manage your own time you
can go at your own pace but with the
listening test because you're listening
to a recording you must go at the pace
of the actual listening script this
means that there are no such thing as
time management tips or time management
strategies that are going to help you
I've worked with hundreds of bar nine
students who've got about nine on the
listening test and none of them deployed
any sort of time management techniques
or strategies on test day when it came
to the listening test what they did was
they became better at listening they
improved their listening skills they
became more aware of the different types
of listening question and they perfected
their strategy for each different type
of question if you do that then you will
not get lost you don't really need any
time management tips and that's what
we're going to help you with in the rest
of this video finally I have some good
news about the IELTS listening test when
you're listening to the people talking
in the IELTS listening test that is a
very unusual way of talking kind of like
I am talking to you right now I am
focusing on being as clear and as slow
as possible and that's what most of the
IELTS listening test is like it is not
like listening to real native English
speakers speaking to one another but
what I would recommend doing is not just
practice the IELTS listening test that
is important but it is kind of a easy
form of IELTS listening what I would do
is expose yourself to how real native
English speakers actually speak to one
another again using real forms of
English like podcast for example and
then that is going to give you a huge
Advantage because there's a saying you
know train hard fight easy it comes from
the Army all right when you are training
hard when you're listening to more
difficult English the IELTS listening
test will be really really easy so most
of the band 9 students that I work with
they are listening to native English
speakers talk all the time and that
makes the listening test very very easy
for them okay so now we know the format
of the test let's think about the
different tips and tricks that you can
use on test day to improve your IELTS
listing score tip number one for the
IELTS listening test is read the
instructions carefully especially when
it comes to word cont when you look at
the questions it might say something
like write only one word or write no
more than two words and or a number
often students get very confused about
this so let's show you exactly what this
means first of all every word counts so
even prepositions even articles they all
can't so for example airport that's one
word the airport that is two words at
the airport that is three words the only
exception to this are hyphenated words
such as X examiner that is one word so
if you see a hyphenated word that counts
as one all other words count as one okay
so I've created a nice little table for
you and you can just memorize this table
if you get confused on test day and use
it during your preparation so that it
becomes natural and second nature to you
and you don't even have to think about
it on test day so the instruction says
write one word a correct answer would be
for example airport because it's telling
you to write one word but if you wrote
the airport or air port two different
words that would be wrong so if the
instruction was write one word and or a
number Terminal 2 would be correct
because that is one word
the number also the number two would
also be correct there because it is one
word or a number in Terminal 2 would be
wrong because that is more than one word
and a number an airport terminal two
that would also be incorrect because
that is two words and a number so if the
instruction was write no more than two
words and or a number
Terminal 2 would be correct
2 would be correct and Heathrow Terminal
2 would also be correct because they are
all no more than two words and or a
number incorrect would be Heathrow
Airport Terminal 2 because that is more
than two words that is three words and a
number write no more than three words
outside Heathrow arrivals that is three
words so that would be correct outside
Heathrow arrivals tomorrow that is
incorrect because that is more than
three words now that might sound
confusing right now often students do
find that confusing the best way to do
that is just through practice all right
so when you're practicing and you see
some instructions like that be very
careful and think about it and you'll
get used to it like anything else don't
just look at that table and think that's
very confusing I won't be able to use it
you will if you practice it my next tip
is to try and and do the computer-based
listening test I have done both and I've
spoken to many many students that have
done both and they find the
computer-based test easier for many
different reasons now first of all it is
not going to dramatically improve your
score you're still doing the same test
but there are some practical
considerations that do make it a little
bit easier so first of all you have to
write less so because it is on a
computer screen for example it might be
multiple choice you just have to click a
b or c or there will be a drop down menu
where you will be able to pick the
correct option that is a lot less time
consuming and you just have to think a
lot less and you're reducing the number
of different things that you're doing at
the same time and that just makes it
practically easier a lot of students
have also commented that in the
paper-based test they constantly have to
you know be look looking up and looking
down and thinking about what they're
doing whereas it is far more natural for
them to be listening looking at a
computer screen I'm picking the correct
answers I don't know why but I agree
with these students I think it is just a
lot easier you're doing fewer things on
test day again that's what I think and
that's what a lot of students who got
about nine have said we've already
talked about this in the format part of
this video but because you have
headphones it is often a lot easier to
hear what the person is saying and it's
a listening test at the end of the day
the better you're able to listen to what
is being said the higher your score is
going to be also a lot of students have
just said that it's less stressful doing
the computer-based test because there
are fewer people in the room when I did
the test I think there were about seven
or eight people compare that with some
of the huge test centers where you know
there's 50 to 100 people all doing the
test at the same time in a big room some
people find that extremely stressful and
anything that causes stress is normally
going to lower your score and there are
other advantages to the computer-based
test which you will mention again later
in this video so the next one is if you
are doing the paper-based test use a
pencil all right because often they will
play tricks on you they will have traps
in there and you will have to change
your answer so what I would recommend
doing is use a pencil so that you can
easily change your answer again you
speed is very very important you're
going to have to go on to the next
question and you don't want to be
panicking and going oh how do I delete
this the fewer things that you think
about on test day the higher your score
is going to be probably the most common
question that we get asked is can I
write all in capitals and my answer is
very different from most of the teachers
that I see online so most of the
teachers will give you a yes or no
answer if you you actually go and search
on the internet there are very different
views on this and it's very difficult to
find the correct information on this and
what happens on test day is students
overthink this and again the more you
think the lower your score is going to
be you want all of your brain power
think of your brain as a computer or
think of your brain as a battery
everything that you think about drains
that battery so if you're going into the
test thinking should I use capital
letters or not capital letters or you
know should I put a capital at the
beginning of them it's draining your
battery and you're not going to spend
the time actually just listening and
getting the correct answer so make one
decision that will remove all other
decisions and that one decision is just
write all in capitals if you do that you
don't have to worry about it and then
you can focus on getting the score that
you need the next tip is about spelling
spelling is very very very important a
huge number of students that I've worked
with had great listening skills great
strategy they were ready to get about
nine but because they were spelling a
few words incorrectly they were getting
a lower score so here's a system that we
give our students number one when you
are practicing be very honest with
yourselves when you're giving yourself a
correct answer or an incorrect answer if
you spelled one letter wrong that is
completely wrong what a lot of students
do is they go very easy on themselves
and they say oh I spelled it incorrectly
but I'll give myself a tick I'll give
myself a correct answer I'll spell it
correctly on test day you probably won't
so be very honest with yourself secondly
look at all of your spelling mistakes
all the questions that you you got wrong
because of spelling and put those words
into a document set up a Google doc or
whatever you want on your phone or your
computer and call it spelling mistakes
you can do this with writing as well if
you're consistently making writing
spelling mistakes put those into your
dock so you'll have a document with all
the words that you spelled incorrectly
then what you do is you show the correct
spelling beside it and then you know
once a week or once a month you review
those you cover up the ones that are
correct and you try to spell those words
correctly over time you will notice
common words that you always spell
incorrectly and then you will remove
those spelling mistakes and improve your
ability to spell these words correctly
my next tip is probably the most
important one but the one that sounds
really obvious and not very useful your
job is to find the correct answer how is
that useful well your job is not to
understand every single word and
understand everything that is going on
in the listening test many many students
will do a listening practice test and
especially in part three and part four
there will be words or phrases or maybe
a whole sentence that you don't
understand and they will panic and
they'll think I don't understand this
and then they'll get all these questions
wrong again stress is your enemy you do
not want to be very stressed out and you
don't want to be second guessing
yourself you don't want to have very low
confidence just because you don't
understand certain words right I'm a
native English speaker I am an IELTS
teacher from time to time I will listen
to IELTS listening tests and there will
be a few words in there that I don't
understand the English language is huge
there are professors of English at
Cambridge University that will not know
some words in the IELTS listing test it
is not your job to understand every
single word it is your job to get the
correct answers so if you hear a word
you don't understand you can do two
things number one ignore it is it
essential that you understand that word
is it essential for helping you answer
the question if it's not forget about it
or number two you can guess the meaning
of that word from the context from the
words around it from the sentences
around it if it's crucial to help you
answer the question if you do that it
reduces stress and it improves your
vocabulary because you're going to
constantly be improving your vocabulary
by guessing the meaning of new words
guess what that is how you learn
languages and how you improve vocabulary
you hear words you don't understand you
guess what they mean you check it later
here and you have learned a new word so
when you hear a new word check back
later look at the script in the practice
test think about the meaning of that
word and then you're constantly
improving your vocabulary but if on test
day you do not understand something do
not panic the next tip that I have is
and I'm going to show you exactly what I
mean by looking at a real question is
prepare for the answers coming all right
if I did the test and I didn't prepare
for the answers coming and I'm going to
show you what that means in a second I
would not get up online what you want to
do is look at the questions and read
them before you hear the listening and
you will have time to do this and as you
practice with real practice tests you
will get used to this but let's go
through this question and think about
what we could do here and how that is
going to help us so the first thing that
we're going to do here is we're going to
think about the type of question that it
is so this is a sentence completion
question and they want one word only so
this is preparing your answers what type
of question is coming up and how many
words or letters or numbers are going to
have to be put in here the next read the
title the title is going to give you
context
this is going to help prepare your brain
for what is coming why do we have titles
in books why do we have titles in audio
books why do we have titles in anything
because it makes it easier for our
brains to digest something if we know
what is coming then there are different
subheadings here some 19th century
manufacturing transport retailing this
is going to help us understand where in
the listening we are it is going to help
or prevent us from getting lost then the
next thing that we can do is we can
think about the types of words that
might come up so for the first time
people's possessions were used to
measure Britain's blank so just by
looking at the sentence structure here
and thinking about the grammar this is
probably going to be a noun remember
it's only one word and then the next one
here developments in production of goods
and in so it's going to be something
similar to production of goods again
it's probably going to be a known and
when they are talking about production
of goods we know that the answer is
going to be in and around that area you
can also predict the answer that might
come up it's not always going to be
exactly what you predict but often the
case it is so for the first time
people's possessions were used to
measure Britain's wealth Prosperity GDP
so before you even listen to this you're
thinking of the types of answers that
might come up and that makes it much
easier to find the correct answer and I
actually checked the back of the book
and it is wealth and I haven't done this
test before so that shows you I promise
I didn't I'm not messing around
it was very very easy to predict that so
how do you develop that as a skill well
like any skill you practice it you
cannot just listen to that tip and then
do that for the first time on test day
you need to get used to every time that
you see a question preparing for it you
know what type of question is it how
many words or how many letters or how
many numbers am I going to put in there
what's a title what types of words might
come up predict the word that probably
will come up think about the staging
what will they be talking about when
they're talking about that answer and
that is really going to help you and
then on test day the band nine students
that I work with they don't even think
about those things they do them
naturally so the next tip is all about
Focus so we already talked about
listening to English for 30 minutes at a
time but let's talk about focus in a
little bit more detail because being
able to listen to something I'm being a
hundred percent focused on what you are
listening to are two different things
I'm sure that you have been listening to
your mother or your wife or your sister
or your brother or your husband or
whoever it is and they're talking and
you kind of lose focus on what they're
saying that sorry what they might get
annoyed with you a little bit for not
paying attention to them but as human
beings our brains do not 100 focus on
what we're reading or what we are
listening to you need to develop that as
a skill but the good news is is you can
develop it number one you've already
talked about that think about listening
and focus as a muscle so again get
yourself a timer focus on listening for
five minutes then the next day 10 then
15 then 20 and build it up as a muscle
the second thing is meditation
meditation is not only going to help you
with Focus but it's going to help you
with your mental health it's going to
help you with your general happiness and
it gives you a little bit of a break
when you're studying so often students
email us and tell us that you know their
test is next week or their test is in a
few days if that's the case you're
probably going to be studying and
practicing a lot a good way to break up
your practice sessions and your studying
sessions is to meditate there are many
many apps don't ask me which one there
are you know a huge number of apps that
you can use or if you know how to
meditate already do it for five or ten
minutes in between blocks of studying it
is going to improve your cognitive
ability your everything it is a very
very good practice to learn but it
definitely helps Focus another great way
to improve your focus is by reducing
stress on test day the number one reason
students get stressed is they don't
prepare enough they know that they're
going to fail or they might fail the
students that we work with on our VA
course that get a bond eight 8.59 they
normally go into the test and it's just
a normal day for them they don't feel
that much stress why because they are
100 prepared they have done so much
practice and learned all of these
strategies and practiced all of this to
the point where they know because they
have got a Band-Aid or about nine ten
times during real practice tests they
know all they have to do is just put
what they have learned into practice now
I'm not saying you have to join our VIP
course but do not do the test until you
are 100 ready you will know you're 100
ready by doing real practice tests under
exam conditions if you are consistently
getting the score that you need you're
not going to be that stressed but if you
need a band eight and you're constantly
getting 6.5 or 7
stop lying to yourself you're not
magically going to jump up and score on
test day it is better to delay your test
or console your test you know do it
later in the year wait a couple of
months and do it when you are totally
prepared that is going to mean that you
are not thinking about I'm going to fail
I'm going to fail you're just totally
focused on getting the score that you
need I've also worked with a lot of
students who couldn't focus and what we
did was reduce the number of
distractions in their lives
the big big distractions that we find
are number one social media we literally
got them to delete all social media from
their phones and we got them to install
bro you know browsers they couldn't
access Social Media Signs extreme but
you know these apps are designed to
steal your focus
another one is news and TV shows and
things like that especially the news we
have got students to just stop watching
the news because you don't want in the
back of your brain thinking about you
know who has bombed who or you know what
the stock market is doing or what
weather disaster happened this year
just eliminate all of that from your
life and you know when you combine those
two watching social media all day and
just getting news pumped into your brain
all day it's impossible to focus
another big distraction is people that
are draining people in your lives that
create more problems than they solve
people in your life that make their
problems your problems you don't want
those people in your life especially
when you're doing an IELTS test because
you know if you're a friend or your
loved one is having a huge issue in
their life and you have to fix it for
them you're not going to be able to
prepare for the test and you're not
going to be able to focus on test day
probably a good idea to cut those people
out for life you know but if you can't
do that sit down and explain to them
that you have a big test you need to
focus for a few weeks or a few months
and you know as a bonus they might leave
you alone entirely but social media news
and people with a lot of problems reduce
your focus so the next tip is focus on
the question that you're doing but think
about the next one coming up so what
does that mean so practically speaking
so for example this question the first
part of this question is about the 19th
century when they are talking about the
19th century you want to be totally
focused in on that part to get the
correct answer but you want to have part
of your brain thinking about main areas
of change manufacturing the Industrial
Revolution because when they start
talking about that that is your signal
that is the flag to move on to that part
and be totally focused on that part now
you might think that that's very
difficult and it is but let's think
about other areas of life where you do
that when you're driving a car you are
totally focused on the road in front of
you and maybe the car in front of you
but you're also at your periphery
thinking about what is coming in this
way what is coming in that way is that
kid going to you know ride their bike
right in front of me what's happening
behind me is someone going to Ramen
behind me if I break so you're 100
focused on the road in front of you but
you also have one part of your brain
thinking of other stuff you do this all
the time in normal life you need to
practice this before test Day by looking
at real questions and practicing this
technique it will feel strange and it
will feel difficult when you're doing it
but like anything else the more you
practice it the easier it becomes and
this is why practice doesn't make
perfect
perfect practice makes perfect when
you're practicing you're not just doing
tests that's what most students do they
just do tests do tests do tests they're
like why is my score not improving when
you are doing tests you are trying to
improve these things you're trying to
improve these techniques such as
preparing for the questions coming up
focusing on the question that you're
doing whilst thinking peripherally about
the question that is coming up the next
tip is you can get a question wrong and
still get about nine all right so you
can get up on nine and get one question
wrong why is this important
as I've said many many times
human brains are not perfect we're not
robots the robots have not replaced us
yet so you will lose focus from time to
time when I did the test the I got the
first question wrong I think so
the test was about to start and I was
looking out the window thinking about
what where I was going to go for a drink
after the test like I was not focused on
what I was doing and then the test began
and it was a license plate number and I
was like oh they're only going to say
this once and I've completely missed it
there are two things that you can do in
that situation eighty percent of
students if they missed the first
question would panic and think I'm going
to mess up my entire test uh let's just
let's just leave now let's just go to
the bar and get drunk now this is such a
stupid thing I'm stupid I'm going to
fail all my friends and family are going
to think that I'm dumb if you do that
you're pretty much guaranteeing that you
will fail to get the score that you need
what you should do instead is what I did
is just think that's fine I've got one
of them wrong but I need to focus for
the rest of them and get all of the rest
of them correct so if you get a question
that you either lose focus on or
especially in part four you might get a
question that is just really really
difficult don't beat yourself up and
don't obsess about this question guess
it put it down and then move on to the
next question the next tip for the
listening test is keep moving or you're
dead so I read a lot of books about
history especially military history and
the best people in the world are going
into a room and killing lots of bad guys
are the SAS the British Special Forces
they're amazing at going into rooms and
just killing everybody in there apart
from the hostages
and what they call the door
is the murder hole and their technique
is to move into the room get out of that
murder hole and just keep moving until
they are safe that is the exact same
technique that you need to use during
the listening test if you freeze in the
murder hole and you stop moving you stop
thinking about what you're doing you're
dead but if you keep moving and you keep
going and you keep thinking then you're
going to do very very well and you'll be
safe the next tip for the IELTS
listening test is always give an answer
even if you don't know so a lot of the
questions are going to be multiple
choice or you know choose a different
option even if you don't know you should
guess because you know if there's three
options you have a 33 and a third chance
of getting the right score now if we
want to buy nine we do not want to be
guessing you know most of the questions
we want to be answering them correctly
but even students that I've worked with
that have got about nine have made a
couple of guesses and still got about
nine so there is a strategy that you can
use that is going to help you give
educated guesses all right these are
strategic guesses they are guesses that
have a higher chance of getting the
correct score than just a third so the
first way that you can do this is
through elimination all right so let's
say for example you're doing this
question and you get stuck on question
23. in connection with modern
refrigerators both Annie and Jack are
worried about a the complexity of the
technology B the fact that some are
disposed of irresponsibly or C the large
number that quickly break down so let's
say they're talking about the technology
being very complicated and because of
this many of them break down but they're
not talking about how they are disposed
of and they're not talking about that at
all what you can do is you can eliminate
B and then make a guess is it going to
be a or c
now again you're only doing this with
questions that are very very difficult
or you lose focus or you get lost but
you've just increased your chances from
33 percent to 50 the next thing you can
do is prediction so if we look at this
example again for the first time
people's possessions were used to
measure Britain's wealth you can guess
from the context what the correct answer
is so even if you lost Focus let's say
you just started thinking you started
daydreaming about something while they
were talking about that I would write in
wealth it might be right it might be
wrong but if you write nothing you are
guaranteed a hundred percent that it's
wrong if you write in something at least
you have a chance the next tip is to use
the example recording to get used to the
voices get used to the accents and get
used to the question that they are
giving you so in some parts of the
listening test they will play an example
recording and they normally will be the
same people talking with the same accent
answering the same type of question so
for example it might be writing down a
telephone number so listen to that and
what it will do is not only will it help
you understand how to answer the
question it will help you tune in to
what the person signs like especially
their accent because sometimes the
accent can be quite unusual for you you
probably are not going to be able to
listen to every single English-speaking
accent in the world there are way too
many of them but if they do play this
example always carefully listen to it
because you wouldn't tune into the
accent especially if it is an unusual
accent the final tip is not to worry too
much about accents as I said before the
listening test is not like listening to
real native English speakers talk to
each other if you went into my local
coffee shop or my local bar you wouldn't
understand 90 of what is being said but
when I'm speaking to you I'm an English
teacher I'm speaking with a neutral
accent very clearly and very slowly that
is probably what you're going to hear on
the listening test it is much better to
spend your time
practicing and preparing the different
strategies
that we're going to talk about in the
rest of this lesson than it is to try
and perfect the listening of you know
the hundreds if not thousands of
different English-speaking Accents in
Ireland and the UK alone there are
hundreds of different types of accents
you're not going to get that you don't
need to worry about that on the
listening test familiarize yourself with
it you can listen to different podcasts
different news shows listen to the local
news in America Canada
UK South Africa Australia New Zealand
Ireland whatever you want to do but
don't worry too much about it people are
not going to speak in their very very
unusual accent in the listening test now
let's talk about common traps or tricks
or distractors that you might find in
the IELTS listening test and there are a
series of these that might trick you
into giving the wrong answer before we
go through all of these I want to talk
first about mindset which is very very
important a lot of students get
frustrated with the listening test
especially because they think that IELTS
and the people of Cambridge are trying
to trick them into getting a lower score
than they deserve if you believe that
you're going to just give up and you're
going to find your preparation really
really frustrating we don't want that
let's look at what actually is happening
what they are doing is they're trying to
recreate real life that is what the
whole IELTS test is doing it is
recreating what will happen when you
move to an English-speaking country so
for example let's say you're working as
a doctor or a nurse and they ask you for
a particular drug or something like that
so you're in the operating theater and
they say give me 25 cc's of adrenaline
I'm obviously not a doctor that's just
an idea I had and then they say no
actually we need 50 cc's so what they've
done is they've changed the answer there
if you gave 25 it would be wrong but by
giving 50 and thinking about the trick
that they just played on you you will be
fine so don't see it as a trick see it
as a challenge all of these things that
I'm going to talk about now or
challenges that they set for you so even
if I say trap or trick try and think of
challenge it's going to make it much
much easier for you to learn this so the
first trap that they might set for you
or challenge that they might set for you
is changing the correct answer from one
answer to the next answer normally what
this will mean is they will give an
answer that could be correct and then
later on in the recording they will
change it to something different let's
look at how they could do that with a
real question so if we have a look at
this question it says name of station
returning to they could say something
like we started off in London and then
we arrived in Manchester so you were
listening out for a place a town a city
station a new here in London and then
they say well we started off in London
and then we arrived later in Manchester
because you are hyper focused on trying
to find a place or a city you just hear
London write down the first thing that
you say you need to be aware of this and
aware that they might change it so don't
just be hyper focused on predicting and
finding the correct answer kind of allow
yourself to listen to the words and the
sentences around what they are saying
and make a decision based on that
another common trap or challenge could
be that they use synonyms or
paraphrasing so what happens is you are
looking at the question you see a word
or phrase in the question and you're
listening out for that exact phrase
sometimes it will be that exact phrase
or that exact word but sometimes it will
be a paraphrase or a synonym now
synonyms are just the words that mean
the same thing but are different for
example man male woman female mean
exactly the same thing even in 2023 and
there are synonyms of each other so
let's look at this example again name of
station returning to so instead of
station they might use destination or
instead of returning they could say
return instead of returning to they
might use the phrase come back when will
you come back so if you're just
listening out for station returning to
and they say something like coming back
to your final destination you're going
to get completely lost so you need to
keep an open mind when you are looking
at the questions don't just think what
am I looking for exactly in the question
think what could it be what synonym
could they use what different phrasing
could they use that means the same thing
but is a different word another
challenge is plurals especially plural
nouns so for example let's say you are
listening to people offering each other
a cup of tea all right so they're having
a cup of tea and a very common question
and that scenario is do you take sugar
so in this scenario sugar is an
uncountable noun but then the person
might say yes I'll have two sugars or I
take two sugars so you have two
different words here sugar and sugars
the only difference is a little s on the
end but one will be correct and one will
be wrong and there's two ways that you
can overcome this problem one is by
listening to what you hear if there is
an s on the end or a z on the end then
it is probably the plural form you're
talking about but also you can think
grammatically I take two sugar
grammatically is incorrect I take two
sugars grammatically is correct so you
need to be aware of the pronunciation
your listening skills and grammar and
spelling all at the same time another
challenge is unusual spellings of names
or places normally so this happens a lot
with popular surnames so last names in
English so for example we have very
popular names like Smith Jones brown but
there are standard spellings of those
names and then unusual spellings of
those names so for example Brown the
standard spelling is b r o w n but an
unusual spelling but quite common is
b-r-o-w-n-e and you shouldn't worry too
much about this because if there is an
unusual spelling normally comes in part
one where someone is on a call with
someone they're on a phone call and
they're asking them for their name if it
is an unusual spelling of their name or
maybe a city or a town or something like
that then they will spell it out they'll
say my name is Brian and how do you
spell that
b-r-o-w-n-e so the Trap that a lot of
students fall into is the Herobrine oh I
know how to spell Brown they'll write it
down immediately as the standard
spelling and then they will miss the
person spelling it out so especially in
part one if the people that you're
listening to ask for a spelling or spell
anything out then you should listen
exactly to how they spell it and then
put it in there a challenge that many
people have when I am talking to them is
my similar sounding surname and this is
a big trap that a lot of students fall
into there are words that sound very
similar to each other so my surname is
pel
p-e-l-l and every time I meet someone
new they're like Belle tell Dell hell
it's all they all sound kind of similar
again you don't need to worry about this
too much because this normally comes in
part one and if the person has an
unusual surname like me what I will do
when I'm on the phone with someone is I
will spell it out to them I'll say P for
Papa e for Echo L for Lima L for Lima
again how you overcome this is by
listening not to the first thing the
first word that you hear Mr pale and you
write Bell listen out if they spell it
and write the exact spelling the final
trap that a lot of students fall into is
not being aware of not listening out for
negatives and double negatives so what
are those well a negative is when you
use a word like not or didn't or wasn't
you also need to be aware of double
negatives in English this can be very
very unusual if your native language
doesn't have this so for example simple
not bad in English means good not
negative bad negative not bad means good
now I have heard some double negatives
from time to time on practice tests but
most of the time it is just like not or
wasn't or didn't so what does that mean
let's have a look at a particular
question so here we have a customer
satisfaction survey satisfaction with
journey least satisfied with so imagine
someone is on a call with another person
they're asking about their Journey what
were you least satisfied with if they
said food wasn't bad or they said what
did you think of the food and they said
not bad some people might hear that and
think that the food was what they were
at least satisfied with but they're
actually saying the opposite they're
saying the food was quite good often
what will happen is they will use a
negative and then they will say the
correct answer after that so for example
they might say something like well the
food wasn't bad but the drinks were
terrible so in that sentence the food
wasn't bad but the drinks were terrible
what they were least satisfied with is
the drinks the main thing to remember is
not all questions will have these
challenges but you do need to be aware
of them let's use a driving analogy
again when you're driving a car you are
not hyper hyper focused on what is
happening right at the front of the car
you are kind of focused on that it does
have most of your attention but you're
also paying attention to the periphery
you're paying attention to what's
happening behind you to your right and
to your left that should be the same
thing that you're doing
acoustically audibly when you are
listening to the transcripts so most of
your attention should be on what's the
correct answer but pay attention to what
is going on around what you think might
be the correct answer because it might
change they might spell it out
differently there could be a synonym or
it could be a negative and that's not
actually the correct answer the correct
answer is coming up you're probably very
confused now and very frustrated but
with practice this becomes much much
easier let's show you where you can find
real practice tests okay so in this part
is extremely important more students
fail the IELTS test by using fake
unreliable tests then anything to do
with their listening ability or their
English ability
about 90 percent of the tests that
you'll find online on YouTube are
actually fake don't worry we're going to
show you how to spot the fake ones so
you'll know 100 of the time whether
they're real or not and we're going to
show you exactly where you can find real
free practice tests I've also put
together links for all of the places on
the internet where you can find these
real free practice tests that are
reliable I've put them all into one
document and I put them in the
description below for you just to make
it really handy for you but before I
give you that before I show you the four
places where you can find these reliable
ones I want to talk about why fake tests
are so dangerous because when I just
show people where to find the reliable
ones most of the time they will use
those too quickly and then they'll go
and use the fake ones
the fake ones are produced by people who
don't know what they're doing all right
I'm not criticizing anyone or saying I'm
better than anyone but there is a huge
difference between a teacher that is
trying to help people improve their
scores on a YouTuber who is trying to
increase the number of views on their
Channel or a blogger who is trying to
increase the number of views on their
website more than 90 percent of the
tests that you'll find online are fake
these people don't care if you improve
your score so they don't put as much
effort or they don't even have the
required expertise to make reliable
tests so what is reliable reliable means
that the test that you do today is going
to be the same difficulty on the same
challenge as test day and it's extremely
difficult to actually do this and it
takes a very long time and that's why
these people don't do it because of
anything difficult and takes a long time
most people don't want to do that so why
is this a problem either the tests will
be way way too easy or way way too
difficult if they're too easy you will
be full of false confidence you'll go
into the test thinking I'm going to get
about nine I've got about nine multiple
times and then you'll get your test
score and it's like 5.5 that's because
you were doing tests that weren't too
easy
even worse a lot of people will not even
do the test because the tests are way
too difficult
if you get tests that are too difficult
you will lose confidence completely you
will give up on your dream of moving to
a new country because you think that
you're not good enough I've seen this
many many times where students
will email us and say I'm terrible at
listening then we'll give them a real
test and it turns out that they're
pretty good at listening they were just
using fake tests and the final reason is
a lot of these are completely misleading
with questions that you'll never see in
different formats and what happens is
you are used to this fake format and
then you'll go in on test day and you'll
be doing a test that you've never seen
before that you're completely unfamiliar
with
our goal with you guys is that on test
day you were completely comfortable that
you know exactly what is coming up
because you're only using real reliable
tests so there are four places on four
places only that have reliable tests and
they're all free the first one is IDP on
the IDP website you'll find lots of free
practice tests the second one is the
British Council same thing the next one
is ielts.org it's a wee bit more
difficult to find those on the ielts.org
website but I'll give you those links
below and then finally Cambridge English
they do do these
expensive ones expensive for most people
but they also have some free ones on
their website as well now I'll give you
the links but you might be watching this
video a few years in the future and
they're constantly adding free stuff to
their website so the easy way to find
this information at any time is just go
to Google put in IDP or the British
console or ielts.org or Cambridge into
Google and then put plus IELTS listening
tests Google will take you to the latest
genuine free tests anything else even if
it's your favorite YouTuber or your
favorite IELTS Guru anything else is not
reliable it doesn't matter if these
people have millions of subscribers it
doesn't matter if they have huge IELTS
companies if they are not one of those
four organizations then you are running
a huge risk especially with YouTube most
of the YouTube channels that have IELTS
listening practice test
say that they're real they are
completely fake they're either too easy
too difficult or completely misleading
or a combination of those do not use
them you are wasting your time now when
I say that to students what comes back
is well there aren't enough free
practice tests what you want to do is
completely change your strategy and your
mindset towards practice you will not
get better by just practice practice
practice practice practice
does not make perfect perfect practice
makes perfect now let's give you the
perfect practice strategy so let's show
you how to practice your way to
abandoned this strategy this system that
I'm about to show you has produced
hundreds and hundreds of Bandai students
and it is the best IELTS practice
strategy that I'm aware of and I've
helped hundreds if probably thousands of
students get up online so you'll need
something first you'll need the practice
tests probably don't get ones that are
covered in coffee like mine buy new ones
buy them from a reliable Bookshop don't
buy them you know photocopies of them
they might be fake
when I say this to students you know if
you come from a background I totally
understand but you know which is more
expensive
spending ten twenty dollars on reliable
tests or wasting 200 250 on failing the
test don't see this as a cost see it as
an investment all right also don't
download the PDFs that you'll find
online they are often fake I'm not
saying this because I make any money
from these I'm not affiliated or
associated with Cambridge at all I make
zero dollars if you buy these
the reason why I'm telling you this is I
care about you improving your scores
that is the best way to do it so once
you have your practice tests you're
going to do three practice tests under
exam conditions what does exam
conditions mean well what it means is
you've never seen that test before don't
buy the book and on your way home like
read the questions and kind of
familiarize yourself with it and look up
words you don't know you want to
recreate exactly what is going to happen
on test day so don't cheat and time
exactly the same time as what will
happen on test day and you're going to
do three of them because what you want
before you ever book the test is you're
consistently three times in a row
getting the score that you need or
probably half a band or a bond above the
score that you need if you can do that
three times in a row then you're pretty
much guaranteed to get that score on
test day not only is this going to be
great for you because you know that
you're going to get the score that you
need but on test day you will have
completely removed any stress and you
will be able to perform to the best of
your ability because do you get nervous
and stressed out when you're tying your
shoelaces no because you know that you
can do it you know that you've done it
thousands of times before
our students who do this system or use
this system they've got the score that
they need so many times that doing it is
just like tying their shoelaces but if
you don't get the score that you need
three times in a row you need to move on
to the next part of this system the next
part of this system is going to the back
of the book find the audio script the
transcript of the test you just did and
find the correct answers and what you're
going to do is you're going to correct
your test honestly you're going to check
why you got each question wrong so to do
that you can just look at the question
think back to the recording but more
importantly what you should do is look
at the actual audio script and think
about why you got it wrong and the aim
of this exercise is to find your
weaknesses to spot patterns what are
your common weaknesses so let's go
through a few of them just to make you
aware of what you should be listening
for what you should be looking for so
very common one is spelling you know be
honest with yourself you should give
yourself honest marking of your answers
if multiple ones are spelled incorrectly
don't give yourself a tick that's wrong
if you're noticing that you are failing
to get the score that you need because
of multiple spelling errors
then that's good news because it's
pretty easy to fix that you might also
spot that particular question types and
we'll talk about those later in the
video are causing you a problem so for
example every time you get a multiple
choice question you mess that up most of
them are wrong or every time you get a
Maps question or a diagram question that
you get most of those wrong that's a
strategy issue it's not that your
listening skills have an issue there's
nothing wrong with your language
probably you just need a strategy that
works practice that strategy and then
you will have no problems on test day
you might also think back and you might
have got a few wrong in a row when you
lost Focus so for example when I did the
test and I was looking at the window
looking at the birds and thinking about
what I was going to do later that
evening and I got the first question
wrong not because there's anything wrong
with my listening or my English but
because I just completely lost Focus if
that is your issue again that's good
news because you can improve your focus
I talked about that earlier in the video
a very very common problem is students
will come back to me using this system
and they'll say like I can't find the
particular reason I don't know what my
weakness is if that's the case it's
probably vocabulary so what you can do
is you can look back look at the
question but really read the audio
script and if there were a lot of words
or phrases that you have never heard
before and you don't understand and that
it was causing the issue you couldn't
find the correct answer because you
didn't understand the words then that is
a vocabulary issue not really a
listening issue you need to improve your
vocabulary and I'll put a vocabulary
Improvement plan into the description so
the last step is the step that most
students don't like but it's where you
see the most Improvement
take that weakness and work on it turn
each weakness into a strength don't do
more practice tests until you have
improved that strength so for example if
you have a huge issue with spelling
doing more practice listening tests will
not improve your spelling if you have a
problem with vocabulary doing more
practice tests will not magically
improve your vocabulary you need to
focus in on that and if you have any
issues or you need help with that feel
free to get in touch with us we'll
either give you free resources or we'll
talk to you about maybe joining one of
our courses but we always have ways of
helping you improve your weaknesses so
feel free to get in touch now let's give
you the step-by-step strategies that we
give our VIP students that many of them
have used to get about nine so before we
give you these step-by-step strategies
let's look at how our students use them
because what you cannot do is just look
at the strategy once and then go and
apply it on test day you need to do a
few different things so what we're going
to do is show you real questions and
these questions that we're going to look
at are maps and multiple choice there
are other IELTS listening question types
and we're going to show you where you
can find strategies for all of them at
the end ends but we're going to focus on
these two because these are the two that
help students the most these are the
ones that students worry about and we
want to reduce your stress and anxiety
as much as possible so before we look at
the questions let's look at how our
students use these strategies so number
one what they think about is what are
the unique problems what are the
specific issues that are related to
these questions so for multiple choice
for example one of the issues is that
all of the options look the same or they
look similar that is a unique problem
you need to be aware of that so that on
test day when you see it you'll be able
to conquer that problem you'll be able
to solve that problem or with maps what
is very difficult for people is to
visualize in their brain walking through
that area or walking through that map
that is a unique problem so we first
need to think about what are those you
problems and then how do we solve them
and then how do we use the strategy and
the strategy is designed to overcome all
of these problems and then all you have
to do is just practice using that
strategy until it becomes habit until it
becomes second nature you learn it by
heart don't go into the test trying to
think of these strategies because we
want to reduce thinking as much as
possible go into the test knowing the
strategies automatically so when you're
driving a car if you've been driving for
many years you don't think about signal
check your mirror how to change gears
how to use the pedals you just use them
automatically that's the same approach
that you should have if you want to buy
nine towards the strategies so let's
start off by looking at Maps so in the
test you might get a question like this
where they will show you a simple map or
a diagram normally it is taking you
through a tour of somewhere so you will
hear a guide telling you where to find
things or where to go during this tour
or taking you on a tour of this place in
this example it is a park but it could
be a library it could be a University
campus it could be a shopping center
anywhere at all that you know you might
get a tour around let's think about the
key problems associated with listening
Maps the first one is not being familiar
with the specific language used to
describe maps for example you might hear
someone say to the east or in the west
you might hear someone instead of saying
next to adjacent to for example so you
don't want to be thinking what do these
things actually mean and being totally
confused so you need to familiarize
yourself with these words and phrases
and what I'll do is I'll put a link
below in the description and the
description will go through all of these
if there are any on that list that you
don't understand Look up the meaning of
it and get used to listening to those
and understanding those it'll make your
job much much easier the next problem
that a lot of students face when it
comes to Maps is they're doing too many
things at the same time now think about
what you're doing when you're doing a
Maps question you're not only listening
you're thinking about this unusual
vocabulary you're having to visualize
imagine yourself walking through the map
you have to understand what is being
said you have to understand the map you
have to decide the correct answers all
at the same time and you need to make
notes now we just talked about learning
how to drive a car and how easy it is
after a few years of driving it but when
you were first learning how to drive
that car everything seemed very very
difficult when you were a little girl or
a little boy just tying your shoelaces
seem very very difficult when we do new
things that that are new to our brains
it is difficult to do these things but
how do you overcome that problem you
overcome that problem through practice
you practice these Maps questions use
the strategy that we're going to give
you the strategy is designed to make
everything much much easier I know I've
said this before don't look at this
video once and then think I'm going to
get a bond line that's not how it works
the third big problem is visualization
what do I mean by visualization
visualization refers to being able to
generate
visual maps in your brain so if they are
describing this park the best students
the students that get the highest score
can imagine themselves at going through
the south gate they can imagine walking
past the lake they can imagine seeing an
Adventure Playground in their mind I've
worked with a lot of different students
over the years some students find this
very very easy they have a visual brain
it seems and other students find this
nearly impossible if you find it easy
you don't need to worry about this but
if you find it difficult one of the
things that I have found works really
well with students is removing this
negative self-talk so what a lot of
students have said to me is I'm not good
at this and really they're not bad at it
it's not that that is an issue they're
just creating an excuse in their head
in other words they are allowing
themselves to blame this
so that when they get a low score they
can say it's because I'm not good at
visualization it's because I'm not good
at Maps really if they were truthful
with themselves they just haven't put
enough work in to improve visualization
or improve Maps if you learn this
strategy that I'm going to give you and
use it multiple times everything will
become much much easier the second thing
that I would say is if you struggle with
visualization do this so instead of
trying to get all the answers correct
listen to the recording and look at the
map and only focus on visualizing what
is happening this is going to make it
much much easier and you will convince
yourself it's kind of tricking yourself
into understanding that anyone can do
this it's not that you're bad at
visualization it is just that you are
worried about the test you're stressed
and naturally you will create excuses
just listen to it
think about where you're going around
the park or Museum or whatever it is and
you will trick yourself into
understanding that you're quite good at
visualization okay now let's look at the
strategy for listening Maps step number
one read the question carefully read the
instructions carefully so for this
particular map we need to write the
correct letter A to H we're not writing
the actual place names we're not writing
old Museum Northgate we're not writing
Lake we are picking the letter and
putting it in here I know that sounds
very very obvious and I'm wasting your
time but you would not believe the
amount of students that deserve about
nine that don't get it because they
don't read instructions make it a habit
to really focus in on the question on
the instructions step number two look at
the map and understand the map so for
example if we were to look at this one
what is it it is a park so there is one
big circular path there's a little path
that goes off here there are trees
there's a lake in the middle there's a
museum in the middle there's two gates
South Gate and Northgate Adventure
Playground here glass houses here just
basically look at the map and understand
it I know that sounds super obvious but
again when you're under stress and
you're tired and you're getting towards
the end of the test a lot of students
don't do this next look at the different
options and think about what these might
be what might they say about these
things so let's start at the scythegate
G there are trees so they might say the
woods in the South or South Woods or
Forest beside the south gate
that might be those things so you're
thinking about what they might say if we
move up here
a so think about what they might say to
get to a so if we start at the south
gate it will say if we turn left to go
past the lake and there is a path or
there is a trail or there's a footpath
on your left that's going to show you
where you're going to go to get to a d
it could be the museum it could be the
old Museum but it might be new Museum or
new building or toilets or Cafe beside
the museum B and C are going to be next
to the Adventure Playground B is going
to be as you go through the north gate
so they might start at the North Gate C
is going to be next to the Adventure
Playground F will be beside the glass
house it might be the glass house or it
might be something next to the glass
house and then H might be something next
to the glass houses or it could be the
wood or the forest or something like
that so you're thinking about what it
could be but you're also thinking about
if I walk through this map what
directions or what things will I hear
that will get me to each of these and
this might sound like it will take a lot
of time and you won't have time to do it
but the more you do it the quicker it
will become until it becomes natural so
imagine you're standing up the North
Gate what direction would you go if you
were going to go to a so if we're
standing at the north gate they probably
will say if you follow the path to your
right so we're standing here we move
down and that will get us to a if you go
left you will see the Adventure
Playground you'll see the museum in
front of you you want to actually
visualize walking around this thing
before you even hear it that is going to
make it much easier for you to visualize
as you are listening to it now that we
want to look at the different options
here so 11 to 16. so we want to think
about two things number one will there
be any synonyms so Cafe what is the
synonym of cafe coffee shop maybe
restaurants toilets there aren't many
there are a lot of synonyms for toilets
but they might say something like if you
need to go to the bathroom so think
about those synonyms and then think
about where might these things be are
there any obvious places where they
would put the cafe or whether where they
would put the toilet bullets they're
probably not going to put the toilets
deep in the middle of the woods maybe
they they might do I don't know but it's
probably more convenient for them to put
the toilets beside the old Museum or
beside the glass houses or beside the
Adventure Playground same with the cafe
the cafe is probably going to be next to
the old museum for example wildflowers
so wild means people are not really
curating it people are not doing
anything to it so that's probably going
to be out of the way it's probably going
to be a or G or maybe H so by following
all these steps before the recording
even starts you're just making
everything easier and easier and easier
if you take two students one is really
really good at listening and they don't
follow those steps or you have a student
that is not very good at listening but
they follow those steps the student that
is not very good at listening will get a
higher score than the student that is
good at listening that's how powerful
these strategies are and the next step
is to listen to the beginning of the
talk very very carefully because this is
going to tell you where the talk begins
so they might begin at the south gate
here or they might begin at the North
Gate those are the two obvious places
where they will begin you must go
through a gate you must go through an
entrance but it's not guaranteed
probably will happen
and if they started the north gate then
if they say to your right that is going
to be different from to your right at
the South so if we have a look here
if they start at the south gate to your
right are trees H and glass houses but
if we start at the north gate to your
right we're going down here towards a so
you need to really listen carefully to
the beginning so that you understand
where you're going so neither recording
is starting you want to try to visualize
actually walking through these places
you can close your eyes if you want
probably not a great idea because you
have to take notes but try to actually
walk down the paths try to actually
imagine that you're walking past the
Glass House past the lake what is to the
right of the lake what is to the left of
the lake and as we go past the Adventure
Playground what is here what if they're
talking about a bend in the road what
are they talking about here this is
really going to help you and as you are
listening you can make notes if it's
paper-based tests and think about what
the correct answers might be the next
step is to be very careful with traps or
distractors or tricks they might play on
you for example they might say let's
start off at the south gate and to your
left used to be the cafe but we moved it
next to the old Museum so if you put G
for Cafe you would be wrong so they said
we used to have it there but we moved it
or over here they will often talk about
things closing down they move things
they might be building something in the
future so they might say the opposite
they might say well we're going to build
a cafe a new Cafe to the left of the
south gate here but that's going to take
a few years if you want something to eat
you should go next to the old Museum the
right answer is going to be D so they're
not really trying to trick you they're
just setting you little challenges to
help determine who's really by nine
who's band 8 who's band seven who's Bond
six the next thing to be aware of is
signposting language so signposting
language is things like let's start off
at the south gate they're little Flags
little indications but where they are so
let's start off with the south gate and
if we go to the left here you will see
the beautiful Lake now let's go back so
they're going back here and let's go
past the Glass House let's finish off at
the North Gate think about this
signposting language literally think of
it as new signposts on the street
they're giving you directions this is
going to help you understand where you
are navigate the map and then finally
choose the correct answers and if it's
paper-based transfer them over
if it is computer-based just choose the
correct answer if it's computer-based it
will normally be just a drop down menu
with a b c d e f on it now again I know
I'm repeating myself do not watch this
video and think I've mastered IELTS
listening Maps questions get some
practice tests get real practice tests
we'll show you those in the video and
practice that strategy and it will
become much much much easier a lot of
the students that I work with they say I
hate mops I'm not good at Maps well how
many times have you actually practice
the strategy
once or never
also what you should do when you are
practicing maps and practicing these
strategies is go slow all right if you
need to rewind and play the recording
multiple times in this scenario that is
absolutely fine because what you're
doing here is you're trying to learn the
strategy you're not trying to perfect
the correct answers you're not trying to
judge your ability start off very very
slow the goal is for you to master the
strategy and become comfortable with
maps and then get a little bit faster a
little bit faster until you are at exam
speed again using the driving analogy
you don't go and drive a hundred miles
an hour in lesson one of your driving
test now let's think about the strategy
for multiple choice so multiple choice
questions are going to look like this
will normally be a series of questions
there will be a question and then there
will be three or four options your goal
is to pick the correct answer so let's
think about unique problems and give you
some unique tips for IELTS listening
multiple choice questions the first
thing you should do is when you see
multiple choice questions as soon as you
finish the questions before move on and
read the multiple choice questions it's
crucial that you understand the
difference between each of the different
options and you understand the questions
that are coming up what a lot of
students do is they might be you know
focusing on this they finish this
section and they're so worried about did
I get the correct answer here that they
don't move on and read these questions
let's say for example you have
completely messed up this question
it is a much better strategy just to
give an educated guess for these
questions and move on and understand
these because if you think oh my god
I've messed up these I'm going to fail
I'm going to mess up my whole life and
then you focus on these and you don't
move forward then you've probably got
these wrong and you're probably going to
get all of these wrong all right
if you mess these ones up go and give an
educated guess give your best answer and
then move on quickly because you really
do need to read all of these and
understand all of these next is a good
idea to underline or think of the
keywords in each question so what I like
to do is focus on keywords within the
question so 21 22 23 24 so that will be
here
here here and here within each question
what are the key words so discover
and reading then we need to look at the
three options and think about the
keywords within each of the three
options so why were they first created
high was the ice kept Frozen and where
the next step is to think about the
difference between each of the three
options so for this one it's quite
obvious let's have a look at the last
one good value for money useful
variations more useful than domestic
appliances so as you can see these two
are quite similar this one's talking
about money and it being good value for
money these two are both talking about
usefulness so they're very very similar
so you need to think okay both of these
are talking about usefulness but what's
the difference between the usefulness of
each of these this one's talking about
there being lots of variations useful
variations whereas this one is a
comparison it is comparing that there
are more they're more useful than other
domestic appliances so it's comparing
refrigerators fridges to other
appliances such as a vacuum cleaner a
Hoover a toaster a kettle all of those
things whereas B is talking about just
domestic fridges there being lots of
different types of fridges so by
underlining the keywords and thinking
about the differences that makes it much
easier to think about what they're
saying the next thing to remember is
that you should not think about what is
the first answer that I hear and write
down the first answer that I hear so
let's take the first question for
example what did Ami discover from
reading about ice houses why they were
first created so in the recording they
might talk about why they were first
created or how they were first created
but that might not be one of the options
that relates to what did Ali discover
from reading about ice houses
she might have listened to something or
her dad or her mother told her why they
were first created and then later she
talks about she was reading about where
they were located if you just note down
the first one that you hear and you
don't think about the specific question
then you're going to be in trouble so it
is not a listening test write down the
first thing that you hear that is not
what a listening test is for multiple
choice it is not just a listening test
it is a thinking test so you need to
read the question understand the
question and then think about related to
the recording what is the correct answer
it's not a listening test it is a
listening and thinking test the next
thing is what you should not do do not
focus in on one question get lost panic
and then miss the rest of the questions
so for example if you are doing 21
wanted Annie discover from reading about
ice houses and you lose focus or you get
confused or you don't understand what's
going on then it is very very important
that you just leave that question make
an educated guess and move on to the
next ones because what happens is you
miss that you lose focus and you focus
in on that and you're like oh my God I
just missed that and then you're like
okay which one should I choose and then
the recording keeps going keeps going
and you just messed up 22 23 and 24.
they will be in order so you need to
decide what the correct answer is be
decisive I know that's difficult for
many people in the world to be decisive
and choose the correct answer but if you
don't choose an answer you're
sacrificing the rest of the questions
the next thing is be very careful about
qualification statements these are words
like but or however so if we go down to
24 she might say something like yeah
generally they're good value for money
however in recent years or but recently
they've become very very expensive so
you might hear the first part of that
sentence and think oh good value for
money and you mark that as the correct
answer but then she says but but however
changes her mind qualifies what she's
about to say and you've just messed the
whole thing up so listen out for those
words but or however and if you hear
them think about what the whole sentence
means not just the first part of the
sentence okay now that we know what's
going to come up let's think about our
step-by-step strategy for multiple
choice questions number one always never
changes whatever the question is read
the instructions carefully choose the
correct letter a b or c I know that's
very obvious and you're a very
intelligent person but make sure that
you read the instructions the next step
is read each question and think about
what is actually being asked so let's
say 24 for example what do Jack and
Annie agree regarding domestic fridges
not what do they think separately what
do they agree on if you don't read the
question it's going to be very difficult
for you to find the answer to number 24
because the key word there is agree and
that's the next step highlight keywords
the next step is to look at each option
and understand the difference between
each option next is to think about any
synonyms or paraphrasing that you might
hear so for example it took a long time
to become popular a long time could be
50 years 100 years they might say it
took forever popular they might say
famous or widely used or used by the
masses there are many many things that
might come up now you're not going to be
able to sit there and think about
synonyms and paraphrasing forever but
just try and be aware of them and think
of the obvious ones don't start off with
21A and try and think of 20 different
synonyms for the word created just think
of the obvious one created made and keep
moving keep going through that then the
next one if you can predict the correct
answer this is a little bit difficult
for multiple choice questions so I
wouldn't try and do this too much
because often the three answers are very
very possible but if you have time try
and make predictions but if you can't
predict anything don't worry too much
about it neither listening is going to
start what you're listening out for are
keywords synonyms part of phrasing so
don't just listen for the key word
listen for synonym of that keyword then
there you will know when they're talking
about that so for example what did Annie
discover from reading about ice houses
so she might literally say when I was
reading about ice houses or she might
say I read a book or I was studying when
you hear that you know okay she's going
to start talking about the different
options then listen for the different
keywords within the different options
and pick the correct answer that brings
us on to the next step listen to the
whole section so the section where she's
talking about reading about ice houses
do not listen for the first thing that
she says listen to the whole section and
then decide your correct answer because
there will be distractors she might
change her mind she might talk about
other things you're trying to break the
recording down into four parts so
there's four parts here there's four
questions you need to break the
recording down into four parts okay
she's going to talk about this listen to
that whole part choose the correct
answer then 22 listen to that whole part
choose the correct answer and continue
in that fashion if you think that you'll
find the correct answer put a tick
beside it so you think
probably is this one but keep listening
because she might change your mind or
the answer might change but if you are
100 sure at the end
choose that as your correct answer and
finally the final step make an educated
guess if you're not sure if you're not
sure pick the one that you think is the
highest chance of being correct move on
to the next one and that's you done
hey Chris here from IELTS advantage and
in this special video what we're going
to do is give you an IELTS listening
practice test for free so what this
video is going to do is give you that
listening test so that you can practice
your listening skills at home and what
we're going to do at the end of the
video is give you the answers so the
rest of the video will be the listening
test and then at the end I'm going to
give you those answers so good luck and
I'll see you at the end for the answers
IELTS listening part one hello there and
welcome to the Klein Museum which was
the actual home of Mr Klein and his
family before he went on to be the
famous author we all know him as today
before we get started there are some
questions I'd like to ask you for our
records would that be okay with you sir
yes I'd be more than happy to help out
that's great thank you first of all
what's your name
my full name is John Horton John hort
spell your surname for me please
of course it's
h-o-r-t-o-n Horton it's actually quite a
popular name where I come from
and where exactly was it that you come
from
I just flew in from London yesterday
specifically to come visit here that's
so exciting well it's great to have such
a such a decated fan
need to ask you is for your phone number
as our director has plans to take some
special exhibits on tour next year
that sounds very interesting I
definitely like to be kept informed
about that my number is 064-145-354
oh six four one four five three five
four is that right
that's it exactly got it thanks and next
could you just tell me if it's your
first visit to the Klein Museum
yes well actually my parents did bring
me here when I was quite young and I
don't actually remember it
but technically this is my second time
being here oh my so your whole family
are Klein fans then
yes definitely it was my parents who got
me started on him
and what's your favorite client book
I love all of his popular ones like
Heyday and the knocking but my absolute
favorite has got to be the final push
which wasn't as popular as the others
but really left me with the lasting
impression I know exactly what you mean
it really is surprising that it isn't
better known and while you're visiting
will you require the services of our
in-house photographer no that won't be
necessary are you aware that personal
cameras are not allowed into the museum
oh really I wasn't actually well in that
case I suppose I better how much does it
cost one photo is five dollars but you
can get five for just ten dollars which
option would suit you best
I'll go with one photo as I really only
need it as a reminder of my visit here
this is a bit embarrassing actually
what's that I need to put today's date
on the form but I actually can't
remember what date it is today
has nothing to worry about well I flew
in yesterday which was the 15th of
February so that makes today the 16th of
February okay
so thank you for your patience
started with the tour
as you can see the main entrance is
furnished with the standard double doors
from the era and lead us directly to the
guest room which is the largest room in
the house the says in fact the very same
room where he signed his very first
publishing deal back in 1894.
at the opposite end of the room we have
the fireplace in the center where he and
his family would gather during the cold
Winters to keep warm
on the right of the fireplace is the
entrance to the utility room but
unfortunately we don't have any of the
objects that were stored there by the
Klein family as the house has changed
hands on several occasions before it was
finally turned into a museum in his
honor
then on the left of the door that leads
into the kitchen you can see this hatch
that was used as the serving window as
was customary so as not to have the
staff interacting with the guests
if you follow me through to the kitchen
here you can see the stove is placed
directly against the wall at the back of
the fireplace and this is because when
the fire is lit the heat can be used in
the oven of the stove
and on the left the sink is located
directly under the window so that this
area was well illuminated for preparing
food and washing the Crockery
at the back of the kitchen is the
doorway to the bedroom
in those days beds weren't as popular as
they are now so people slept on thin
wooden mats laid on the ground like the
ones you see here and the whole family
would sleep here together except for on
the coldest nights when they would move
to the guest room to benefit from
whatever heat was left coming from the
evening fire
back you'll notice this little cubby
which may look like an ensuite at first
but is in fact the office of our great
Mr Klein as he found this to be the
quietest location in the house and could
focus on his work without interruption
finally if you could just follow me back
through the kitchen here we can exit
through the back door of the house to
the Woodshed where the Klein family is
stored well obviously there would
however it was the staff that would have
been the only ones that really had any
reason to be back here
and that pretty much concludes our tour
does anyone have any questions they'd
like to ask
IELTS listening part two the first thing
is that clean energy has been increasing
this is electricity from clean energy
sources over the last 20 years but when
you look at the percentage of global
electricity from clean energy sources
it's actually been in Decline from 36
percent to 31 percent and if you care
about climate change you've got to go in
the opposite direction to a hundred
percent of our electricity from clean
energy sources as quickly as possible
now you might wonder come on how much
could five percentage points of global
electricity be well it turns out to be
quite a bit it's the equivalent of 60
nuclear plants the size of Diablo Canyon
California's last nuclear plant or 900
solar Farms the size of topaz which is
one of the biggest solar farms in the
world and and certainly our biggest in
California well a big part of this is
just simply that fossil fuels are
increasing faster than clean energy and
that's understandable there's just a lot
of poor country trees that are still
using wood and charcoal as their main
source of energy and they need modern
fuels but there's something else going
on which is that one of those clean
energy sources in particular has
actually been on the decline in absolute
terms not just relatively and that's
nuclear you can see its generation has
declined seven percent over the last 10
years now solar and wind have been
making huge strides and so you hear a
lot of talk about how it doesn't really
matter because solar and wind is going
to make up the difference but the data
says something different when you
combine all the electricity from solar
and wind you see it actually barely
makes up half of the decline from
nuclear
well let's take a closer look in the
United States over the last couple of
years really 2013 2014 we prematurely
retired for nuclear power plants they
were almost entirely replaced with
fossil fuels and so the consequence was
that we wiped out almost as much clean
energy electricity that we get from
solar and it's not unique to us I mean
people think of California as a clean
energy and climate leader but when we
looked at the data what we found is that
in fact California reduced emissions
more slowly than the national average
between 2000 and 2015. what about
Germany they're doing a lot of clean
energy but when you look at the data
German emissions have actually been
going up since 2009 and there's really
not anybody who's going to tell you that
they're going to meet their climate
commitments in 2020
. the reason isn't hard to understand
solar and wind provide Power about 10 to
20 of the time which means that when the
sun's not shining the wind's not blowing
you still need power for your hospitals
your homes your cities your factories
and while batteries have made some
really cool improvements lately the
truth is that they're just never going
to be as efficient as the electrical
grid every time you put electricity into
a battery and you take it out you lose
about 20 to 40 percent of the to 40
percent of the power
that's why when in California we try to
deal with all the solar we've brought
online we now get about 10 percent of
our electricity from solar when the Sun
goes down and people come home from work
and turn on their air conditioners and
their TV sets and every other Appliance
in the house we need a lot of natural
gas backup so what we've been doing is
stuffing a lot of natural gas into the
side of a mountain and that worked
pretty well for a while but then late
last year it sprung a leak this is Aliso
Canyon and so much methane gas was
released it was the equivalent of
putting a half a million cars on the
road it basically blew through all of
our climate commitments for the year
well what about India sometimes you have
to go places to really get the right
data so we traveled to India a few
months ago we met with all the top
officials Seoul or nuclear of the rest
and what they told us is they said we're
actually having more serious problems
than both Germany and California we
don't have backup we start of it we say
we want to get to 100 gigawatts by 2022
but last year we did just five and the
year before that we did five so let's
just take a closer look at nuclear the
United Nations intergovernmental panel
on climate change has looked at the
carbon content of all these different
fuels and nuclear comes out really low
it's actually lower even than solar and
nuclear obviously provides a lot of
power 24 hours a day seven days a week
during a year a single plant can provide
Power 92 percent of the time and what's
interesting is that when you look at
countries that have deployed different
kinds of clean energies there's only a
few that have done so at a pace
consistent with dealing with the climate
crisis so nuclear seems like a pretty
good option but there's this big problem
with it which all of you I'm sure are
aware of which is that people really
don't like it there was a study a survey
done of people around the world not just
in the United States or Europe about a
year and a half ago and what they found
is that nuclear found is that nuclear is
actually one of the least popular forms
of energy even oil is more popular than
nuclear and while nuclear kind of edges
out coal the thing is people don't
really fear coal in the same way that
they feared nuclear which really
operates on our unconscious so what is
it that we fear I mean there's really
three things there's the safety of the
plants themselves the fears that they're
going to melt down and cause damage
there's the waste from them and then
there's the association with weapons
and I think understandably Engineers
look at those concerns and they want to
look for technological fixes I mean
that's why Bill Gates is in China
developing Advanced reactions that's why
40 different entrepreneurs are working
on this problem and and I myself have
been very excited about it we did a
report how to make nuclear cheap in
particular the thorium reactor shows a
lot of promise and so when the climate
scientist James Hanson asked if I wanted
to go to China with him and look at the
Chinese Advanced nuclear program I
jumped at the chance we were there with
MIT and UC Berkeley engineers and you
know I had in my mind that the Chinese
would be able to do with nuclear what
they did with so many other things just
start to crank out small nuclear
reactors on assembly lines you can ship
them up like iPhones or MacBooks and
send them around the world I would get
one home in Berkeley
um but what I found was somewhat
different the the presentations were all
very exciting and very promising they
have multiple reactors that they're
working on the time came for the thorium
reactor and a bunch of us were excited
they went through the whole presentation
they got to the timeline
and they said we're going to have a
thorium molten salt reactor ready for
sale to the World by 2040. IELTS
listening part three
so let's look though at the four choices
that we are making right now
um the first one the most by far the
most consumed uh Seafood in America and
in much of the West is shrimp shrimp in
the wild is a wild product
is a terrible product 5 10 15 pounds of
wild fish are regularly killed to bring
one pound of shrimp to the market
they're also incredibly fuel inefficient
to bring to the market in a recent study
that was produced out of Dalhousie
University it was found that Dragon for
shrimp is one of the most carbon
intensive ways of fishing that you can
find
so you can Farm them and people do farm
them and they Farm them a lot in this
very area problem is the place where you
farm shrimp is in these wild habitats in
Mangrove forests now look at those
lovely roots coming down those are the
things that hold soil together protect
coasts create habitats for all sort of
young fish young shrimp all sorts of
things that are important to this
environment well this is what happens to
a lot of coastal Mangrove forests we've
lost millions and to a lot of coastal
Mangrove forests we've lost millions of
Acres of coastal mangroves over the last
30 or 40 years that rate of Destruction
has slowed but we're still in a major
Mangrove deficit
the other thing that's going on here is
a phenomenon that the filmmaker Mark
Benjamin called grinding Nemo
this phenomenon is very very relevant to
anything that you've ever seen on a
tropical Reef because what's going on
right now we have shrimp draggers
dragging for shrimp catching a huge
amount of bycatch that bycatch in turn
gets ground up and turned into shrimp
food
and sometimes many of these vessels
manned by slaves are catching these
so-called trash fish fish that we would
love to see on a reef grinding them up
and turning them into shrimp feed an
ecosystem literally eating itself and
spitting out shrimp
the next must-consume Seafood in America
and also throughout the West is tuna so
tuna is this ultimate Global fish these
huge Management areas have to be
observed in order for management area
called a regional fisheries management
organization is called icat the
international invention for the
conservation of Atlantic Tunas the great
naturalist Carl Safina uh once called it
the international conspiracy to catch
all the Tunas of course we've seen
incredible Improvement in icat in the
last few years there is total room for
improvement but it remains to be said
that tuna is a global fish and to manage
it we have to manage the globe
well we could also try to grow tuna but
tuna is a spectacularly bad animal for
aquaculture many people don't know this
but tuna are warm-blooded they can heat
their bodies 20 degrees above ambient
temperature they can swim at over 40
miles an hour so pretty much eliminates
all the advantages of farming a fish
right a farm fish is or fish is
cold-blooded it doesn't move too much
that's a great thing for growing protein
but if you've got this crazy wild
creature that swims at 40 miles an hour
and heats its blood not a great
candidate for aquaculture
the next creature and most consumed
Seafood in America and throughout the
West is salmon now salmon got its
plundering too but it didn't really
necessarily happen through fishing this
is my home state of Connecticut
Connecticut used to be home to a lot of
wild salmon but if you look at this map
of Connecticut every dot on that map is
a dam
there are over 3 000 dams in the state
of Connecticut I I often say this is why
people in Connecticut are so so uptight
if somebody could just unblock
Connecticut's chi I feel that we could
have an infinitely better world but I
made this particular comment at a
convention once of national parks
officers and this guy from North
Carolina sidled up to me says you know
you ought and be so hard on your
Connecticut because we here in North
Carolina we got 35
000 dams so it's a national epidemic
it's an international epidemic and there
are dams everywhere and these are
precisely the things that stop wild
salmon from reaching their spawning
grounds
so as a result we've turned to aquaculty
grounds
so as a result we've turned to
aquaculture and salmon is one of the
most successful at least from a numbers
point of view
when they first started farming salmon
it could take as many as six pounds of
wild fish to make a single pound of
salmon the industry has to its credit
greatly improved they've gotten it below
two to one although
it's a little bit of a cheat because if
you look at the way aquaculture feed is
produced they're measuring pellets
pounds of pellets per pound of salmon
those pellets are in turn reduced fish
so the actual What's called the FIFA the
fish in and the fish have kind of hard
to say but in any case credit to the
industry it has lowered the amount of
fish per pound of salmon problem is
we've also gone crazy with the amount of
salmon that we're producing aquaculture
is the fastest growing food system on
the planet it's growing at something
like seven percent per year and so even
though we're doing less per fish to
bring it to the market we're still
killing a lot of these little fish
and if we're also feeding fish to
chickens and pigs
so we got chickens and they're eating
fish but weirdly we also have fish that
are eating chickens uh because uh the
byproducts of chickens feathers blood
bone get ground up and fed to fish so I
often wonder is there a fish that ate a
chicken that ate a fish
this is sort of a reworking of the
chicken and egg thing anyway
all together though it results in a
terrible mess
um what you're talking about is
something between 20 and 30 million
metric tons of wild creatures that are
taken from the ocean and used and ground
up that's the equivalent of a third of a
China or of entire United States of
humans that's taken out of the sea each
and every year
the last of the four is a kind of
amorphous thing um it's you know what
the industry calls white fish
there's many fish that get cycled into
this white fish thing but the way to
kind of tell the story I think is
through that classic piece of American
culinary Innovation culinary Innovation
the filet of fish sandwich so the filet
fish sandwich actually started as
halibut and it started because a local
franchise owner found that when he
served his McDonald's on on Friday
nobody came because it was a Catholic
Community they needed fish so Ray Kroc
um he went to Ray Kroc and he said I'm
going to bring you a fish sandwich gonna
be made out of halibut Ray Kroc said I
don't think it's gonna work I want to do
a hula burger and there's going to be a
slice of pineapple on a bun but let's do
this let's have a bet who's ever
sandwiched you know sells more that will
be the winning sandwich well it's kind
of sad for the ocean that the hula
Burger didn't win
um so he made his halibut sandwich uh
unfortunately though the sandwich came
in at 30 cents Ray wanted the sandwich
to come in at 25 cents so he turned to
Atlantic Cod we all know what happened
to Atlantic cod in New England so now
the filet of fish sandwich is made out
of Alaska Pollock it's the largest
finfish fishery in the United States two
to three billion pounds of fish taken
out of the sea every billion pounds of
fish taken out of the sea every single
year if we go through the Pollock the
next choice is probably going to be
tilapia tilapia is one of those fish
nobody ever heard of 20 years ago it's
actually a very efficient converter of
plant protein into animal protein and
it's been a godsend to the third world
it's actually a tremendously sustainable
solution goes from an egg to an adult in
nine months problem is that when you
look about the West it doesn't do what
the West wants it to do it really
doesn't have what's called an oily fish
profile IELTS listening part four but
the question is why why do we sometimes
fail to perform up to our potential
under pressure
it's especially bewildering in the case
of athletes who spend so much time
physically honing their craft
but what about their minds
not as much
this is true off the playing field as
well whether we're taking a test or
giving a talk it's easy to feel like
we're ready at the top of our game and
then perform at our worst when it
matters most
it turns out that rarely do we practice
under the types of conditions we're
actually going to perform under and as a
result when all eyes are on us we
sometimes flub our performance
of course the question is why is this
the case and my experience on the
playing field and in other important
facets of my life really pushed me into
the field of cognitive science I wanted
to know how we could reach our Limitless
potential
I wanted to understand how we could use
our knowledge of the mind and the Brain
to come up with psychological tools that
would help us perform at our best
so why does it happen why do we
sometimes fail to perform up to what
we're capable of when the pressure is on
it may not be so surprising to hear that
in stressful situations we worry we
worry about the situation the
consequences what others will think of
us
but what is surprising is that we often
get in our own way precisely because our
worries prompt us to concentrate too
much that's right we pay too much
attention to what we're doing
when we're concerned about performing
our best we often try and control
aspects of what we're doing that are
best left on autopilot outside conscious
awareness and as a result we mess up
think about a situation where you're
shuffling down the stairs and what would
happen if I asked you to think about
what you're doing with your knee while
you're doing that there's a good chance
you'd fall on your face
we as humans only have the ability to
pay attention to so much at once which
is why by the way it's not a good idea
to drive and talk on the cell phone
and under pressure when we're concerned
about performing at our best we can try
and control aspects of what we're doing
that should be left outside conscious
control
the end result is that we mess up
my research team and I have studied this
phenomenon of over-attention and we call
it paralysis by analysis
in one study we asked college soccer
players to dribble a soccer ball and to
pay attention to an aspect of their
performance that they would not
otherwise attend to we asked them to pay
attention to what side of the foot was
contacting the ball
we showed that performance was slower
and more error prone when we drew their
attention to the step-by-step details of
what they were doing
when the pressure is on we're often
concerned with performing at our best
and as a result we try and control what
we're doing to force the best
performance
the end result is that we actually screw
up
in basketball the term unconscious is
used to describe a shooter who can't
miss
and San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan
has said when you have to stop and think
that's when you mess up
in dance the great choreographer George
Balanchine used to urge his dancers
don't think just do
when the pressure's on when we want to
put our best foot forward somewhat
ironically we often try and control what
we're doing in a way that leads to worse
performance
so what do we do knowing that we have
this overactive attention how do we
ensure that we perform at our best
a lot of it comes down to the prefrontal
cortex that front part of our brain that
sits over our eyes and usually helps us
focus in positive ways it often gets
hooked on the wrong things so how do we
unhook it
something as simple as singing a song
or paying attention to one's pinky toe
is pro golfer Jack Nicholas was rumored
to do can help us take our mind off
those pesky details
it's also true that practicing under
conditions that we're going to perform
under
closing the gap between training and
competition can help us get used to that
feeling of all eyes on us
this is true off the playing field as
well
whether it's getting ready for an exam
or preparing for a big talk one that
might have a little pressure associated
with it
getting used to the types of situations
you're going to perform under really
matters when you're taking a test close
the book practice retrieving the answer
from memory under time situations and
when you're giving a talk practice in
front of others and if you can't find
anyone who will listen practice in front
of a video camera or even a mirror the
ability to get used to what it will feel
like can make the difference in whether
we choke or thrive
we've also figured out some ways to get
rid of those pesky worries and
self-doubts that tend to creep up in the
stressful situations
researchers have shown that simply
jotting down your thoughts and worries
before a stressful event can help to
download them from mind make them less
likely to pop up in the moment
it's kind of like when you wake up in
the middle of the night and you're
really worried about what you have to do
the next day you're trying to think
about everything you have to accomplish
and you write it down and then you can
go back to sleep journaling or getting
those thoughts down on paper
makes it less likely they'll pop up and
distract you in the moment the end
result is that you can perform your best
when it matters most
that is the end of the test as promised
here are the answers good luck
number one John Horton number two
London
number three
zero six four one four five three five
four
number four the final push
number five you can have the 16th of
February or February 16 or 16 February 6
B
7 d
eight
e
nine
C
ten h
11 B
12 e
13 a
14
d
15
C
16 India
17 is nuclear
18 coal
19 with weapons
20
China
21
trimp
22 Market or the market
23
Mangrove 24 global
25
40 miles
26 over 3 000.
27
spawning grinds or their spawning
grounds
28
pig or pigs or the pig or the pigs
39 or 9 months
31 playing field
32 too much
33 awareness or control
34 by analysis
35 step-by-step details
36 C
37 B
38 B
39 a
40 C Chris here again and thank you so
much for watching our listening sample
test I hope that you did really really
well and if you made some mistakes
here's a video that is going to help you
reflect on your mistakes and improve
that's really going to help you what I
would like you to do is put your scores
in the comments below it's great to see
what level all you guys are at and also
if you would like to see more sample
listening tests please let us know in
the comments below or if you have any
other recommendations for future videos
feel free to comment below and if you
have any questions or you need any help
with the IELTS test any help with
preparation or materials or courses or
anything like that feel free to send us
an email Chris ilesadvantage.com is my
email address we answer a hundred
percent of the emails that come through
and I look forward to reading your
emails thank you very much guys and as
always if you need anything feel free to
get in touch and don't forget to like
And subscribe