Cambridge IELTS 14 Listening Test 3

Explanations

1. Tesla

The note reads 'the _____ room for talks', and Angela answers exactly that: 'for talks and presentations we have the Tesla room'. 'Talks and presentations' is the recording's version of the printed word 'talks', so the room named in that same sentence is the answer. The caller mishears and says 'Sorry?', which prompts Angela to spell it out — T-E-S-L-A — so the spelling is confirmed for you. Note the capital letter: it is a proper noun (the room is named after the inventor).Common trap: Spelled-out proper noun. The 'hundred people' capacity follows immediately and is the kind of concrete detail candidates latch onto, but the blank needs the room's name, not its size.

2. microphone

The note already prints 'projector', so the blank must be the second piece of equipment. Angela mentions the projector at the end of her description of the Tesla room ('fully equipped with a projector and so on'), and it is the caller who then asks 'How about a microphone?' — Angela confirms it with 'that’ll be all set up ready for you', and adds there will be a second one for the audience to use for questions. The answer is therefore supplied by the caller and only confirmed by the hotel.Common trap: Answer in the question, not the reply. 'Projector' is spoken clearly just before the answer and is the word most listeners write — but it is already printed in the note, which is the signal to reject it.

3. exhibition

The caller asks for 'some sort of open area where people can sit and have a cup of coffee' — that is the 'area for coffee' already printed — 'and we’d like to have an exhibition of our products and services there as well'. The words 'as well' mark the second thing wanted in that same space, which is what the blank asks for. Note the article 'an' before the gap: it confirms the answer begins with a vowel sound.Common trap: Distractor noun in the reply. Angela answers with 'a central atrium', a concrete and unfamiliar-sounding word that tempts candidates who wait for the hotel's reply rather than catching the caller's request — but the atrium is the space, not the thing held in it.

4. wifi

Both qualifiers in the note are confirmed in Angela's reply: the caller asks 'I presume there’s wifi?' and she answers 'Oh yes, that’s free and available throughout the hotel'. 'Free' and 'throughout' match the note word for word, which makes this one of the most straightforward answers in the section — the only real risk is spelling.Common trap: No competing option here — the trap is spelling and format only ('wifi' as one word, as printed in the Cambridge key).

5. 45

Angela offers a buffet lunch, the caller asks the price, and she replies 'I can send you a copy of the standard menu. That’s $45 per person.' The note's 'standard buffet lunch' matches 'the standard menu', and 'per head' matches 'per person'. The dollar sign is already printed, so only the number goes in the gap.Common trap: Distractor figure, and an increment rather than a price. '$25 more' is spoken in the very next breath, but it belongs to the special menu, not the standard one — and even for that menu the price would be $70, not $25. The caller then confirms 'I think the standard should be OK', which locks in $45.

6. 135

Angela states the conference rate directly: 'for conference attendees we have a 25% reduction, so we can offer you rooms at $135'. The caller then asks 'does that include breakfast?' and she confirms 'Sure', which matches the note's 'including breakfast'. The figure is given, so there is nothing to calculate.Common trap: Two figures compete with the answer. '$180' is the normal rate quoted immediately after, and '25%' is a percentage, not a price. Together they invite candidates to do the arithmetic themselves instead of simply writing the figure Angela has already given.

7. pool

The note prints 'a spa and rooftop _____', so the spa is accounted for and the blank is the second facility. Angela lists them in the same order: 'we’ve got a spa where you can get massages and facials and so on, and there’s a pool up on the roof'. 'Up on the roof' is the recording's version of the note's 'rooftop', so the noun that follows it is the answer.Common trap: Detail attached to the printed word. 'Massages and facials' expands on the spa, which is already in the note — candidates who write one of those have matched the wrong half of the sentence.

8. airport

Asked about transport links, Angela says the hotel is 'about 12 kilometres from the airport, but there’s a complimentary shuttle bus for guests'. 'Complimentary' is the formal synonym for the note's 'free', and 'shuttle bus' matches 'shuttle service', so the destination named in that sentence is the answer.Common trap: Second transport link, wrong mode. The railway station is named in the very next sentence and is a plausible shuttle destination — but you reach it on foot ('ten minutes’ walk'), so no shuttle is involved.

9. sea

Wilby Street is already printed, so the blank is what the hotel is close to. Angela says 'it’s not very far from the sea'. The double negative 'not very far from' has to be converted into the note's positive 'quite near' — the meaning is the same, but the wording is deliberately inverted.Common trap: Echo of the printed words. 'Quite a small street' reuses 'quite' and 'street' from the note, so listeners keying on those words land on the phrase just before the answer instead of the answer itself.

10. clubs

Angela closes with two kinds of night-time venue: 'a huge choice of places to eat' — the restaurants already printed in the note — and then, 'if they want to make a night of it, they can go on to one of the clubs in the area – there are a great many to choose from'. 'A great many' matches the note's 'many'. Write the plural: the note's 'many' requires 'clubs', even though the recording says 'one of the clubs'.Common trap: Paraphrase of the printed word. 'Places to eat' is simply 'restaurants' reworded, so candidates who write 'restaurants' or 'places to eat' have filled the gap with something already given.

11. decorating

Lucy lists what a volunteer supporting a struggling family might do, and the list divides into two kinds of help: advice and action. The advice is 'tips on cooking', 'how to plan their budget' and 'how to shop sensibly on their income'. The actions are 'some painting or wallpapering' — decorating (A) — and 'some babysitting' — childcare (E). Only the two actions answer the question 'activities that volunteers do'. The word 'decorating' itself is never spoken; you have to recognise painting and wallpapering as the things a decorator does.Common trap: Advice versus action. Cooking and shopping (options C and D) are both named in the sentence immediately before the answers, but as things the volunteer advises on — the question asks what volunteers do.

12. childcare

The second thing volunteers actually do is 'some babysitting so that parents can go out for a while'. As with decorating, the option word 'childcare' is never spoken — the exam is testing whether you can map the everyday word 'babysitting' onto the formal category. The phrase 'or even do' parallels 'they might even do' in the previous sentence, which marks both as actions rather than advice.Common trap: Synonym recognition. Neither answer word appears in the recording, while the two distractor topics (cooking, shopping) are spoken almost verbatim as options C and D — the familiar words are the wrong ones.

13. having a sense of purpose

Lucy turns from the people being helped to the volunteers themselves: 'The benefit from volunteering isn’t only for the people being helped. Volunteers also gain from it.' She then names two gains — a stronger CV when applying for jobs (E), and, flagged by 'Significantly', that 'most volunteers feel that what they’re doing gives them a purpose in their lives' (B). 'Gives them a purpose' maps directly onto 'having a sense of purpose'.Common trap: Speaker's opinion offered as a benefit. Option C is voiced in the sentence immediately after the answer and reuses the idea of luck, but 'in my opinion' marks it as Lucy's view about volunteers — the volunteers are never said to realise it themselves.

14. boosting their employment prospects

The other stated gain is a career one: volunteering 'may be a valuable element of their CV when they’re applying for jobs: employers usually look favourably on someone who’s given up time to help others'. A CV that employers view favourably when you apply for jobs is exactly what 'boosting their employment prospects' means — but none of those three words is spoken, so the match has to be made through meaning.Common trap: Time mentioned, time management implied. Option D is built out of the earlier 'two or three hours every week' — hours are quantified, but no skill in managing them is ever claimed.

15. F

Habib takes an elderly lady with early signs of dementia to the local community centre, where a group comes in to sing. The stated effect is the key: 'The songs take the listeners back to their youth' — being taken back to your youth is remembering past times (F). The added clause 'for a little while they can forget the difficulties that they face now' reinforces it: the value is in the memory, not the outing.Common trap: Social setting masking the real outcome. Going out weekly with other elderly people looks like E (escape isolation), and it is the first thing described — but the sentence that actually states what the lady gains is about her youth.

16. A

Consuela helps 'a couple of people with similar difficulties, who had almost stopped walking altogether', and 'by using herself as an example' she 'encourages them to walk more and more'. People who had almost stopped walking and are now walking more and more are overcoming physical difficulties (A).Common trap: Wrong person. The first physical difficulty described belongs to Consuela, the volunteer — the question asks what she helped someone else to do, so you have to hold on until 'she helps a couple of people'.

17. E

The young man Minh visits 'lives alone and can’t leave his home on his own, so he hardly ever saw anyone' — that is the isolation. What Minh changes is stated next: 'together they go out to the cinema, or to see friends the young man hadn’t been able to visit for a long time'. Getting out and seeing people again is escaping isolation (E).Common trap: Physical limitation that never gets solved. 'Can’t leave his home on his own' points to A (overcome physical difficulties), but nothing improves physically — he still goes out with Minh, not alone. The gain is social.

18. G

Tanya shows the elderly woman some soft toys she has made, and 'the woman decided to try it herself. And now she really enjoys it, and spends hours making toys.' Something newly taken up, enjoyed and done for hours is a new hobby (G). The closing remark that her toys are 'not perhaps up to Tanya’s standard yet' confirms the woman is a beginner.Common trap: Skill belongs to the volunteer. Option B (rediscover skills not used for a long time) is tempting because a professional skill is mentioned — but it is Tanya's profession, and the woman is starting from scratch, not returning to something.

19. D

Alexei is helping a family 'to realise that they aren’t helpless, and that they can do something themselves to improve their situation'. 'They can do something themselves' is the paraphrase of 'independently', and what they are tackling are the difficulties the family faces — so he has helped them solve problems independently (D).Common trap: Method mistaken for outcome. Alexei discusses possible solutions with them, which sounds like he supplies the answers — the stated result is the opposite: the family realise they can act for themselves.

20. C

Juba works with a teenage girl with learning difficulties who 'wasn’t very good at talking to other people'. After patient work, 'now the girl is far better at expressing herself, and at understanding other people'. Expressing yourself and understanding others are the two halves of communication, so the answer is improved communication skills (C).Common trap: Starting problem sounds like isolation. Not talking to other people suggests E, and this is the last item, when candidates are tiring — but the girl's difficulty is with the act of communicating, and that is what improves.

21. 50

Joe describes the band in one sentence containing three numbers: 'the band has students in it from all years, so they’re aged 11 to 18, and there are about 50 of them altogether'. The word 'altogether' is the marker — it signals the total number of members, which is what 'consists of around _____ students' asks for. 'About' matches the note's 'around'.Common trap: Three numbers in quick succession. '11 to 18' is an age range and '20' is the size of Joe's previous bands — only the figure attached to 'altogether' describes this band.

22. regional

Joe sets up a contrast: 'They aren’t really good enough to enter national band competitions, but they’re in a regional one later in the term.' The contrast marker 'but' does the work — the level they are not at is national, the level they are entered for is regional. 'Later in the term' matches the note's 'due to play'.Common trap: Negated distractor spoken first. 'National band competitions' sits directly before the answer and matches the note's wording almost exactly, but it is ruled out by 'aren’t really good enough'.

23. carnival

'Now the town council’s organising a carnival in the summer, and the band has been asked to perform.' Every element of the note is matched: 'the town council' is 'the town’s', 'has been asked to perform' is 'has been invited to play'. Joe's doubt that they are 'up to it yet' does not change the fact of the invitation.Common trap: Two events, two different relationships. The parade (Q26) is the other event in this conversation, but the band only goes to watch it — the carnival is the one they have been invited to play in.

24. drummer

The note's tense is the clue: 'have listened' means something already done. Joe says 'I played a recording I came across, of a drummer talking about how playing in a band had changed his life. I think it was an after-dinner speech.' A recording of someone talking, described as a speech, is the talk — and the speaker is a drummer.Common trap: Done versus planned. The film is the neighbouring activity, but it is introduced with 'I’m planning to' — only the recording has actually been played, which is what 'have listened to' requires.

25. film

'I’m planning to show them that old film from the 1940s ‘Strike Up the Band’, and talk about it with the students.' 'Talk about it with the students' is the paraphrase of 'discuss ... with the band', and the thing to be discussed is the film. The instruction allows one word and/or a number, so the title and the date are not wanted.Common trap: Neighbouring item, wrong tense. The recording is the other thing Joe has used with the band, but it has already been played and is not what he will discuss — and 'recording' would answer the wrong question anyway.

26. parade

'I’m hoping I can take some of the band to a parade that’s going to take place next month.' All three parts of the note match: 'I’m hoping' is 'Joe hopes', 'take some of the band to' is 'attend', and 'next month' is stated outright. Whether it happens depends on hiring coaches, but the note only records the hope.Common trap: Mirror image of Q23. The carnival is the other event, but it is in the summer and the band performs at it — 'next month' and 'attend' both point to the parade.

27. D

The flautist 'says she loves playing in the band', but 'we rehearse twice a week after school, but she’s hardly ever there'. Rehearsing twice a week and hardly ever attending is missing too many rehearsals (D). Joe's closing remark — 'to be honest, I don’t believe her' — confirms the absences are the problem, not the excuses.Common trap: False health claim. 'She’s been ill' is spoken aloud and matches option E word for word — but it is the flautist's own excuse, and Joe explicitly says he does not believe it. Reported speech is not fact.

28. B

The trumpeter 'thinks she’s the best musician in the band, though she certainly isn’t', and 'she’s always saying what she thinks other people should do, which makes my job pretty difficult'. Constantly telling others what they should do, in a way that hinders the teacher, is making unhelpful suggestions (B) — Lizzie's reply, 'She sounds a bit of a nightmare!', is about her manner, not her playing.Common trap: Hint at poor playing. 'Though she certainly isn’t' implies she is not a strong musician, which nudges towards A (mistakes) — but Joe never mentions mistakes, and the problem he actually raises is her behaviour towards others.

29. E

The trombonist 'has breathing difficulties, and he doesn’t really have enough breath for the trombone'. Breathing difficulties are a health problem (E). Everything else in the sentence follows from it: he would do better on percussion, he refuses to give up, and so he only manages half the notes.Common trap: Two traps around one answer. 'Sense of rhythm' matches option C but is stated as a strength, not a difficulty; 'only playing half the notes' sounds like A (mistakes) but is the consequence of the health problem, not a separate fault.

30. F

The percussionist 'isn’t too bad' as a player, but 'he never seems to interact with other people'. Joe spells out why this matters: 'it isn’t good in a band, where people really need to feel they’re part of a group'. Never interacting with others is not mixing with other students (F).Common trap: Leaving early is not being absent. 'Rushes off as soon as the rehearsal ends' contains the word 'rehearsal' and suggests option D, but he attends — he simply does not stay to socialise, which is the point of F.

31. violin

'As a child, Lim originally learned to play the piano – like so many children – and also the violin. But when she was 11 her teachers encouraged her to start composing.' Piano is printed in the note, so the blank is the second instrument, and 'but when she was 11 ... start composing' confirms both came before composition — matching 'before turning to composition'.Common trap: Printed word repeated aloud. 'Piano' is spoken clearly and is separated from the answer by the aside 'like so many children', so listeners who write the first instrument they hear are filling the gap with what is already given.

32. energy

'Liza Lim’s compositions are vibrant and full of energy, and she often explores Asian and Australian Aboriginal cultural sources.' The note follows the same sentence in the same order: 'full of' becomes 'show a great deal of', and the cultural sources clause is already printed, which confirms you are in the right sentence.Common trap: Second half of the sentence already given. The cultural-sources material is the printed part of the note, and the vivid detail 'didgeridoo' draws attention away from the one-word quality that belongs in the gap.

33. complex

'Her music is very expressive, so although it is complex, it has the power of connecting with audiences and performers alike.' 'Very expressive' is printed in the note, so the blank is the other quality — the one introduced by 'although'. The note's neutral 'and also' flattens the recording's concessive structure, which is what makes the word easy to miss.Common trap: Main clause outranks the answer. The memorable idea in this sentence is the music connecting with audiences, but that is the result — the quality paired with 'expressive' is buried in the subordinate 'although' clause.

34. opera

The Oresteia is named, then defined: 'This is an opera in seven parts, based on the trilogy of ancient Greek tragedies by Aeschylus.' The note asks what kind of work it is, and 'an opera' is the answer. The supporting detail — six singers, a dancer and an orchestra — is consistent with an opera.Common trap: Competing labels either side of the answer. 'Semi-staged performance' describes how it will be staged at the festival, and 'trilogy'/'tragedies' describe Aeschylus's source plays — neither is the form of Lim's own work.

35. disturbing

'Lim wrote that because the stories in the tragedies are not easy to tell, the sounds she creates are also disturbing.' The note says 'Lim described', and 'Lim wrote that' marks this as her own account. The logic is causal: difficult stories produce disturbing sounds.Common trap: List of examples in place of the description. The four sounds follow immediately and are easy to catch, but they say what the sounds are — the note asks how Lim characterised them.

36. clarinet

'The Tower of Remoteness is scored for piano and clarinet.' 'Scored for' is the technical phrase for which instruments play a piece, matching the note's 'is performed by'. Piano is printed, so the blank is the second instrument.Common trap: Nature imagery crowding a short answer. The sentences either side are full of concrete nouns — palm trees, birds, insects, a bird call — and the note's own line already mentions nature, so the brief instrument name is easy to lose between them.

37. diversity

Edwards's music 'can be regarded as a celebration of the diversity of cultures that Australia can be proud of'. 'A celebration of' becomes 'celebrates', and 'the diversity of cultures' is rewritten in the note as 'cultural diversity' — the same two words with the order and grammar reversed.Common trap: Quoted phrase just before the answer. 'Deeply connected to Australia' is a direct quotation and contains the word 'Australia' from the note, so it reads like the thing being celebrated — but the note needs the noun after 'cultural'.

38. physics

'However, he went to university to study physics, before changing to composition.' The contrast marker 'however' separates Vine's instruments from his degree: he played cornet and piano as a boy, but went to university for physics, and only then changed to composition. 'Changing to composition' is the note's 'before studying music'.Common trap: Printed line spoken aloud immediately before. Cornet and piano are already recorded in the note above, and 'switching to' echoes the structure of the answer sentence — but the gap needs an academic subject, not an instrument.

39. dance

'Before long he had become prominent in Australia as a composer for dance, and in fact has written 25 scores of that type.' 'Prominent' is the synonym of 'well known', and 'as a composer for dance' matches 'as composer of music for _____' almost word for word.Common trap: Number offered where a noun is wanted. '25 scores' follows straight after the answer, and this part of the test is dense with figures (1943, 1954, 1996), so a numerical answer feels natural here — but the note asks what the music was for.

40. Olympics

'Vine will be represented by his music for the flag hand-over ceremony of the Olympics held in 1996.' The note prints the year before the gap, while the recording puts it after the event ('the Olympics held in 1996'), so you have to hold the phrase in mind and reorder it. The answer takes a capital letter as the name of the event.Common trap: Reordered date plus a longer candidate answer. 'Flag hand-over ceremony' is the tempting fuller answer but breaks the one-word limit, and the following sentence's 'seven-minute' offers yet another number to confuse with 1996.