IELTS General Training Practice Test 23

Listening

Part 1

Listen and answer questions 1–10.

Complete the lost baggage report below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1. Passenger's surname: ______

2. Flight number: ______

3. Address in Auckland: Harbourview Hotel, ______ Street

4. Colour of case: ______

5. Brand: ______

6. Valuable item inside: ______

7. Baggage tag number: ______

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

8. If the case arrives on tomorrow's flight, it will be

A) collected by Anna at the airport B) delivered to her hotel by noon C) sent to her cousin in Devonport

9. How much can Anna spend on essentials?

A) 100 dollars B) 150 dollars C) 200 dollars

10. To claim the money back, Anna must

A) pay a fee B) phone within a week C) hand in her receipts within fourteen days

Part 2

Listen and answer questions 11–20.

Part 3

Listen and answer questions 21–30.

Part 4

Listen and answer questions 31–40.

Transcript (available after checking)

Today's lecture is an introduction to dialectology, the branch of linguistics concerned with systematically studying regional variation within a single language. Dialects differ from one another along several distinct dimensions at once, including pronunciation, vocabulary choice, and grammatical structure, and linguists are quick to stress that no single dialect is inherently more correct or more logical than any other from a strictly linguistic point of view, even though social attitudes and prestige clearly do vary considerably between different dialects within the same country. Researchers traditionally gathered dialect data by travelling to numerous different locations and carefully recording how long-term local residents pronounced specific target words or referred to particular everyday, familiar objects, gradually building up detailed maps showing where one word or pronunciation pattern gave way to another as you moved geographically across a region. The resulting boundary lines drawn on these maps, known technically as isoglosses, rarely align neatly or consistently with each other, meaning that the boundary for one particular word might fall in a noticeably different place than the boundary for an entirely different word, reflecting the complex, layered history of separate migration, historical trade contact, and settlement patterns within a given region. Some especially interesting dialect boundaries can be traced directly back to specific historical events, such as a former political border, an old river crossing point, or a specific area of dense earlier settlement, even in cases where that original historical feature itself has since disappeared entirely or become largely forgotten by the modern local population. Modern dialectology increasingly relies on large-scale online surveys and crowd-sourced data collection rather than exclusively on the older fieldwork methods, allowing researchers to gather usefully comparable data from thousands of speakers rapidly rather than the mere dozens that traditional fieldwork visits typically allowed. Researchers studying language change over time have also found that widespread increased mobility and mass media exposure are gradually levelling some traditional, historically sharp dialect differences, particularly noticeably among younger urban speakers, even as certain other, more deeply entrenched local features have proven surprisingly resistant to this general levelling trend.

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

31. Dialects differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and ______ structure.

32. No single dialect is inherently more ______ than any other, linguistically.

33. Researchers traditionally recorded how local residents pronounced target ______.

34. Boundary lines on dialect maps are known technically as ______.

35. These boundaries rarely align ______ with each other.

36. Some boundaries trace back to a former political ______.

37. Modern dialectology increasingly relies on large-scale online ______.

38. Online surveys allow data collection from thousands of ______ rapidly.

39. Increased mobility and mass ______ are levelling some dialect differences.

40. This levelling is particularly noticeable among younger ______ speakers.

Reading

Section 1: Notices

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 1.

Section 2: Workplace

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 2.

Section 3: The Psychology of Colour in Marketing

You should spend about 20 minutes on Section 3.

Speaking

Part 1: Introduction and interview

The examiner asks you questions about yourself and familiar topics (4–5 minutes).

Part 1 (Family / Birthdays) — the examiner asks about two familiar topics. Topic 1: Family Q1. Do you have a large or a small family? Q2. How often do you see your relatives? Topic 2: Birthdays Q3. How do people usually celebrate birthdays in your country? Q4. Do you remember a birthday that was special for you?

Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.

Show sample answer

Model answer: 1. It's fairly large, actually. I have two sisters, a brother, and loads of cousins, so family gatherings can get pretty noisy. 2. My close relatives I see nearly every week, but my aunts and uncles who live in other cities I only meet a few times a year, usually at holidays or weddings. 3. Most people have a small party at home with a cake and close friends. Children often get to invite their whole class, and adults tend to go out for dinner. 4. Yes, my eighteenth. My friends organised a surprise picnic by the lake, and I had no idea. I remember being really touched that they'd gone to so much trouble.

Part 2: Individual long turn

You have one minute to prepare, then speak for one to two minutes.

Describe an activity you enjoy doing at the weekend. You should say: - what the activity is - where and when you do it - who you do it with and explain why you enjoy it. You'll have a minute to prepare and then speak for one to two minutes on it.

Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.

Show sample answer

Model answer: On Saturday mornings I usually go to a community pottery studio not far from my flat, and that's become my favourite way of starting the weekend. It's a bright room in a converted warehouse, with long tables, a couple of electric wheels and shelves full of half-finished bowls and mugs. I began going about eight months ago, after a colleague told me it was a wonderful way to switch off from work. Class begins at ten, and lasts about two hours. Most of the time I go by myself, but I've met several regulars there, including an older man who teaches us tricks for shaping clay and a young woman who makes beautiful teapots. We usually chat over tea afterwards. What I enjoy about it is that it uses my hands and my imagination, which is a real change from sitting in front of a screen all week. Also, there's a special satisfaction in creating something useful; I've made four mugs, a soup bowl and a rather lopsided vase, which I proudly display on my kitchen shelf. Even when a piece collapses, it doesn't matter, because it's just clay and you can simply start again.

Part 3: Two-way discussion

The examiner asks more abstract questions linked to the Part 2 topic.

Part 3 (public health campaigns) — the examiner asks four related questions. Q1. How effective do you think public health campaigns are at changing people's behaviour? Q2. Should governments spend more money on preventing illness rather than treating it? Q3. What makes a health campaign more likely to succeed? Q4. How might public health messaging change in the future?

Recorded on your device only — play it back and compare with the model answer.

Show sample answer

Model answer: 1. They can raise awareness effectively, but changing long-term behaviour is much harder, since habits like smoking or poor diet are often tied to stress, culture, or simple convenience. 2. I think so, since prevention is usually far cheaper than treating serious illness later, and it also spares people the personal suffering that comes with preventable health conditions. 3. Clear, simple messaging combined with genuinely relatable examples tends to work best, along with repetition across multiple channels rather than a single short-lived advertisement. 4. I imagine more personalised health messaging through apps and wearable devices, tailoring advice to an individual's specific habits rather than relying only on broad general campaigns.

Writing Task 1

You booked a table at a restaurant for a special family occasion, but when you arrived the reservation had been lost and you were kept waiting a long time. Write a letter to the restaurant manager. In your letter: explain what happened, describe how it affected your evening, and say what you would like the manager to do. Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter 'Dear ...,'

Writing Task 2

Some people believe that traditional exams are the best way to assess students, while others think continuous assessment throughout a course is fairer. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.