A balanced diet: listening answers and explanations
At a Students' Union health lecture, John introduces a dietician, Diane Greenbaum. She talks about eating well on a student budget: how vitamins are lost, the two types of vitamin, good shopping habits and the Healthy Diet Pyramid.
Questions 33-34 come from John's introduction, and 35 from Diane's first lines. Questions 36-39 follow her talk on vitamins and shopping, and 'let's just refresh our memories by looking at the Healthy Diet Pyramid' takes you to 40-41.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the part yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
How to attack this block: Two speakers here: questions 33-34 are about what John says, 35 about what Diane says. Each option borrows a word from the introduction (study, the Union, budget), so match the whole idea, not one word.
Question 33
Answer: BJohn's welcome at the very start
What is the lecture series mainly about, according to John?
part of the union's attempt to help you, the students of this university, to stay healthy while coping with study and social life at the same time
Why: The series is on 'health issues' and aims to help students stay healthy: a healthy lifestyle, B.
The trap: A borrows 'study', but coping with study is the background, not the focus. Being away from home comes later from Diane, and isn't the series' topic.
Question 34
Answer: DWhen John welcomes back the speaker
Who is giving the lecture?
Ms Diane Greenbaum who is a professional dietician
Why: A dietician is an expert on food and health, so D, a health expert.
The trap: A borrows the Union: the series is organised by the Students' Union, but the speaker is a visiting dietician.
Question 35
Answer: CDiane's first lines, after she thanks John
What is Diane's lecture about this week?
So today I'm going to talk about ways of making sure that you eat well while at the same time staying within your budget.
Why: 'Ways of making sure that you eat well' is sensible eating, C. The budget is a condition, not the topic.
The trap: D (saving money) is the strongest trap, from 'staying within your budget'. A comes from the joke about chips at the uni canteen.
Note completion (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS)
Questions 36-39
How to attack this block: The notes follow Diane's order: losing vitamins, the two types, then how to get enough. The gaps are short nouns, and the words around each gap tell you what grammar fits ('a ...', '... of foods').
Question 36
Answer: cookingWhen she says we sometimes think we're eating the right foods
How can vitamins in food be lost?
the vitamins are escaping, perhaps as a result of cooking
Question says → You hear
can be lost throughthe vitamins are escaping, perhaps as a result of cooking
Why: 'Escaping' matches 'lost', and 'as a result of' matches 'through'. The answer is cooking.
The trap: Vitamin pills come up straight after, but as a solution she doesn't recommend, not a way vitamins are lost.
Question 37
Answer: daily intakeWhen she explains the two types of vitamins
Also accepted: regular daily intake
What do you need because water soluble vitamins aren't stored?
water soluble vitamins which are removed more rapidly from the body and so a regular daily intake of these ones is needed
Question says → You hear
are not stored, so you need aremoved more rapidly from the body and so a regular daily intake of these ones is needed
Why: 'Is needed' matches 'you need'. The note already has 'a', so write daily intake or regular daily intake.
The trap: Fat soluble vitamins, said just before, are the ones stored 'for quite some time'. Don't mix the two types up.
Question 38
Answer: a varietyWhen she says 'Now firstly'
Also accepted: variety
What should you eat to get enough vitamins?
Now firstly, you must eat a variety of foods.
Question says → You hear
Eat ... of foodsyou must eat a variety of foods
Why: The note keeps 'of foods', so the gap is 'a variety'. 'Variety' alone is accepted too.
The trap: 'Four servings' follows, but that's about fruit and vegetables, and 'eat four servings of foods' isn't what she says.
Question 39
Answer: the darkWhen she tells you to shop two or three times a week
Also accepted: the fridge / a cool place / a dark place / dark / fridge
Where should you store vegetables?
store your vegetables in the fridge or in a cool dark place
Question says → You hear
store them instore your vegetables in the fridge or in a cool dark place
Why: She gives two places joined by 'or', and the key accepts either: the fridge, a cool place, a dark place or the dark.
The trap: 'Two or three times a week' is how often to shop, not where to store them.
Diagram labelling (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS)
Questions 40-41
How to attack this block: The pyramid has three levels and the top one ('try to avoid') is the example. Each level comes with an instruction about how much to eat, then a list of foods. The answer is the instruction, not the foods.
Question 40
Answer: eat in moderationWhen she moves to 'the middle of our pyramid'
Also accepted: not too much / eat not too much
What does the middle level of the pyramid tell you to do?
Next, on the middle of our pyramid we find the things that we can eat in moderation. Not too much though!
The note says 'you need a ...', so the gap needs a noun phrase: daily intake (or regular daily intake). Writing 'regular' alone or 'daily' alone doesn't fit.
She gives two places to store vegetables: the fridge or a cool dark place. Either is accepted, so don't panic about choosing; just write one of them.
Words from this recording worth keeping
hectic schedule(Introduction)
a very busy timetable
dietician(Introduction)
an expert on food and healthy eating
adequate(Introduction)
enough for what you need
within your budget(Introduction)
without spending more than you can afford
soluble(Types of vitamins)
able to dissolve in a liquid
intake(Types of vitamins)
the amount you take into your body
servings(Getting enough vitamins)
portions of food
in moderation(Healthy Diet Pyramid)
in reasonable amounts, not too much
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 1 Test 2 listening paper with the real audio: all four parts, played once, marked the moment you finish. Already done it? Take it again and listen for the traps this page showed you.
Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 2, Listening Part 4. The recording, transcript and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts of the transcript only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full material, or sit the test on Langujet.
