Four business values: listening answers and explanations
A lecturer looks at four values that businesses usually treat as good: collaboration, hard work, creativity and excellence. Using examples from training courses, product launches and research, the speaker argues that each one can backfire if it isn't managed.
Two gaps in the introduction, then the four values in the order they are announced: collaboration, industriousness, creativity, excellence. Each section opens with a clear signpost ('the first value', 'Now industriousness', 'Next we come to', 'And finally'), so use the note headings to keep your place.
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.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 31-40 · Note completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
How to attack this block: Up to two words, and four answers here need both: side effects, chocolate bar, market share, and possibly not necessary. Each value has one example story, so listen for the concrete thing (a bridge, a smartphone, a chocolate bar) and the result it led to.
Question 31
Answer: damageEarly in the introduction, after 'Pursue values by all means'
What can many business values lead to?
be prepared for what may happen … They can … cause damage, which is not at all the intention.
Question says → You hear
can result inThey can … cause damage
Why: The lecturer warns that values can cause damage even though nobody intends it. 'Result in' in the notes matches 'what may happen as a result' and 'cause'.
The trap: 'Backfires' comes a moment later and describes the same idea, but it's a verb and doesn't fit after 'result in'.
Question 32
Answer: side effectsStraight after 'Business leaders generally try to do the right thing'
What do senior managers need to understand and deal with?
But all too often the right thing backfires. … The values can easily get in the way of what's actually intended.
Question says → You hear
Senior managersBusiness leaders
Why: Between these two sentences the speaker says leaders pursue values 'without understanding and managing the side effects that arise'. Understanding and managing becomes 'understand and deal with', so the answer is side effects.
The trap: Damage was the answer to the line above. Don't repeat it: this gap is the side effects that come from pursuing values.
Question 33
Answer: bridgeThe start of the collaboration section
What did the speaker's team have to build on the course?
we were put into groups and had to construct a bridge across a stream, using building blocks
Question says → You hear
had to build ahad to construct a bridge
Why: 'Construct' is 'build' in the notes, and the thing built was a bridge.
The trap: Building blocks were the materials, not the thing built, and stream is where the bridge went.
Question 34
Answer: confusionRight after 'it was really a job best done by one person'
What did other teams suffer when they tried to collaborate?
The other teams tried to collaborate on building the structure, and descended into confusion, with everyone getting in each other's way.
Question says → You hear
Other teams experiencedThe other teams … descended into confusion
Why: 'Descended into confusion' means they ended up confused because everyone tried to help. The note needs a noun: confusion.
The trap: Teamwork is the cause, not the result. The note asks what they experienced from collaborating.
Question 35
Answer: smartphoneWhen the speaker says teamwork can lead to inconsistency
Which product sold badly because of collaboration?
Teamwork can also lead to inconsistency - a common cause of poor sales. In the case of a smartphone that a certain company launched
Question says → You hear
Sales of a ... were poora common cause of poor sales. In the case of a smartphone
Why: Two directors pulled the smartphone in two directions, so it met the needs of neither group. Poor sales are linked directly to it. Smartphone is one word.
The trap: Business market and consumers are the two target groups, not the product.
Question 36
Answer: resourcesIn the industriousness section, after the hamster in a wheel
What can hard work make bad use of?
It's easy to mock people who say they work hard: after all, a hamster running around in a wheel is working hard
Question says → You hear
Hard worka hamster running around in a wheel is working hard
Why: The hamster shows that working hard can get you nowhere. The speaker then says hard work can waste the resources companies value most, such as time. 'Various company ...' needs that general plural noun: resources.
The trap: Time is one example of these resources, and it's easy to write it. But the note says 'various', which points to the general word.
Question 37
Answer: unnecessaryWhen the speaker explains the management model of four types of people
Also accepted: not necessary
What kind of tasks do 'lazy' people avoid?
Here 'lazy' means having a rational determination not to carry out unnecessary tasks. It doesn't mean trying to avoid work altogether.
Question says → You hear
avoid doing tasksnot to carry out unnecessary tasks
Why: 'Not to carry out' matches 'avoid doing', and the tasks are unnecessary. 'Not necessary' is also accepted.
The trap: 'Avoid work altogether' is the meaning the speaker rules out, so 'all' or 'work' is wrong.
Question 38
Answer: chocolate barIn the creativity section, after 'it isn't always a good thing'
What was the memorable but unsuccessful advert for?
with the launch of a chocolate bar: subsequent research showed that plenty of consumers remembered the adverts, but had no idea what was being advertised
Question says → You hear
memorableconsumers remembered the adverts
failed to boost saleswithout having any effect on sales
Why: People remembered the chocolate bar adverts but not the product, so sales didn't rise. Two words: chocolate bar.
The trap: A TV commercial is mentioned just before, but as an example of creativity that does work.
Question 39
Answer: problemThe end of the creativity section
What should creativity respond to?
Creativity needs to be targeted, to solve a problem that the company has identified.
Question says → You hear
used as a response to a particularto solve a problem that the company has identified
Why: 'Solve a problem that the company has identified' becomes 'response to a particular ...'. Problem is the noun.
The trap: 'Novel products' comes right after, but the speaker says producing more of them isn't necessarily good.
Question 40
Answer: market shareIn the excellence section, when the speaker describes the major study
What did pioneers have far more of than followers?
the pioneers commanded an average market share of 29 percent, while the followers achieved less than half that, only 13 percent
Question says → You hear
far higher than that of followersthe followers achieved less than half that
Why: Pioneers averaged a 29 percent market share against 13 percent for followers. 'Far higher' matches 'less than half'. Two words: market share.
The trap: The numbers are said loudest, but the note wants the thing being measured. And 'better product' belongs to the followers, not the pioneers.
The introduction moves fast. Leaders pursue values without understanding and managing the side effects that arise. The note uses 'deal with', so the answer is two words: side effects.
Hard work is mocked with a hamster in a wheel, and the useful point comes after: hard work can use up the resources companies value most. The word is general, so people often write time instead.
Two percentages come up, 29 and 13, and it's tempting to write a number. The gap needs what the pioneers had more of: market share, two words.
Words from this recording worth keeping
backfires(Introduction)
has the opposite effect to the one intended
comply with(Collaboration)
obey a rule or request
aptitude(Collaboration)
a natural ability for something
inconsistency(Collaboration)
a lack of agreement or a single direction
industriousness(Industriousness)
the quality of working hard
attention-grabbing(Creativity)
making people notice it
pioneers(Excellence)
the first people or companies to do something
second-rate(Excellence)
not of the highest quality
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 12 Test 5 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 12, Test 5, 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.
