The sleepy lizard: listening answers and explanations
A lecturer introduces the sleepy lizard (tiliqua rugosa), an Australian reptile. She describes what it looks like, what it eats and what threatens it, then reports three studies: one on how it navigates, observations of its unusual mating habits, and a GPS tracking study she worked on herself.
Ten gaps in strict order. The description gives 31-33. Michael Freake's study is the navigation gap (34). 'Observations of these lizards in the wild' leads into 35-37, and 'Finally, I'd like to mention another study' into the tracking gaps, 38-40.
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: The lecturer gives a lot of detail that isn't tested, often in pairs: blue tongue and pink mouth, beetles and plants, birds and snakes and cars. Look at what's already printed in the notes so you know which half of each pair you need.
Question 31
Answer: tongueIn the general description, after their brown colour
Also accepted: tongues
What blue part of the body makes the sleepy lizard easy to recognise?
sleepy lizards are brown, but what's particularly distinctive about them is the … their tongue, which is dark blue, in contrast with the lining of their mouth which is bright pink
Question says → You hear
brown, but recognisable by their bluebrown, but what's particularly distinctive about them is the … their tongue, which is dark blue
Why: 'Particularly distinctive' matches 'recognisable', and the blue part is the tongue. The key accepts tongue or tongues.
The trap: The mouth is mentioned too, but it's bright pink. Only the tongue is blue.
Question 32
Answer: plantsWhen the lecturer says they have quite a varied diet
What do sleepy lizards mainly eat?
They have quite a varied diet … eat plants of … Even though they're quite large and powerful, with strong jaws that can crush beetles and snail shells
Question says → You hear
Their diet consists mainly ofeat plants of
Why: In the recording, the lecturer says their diet is varied but they mainly eat plants of various kinds. Write the plural: plants.
The trap: Beetles and snail shells come straight after, but as things their jaws can crush, not their main food.
Question 33
Answer: snakesWhen the lecturer says that, despite their size, they have quite a few predators
Apart from large birds, what are the lizards' main predators?
but nowadays they're more likely to be caught and killed by snakes. Actually, another threat to their survival isn't a predator at all
Question says → You hear
Their main predators are large birds andnowadays they're more likely to be caught and killed by snakes
Why: Large birds like cassowaries were the main predators in the past; now snakes are more likely to kill them. The note has 'large birds and ...', so snakes.
The trap: Cars kill many lizards, but the lecturer says this threat 'isn't a predator at all'.
Question 34
Answer: skyWhen the lecturer describes Michael Freake's study at Flinders University
What can lizards use to help them navigate?
investigated the methods of navigation of these lizards. Though they move slowly, they can travel quite long distances.
Question says → You hear
help them navigateinvestigated the methods of navigation of these lizards
Why: In the recording, Freake found that lizards taken away from their home territory could find their way back using the sky, probably the position of the sun. The gap is sky.
The trap: 'Sun' is a natural guess, but the word in the key is sky. And 'territory' is where they return to, not what they use.
Question 35
Answer: partnerWhen the lecturer says their mating habits are quite unusual
Also accepted: partners
What do these lizards keep for several years?
it seems that they're relatively monogamous … same partner year after year
Question says → You hear
keep the same ... for several yearssame partner year after year
Why: They return to the same partner year after year. 'Year after year' matches 'for several years'. The key accepts partner or partners.
The trap: Writing 'monogamous' (an adjective) doesn't fit 'the same ...'. The gap needs the noun.
Question 36
Answer: contactWhen the lecturer looks at the first possible reason, protecting the young
What has rarely been seen between parents and their young?
once the babies have hatched out of their eggs, they have hardly any contact with their parents
Question says → You hear
little ... has been noted between parents and childrenhardly any contact with their parents
Why: 'Hardly any' matches 'little', and 'observers have noted' matches 'has been noted'. The gap is contact.
The trap: 'Survival' is printed earlier in the same note, and it's the reason being tested, not what's missing. Write the noun that 'little' describes.
Question 37
Answer: protectionWhen the lecturer gives 'Another suggestion'
What might male lizards provide for females?
So maybe the male lizards stay around so they can give the female lizards protection from other males.
Question says → You hear
to provide ... for female lizardsgive the female lizards protection from other males
Why: 'Give ... protection' is 'provide ...', so the noun is protection.
The trap: 'Bigger and stronger' describes the males that stay. It's the reason they can protect, not the answer.
Question 38
Answer: tailWhen the lecturer says she was involved in the tracking study herself
Also accepted: tails
Where on the lizards were the GPS systems fixed?
a tiny GPS system that would allow us to track them, and we fixed this onto their tails
Question says → You hear
GPS systems attached to thewe fixed this onto their tails
Why: 'Fixed this onto' is 'attached to'. The key accepts tail or tails.
The trap: No real distractor, but the answer comes in the middle of a long sentence about the GPS system, so it's easy to miss if you're still on 37.
Question 39
Answer: stepsWhen the lecturer says they tracked the lizards for twelve days
Besides location, what did the tracking record the number of?
not just about their location, but even about how many steps they took during this period
Question says → You hear
location and even the number ofnot just about their location, but even about how many steps they took
Why: 'Even' appears in both the notes and the recording. 'How many steps' gives the plural noun steps.
The trap: 'Twelve days' is a number said just before, but it's how long they tracked them, not what they counted.
Question 40
Answer: injuryAt the end, when the lecturer asks 'So why would that be?'
Also accepted: injuries
What might the lizards be trying to avoid by keeping away from each other?
there were far fewer meetings between lizards than we expected - it seems that they were actually trying to avoid one another … hypothesis one is
Question says → You hear
trying to avoid one anotherthey were actually trying to avoid one another
Why: In the recording, the first hypothesis is that avoiding each other reduces the chance of injury, for example from fights between males. The key accepts injury or injuries.
The trap: 'Meetings' is said in the evidence, but avoiding meetings is what they do, not what it protects them from.
Beetles and snail shells are described vividly, so people write 'insects' or 'snails'. But they're examples of what the lizards' jaws can crush. Their diet is mainly plants.
Cars kill a lot of sleepy lizards, and that's said just after. But the lecturer says cars are 'not a predator at all'. The predators are large birds and snakes.
The tracking study found the lizards avoid one another. The gap asks why: to reduce the chance of injury, probably from fights between males. One word only, so don't write 'fighting injuries'.
Words from this recording worth keeping
dozing(Introduction)
sleeping lightly
distinctive(Description)
easy to recognise because it's unusual
predators(Description)
animals that hunt and kill other animals
navigation(Navigation study)
finding your way from place to place
home territory(Navigation study)
the area where an animal usually lives
monogamous(Observations in the wild)
having only one partner
hatched(Possible reasons)
came out of an egg
hypothesis(Tracking study)
an idea that has not yet been proved
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The full Cambridge 13 Test 3 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 13, Test 3, 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.
