Cities built by the sea: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Carla and Rob, prepare a presentation on urban planning in coastal cities. They discuss what they've read about pollution, a flooding problem in Miami and international action, then plan each section of their fifteen-minute talk.
Questions 21-25 follow the discussion in order: surprising facts, rivers, Miami's channels, what Miami should do now, international action. Carla's line 'I think we've probably got enough for our presentation' starts 26-30, and the five parts of the talk come up in the order listed.
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: Rob and Carla mention ideas from almost every option, often to reject or limit them. Wait for the reaction: 'That's not necessarily a problem, except...' or 'But that won't help'. The answer is what they settle on, not the first idea you hear.
Question 21
Answer: BRight at the start, after Rob mentions how fast cities are growing
What surprised Carla and Rob about coastal cities?
But most of the biggest cities are actually built by the sea. … Nor me.
Question says → You hear
include most of the world's largest citiesmost of the biggest cities are actually built by the sea
Why: Carla says she hadn't realised that most of the biggest cities are by the sea, and Rob says 'Nor me'. Biggest matches largest, and not realising before is the surprise.
The trap: A: the population figure is about all cities, as Carla points out ('that's all cities, not just ones on the coast'), and it's more than half. C: Rob says cities are growing quickly, but no comparison with other cities is made.
Question 22
Answer: AWhen Rob says cities at river mouths can be a problem
What does Rob say about coastal cities that sit near rivers?
That's not necessarily a problem, except it means more and more pollutants are discharged into the rivers. … So these are brought downstream to the cities? … Right.
Question says → You hear
may bring pollution to the citiespollutants are discharged into the rivers … brought downstream to the cities
Why: Pollutants go into the rivers and are carried downstream to the cities. Carla checks this and Rob confirms it.
The trap: B and C are built from what he says just before: agriculture and industry spread inland. But he says that is 'not necessarily a problem'. He never says farmland is reduced or the countryside is spoiled.
Question 23
Answer: CWhen Rob tells Carla about the article on Miami
What went wrong with Miami's drainage channels?
what they didn't take into account … was global warming. So they built the drainage channels too close to sea level
Question says → You hear
did not allow for the effects of climate changewhat they didn't take into account … was global warming
Why: 'Didn't take into account' is 'did not allow for', and global warming is the climate change. Because sea levels have risen, the low channels no longer work.
The trap: B: 'The whole design was faulty' sounds like a problem with materials, but the fault is the height, not what they were made of. A: the number of channels never comes up, and they spent 'quite a lot of money' on them.
Question 24
Answer: BAfter Carla says the waste water plan won't help with flooding now
What should the Miami authorities do right now?
Really they just need to find the money for something to replace the drainage channels, in order to protect against flooding now.
Question says → You hear
pay for a new flood prevention systemfind the money for something to replace the drainage channels
Why: 'Find the money' is 'pay for', 'something to replace the drainage channels' is a new system, and 'protect against flooding now' gives you the immediate timing.
The trap: C: stopping waste water going into the ocean is what Miami plans over the next ten years, and Carla says it won't help with flooding now. A: the ecosystem is 'in the long term', not immediately.
Question 25
Answer: AWhen Carla says coastal cities can't solve their problems on their own
What do they agree international action should focus on first?
they've got to start acting together at an international level instead of just doing their own thing. … Absolutely.
Question says → You hear
greater coordination of activitiesacting together at an international level instead of just doing their own thing
Why: Acting together instead of each doing their own thing is coordination. Rob agrees with 'Absolutely'.
The trap: C: Rob mentions countries deciding 'what principles they're prepared to abide by', but says it will take a long time, and Carla adds 'if they ever do'. B: sharing information isn't needed, because everyone already knows the problems.
Matching (A-G)
Questions 26-30
How to attack this block: Seven decisions, five parts, so two letters are spare. Each part of the talk is named clearly, so use the section names as signposts. Watch for the handout: it's suggested and then replaced by something better.
Question 26
Answer: BWhen Rob says they'll begin with why coastal cities were established
What do they decide about the historical background?
But we don't want to spend too long on that, the other students will already know a bit about it.
Question says → You hear
Historical backgroundwe don't want to spend too long on that
Why: Not spending too long on it means keeping it short: B.
The trap: The other students are mentioned, which pulls you to C. But Rob says they already know about it, as a reason to keep it brief, not to involve them.
Question 27
Answer: AWhen Carla lists wetlands, estuaries and coastal erosion
What do they decide about the geographical factors?
We could have some maps of different cities with these features marked. … On a handout you mean? Or some slides everyone can see? … Yeah, that'd be better.
Question says → You hear
use visualssome maps … Or some slides everyone can see
Why: They want maps, and choose to show them on slides everyone can see. Maps on slides are visuals: A.
The trap: E, provide a handout, is said word for word, but Carla prefers the slides ('that'd be better').
Question 28
Answer: FWhen Rob brings up the New Orleans case study
What do they decide about past mistakes?
Did you read that case study of the problems there were in New Orleans with flooding a few years ago? … We could use that as the basis for that part of the talk.
Question says → You hear
focus on one exampleuse that as the basis for that part of the talk
Why: One case study, New Orleans, becomes the basis of the whole section. That's focusing on one example: F.
The trap: The other students are mentioned again ('they'll remember hearing about the flooding'), but nobody suggests involving them here. C belongs to the last section.
Question 29
Answer: GWhen Rob suggests looking at the long term and population growth
What do they decide about future risks?
I haven't got much information, have you? … No. We'll need to look at some websites.
Question says → You hear
do online researchWe'll need to look at some websites
Why: Neither of them has enough information, so they'll look at websites. Websites is the online research: G.
The trap: D, check the information is accurate, sounds close, but they have no information yet to check. They need to find it first.
Question 30
Answer: CThe last section, when Carla says they should end with it
What do they decide about the international implications?
Maybe we could ask people in the audience. We've got people from quite a lot of different places.
Question says → You hear
involve other studentsask people in the audience
Why: The audience is the rest of the class, and asking them questions involves them: C.
The trap: Rob adds 'if we have time', which might make you think of keeping it short (B). But that letter already went to the background, and the decision here is to ask the audience.
The world population figure comes first and sounds like the surprise, but it's about all cities and is 'more than half', not nearly half. What they hadn't realised before is that most of the biggest cities are on the coast.
All three options are touched on. Information isn't the problem, since 'everyone knows what the problems are', and agreeing on principles will take a long time. The priority Carla names, and Rob agrees with, is acting together.
Rob says 'On a handout you mean?' and the word handout is exactly option E. Carla's 'that'd be better' answers his second idea, slides everyone can see, so the decision is to use visuals.
Words from this recording worth keeping
urban planning(Introduction)
designing how towns and cities grow and are organised
pollutants(Cities near rivers)
substances that make air, water or land dirty
discharged(Cities near rivers)
let out or released into something
downstream(Cities near rivers)
in the direction a river flows
drainage channels(Miami)
passages built to carry water away
abide by(International action)
accept and follow a rule or agreement
estuaries(Planning the presentation)
wide parts of a river where it meets the sea
coastal erosion(Planning the presentation)
the gradual wearing away of land by the sea
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The full Cambridge 14 Test 1 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 14, Test 1, Listening Part 3. 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.
