Concerts in university arts festival: listening answers and explanations
A lecturer in a university music department introduces the three concerts planned for an arts festival on links between the UK and Australia. The talk focuses on the three Australian composers: Liza Lim, Ross Edwards and Carl Vine.
Ten gaps in order, one composer per concert. Questions 31-35 are Liza Lim (concert 1), 36-37 Ross Edwards ('Moving on now to our second concert'), and 38-40 Carl Vine ('The last of the three Australian composers'). The British composers are printed, so you can use their names as signposts.
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 (ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER)
How to attack this block: Each composer's notes follow the same pattern: early training, style, the piece at the festival. Most answers are said word for word, but you need the right form: adjectives after 'also' and 'as', nouns after 'of' and 'her'. Lists of instruments and places come up often, so check which item fills the gap.
Question 31
Answer: violinWhen the lecturer describes Lim's childhood
Which instrument did Lim study besides the piano?
As a child, Lim originally learned to play the piano - like so many children - and also the violin, but when she was 11 her teachers encouraged her to start composing.
Question says → You hear
studied piano and ... before turning to compositionlearned to play the piano … and also the violin
Why: The piano is printed, so the gap is the other instrument: violin.
The trap: The didgeridoo comes later, but she uses it in a composition; she didn't learn it as a child.
Question 32
Answer: energyRight after the bit about her commissions
What do her compositions show a lot of?
Liza Lim's compositions are vibrant and full of energy
Question says → You hear
show a great deal offull of energy
Why: 'Full of' becomes 'a great deal of', and that needs a noun: energy.
The trap: Vibrant is the adjective said first and doesn't fit after 'of'.
Question 33
Answer: complexAfter the didgeridoo and The Compass
Besides expressive, what is her music like?
Her music is very expressive, so although it is complex, it has the power of connecting with audiences and performers alike
Question says → You hear
very expressive and alsovery expressive, so although it is complex
Why: The note keeps 'very expressive' and adds 'also', so it wants the other adjective: complex.
The trap: Vibrant was in the sentence before. The note's order follows the lecture, and complex is the adjective that goes with expressive.
Question 34
Answer: operaWhen the lecturer mentions a semi-staged performance at the festival
What kind of work is The Oresteia?
This is an opera in seven parts, based on the trilogy of ancient Greek tragedies by Aeschylus.
Question says → You hear
her ... called The OresteiaThis is an opera in seven parts
Why: 'This is an opera' names the type of work Lim wrote.
The trap: Trilogy and tragedies are what the opera is based on, written by Aeschylus, not by Lim.
Question 35
Answer: disturbingWhen the lecturer says 'Lim wrote that...'
How did Lim describe the sounds in The Oresteia?
Lim wrote that because the stories in the tragedies are not easy to tell, the sounds she creates are also disturbing
Question says → You hear
Lim described the sounds ... asthe sounds she creates are also disturbing
Why: 'Lim wrote that' introduces her own description, and the adjective she uses is disturbing.
The trap: The list after it (breathing, sobbing, laughing, whistling) gives examples of the sounds, not her description of them.
Question 36
Answer: clarinetAfter the story of Edwards sitting in a dry creek bed
Which instrument plays The Tower of Remoteness with the piano?
The Tower of Remoteness is scored for piano and clarinet.
Question says → You hear
performed by piano andscored for piano and clarinet
Why: 'Scored for' means written to be played by. Piano is printed, so write clarinet.
The trap: Birds and insects are mentioned just before, and the opening is based on a bird call, but those inspired the piece.
Question 37
Answer: diversityThe end of the section on Edwards
What about Australia does Edwards's music celebrate?
it can be regarded as a celebration of the diversity of cultures that Australia can be proud of
Question says → You hear
celebrates Australia's culturala celebration of the diversity of cultures
Why: 'Diversity of cultures' becomes 'cultural diversity'. The gap needs a noun after the adjective: diversity.
The trap: Cultures is in the recording, but the note already has 'cultural'. 'Deeply connected to Australia' is just before but doesn't give a noun for the gap.
Question 38
Answer: physicsWhen the lecturer moves to Carl Vine, after his cornet and piano
What did Vine study before music?
However, he went to university to study physics, before changing to composition.
Question says → You hear
studied ... before studying musicstudy physics, before changing to composition
Why: 'Before changing to composition' matches 'before studying music', so the first subject is physics.
The trap: Cornet and piano are already printed in the line above, so they're not the answer.
Question 39
Answer: danceAfter he moves to Sydney as a freelance pianist
What did Vine become known for writing music for?
Before long he had become prominent in Australia as a composer for dance, and in fact has written 25 scores of that type.
Question says → You hear
became well known as composer of music forbecome prominent in Australia as a composer for dance
Why: 'Prominent' means well known, and he's a composer for dance.
The trap: 25 is said straight after, but it's the number of dance scores. The note wants the type of music.
Question 40
Answer: OlympicsWhen the lecturer introduces the third concert
What 1996 event did Vine write music for?
his music for the flag hand-over ceremony … held in 1996. This seven-minute orchestral piece was of course heard by
Question says → You hear
his music for the 1996music for the flag hand-over ceremony … held in 1996
Why: The piece was for the flag hand-over ceremony of the Olympics held in 1996, heard by millions worldwide. Write Olympics with a capital O and the s.
The trap: Ceremony is said, but the note needs the event itself. The flag hand-over and an audience of millions worldwide are your clues that it's the Olympics.
'Vibrant and full of energy': vibrant is the first word and sounds more like an answer. But the note says 'a great deal of', which needs a noun, so energy.
The lecturer lists breathing, sobbing, laughing and whistling, and those are what people remember. But the note asks how Lim described the sounds, and she called them disturbing.
The Oresteia is linked to ancient Greek tragedies and a trilogy, both of which fit 'her ... called'. But Lim composed an opera; the tragedies are what it's based on.
Words from this recording worth keeping
commissions(Liza Lim)
requests and payment for an artist to create a work
vibrant(Liza Lim)
full of life and energy
trilogy(The Oresteia)
a set of three related works
semi-staged(The Oresteia)
performed with some acting and costume but not a full set
subconsciously(Ross Edwards)
without being aware of it
freelance(Carl Vine)
working for different clients rather than one employer
prominent(Carl Vine)
important and well known
scores(Carl Vine)
written music for a piece
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 14 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 14, 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.
