History of weather forecasting: listening answers and explanations
In the first lecture of a series, a lecturer traces the early history of weather forecasting. It runs from weather gods and Babylonian and Chinese observations, through Aristotle and medieval proverbs, to the instruments and discoveries of the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries.
Ten gaps in strict chronological order, which makes the dates your signposts: 650 BC, 300 BC, 340 BC, the Middle Ages, the fifteenth century, 1592, the eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries. Questions 31-34 are ancient cultures, 35 the Greeks, 36 the Middle Ages and 37-40 the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries.
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: ONE WORD ONLY, and most answers are plural nouns, so listen for the s. The lecture is dense with names and dates; let the dates in the notes pull you forward. Lists are common ('rain, clouds, wind and storms', 'haloes ... and comets'), so check which item the note is actually missing.
Question 31
Answer: dancesAfter the examples of weather gods, Ra and Thor
What did ancient cultures invent, along with other ceremonies, to please the weather gods?
Many ancient civilisations developed rites such as dances in order to make the weather gods look kindly on them.
Question says → You hear
invented ... and other ceremoniesdeveloped rites such as dances
to make the weather gods friendlymake the weather gods look kindly on them
Why: Rites are ceremonies, and dances is the example given. 'Look kindly on them' is 'friendly'. Keep the plural.
The trap: Rites is the general word, and the note already covers it with 'other ceremonies'. The gap wants the specific one: dances.
Question 32
Answer: survivalWhen the lecturer says 'But the weather was of daily importance'
Why did people need to watch and understand the sky?
observing the skies and drawing the correct conclusions from these observations was really important, in fact their survival depended on it
Question says → You hear
to ensure theirtheir survival depended on it
Why: 'Drawing the correct conclusions' is 'interpret', and their survival depended on it. 'Ensure their' needs a noun: survival.
The trap: Survive, the verb, doesn't fit after 'their'. Check the form.
Question 33
Answer: cloudsWhen you hear 650 BC
What weather phenomena did the Babylonians use?
the Babylonians produced the first short-range weather forecasts, based on their observations of clouds and other phenomena
Question says → You hear
weather phenomena such asobservations of clouds and other phenomena
Why: 'Clouds and other phenomena' becomes 'phenomena such as clouds'. Plural, as in the recording.
The trap: Floods appear earlier as weather catastrophes in myths, not as something the Babylonians observed.
Question 34
Answer: festivalsWhen you hear 300 BC
What was the Chinese calendar divided into?
astronomers had developed a calendar which divided the year into 24 festivals, each associated with a different weather phenomenon
Question says → You hear
a number of ... connected with the weather24 festivals, each associated with a different weather phenomenon
Why: 'A number of' replaces 24, and 'associated with' is 'connected with'. The gap is festivals.
The trap: Don't write 24: the note already says 'a number of'. Patterns is said just before, but about what the Chinese recognised, not the calendar.
Question 35
Answer: cometsRight after the definition of haloes
What else did Aristotle describe, besides haloes?
He also described celestial phenomena such as haloes - that is, bright circles of light around the sun, the moon and bright stars - and comets.
Question says → You hear
described haloes anddescribed celestial phenomena such as haloes … and comets
Why: The definition of haloes interrupts the list, so you have to hold on until 'and comets' at the end.
The trap: Stars sits right before it, but it's part of the definition of haloes. Rain, clouds, wind and storms come in the previous sentence, about the book.
Question 36
Answer: skyWhen the lecturer moves to the Middle Ages and proverbs
The colour of what was important in proverbs?
'Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning'
Question says → You hear
the colour of theRed sky at night
Why: The proverb is about a red sky. The note already says 'the colour of the', so the gap is the thing that's red: sky.
The trap: Red is the colour itself, not the thing. Night and morning are when you see it.
Question 37
Answer: instrumentsWhen the lecturer says forecasting had been based on personal observations
What did fifteenth-century scientists see the value of for the first time?
but in the fifteenth century scientists began to see the need for instruments
Question says → You hear
recognised value of ... for the first timebegan to see the need for instruments
Why: 'Began to see the need for' is 'recognised the value of for the first time'. Plural, instruments.
The trap: Weather vanes and rain gauges come right after, but they existed before. The new idea was instruments in general.
Question 38
Answer: thermometerWhen you hear the date 1592
What did Galileo invent?
In 1592, the Italian scientist and inventor Galileo developed the world's first thermometer.
Question says → You hear
Galileo invented theGalileo developed the world's first thermometer
Why: 'Developed the world's first' means invented. The answer is thermometer; spell it carefully.
The trap: Barometer comes in the next sentence, but it was invented by his student Torricelli. The hygrometer was earlier.
Question 39
Answer: stormsWhen Benjamin Franklin is introduced, in the eighteenth century
What movement did Franklin identify?
he was also very interested in weather … It was Franklin who discovered that storms … generally travel from west to east.
Question says → You hear
Franklin identified the movement ofFranklin who discovered that storms … generally travel from west to east
Why: 'Discovered' is 'identified', and travelling from west to east is the movement. Storms, plural.
The trap: Lightning is his famous work, and Halley's trade winds come just before. But the movement Franklin found is of storms.
Question 40
Answer: telegraphWhen the lecturer says people in different places began to keep records
How could data from different places be brought together in the nineteenth century?
People in different locations began to keep records, and in the mid-nineteenth century, the invention of the telegraph made it possible for these records … to be collated.
Question says → You hear
could be sent to the same place bythe invention of the telegraph made it possible for these records … to be collated
Why: Records from different places could be collated, meaning gathered together, thanks to the telegraph.
The trap: Weather services come next, but they are the result, not the means. The note wants how the data was sent.
Three instruments come close together: the hygrometer, Galileo's thermometer and Torricelli's barometer. The barometer measures pressure, which the notes mention just below, so it's tempting. But Galileo invented the thermometer.
Halley's trade winds come just before Franklin and are also a movement. And Franklin is introduced with electricity and lightning. What Franklin discovered moves from west to east is storms.
'Rites' is the word that matches ceremonies, so some people write rites. But the note says '... and other ceremonies', so it needs the example: dances.
Words from this recording worth keeping
catastrophes(Ancient cultures)
sudden events causing great damage
attributed to(Ancient cultures)
said to be caused by
the whims of the gods(Ancient cultures)
the sudden, unpredictable wishes of the gods
held sway(Ancient Greeks)
had great influence or control
evaporate(Ancient Greeks)
turn from liquid into gas
rectified(Ancient Greeks)
corrected
altitude(15th-19th centuries)
height above sea level
collated(15th-19th centuries)
collected together and compared
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The full Cambridge 14 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 14, 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.
