Diet and obesity: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Adam and Rosie, plan a presentation on diet and obesity. They discuss their own experiments on sugar and on the fat in nuts, then ideas about menus, food labels and exercise, and decide what the presentation should cover.
Questions 21-22 are about Adam's sweetener experiment and 23-24 about Rosie's nut experiment. Adam's 'So what can we say about helping people to lose weight?' opens 25-30, which run in order through restaurants, manufacturers, exercise, stairs, the presentation's focus and their next step.
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: Adam's answer is one dense turn about setting up the experiment. Match paraphrases: 'people didn't know which drink' and 'so many people doing it'. Then check his reply about results, which rules out an option.
Question 21-22
Answer: C and D (in either order)Adam's first long turn, after Rosie describes his experiment
Which two things does Adam say about his sweetener experiment?
especially how I could make sure that people didn't know which drink I was giving them. It was hard to keep track of it all, especially as I had so many people doing it
Question says → You hear
subjects were unaware of what they were drinkingmake sure that people didn't know which drink I was giving them
A large sample of people was testedI had so many people doing it
Why: D: he worked hard to make sure people didn't know which drink they had, so they were unaware. C: it was hard to keep track because so many people took part, a large sample.
The trap: A is the strongest distractor: most people could tell the difference, but Adam says 'I hadn't thought they would be able to', so the result wasn't what he predicted. B is wrong because it 'took me ages to decide' how to organise it.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 23-24
How to attack this block: Rosie gives two possible causes for her odd result, each with a hedge: 'I should probably have' and 'it's possible that'. She also defends the package information, which kills one option.
Question 23-24
Answer: B and C (in either order)When Rosie says 'My results were a bit problematic'
Which two problems did Rosie have with her nut experiment?
I think I should probably have ground up the nuts more than I did. It's possible that the scales for weighing the fat weren't accurate enough, too.
Question says → You hear
did not grind the nuts finely enoughshould probably have ground up the nuts more than I did
weighing scales may have been unsuitablethe scales for weighing the fat weren't accurate enough
Why: C: she should have ground the nuts more, so they weren't fine enough. E: the scales may not have been accurate enough, so they may have been unsuitable.
The trap: D: her result didn't match the package, but she says 'I reckon the package information was right'. A and B: the type of nut and the chemical are mentioned only to describe the method, not as mistakes.
Multiple choice
Questions 25-30
How to attack this block: Each question covers a short exchange. The speakers often mention a detail that sounds like an option (low-calorie items, accidents, slides) without it being the point. Ask yourself what the example shows, and for 29 and 30 wait for the final agreement.
Question 25
Answer: CRight after Adam asks about helping people to lose weight
How could restaurant menus help reduce obesity?
if you put the low-calorie items at the beginning and end of the menu, people will probably go for the food with fewer calories
Question says → You hear
organised in a particular wayput the low-calorie items at the beginning and end of the menu
Why: Items at the start and end of a menu are chosen more often, so putting low-calorie food there works. That's organising the menu in a particular way, C.
The trap: B: the menu doesn't need more low-calorie dishes, just better placing. A: nothing is said about reducing the number of options.
Question 26
Answer: AWhen Adam says manufacturers could do more to encourage healthy eating
What do both students think food manufacturers do on purpose?
they're sometimes really confusing and I suspect they do it on purpose … who's going to eat a quarter pizza? … Exactly.
Question says → You hear
deliberatelyI suspect they do it on purpose
hard to understandreally confusing
Why: Calorie counts are confusing on purpose, for example given per quarter pizza. Rosie's 'Exactly' shows they agree. That's A.
The trap: B: the figures aren't said to be wrong, only presented in a misleading way. C: nothing is said about how manufacturers reduce calories.
Question 27
Answer: BWhen Adam suggests getting people to exercise more
What does Rosie say about exercise levels in England?
about 40% of men and 30% of women say they do this, but when you objectively measure the amount of walking they do with motion sensors, you find that only 6% of men and 4% of women do
Question says → You hear
overestimate how much they do40% of men and 30% of women say they do this … only 6% of men and 4% of women
Why: Far more people say they do the recommended exercise than actually do when measured. They overestimate it, B.
The trap: C: the figures compare men and women, not women now and in the past. A: she states the guideline but doesn't criticise it as too low.
Question 28
Answer: AWhen Rosie asks how people can be encouraged to take more exercise
Why does Adam mention the stairs in a train station?
If people reach the stairs before they reach the escalator when they're leaving the station, they're more likely to take the stairs. … It's an unconscious process and influenced by minor modifications in their environment.
Question says → You hear
practical changes that can influence people's behaviourinfluenced by minor modifications in their environment
Why: Small changes to where stairs are, and how wide they are, change what people do without them noticing. That's A.
The trap: C: 'more people using them at the same time' sounds like crowd control, but the point is getting people to exercise, not preventing accidents. B: mobility problems are never mentioned.
Question 29
Answer: AWhen Adam says 'actually, I'm not sure if we should be talking about exercise'
What do they decide about including exercise in the presentation?
our tutor did say that we need to focus on causes and solutions in terms of nutrition. … I suppose so. … OK, well that will be simpler.
Question says → You hear
leave it outI'm not sure if we should be talking about exercise in our presentation
Why: Adam doubts whether exercise belongs, because the tutor wants a nutrition focus. Rosie agrees ('I suppose so ... that will be simpler'), so they'll probably drop it, A.
The trap: C: the tutor is mentioned, but they already know what the tutor said, so there's nothing to discuss. B: Rosie says they've already done quite a bit of reading about exercise.
Question 30
Answer: CThe end of the conversation, when Adam asks 'So what shall we do now?'
What will they do next for the presentation?
Let's think about what we're going to include and what will go where. Then we can decide what slides we need.
Question says → You hear
decide on its content and organisationwhat we're going to include and what will go where
Why: 'What we're going to include' is content and 'what will go where' is organisation. Adam agrees, so C.
The trap: A: slides come 'then', after the content is decided, so it isn't the next step. B: half an hour is the time before their lecture, not the length of the presentation.
D is tempting because the fat content was lower than the package said, but Rosie says 'I reckon the package information was right'. The two problems are the grinding and the scales.
The low-calorie items are mentioned, so B looks right, but Rosie's point is where they go on the menu: at the beginning and end. That's organisation, C.
Slides are the last word Rosie says, so A feels like the answer. She says they'll decide on slides after they've worked out what to include and where, so C comes first.
Words from this recording worth keeping
artificial sweeteners(Adam's experiment)
chemicals used instead of sugar to make food sweet
keep track of(Adam's experiment)
stay informed about something as it changes
absorb(Rosie's experiment)
take in a liquid or substance
problematic(Rosie's experiment)
causing difficulties
on purpose(Food manufacturers)
deliberately
brisk walking(Exercise in England)
walking quickly and energetically
objectively(Exercise in England)
based on facts, not people's opinions
modifications(Stairs example)
small changes
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The full Cambridge 16 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 16, Test 3, 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.
