A lecture on maple syrup. The speaker describes the product, the conditions maple trees need, how indigenous communities first made maple sugar, and each step of modern production, from tapping the tree to filtering and packaging.
Questions 31-40 · 10 marks · 1 question block
One ten-gap note block in order. The lecture follows the headings: what syrup is (31-32), the tree (33), early producers (34), today's trees (35) and the production steps (36-40). In the maple tree section the notes are reordered: the gap (33) is the last line of the notes, but you hear it before the 1964 flag.
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: Three gaps need adjectives (31, 32, 39), so check the grammar before you listen. The production section moves quickly through tube, fire, steam and sugar sand, so keep your eye one line ahead. Several numbers are said (25 centimetres, 40 years, 98 per cent, 40 litres), but the gaps are all words.
What colour is maple syrup?
Maple syrup is a thick, golden, sweet-tasting liquid
Question says → You hear
Why: Of the three adjectives, only golden is a colour.
The trap: Clear honey is mentioned earlier, but that's what it looks rather like. Thick and sweet aren't colours.
How does maple syrup compare with refined sugar?
it provides a healthy alternative to refined sugar
Question says → You hear
Why: 'A healthy alternative to' becomes 'very ... compared to'. The gap after 'very' needs an adjective: healthy.
The trap: Natural is said twice ('a very natural product'), and it even comes after 'very'. But it's not linked to refined sugar.
What, besides growing conditions, is best in Canada and North America?
In these areas, the climate suits the trees perfectly.
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Suits the trees perfectly' means the climate there is the best for them. One noun: climate.
The trap: Moisture, sun and soil are all mentioned as conditions, but none is said about Canada and North America as a summary.
Also accepted: rocks
What did early producers heat to warm the sap?
they boiled the liquid by placing pieces of rock that had become scorching hot from the sun into the sap
Question says → You hear
Why: Rock heated by the sun was put into the sap to boil it. Rock or rocks are both accepted.
The trap: Sun is in the same sentence, but it heated the rocks; the rocks heated the sap. Bark is used for the containers, the next line.
What do trunks need to reach before tapping?
they cannot be used to make syrup until the trunks reach a diameter of around 25 centimetres. This can take anything up to 40 years.
Question says → You hear
Why: The trunks must reach a certain diameter, which can take up to 40 years. The gap needs the noun: diameter.
The trap: 25 centimetres is the size itself, but the note asks for a word.
What carries the sap into the bucket?
drilling a small hole into the trunk and inserting a tube into it that ends in a bucket
Question says → You hear
Why: A tube runs from the hole and ends in the bucket. One word: tube.
The trap: Hole is said first, but the hole is drilled; the tube carries the sap.
What heats the evaporators?
the sap is poured into these, a fire is built and the pans are then heated until the sap boils
Question says → You hear
Why: A fire is built under the pans to heat them. One word: fire.
The trap: Steam comes in the next part. It's a result of the heating, not what heats the pans.
What is produced in large amounts during evaporation?
The evaporation process creates large quantities of steam
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Large quantities' matches 'a lot of', and 'creates' matches 'is produced'. One word: steam.
The trap: Water evaporates in the same part, but the note is about what comes out of the process: steam.
How does sugar sand make syrup look?
gives the syrup a cloudy appearance and a slightly gritty taste
Question says → You hear
Why: 'A cloudy appearance' becomes 'look cloudy'. The gap needs an adjective.
The trap: Gritty is also an adjective, but it describes the taste, which the note covers separately.
Also accepted: liter
What amount of syrup needs a huge quantity of sap?
It takes 40 litres of sap to produce one litre of maple syrup
Question says → You hear
Why: 'A ... of maple syrup' replaces 'one litre of maple syrup', so the gap is the singular unit: litre (or liter).
The trap: Don't write 40 or litres. The note's 'huge quantity' is the 40 litres of sap; the gap is the one litre of syrup.
'Best growing conditions and ...' needs a noun, and the lecturer's summary word is climate: 'the climate suits the trees perfectly'. Many people look for something about soil or sun.
The lecture gives a measurement, 'a diameter of around 25 centimetres'. The note wants the name of the measurement, diameter, not the number.
40 litres of sap make one litre of syrup. The note says 'a ... of maple syrup', so the answer is the unit: litre (liter also accepted).
The full Cambridge 17 Test 4 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 17, Test 4, 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.
