The impact of digital technology on the Icelandic language: listening answers and explanations
A lecture on how digital technology threatens Icelandic. The speaker explains why the language itself is healthy, how young Icelanders' screen time in English is changing their speech, why tech companies ignore it, and what worries the government.
One ten-gap note block, in order. The lecture follows the four headings: the language (31-33), young speakers (34-37), technology companies (38), the government (39-40). 'But for young speakers', 'So, what is the Icelandic government doing' and 'This raises important questions' are the 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: Most gaps take a noun, but 35 and 40 need adjectives, so check the grammar of each line before the lecture starts. The note lines are tight paraphrases of the lecture ('growing' for 'continually increasing', 'secure' for 'sound'), so listen for meaning rather than matching words.
Question 31
Answer: 321,000Right at the start, when the lecturer introduces the Icelandic example
Also accepted: 321000
Roughly how many people speak Icelandic?
I'm going to focus on the Icelandic language, which is spoken by around 321,000 people
Question says → You hear
has approximately ... speakersspoken by around 321,000 people
Why: 'Around' matches 'approximately'. Write 321,000 or 321000 in digits.
The trap: Later the lecturer says the number of speakers is small, which can make you doubt the figure. The figure is the answer.
Question 32
Answer: vocabularyWhen the lecturer says the problem is not losing words to English
What part of Icelandic keeps growing?
In fact, the vocabulary of Icelandic is continually increasing
Question says → You hear
still growingcontinually increasing
Why: 'Continually increasing' becomes 'still growing'. The gap after 'a' needs a singular noun: vocabulary.
The trap: Words is said just before ('losing words'), but 'a words' doesn't fit, and the growing thing is the vocabulary.
Question 33
Answer: podcastRight after the explanation of vafri, the word for web browser
What other computer word does Icelandic have its own term for?
Then there's an Icelandic word for podcast - which is too hard to pronounce!
Question says → You hear
such as web browser andThen there's an Icelandic word for podcast
Why: The note already has web browser, and 'Then' introduces the second example: podcast.
The trap: Internet is said just before in 'browse the internet', but it's part of the explanation of vafri, not a second example.
Question 34
Answer: smartphonesAfter 'young Icelanders spend a great deal of time in the digital world'
What digital technology do young Icelanders use a lot?
Think about smartphones. They didn't even exist until comparatively recently, but today young people use them all the time
Question says → You hear
big users of digital technologyyoung people use them all the time
Why: 'Use them all the time' makes them big users, and 'them' is smartphones. Keep the plural.
The trap: TV, films, games and music are what they do on smartphones. Those are activities, not the technology.
Question 35
Answer: bilingualWhen the lecturer says the English influence is 'a good thing in many respects'
What are young speakers becoming quickly?
this is a good thing in many respects because it promotes their bilingual skills
Question says → You hear
are becoming ... very quicklypromotes their bilingual skills … it's all happening really fast
Why: The good side is that young people are developing bilingual skills fast. 'Are becoming' needs an adjective, so bilingual.
The trap: Staggering is the adjective about the influence of English, not about the young people.
Question 36
Answer: playgroundWhen the lecturer gives teachers' examples, after 'for young speakers'
Where at school do young people speak only English?
teachers have found that playground conversations in Icelandic secondary schools can be conducted entirely in English
Question says → You hear
having discussions using only Englishconversations … can be conducted entirely in English
Why: The conversations are in the playground. The note has 'in the ... at school', so the place is playground.
The trap: Secondary schools is in the same sentence, but the note already says 'at school'. The gap is the place within the school.
Question 37
Answer: pictureThe second teachers' example, about much younger children
What can young children describe more easily in English?
their classes find it easier to say what is in a picture using English, rather than Icelandic
Question says → You hear
better able to identify the contentfind it easier to say what is in a picture
Why: 'What is in a picture' is the content of a picture. One word: picture.
The trap: Classes is the subject of the sentence, but it isn't what they describe.
Question 38
Answer: grammarAfter the comparison with a French town
What feature of Icelandic puts tech companies off?
The other drawback of Icelandic is the grammar, which is significantly more complex than in most languages.
Question says → You hear
how complicated its ... isthe grammar, which is significantly more complex
Why: Complex matches complicated, and the thing that is complex is the grammar.
The trap: The small population is the first reason, already in the note. Grammar is 'the other drawback'.
Question 39
Answer: identityAfter 'This raises important questions'
What might young Icelanders lose?
will young Icelanders lose their sense of their own identity?
Question says → You hear
may lose their ... as Icelanderslose their sense of their own identity
Why: The fear is that they'll lose their sense of identity. One word: identity.
The trap: Earlier, 'losing its mother tongue' is the risk for the language. This note is about the people, and the word is identity.
Question 40
Answer: fluentThe very last point, the second issue that concerns the government
What might children not be in either language?
If children are learning two languages through different routes, neither of which they are fully fluent in
Question says → You hear
not being ... in eitherneither of which they are fully fluent in
Why: 'Neither ... fluent' means not fluent in either language. The gap after 'being' needs the adjective fluent.
The trap: 'Express themselves properly' is the consequence they worry about, but it doesn't fit 'not being ... in either Icelandic or English'.
'Are becoming ... very quickly' needs an adjective, and the lecturer's word is bilingual, from 'promotes their bilingual skills'. The 'really fast' comes a sentence later.
The note says 'not being ... in either', and the lecture says 'neither of which they are fully fluent in'. The double negative is the hard part. The answer is fluent.
A large exact number: 321,000. Write it in digits with or without the comma, and don't add 'about'.
Words from this recording worth keeping
in decline(Introduction)
becoming weaker or smaller over time
millennium(The Icelandic language)
a period of a thousand years
predominantly(Young speakers)
mainly, mostly
staggering(Young speakers)
extremely surprising because it is so large
drawback(Technology and internet companies)
a disadvantage or problem
uphill struggle(The Icelandic government)
something very hard to achieve
inevitable(The Icelandic government)
certain to happen
mother tongue(Young speakers)
the first language you learn as a child
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The full Cambridge 17 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 17, 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.
