The Laki eruption: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Adam and Michelle, plan a presentation on the Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland in 1783. They discuss why it matters, what people wrote about the haze at the time, Benjamin Franklin's role, and what happened in four different countries afterwards.
In order. Questions 21-24 come from the first half: why it matters, the observations, the haze and Franklin. 'We should talk about the immediate impact' leads to 25-26. 'We should run through some of the terrible consequences… in different countries' starts 27-30, with the countries in the same order as the list.
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: Each question has a named speaker or a 'surprised' or 'corrects' hook, so follow the right person. Distractors are said out loud: the science (21), the consistent accounts (22), the red sun (23) and the other naturalists (24).
Question 21
Answer: CEarly on, after Adam mentions the primary sources
Why do they think the eruption is so significant?
But what I found more significant was how it impacted directly and indirectly on political events, as well as having massive social and economic consequences.
Question says → You hear
a profound effect on societymassive social and economic consequences
Why: Michelle highlights the political, social and economic impact and Adam says it 'should be the main focus'. That's a deep effect on society: C.
The trap: B comes from Adam's line about people trying 'to make sense of the science for the first time', but Michelle moves on to what is 'more significant'. 'Huge' doesn't mean the most severe in modern times (A).
Question 22
Answer: AAfter Michelle says the accounts were consistent
What surprised Adam about the observations recorded at the time?
I was surprised there were so many weather stations established by that time
Question says → You hear
the number of places producing themso many weather stations
Why: 'So many weather stations' is the number of places making observations: A.
The trap: Michelle says the accounts were 'pretty consistent', so there were no contradictions (B). The weather stations recorded changes 'often by the hour', so data wasn't lacking (C).
Question 23
Answer: BWhen Michelle describes the 'Laki haze'
What did writers at the time say about the haze?
Reports from the period blamed the haze for an increase in headaches, respiratory issues and asthma attacks.
Question says → You hear
associated with health issuesblamed the haze for an increase in headaches, respiratory issues
Why: Headaches, breathing problems and asthma are health issues, and the reports blamed the haze for them: B.
The trap: C is close but too strong: the haze 'covered the sun' and turned it red, so the sun was still visible. A is the opposite: they knew it 'wasn't the sort of fog they were used to'.
Question 24
Answer: BRight after Michelle introduces Franklin as the ambassador in Paris
What claim about Benjamin Franklin does Adam correct?
It was Benjamin Franklin who realised that before anyone else. … He's often credited with that, apparently. But a French naturalist beat him to it
Question says → You hear
was the first to identify the reasonrealised that before anyone else
Why: Michelle says Franklin worked out the cause first. Adam says a French naturalist 'beat him to it', so he corrects the idea that Franklin was first: B.
The trap: Other naturalists reached the same idea 'all independently', which sounds like C, but Adam isn't correcting anything about Franklin supporting them.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 25-26
How to attack this block: Adam lists what you'd 'expect' and then what he didn't. The surprises follow 'but not that', and Michelle agrees she found them 'hard to believe too'.
Question 25-26
Answer: A and B (in either order)After 'We should talk about the immediate impact of the eruption'
Which two things about the aftermath surprised them?
but not that the effects would go on for so long. Or that two years after the eruption, strange weather events were being reported as far away as North America and North Africa.
Question says → You hear
how long-lasting the effects werethe effects would go on for so long
how widespread the effects wereas far away as North America and North Africa
Why: B: Adam didn't expect the effects to 'go on for so long'. A: he didn't expect weather events 'as far away as North America and North Africa'. Michelle found 'all that hard to believe too'.
The trap: D, the speed of the ash, and C, the deaths in Iceland, both come under 'You'd expect that', so they weren't surprises.
Matching (A-F)
Questions 27-30
How to attack this block: Four countries, six comments, so two are left over. Each country gets one or two lines. Listen for the paraphrase: livestock for animals, more deaths than anywhere for the most severe loss of life, under 25 for young people.
Question 27
Answer: D'Starting with Iceland, where the impact on farming was devastating'
What do they say about Iceland?
the effect on livestock as they grazed in the fields. They were poisoned because they ate vegetation that had been contaminated with fluorine
Question says → You hear
Animals suffered from a sicknessthe effect on livestock … They were poisoned
Why: Livestock are farm animals, and being poisoned by fluorine made them ill: D.
The trap: Farming is mentioned, which points to B, but no one says the impact on agriculture was predictable, only that it was devastating.
Question 28
Answer: AWhen Adam moves on to the drought and the Nile
What do they say about Egypt?
the famine there led to more people dying than any other country. It was worse than the plague.
Question says → You hear
the most severe loss of lifemore people dying than any other country
Why: More deaths than in any other country is the most severe loss of life: A.
The trap: Crops failing suggests food prices (E), but prices are never mentioned. Iceland is where you might expect the most deaths, but Michelle says it was Egypt.
Question 29
Answer: C'Then in the UK the mortality rate went up a lot'
What do they say about the UK?
it was about double the usual number and included an unusually high percentage of people under the age of 25.
Question says → You hear
increase in deaths of young peoplean unusually high percentage of people under the age of 25
Why: People under 25 are young, and an 'unusually high percentage' of the deaths were in that group: C.
The trap: Deaths doubled, which might pull you to A, but Egypt is the country with the most deaths.
Question 30
Answer: FThe last country, after the UK
What do they say about the USA?
they were snowbound until March in Virginia. … there was ice floating down the Mississippi, which was unprecedented.
Question says → You hear
a particularly harsh wintersnowbound until March / ice floating down the Mississippi
Why: Being stuck in snow until March and ice on the Mississippi for the first time describe a very harsh winter: F.
The trap: George Washington's diary and his later presidency are interesting details, but none of the comments is about them.
Adam talks about people trying to understand the science for the first time, which sounds like B. Michelle says what she found 'more significant' was the social, political and economic impact, and Adam agrees it should be the focus.
The speed of the ash cloud (D) is in the list, but after 'You'd expect that', so it wasn't a surprise. The surprises are how long and how far the effects reached.
Snow until March and ice on the Mississippi add up to a harsh winter. Neither speaker uses the word winter, so you have to put the clues together.
Words from this recording worth keeping
devastating(Why the eruption matters)
causing great damage or harm
primary sources(Why the eruption matters)
documents written at the time of the events
terminology(Observations at the time)
the special words used for a subject
haze(The Laki haze)
thin mist or smoke in the air
respiratory(The Laki haze)
to do with breathing
credited with(Benjamin Franklin)
believed to be responsible for
contaminated(Iceland)
made dirty or poisonous
unprecedented(USA)
never having happened before
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The full Cambridge 18 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 18, Test 2, 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.
