Food trends and food waste: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Colin and Marie, catch up on their food projects: Colin has turned stale bread into 3-D printed biscuits. They then discuss touch-sensitive food labels and an article predicting food trends, giving their opinion on each one.
Questions 21-22 come from Colin's bread project, 23-24 from the label sensors Marie found online, then 25-30 follow the article's trends in the order printed: local products, packaging, gluten-free food, celebrity chef products, ghost kitchens, mushrooms. Both speakers give answers.
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: Colin mentions almost every option, so listen for how he feels about each one. Things he 'had used before' or found 'straightforward' aren't what satisfied him; what he was 'really pleased' with is.
Question 21-22
Answer: B and D (in either order)When Marie asks about his 3-D printing and then about the old bread
Which two parts of the bread project gave Colin the most satisfaction?
I had time to play around with different patterns for the biscuits and finding how I could add fruit and vegetables to make them a more appetising colour, and I was really pleased … would've been thrown away otherwise. … It was.
Question says → You hear
designs and coloursdifferent patterns for the biscuits … a more appetising colour
prevent wastebits of old bread that would've been thrown away otherwise
Why: D: he was 'really pleased' with the patterns and colours he experimented with. B: Marie says it must have felt great to use bread that would otherwise be thrown away, and Colin agrees, 'It was.'
The trap: E is the strongest distractor: he says 'I'd used that before', so 3-D printing wasn't new learning. A is only a hope: he's going to send restaurants samples. C fails because the basic process was 'quite straightforward'.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 23-24
How to attack this block: The question is about future developments, so separate what the labels already do from what the students suggest they could do next. Ideas start with 'I thought it might be' and 'maybe it'd be possible'.
Question 23-24
Answer: A and E (in either order)After Marie explains how the bumpy labels work
Which two future uses for the touch-sensitive labels do the students suggest?
I thought it might be really good … for drug storage in hospitals and pharmacies. … maybe it'd be possible to use it for other things besides freshness. Like how many kilograms a joint of meat is
Question says → You hear
medical productsdrug storage in hospitals and pharmacies
the weight of certain foodshow many kilograms a joint of meat is
Why: A: Marie suggests drug storage in hospitals and pharmacies, which are medical products. E: Colin suggests showing how many kilograms a joint of meat is, which is its weight. Marie agrees: 'there's all sorts of possibilities'.
The trap: B, C and D are true of the labels already: they show food has gone bad, work with milk and juice, and began as a project for visually impaired people. The question asks about future development.
Matching (A-H)
Questions 25-30
How to attack this block: Six trends, eight opinions, so two are never used. Each trend gets a short exchange and the opinion is usually the speakers' last comment on it: who should act, what happened when they tried it, what people don't know. Two options are distractors, so don't force every letter.
Question 25
Answer: DThe first trend, when Marie mentions local products
What do the students think about using local products?
That seems so obvious, but the shops are still full of imported foods. … Yes, they need to be more proactive to address that.
Question says → You hear
Retailers should do morethe shops … they need to be more proactive
Why: Shops are retailers, and 'need to be more proactive' means they should do more. Marie adds they should motivate consumers to change, which is the 'encourage' in option D.
The trap: G (stricter regulations) belongs to the next trend, where the government is named. Here the responsibility is on the shops.
Question 26
Answer: GWhen Colin brings up plastic in supermarkets
What do the students think about cutting unnecessary packaging?
just about everything you buy in supermarkets is still covered in plastic. The government needs to do something about it. … Absolutely. It's got to change.
Question says → You hear
stricter regulationsThe government needs to do something about it
Why: When the government has to act on something, that means rules and regulations. Marie agrees strongly.
The trap: Supermarkets are mentioned, which pulls you towards D (retailers). But Colin puts the job on the government, not the shops. F fails too: 'everyone's aware' of the need.
Question 27
Answer: CWhen Colin asks if interest in it will grow
What do the students think about gluten-free and lactose-free food?
Lots of people I know have been buying that type of food for years now. … Yes, even if they haven't been diagnosed with an allergy.
Question says → You hear
already seems to be widespreadLots of people I know have been buying that type of food for years now
Why: If lots of people have bought it for years, it isn't a new trend: it's already widespread. Colin adds that even people without allergies buy it.
The trap: A (only young people) isn't supported; nobody mentions age. Allergies might suggest danger (H), but that's not their opinion.
Question 28
Answer: BWhen Marie mentions celebrity chefs
What do the students think about branded products linked to TV chefs?
people watch them cooking on TV and then buy things like spice mixes or frozen foods with the chef's name on … but I won't again. … it didn't actually taste of anything.
Question says → You hear
may have disappointing resultsI won't again … it didn't actually taste of anything
Why: Both students bought a celebrity chef product and were let down: Marie won't buy one again, and Colin's spice mix had no taste. That's a disappointing result.
The trap: TV and celebrities can suggest young people (A), but nobody says that. The point is the products disappoint.
Question 29
Answer: FWhen Marie asks if the article mentioned ghost kitchens
What do the students think about ghost kitchens?
But people aren't aware of that - it's all kept very quiet.
Question says → You hear
Most people know little about thispeople aren't aware of that - it's all kept very quiet
Why: 'People aren't aware' and 'kept very quiet' mean most people know little about ghost kitchens. Colin himself has never heard of them.
The trap: Secrecy can sound like a case for regulation (G), but nobody says rules are needed. They only say people don't know.
Question 30
Answer: HThe last trend, when Colin mentions heart problems
What do the students think about using mushrooms for health problems?
They might be taking a big risk there. … Yes, it's hard to know which varieties are safe to eat.
Question says → You hear
This could be dangeroustaking a big risk … hard to know which varieties are safe to eat
Why: 'A big risk' and not knowing which kinds are safe both point to danger.
The trap: B (disappointing results) is close, but they talk about risk to health, not about the treatment not working.
3-D printing is the obvious pick, but Colin had used it before. The satisfaction comes from playing with patterns and colours, and from rescuing bread that would have been thrown away.
Marie complains the shops are full of imported food and Colin says 'they need to be more proactive'. 'They' are the shops, which makes it a job for retailers, not the government.
Nobody says 'widespread'. Marie says lots of people have been buying that food 'for years now', which means the trend is already common.
Words from this recording worth keeping
stale(Bread reuse project)
old and no longer fresh (of bread)
appetising(Bread reuse project)
looking good to eat
visually impaired(Food label sensors)
partly or fully unable to see
proactive(Local products)
acting early to make change happen
food intolerances(Gluten-free food)
problems digesting certain foods
diagnosed(Gluten-free food)
officially identified by a doctor
facility(Ghost kitchens)
a building used for a particular purpose
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The full Cambridge 19 Test 1 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 19, Test 1, 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.
