Car safety and road rage: listening answers and explanations
A student, John Upton, presents his research project on car safety to a seminar group. He explains why he chose road rage, how he interviewed drivers at a motorway garage, what kinds of incidents they had suffered, and what safety advice men and women gave.
In order: why he chose the topic (31), how the research was done (32-34), the findings (35), then 'So what strategies had people developed' leads into the advice, which he goes through one point at a time saying whether men, women or both gave it (36-40).
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: Facts about the project, each with a near miss. Listen for the source of his interest, the method he 'depended mainly on', the balance of men and women, the total number of drivers, and which incident was most common.
Question 31
Answer: BWhen he explains the background to the project
What first got John interested in the subject?
I had been interested and horrified by several newspaper reports on what people call 'road rage'.
Question says → You hear
something he had read aboutseveral newspaper reports
Why: His interest came from newspaper reports, which he read. B.
The trap: A, witnessed: he describes a car park incident in detail, which sounds like he saw it, but it's 'the famous incident' from the reports. C: he never says it happened to him.
Question 32
Answer: AWhen he says 'For our research'
What was the main research method?
For our research we depended mainly on talking to individuals, asking them questions rather than using written questionnaires.
Question says → You hear
The main research methodwe depended mainly on talking to individuals
Why: Talking to individuals and asking them questions is interviewing. A.
The trap: B, questionnaires: the word is said, but in 'rather than using written questionnaires'. C, observation: drivers are asked what they had observed, but that's their experience, not the method.
Question 33
Answer: ARight after he describes stopping people at the motorway garage
What was the balance of men and women respondents?
Our respondents were both men and women, but the women were just slightly in the majority.
Question says → You hear
proportion of men and women respondentsthe women were just slightly in the majority
Why: Women were slightly more than half: pie chart A.
The trap: C has women in the majority too, but by two-thirds. 'Just slightly' rules it out.
Question 34
Answer: BWhen he says the public were willing to stop and chat
How many people did they talk to?
in the end we talked to a total of 135 drivers over those two days
Question says → You hear
How many respondentsa total of 135 drivers
Why: 135 falls in the 100-150 band. B.
The trap: Other numbers come soon after (93%, 79%, 24%), but they're percentages, not the number of people.
Question 35
Answer: CWhen he says 'So what were our findings?'
What was the most common kind of road rage incident?
the main type of incident was being shouted at - 79% had experienced that
Question says → You hear
The most common typethe main type of incident was being shouted at
Why: Being shouted at is verbal abuse, and at 79% it was the most common. C.
The trap: A, damage to property: 24% is called 'surprisingly large', which makes it sound important, but it's far below 79%. B, personal violence, was only 15%.
Matching (A-C)
Questions 36-40
How to attack this block: For each piece of advice, decide whether it came mainly from women, mainly from men, or from both. John corrects himself once and twice says 'both', so wait for the end of each point. 'They' in the middle of the list refers back to men.
Question 36
Answer: BRight after the example about not stopping to ask directions
Which group advised avoiding eye contact?
Whereas it was men who said you should try to avoid looking directly at other drivers.
Question says → You hear
Avoid eye contactavoid looking directly at other drivers
Why: Avoiding looking directly at other drivers is avoiding eye contact, and it was men: B.
The trap: 'Whereas' contrasts with the women in the example. Don't carry the women over to this point.
Question 37
Answer: AWhen John starts to say 'Both men and' and corrects himself
Which group advised telling someone when you'll arrive?
Both men and ... oh sorry n o . . . it was women who said you had to tell someone when you were due to get to a particular destination.
Question says → You hear
Inform someone of your likely arrival timetell someone when you were due to get to a particular destination
Why: John corrects himself: it was women. A.
The trap: C, both: 'Both men and' is said first, then taken back with 'oh sorry no'.
Question 38
Answer: CWhen John says 'Then, I had thought that it would be mainly men'
Which group advised having the car keys ready?
I had thought that it would be mainly men, but both sexes made the point that it's much safer to get keys out well in advance
Question says → You hear
Ensure car keys are readyget keys out well in advance
Why: Both sexes made this point, so C.
The trap: B, mainly men: that was John's expectation, which turned out to be wrong.
Question 39
Answer: BAfter the men's point about muggers hiding behind the car
Which group advised leaving plenty of space when parking?
Men were very aware that muggers or whatever might be concealed behind the car. They also made the point that you should leave plenty of room when you park your car
Question says → You hear
Leave plenty of space when parkingleave plenty of room when you park your car
Why: 'They' refers back to men, and 'also' adds this to their previous point. B.
The trap: C: the point before mentions both sexes, and it's easy to keep that. But the sentence about muggers switches to men, and 'They' follows on.
Question 40
Answer: CThe last point, introduced with 'Finally'
Which group advised keeping the doors locked?
Finally, locking doors at all times ... men didn't think it was quite as important as women, but both gave it a high safety rating.
Question says → You hear
Keep all doors lockedlocking doors at all times
Why: Women rated it a bit higher, but both men and women gave it a high rating. C.
The trap: A, mainly women: women valued it more, but the question is who gave the advice, and both did.
Men rated locked doors as less important than women did, which sounds like A. But 'both gave it a high safety rating', so C.
Words from this recording worth keeping
injunctions(Background)
strong warnings or orders
road rage(Background)
angry or violent behaviour by drivers
overtaken(Background)
passed by a vehicle going faster
stationary(Background)
not moving
respondents(Research method)
people who answer research questions
concealed(Safety advice)
hidden
make a quick getaway(Safety advice)
leave quickly to escape
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The full Cambridge 2 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 2, 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.
