Sports Careers Courses: listening answers and explanations
The Head of a Physical Education Faculty speaks at a further education information week. The talk first lists five sports courses with their length, level and entry requirements, then describes what each job involves day to day.
The talk goes through the same five jobs twice, in the same order: Fitness Instructor, Sports Administrator, Sports Psychologist, PE Teacher, Recreation Officer. The first round gives the table (31-35); the signpost 'it is important that you know the main roles of the jobs' starts the second round and the matching (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.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 31-35 · Table completion (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS)
How to attack this block: Follow the example row: each course gap needs a length plus a level, like 'six-month certificate'. Get both parts. The entry requirement gaps need a short noun phrase, and one of them is 'none' even though the speaker never uses that word.
Question 31
Answer: 4-month certificateSecond course in the list, right after the fitness instructors
Also accepted: four-month certificate / 4 month certificate / four month certificate / 4-month certificate course
What type and length of course is offered for Sports Administrators?
For Sports Administrators we provide a four-month certificate course
Question says → You hear
Sports AdministratorFor Sports Administrators we provide a four-month certificate course
Why: Four-month certificate gives both the length and the level, just like the example row. Three words if you hyphenate four-month, and digits (4-month) are fine.
The trap: The fitness and recreation courses are six-month certificates. Don't let the example carry over: this one is four months.
Question 32
Answer: current employmentStraight after the four-month certificate
Also accepted: employment / job
What do you need to get onto the Sports Administrator course?
this is designed for those who are in employment. This employment must be current and related to sports administration.
Question says → You hear
... in sports administrationThis employment must be current and related to sports administration
Why: Applicants must already be working, and the job must be current and in sports administration. 'Current employment' fits before the printed words.
The trap: Leaving out 'current'. Past work in the field isn't enough, and the speaker stresses that point.
Question 33
Answer: 1-year diplomaThird course, introduced with 'For the Sports Psychologist course'
Also accepted: one-year diploma / 1 year diploma / one year diploma
What type and length of course do Sports Psychologists take?
For the Sports Psychologist course we offer a one-year diploma course
Question says → You hear
Sports Psychologistwe offer a one-year diploma course
Why: It's a one-year diploma, a different level from the certificates. Write both the length and the word diploma.
The trap: A degree in psychology is mentioned straight after, but that's the entry requirement, already printed in the table, not the course itself.
Question 34
Answer: noneWhen the speaker describes the four-year degree in education
Also accepted: no qualifications / no prior qualifications
What do you need to start the PE teaching degree?
needs no prior qualifications as it is entered directly by school leavers
Question says → You hear
Entry requirementsneeds no prior qualifications
Why: No prior qualifications are needed, so the requirement is none, the same word the table uses for the fitness and recreation rows. 'No qualifications' is also accepted.
The trap: 'School leavers' is tempting, but it describes the students who usually enter, not something you must have.
Question 35
Answer: 6-month certificateThe last course, introduced with 'And lastly'
Also accepted: six-month certificate / 6 month certificate / six month certificate
What type and length of course is there for Recreation Officers?
And lastly for the Recreation Officer's course we offer a six-month certificate.
Question says → You hear
Recreation Officerfor the Recreation Officer's course we offer a six-month certificate
Why: Six-month certificate, the same as the example row. The entry requirement column already says None, which matches 'we do not insist on any prerequisites'.
The trap: Thinking it can't be the same as the example. Repeats like this are allowed in IELTS tables.
Matching (A-G)
Questions 36-40
How to attack this block: Seven roles, five jobs, so two options are never used (coaching teams and treating injuries). Each job description is a paraphrase: listen for who the person works with (public, clubs, athletes, children, communities) and match that to the option.
Question 36
Answer: CFirst job in the second round, right after 'what kind of qualities you need'
What is the main role of a Physical Fitness Instructor?
A Physical Fitness Instructor works in health and fitness centres preparing individual programs for ordinary members of the public.
Question says → You hear
guidance of ordinary individualspreparing individual programs for ordinary members of the public
Why: Individual programmes for ordinary members of the public, matched to each client's age and fitness, is guidance of ordinary individuals: C.
The trap: B (elite athletes) is the opposite: the clients here are ordinary people, while athletes belong to the psychologist.
Question 37
Answer: FStraight after the fitness instructors
What is the main role of a Sports Administrator?
Their duties include such things as booking playing fields with local councils and organising the schedule of games or events for the club
Question says → You hear
arranging matches and venuesbooking playing fields … organising the schedule of games
Why: Booking playing fields is arranging venues, and scheduling games is arranging matches: F.
The trap: A (coaching teams) sounds like club work, but administrators run clubs, they don't train players. 'Local councils' might pull you towards D, but that's just who they book fields from.
Question 38
Answer: BThird job, after the administrators' organisational skills
What is the main role of a Sports Psychologist?
Sports Psychologists spend time with professional athletes helping them approach competition with a positive mental attitude
Question says → You hear
the support of elite athletesspend time with professional athletes helping them
Why: They help professional athletes reach their personal best. Professional athletes are elite athletes, and helping them is support: B.
The trap: E (treating injuries) feels like sports medicine, but the help here is mental: motivation, concentration and stress management.
Question 39
Answer: GFourth job, introduced with 'Physical Education or PE Teachers'
What is the main role of a PE teacher?
PE teachers help the development of co-ordination, balance, posture, and flexibility
Question says → You hear
the rounded development of childreninstruct young students / help the development of co-ordination, balance, posture, and flexibility
Why: They teach young students and develop a whole range of physical skills, which is rounded development of children: G.
The trap: A (coaching teams): sport is mentioned, but the speaker says PE teachers aren't expected to be experts in all sports. Their job is basic, all-round skills.
Question 40
Answer: DThe last job, just before 'many other job opportunities'
What is the main role of a Recreation Officer?
Their aim is to raise people's awareness of healthy lifestyles and improved general fitness through arranging recreational activities for groups of all ages
Question says → You hear
community healthlocal government authorities and local groups … raise people's awareness of healthy lifestyles
Why: They work for local authorities and local groups, raising awareness of healthy lifestyles for people of all ages. That's community health: D.
The trap: F (arranging matches and venues): they do arrange activities, but for the public's health, not a club's fixtures. That option belongs to the administrator.
The table already prints 'in sports administration', so the gap needs what kind of employment: current. Writing just 'employment' is accepted, but don't write 'school leavers' or 'degree'.
The speaker says 'needs no prior qualifications' and 'school leavers'. The table wants the requirement, which is none. 'School leavers' describes who enters, not a requirement.
Nothing says 'community health' word for word. You have to join 'local government authorities and local groups' with 'healthy lifestyles and improved general fitness'.
Words from this recording worth keeping
entry requirements(Introduction)
what you need before you can join a course
school leavers(Introduction)
young people who have just finished school
prerequisites(Recreation Officer course)
things you must have before you can start
vocational(Main roles of the jobs)
training you for a particular job
organisational skills(Sports Administrator role)
the ability to plan and arrange things well
stress management(Sports Psychologist role)
ways of controlling stress
posture(PE Teacher role)
the way you hold your body
raise awareness(Recreation Officer role)
make people know more about something
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The full Cambridge 2 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 2, Test 1, 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.
