Human geography assignment: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Rosie and Colin, are trying to choose a topic for a human geography assignment. They go through possible aspects (population, health, economies, culture, poverty), then talk about problems in their own cities, new developments on the outskirts, old industrial sites and two eco cities.
Answers come in order. Q21-25 follow the five aspects in the order printed, with the students' verdict on each. Q26-30 follow the rest of the conversation: Rosie's city, the outskirts, disused industrial sites, Masdar City and finally Greenhill Abbots.
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: Seven opinions for five aspects, so two are never used. Each aspect gets only a line or two, so be ready to move on quickly. The opinion is usually a paraphrase: 'didn't give any useful examples' becomes 'too vague', 'deliberately manipulated' becomes 'may not be reliable'.
Question 21
Answer: DThe first aspect Rosie suggests
What do the students think about population as a topic?
So, one aspect is population. That would be all about population density and migration and so on. Lots of facts and statistics.
Question says → You hear
easy to find facts about thisLots of facts and statistics
Why: Population means 'lots of facts and statistics', so the facts are easy to get hold of: D.
The trap: C says the opposite, 'only a small number of statistics'. Rosie finds it 'a bit boring', but boring isn't one of the options.
Question 22
Answer: GBetween the population and culture comments
What do the students think about health as a topic?
Maybe we could do something on culture.
Why: The key gives G: the information they were given about health was interesting. Our transcript of this recording skips the short exchange about health, so we can't show you the exact words, and we've reported the gap. When you listen, G is the only positive opinion in the box, so listen for one of them speaking well of what they learned about health.
The trap: A, too vague, belongs to culture, which comes straight after: the culture lecture was 'general' with no useful examples.
Question 23
Answer: BWhen Colin says something may have been taken off the syllabus
What do the students think about economies as a topic?
I thought that had been taken off the syllabus for this year. … I'm not sure, but it might be best to avoid it.
Question says → You hear
may not be relevant to their coursetaken off the syllabus for this year
Why: If a topic has been taken off the syllabus, it may not be relevant to their course: B. Colin isn't sure ('I'm not sure'), which matches 'may'. In our transcript this line follows population directly because the lines on health and economies are missing, but the key places it with economies.
The trap: F, 'no useful research', sounds like a reason to avoid a topic too, but nobody says the research is poor. The reason is the syllabus.
Question 24
Answer: AWhen Rosie mentions last week's lecture on culture and geography
What do the students think about culture as a topic?
I didn't get much out of that. It was also general and the lecturer didn't give any useful examples.
Question says → You hear
too vaguegeneral and the lecturer didn't give any useful examples
Why: A lecture that's general, with no useful examples, gave information that was too vague: A. Colin agrees he hardly took notes.
The trap: F, 'no useful research has been done', is tempting because of 'didn't get much out of that'. But the problem was the lecture, not the research.
Question 25
Answer: EWhen Colin suggests poverty as a global problem
What do the students think about poverty as a topic?
you have to be careful with some of the figures relating to poverty. They're sometimes deliberately manipulated.
Question says → You hear
The facts about this may not be reliablecareful with some of the figures … sometimes deliberately manipulated
Why: Figures that are sometimes deliberately manipulated may not be reliable: E. Dr Lee's warning is the key.
The trap: D, 'easy to find facts', might come from 'a global problem', but nobody says facts are easy to find, and the figures can't be trusted anyway.
Multiple choice
Questions 26-30
How to attack this block: Each question is a short exchange, and the students often mention all three options. Listen for 'main problem', 'both happy' and 'agree': the answer is what both accept, or what the named speaker is unsure about.
Question 26
Answer: CWhen Rosie says 'where I come from'
What is the main problem in Rosie's own city?
where I come from, that's linked to another more serious issue, which is that a lot of people don't have jobs. That's getting worse and worse.
Question says → You hear
the main problemanother more serious issue
unemploymenta lot of people don't have jobs
Why: Rosie links crime to 'another more serious issue', people not having jobs, and says it's getting worse. So unemployment is the main problem: C.
The trap: Crime (theft and robbery) is mentioned first, but she calls unemployment more serious. Homelessness is there too, but it's 'not quite so bad as it was'.
Question 27
Answer: AWhen Colin suggests talking about positive developments
Which new developments on the outskirts are both students happy about?
the outskirts are ideal for buildings that need a lot of space, like for conferences. They've opened a couple of big ones. … Yes, we've got some, too.
Question says → You hear
conference centresbuildings that need a lot of space, like for conferences
Why: Colin calls the outskirts 'ideal' for conference buildings and Rosie says her city has some too. Both are positive: A.
The trap: Retail (C) is mentioned first, but Colin says the shopping centres are closing shops in the city centre. Sports facilities (B) would be nice, but 'that's not happening'.
Question 28
Answer: AWhen Colin suggests developing disused industrial sites
What do the students agree might happen when old industrial sites are developed?
So, the whole site has to be made safe. … That can't be cheap. And I bet it's often not budgeted for. … You're right.
Question says → You hear
have unexpected costsThat can't be cheap. And I bet it's often not budgeted for
Why: The old sites often contain dangerous chemicals, so the whole site has to be made safe. Rosie says that can't be cheap and is 'often not budgeted for', and Colin agrees. A cost nobody budgeted for is an unexpected cost.
The trap: Damaging the environment is the opposite of what Colin says: developing these sites does 'no harm to the natural environment'. Valuable historical buildings are ruled out too: asked if they're architecturally significant, Colin says 'Not really'.
Question 29
Answer: BWhen Rosie asks if Colin has read about Masdar City in Abu Dhabi
What will Masdar City be mentioned as an example of?
That might be a good example of a city which set out to depend entirely on renewable energy. … But let's stick to talking about power sources.
Question says → You hear
an attempt to achieveset out to depend entirely on renewable energy
Why: Colin calls Masdar 'a good example' of a city that set out to run on renewable energy, and he ends by saying they should stick to power sources. That's the sustainable energy option.
The trap: Recycling is mentioned ('big plans for recycling to reduce waste'), but Colin steers away from it: 'let's stick to talking about power sources'. Transport comes up as underground transport for a pedestrian city, not free transport.
Question 30
Answer: CThe end of the conversation, the eco town in England
What is unclear about Greenhill Abbots?
I'm not sure how far they've got with it. Um, I'll check.
Question says → You hear
how much of it has actually been builthow far they've got with it
Why: Not knowing 'how far they've got with it' means not knowing how much has actually been built: C.
The trap: The objectives are stated clearly (sustainability and so on), and the reason for the opposition is given: people said the plans were unrealistic. Note that our transcript gives this line to Rosie, while the question names Colin.
Rosie says she didn't get much out of the culture lecture, which sounds like 'no useful research'. The actual complaint is that it was too general, with no useful examples: too vague.
Crime, unemployment and homelessness all come up. Rosie says unemployment is 'more serious' and 'getting worse and worse', while homelessness is 'not quite so bad as it was'.
Rosie mentions shopping centres first, but Colin says they're closing city-centre shops. Both students have new conference centres, and Colin calls the outskirts 'ideal' for them. Sports centres aren't happening at all.
Words from this recording worth keeping
narrow the topic down(Choosing a topic)
make a subject more specific
population density(Population)
how many people live in an area
syllabus(Economies)
the list of topics a course covers
deliberately manipulated(Poverty)
changed on purpose to give a false picture
outskirts(New developments)
the outer areas of a city
disused(Industrial sites)
no longer used
budgeted for(Industrial sites)
planned for in the spending plan
pedestrianized(Masdar City)
closed to cars so only people can walk there
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The full Cambridge 20 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 20, 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.
