Food science course feedback: listening answers and explanations
Two students, Nadia and Fergus, give their tutor feedback on their food science course. They talk about the food safety sessions, a visiting lecture on food fraud, ideas for new topics, and the stages of their own project to create a jackfruit falafel.
Four blocks in order, each opened by the tutor: food safety (21-22), 'What did you think about the sessions from visiting lecturers' (23-24), 'any recommendations for new topics' (25-26), and 'talk me through the stages' of the project (27-30). Both students speak in every block, so listen for who agrees.
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: All five facts come up, so the question is which ones were new to them. Listen for 'I hadn't realised', 'I'd no idea' and 'I didn't know why' against 'stuff I knew already' and 'already aware'.
Question 21-22
Answer: B and E (in either order)Right at the start, after Nadia says some information was surprising
Which two facts from the food safety sessions were new to both students?
But I hadn't realised that unsafe food causes more than 200 different diseases. … No. I'd no idea it was that many. … the antibiotics get into the food chain. I had no idea about that either.
Question says → You hear
the number of diseases caused by contaminated foodI hadn't realised that unsafe food causes more than 200 different diseases
the result of treating animals with antibioticswhen animals are treated with antibiotics … the antibiotics get into the food chain
Why: B: Fergus hadn't realised there were over 200 diseases and Nadia had 'no idea it was that many'. E: neither knew that antibiotics given to animals end up in the food chain.
The trap: Obesity (D) and ocean plastic (A) are both mentioned, but as things they 'knew already' or were 'already aware of'. Food waste (C) wasn't new information; Fergus just wanted more on it.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 23-24
How to attack this block: Only Fergus's opinion counts here. He praises two things with 'really good' and 'what the researchers succeeded in doing', and disagrees with Nadia about a third.
Question 23-24
Answer: C and D (in either order)When the tutor asks Fergus about the visiting lecturers
Which two features of the food fraud project impressed Fergus?
I thought it was really good to address a problem that's faced by so many different groups … what the researchers succeeded in doing was to ensure that these tests were carried out at different stages
Question says → You hear
the variety of dietary requirementsso many different groups - people with special religious rules. as well as vegetarians and vegans
multiple tests on food itemsthese tests were carried out at different stages in the food's journey
Why: D: religious rules, vegetarians, vegans and allergies are all different dietary requirements, and he calls this 'really good'. C: testing at several stages of the food's journey means multiple tests.
The trap: B and E sound right when Nadia praises 'a good system for publicising their findings'. But this is about Fergus, and he says 'there were some problems with that'.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 25-26
How to attack this block: Each student suggests topics and the other reacts. You need the two that BOTH accept, so listen for the second speaker's reply: 'that'd be a good topic' and 'the whole class would be interested' are yeses; 'already done', 'medical' and 'too specialist' are noes.
Question 25-26
Answer: A and C (in either order)When the tutor asks for recommendations for new topics
Which two new course topics do both students support?
not so much on the seafood industry. … that'd be a good topic. … What about sessions on the variety of food and eating habits around the world? … I think the whole class would be interested in that.
Question says → You hear
sustainable fishingthe seafood industry. where stocks are in danger of being overexploited
global differences in consumptionthe variety of food and eating habits around the world
Why: A: Fergus suggests keeping seafood stocks up and Nadia says 'that'd be a good topic'. C: Nadia suggests eating habits around the world and Fergus agrees the whole class would be interested.
The trap: Nadia proposes three other ideas and Fergus turns each down: agriculture (D) because they've already covered it, personalised diet (B) as 'more like a medical topic', and 3D printing and smart packaging (E) as 'too specialist'.
Flow-chart completion (A-F)
Questions 27-30
How to attack this block: Four project stages, six comments, so two are never used. The tutor names the first stage and the students name the rest ('literature review', 'product development', 'product production'), which gives you clear signposts.
Question 27
Answer: CWhen the tutor says 'first you had to decide on your initial aim'
What do they say about choosing their initial aim?
We made up our minds about that pretty quickly. I know some students found it a lot harder to choose, and wasted a lot of time.
Question says → You hear
easy to decide onWe made up our minds about that pretty quickly
Why: Deciding 'pretty quickly', while others found it much harder, means it was easy to decide on, C.
The trap: Other students 'found it a lot harder', which can make you think of a challenge (A) or disagreement (B). That was other groups, not Nadia and Fergus.
Question 28
Answer: DWhen Nadia says 'Then we had to do the literature review'
What helped them with the literature review?
We hadn't done one of these before so. the handout with advice for the project was very useful here.
Question says → You hear
helped by the guidelines providedthe handout with advice for the project was very useful
Why: A handout with advice is the guidelines provided, and 'very useful' means it helped. That's D.
The trap: 'We hadn't done one of these before' might suggest a challenge (A), but the point is that the handout solved that.
Question 29
Answer: FAfter Fergus says they wanted something different from an ordinary falafel
What was special about the product development stage?
We really made the right choice when we finally decided to use jackfruit, even though it wasn't something that either of us had ever tasted before.
Question says → You hear
selecting a new ingredientdecided to use jackfruit, even though it wasn't something that either of us had ever tasted
Why: Choosing jackfruit, which neither had tasted, means selecting a new ingredient, F.
The trap: 'Finally decided' might suggest disagreement (B), but nobody argues. It just took some thought.
Question 30
Answer: AWhen Fergus says working out how to make the falafel was harder than he expected
How did they find the product production stage?
was harder than I expected because I'd never made them before. … It was mostly trial and error. … in the end it turned out fine and we had a lot of fun.
Question says → You hear
challengingharder than I expected
enjoyablewe had a lot of fun
Why: It was hard ('harder than I expected', lots of trial and error) and fun ('we had a lot of fun'). Challenging but enjoyable, A.
The trap: 'When it went wrong ... which it did a lot of the time' could suggest it was unnecessary (E) or caused arguments (B), but they kept adapting and enjoyed it.
DNA testing sounds like new technology (A), but Fergus says the methods have existed 'for some time'. What impressed him was using the tests at different stages, C.
Jackfruit is new to them, so 'selecting a new ingredient' (F) fits. People who hear 'the right choice' sometimes pick 'easy to decide on', but that's the initial aim.
Words from this recording worth keeping
obesity(Food safety sessions)
the condition of being very overweight
resistance to antibiotics(Food safety sessions)
when medicines stop working against bacteria
food chain(Food safety sessions)
the path food takes from animals and plants to people
consumers(Food fraud lecture)
people who buy and use products
overexploited(New topics)
used so much that the supply is at risk
literature review(The project)
a summary of what has already been written on a subject
savoury(The project)
salty or spicy rather than sweet
trial and error(The project)
trying different ways until one works
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The full Cambridge 21 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 21, 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.
