A lecturer talks about sharks in Australia. The first half covers their size, body structure, swimming and feeding. The second half explains shark meshing, the nets set off Australian beaches: where and when it started, how many sharks it catches, and why it sometimes works less well.
Questions 31-40 · 10 marks · 3 question blocks
All in order. Questions 31-34 follow the shark fact notes, from weight to hunting. After 'the government has realised that it must prevent sharks', Questions 35-38 cover the netting programme, and Questions 39-40 come from the last few sentences on why meshing can be less effective.
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: Short fact notes in the same order as the lecture. Several lines are printed for you (length, skeleton, skin), so use them to keep your place. The gaps need a number, a body part, a place and a sense.
How much did the heaviest shark caught in Australia weigh?
the heaviest shark caught in Australia was a white pointer that weighed 795 kilograms
Question says → You hear
Why: The kg is printed, so write the number: 795.
The trap: Lengths come first: over 10 metres and the longest at 16 metres. Those are lengths, not weights.
Besides fins, what helps sharks swim?
This is made possible by their fins one set at the side and another set underneath the body and the tail also helps the shark move forward quickly
Question says → You hear
Why: Fins are printed, and the tail 'also helps'. So the gap is tail.
The trap: 'Underneath the body' sits right before, but it says where the fins are. It isn't a separate swimming aid.
Also accepted: bed / bottom
Where do sharks find their food in the ocean?
Mostly they swim at the bottom of the ocean scavenging and picking up food that's lying on the ocean floor.
Question says → You hear
Why: 'Ocean' is printed, so you need the word after it: floor. Bed or bottom are also accepted.
The trap: The surface is mentioned first, but sharks rarely swim there. Writing 'bottom of the ocean' clashes with the printed 'ocean'.
Also accepted: smell
How do sharks find food?
While most other animals including fish hunt their prey by means of their eyesight sharks hunt essentially by smell. They have a very acute sense of smell
Question says → You hear
Why: Sharks hunt by smell. After 'their', the natural phrase is sense of smell, though smell alone is accepted.
The trap: Eyesight comes first, but it's how other animals hunt, not sharks.
How to attack this block: Numbers, places and months come thick and fast. Each question has a near miss that is said aloud: the sea, New Zealand, 1,500, the warmest months. Check the detail against the stem before choosing.
How are the shark nets laid?
Beach netting or meshing involves setting large nets parallel to the shore.
Why: Parallel to the shore means running along the coastline, A.
The trap: Next, the nets are 'lifted and taken out to sea', which sounds like C. That's what happens to them afterwards, not how they are laid. B, at an angle, contradicts 'parallel'.
Which other place has taken up shark meshing?
The New Zealand authorities also looked at it but considered meshing uneconomical as did Tahiti in the Pacific. At around the same time South Africa introduced meshing
Why: South Africa introduced meshing on some popular beaches, A.
The trap: New Zealand and Tahiti are both named first, but both decided it was uneconomical. They looked at it and said no.
How many sharks are caught in the nets each year on average?
When meshing began approximately 1,500 sharks were caught in the first year. However this declined in the years that followed and since that time the average annual catch has been only about 150 a year.
Why: The average annual catch is about 150, B.
The trap: 1,500 is said first, but that's only the first year. 'However this declined' tells you to wait for the average.
In which season are most sharks caught?
The majority of sharks are caught during the warmest months from November to February when sharks are most active
Why: The warmest months, from November to February, are summer in Australia. That's B.
The trap: November to February is winter in the northern hemisphere, so C catches people who forget where Australia is. 'The warmest months' settles it.
How to attack this block: The lecturer first rules out two reasons (sharks fear nets, sharks eat holes) and then gives the real ones. Don't tick what is mentioned and denied; wait for 'especially when'.
Which two things make shark nets less effective?
especially when there are big seas with high rolling waves and strong currents and anything that lets the sand move. … when this moves the nets will also become less effective
Why: B: big seas, high rolling waves and strong currents make meshing less effective. E: when the sand holding the nets down moves, the nets work less well. That's moving sands.
The trap: D, sharks eat holes in nets, and G, nets scaring sharks, are both mentioned just before, but the lecturer says 'neither of these is true'.
The lecturer never says 'summer'. Sharks are caught most from November to February, the warmest months, and in Australia that's summer. If you think of a northern calendar, you might pick winter.
'Parallel to the shore' means along the coastline, A. Straight after, the nets are 'taken out to sea', which makes C, from the beach to the sea, sound right.
Sharks eating holes in the nets is said aloud, so D is tempting. But the lecturer says 'neither of these is true'. The real reasons are big waves and currents, and moving sand.
The full Cambridge 4 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 4, 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.
