The urban landscape: listening answers and explanations
A speaker gives a talk on the urban landscape: how trees and other plants affect the climate of a city, and how cities can be planned with trees to make them more comfortable. The speaker compares trees with buildings for heat, wind and noise, then explains why trees are hard to fit into crowded streets.
One ten-gap note block, strictly in order. The note headings follow the talk: the two aims, large-scale effects, local effects, then trees versus buildings (temperature, wind, noise) and finally the practical problems. 'How do trees do all that, you ask?' marks the move to the comparison.
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 31-40 · Note completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS)
How to attack this block: A lecture with lists. The notes often give you some items of a list and leave one out, so tick off the printed ones as you hear them and the missing one is your answer. Many gaps need an adjective (windy, humid, shady), so check the word form before you move on.
Question 31
Answer: citiesThe opening, when the speaker names the two main areas
Also accepted: environment
What is the second focus of the talk about planning better?
how we can better plan our cities using trees to provide a more comfortable environment for us to live in
Question says → You hear
ways of planning our ... betterhow we can better plan our cities
Why: 'Ways of planning our ... better' is 'how we can better plan our cities'. The gap needs a plural noun: cities.
The trap: Environment comes at the end of the same sentence and is also accepted. Urban climate is in the first aim, which is already printed.
Question 32
Answer: windyWhen the speaker starts on the effect of trees on the city as a whole
What can trees make a whole city more or less?
They can make a city as a whole a bit less windy or a bit more windy if that's what you want.
Question says → You hear
make cities more or lessa bit less windy or a bit more windy
Why: 'Less windy or more windy' becomes 'more or less' in the notes. The gap needs an adjective: windy.
The trap: Cooler is in the next sentence, but the notes already give it for summer. Don't write the noun 'wind'.
Question 33
Answer: humidStraight after the hot Australian summer day
What can trees make dry inland cities?
they can make it a bit more humid if it's a dry inland city
Question says → You hear
make inland cities morea bit more humid if it's a dry inland city
Why: The note keeps 'inland' and 'more', so the adjective after them is humid.
The trap: 'Dry' is the word right next to inland, but it describes the city before the trees, not what they make it.
Question 34
Answer: shadyWhen the talk moves to 'the local scale'
Also accepted: shaded
What is the first local effect of trees?
trees can make the local area more shady, cooler, more humid and much less windy
Question says → You hear
local areas more ..., cooler, more humidmore shady, cooler, more humid
Why: The printed list is cooler, more humid, less windy, and the first item is missing. The speaker says 'more shady', so the gap is shady. Shaded is also accepted.
The trap: The noun 'shade' is the wrong form after 'more'. Check the gap needs an adjective.
Question 35
Answer: dangerousRight after the list of local effects, beginning 'In fact'
What else can trees make local areas less?
trees and planting of various kinds can be used to make city streets actually less dangerous in particular areas
Question says → You hear
less ...make city streets actually less dangerous
Why: The list of local effects ends, then one more is added: streets can be made less dangerous. That's the last item in the note.
The trap: 'Much less windy' finishes the list just before and is already printed. Writing windy again gives a repeat, not an answer.
Question 36
Answer: leavesAfter 'How do trees do all that, you ask?'
Through which part do trees evaporate water?
It evaporates water through its leaves, and that means that the temperature of the leaves is never very far from our own body temperature.
Question says → You hear
trees evaporate water through theirIt evaporates water through its leaves
Why: The note copies the speaker's words almost exactly. Write the plural, leaves.
The trap: 'Sweat' comes a few sentences later as a way of describing the same process, but it isn't a part of the tree.
Question 37
Answer: groundWhen the speaker turns to how trees break the force of winds
At what level do tall buildings make it windier?
The reason that high buildings make it windier at ground level is that as the wind goes higher and higher, it goes faster and faster.
Question says → You hear
tall buildings cause more wind at ... levelhigh buildings make it windier at ground level
Why: 'High buildings make it windier' is 'tall buildings cause more wind'. The word before 'level' is ground.
The trap: 'High level winds' comes later in the same explanation. Those are the winds up high, which get forced down to ground level.
Question 38
Answer: considerably reduceAfter 'That doesn't happen when you have trees'
Also accepted: reduce / decrease / filter
What do trees do to the force of the wind?
Trees filter the wind and considerably reduce it, preventing those very large strong gusts
Question says → You hear
trees ... the wind forceTrees filter the wind and considerably reduce it
Why: 'Considerably reduce' fits two words and says exactly what trees do to the force. Reduce, decrease and filter are also accepted.
The trap: 'Preventing' also fits the grammar, but trees prevent the strong gusts, not the wind force itself. Stick with reduce.
Question 39
Answer: lowIn the noise section, after the belt of trees by the road
What kind of noise passes straight through trees?
Low frequency noise in particular just goes through the trees as though they aren't there.
Question says → You hear
frequency noise passes through treesLow frequency noise in particular just goes through the trees
Why: 'Goes through the trees' is 'passes through trees', and the word before 'frequency' is low.
The trap: Vehicle noise and traffic noise are both mentioned, but the gap is followed by 'frequency', so only low fits.
Question 40
Answer: spaceNear the end, when the speaker talks about the street canyon
Also accepted: room
What else, besides sunlight and water, do trees need?
Trees need water to grow. They also need some sunlight to grow, and you need room to put them.
Question says → You hear
require a lot of sunlight, water and ...Trees need water to grow … sunlight … you need room to put them
Why: Water and sunlight are printed, so the third need is room. Earlier the speaker also said trees 'take up a lot of space'. The key gives space, and room is also accepted.
The trap: Root systems and branches are mentioned as problems trees cause, not things trees need.
The local-effects list ends with less windy, and the gap comes after it. The answer is in the next sentence: trees can make streets 'less dangerous'. People who stop listening after the list miss it.
'Trees filter the wind and considerably reduce it.' Filter and reduce are both accepted, but you have to catch them in a sentence that also talks about strong gusts around tall buildings.
Sunlight and water are printed, and the speaker says trees need water, sunlight and 'room to put them'. Space, said earlier ('take up a lot of space'), and room are both accepted.
Words from this recording worth keeping
vegetation(Two areas of focus)
plants and trees in general
humid(Large-scale impact)
with a lot of moisture in the air
regulated(Temperature regulation)
kept at a steady level
evaporates(Temperature regulation)
turns from liquid into vapour
exploited(Temperature regulation)
used to get an advantage
gusts(Wind force)
sudden strong rushes of wind
intensified(Noise)
made stronger
street canyon(Important points to consider)
a narrow street with tall buildings on both sides
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The full Cambridge 4 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 4, 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.
