The history of moving pictures: listening answers and explanations
A lecturer tells the story of early cinema, from an 1877 bet about a galloping horse to Edison's first motion picture system, the European rivals, the first long film and the arrival of sound.
The lecture runs in date order and so do the questions. Questions 31-37 take you from 1877 to the Lantham Loop; 'So now there was a real possibility of having films of more than two or three minutes' leads into questions 38-40, which deal with the first movie and the coming of sound.
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 questions in a row, so keep your place with the dates and names in each stem: the horse photos, the Scotsman, the first system, Europe, 1895, longer films, the Lantham Loop. The wrong options often reuse a real detail with one word changed (filmed instead of see, seen instead of told).
Question 31
Answer: AAt the very start, the 1877 bet
What did some of the galloping-horse photos show?
whether a horse ever had all four feet or hooves off the ground when it galloped … the bet was settled because you could see that … off the ground in some of the photos
Question says → You hear
Some photographs of a horse running showedyou could see that … off the ground in some of the photos
Why: The bet was about all four hooves leaving the ground, and the photos settled it: in some of them, all four were off the ground. That's A.
The trap: B is the opposite of what the photos proved. C, two feet, is never mentioned; the whole bet was about all four.
Question 32
Answer: BWhen Edison is introduced
What did Edison's Scottish employee do?
the first thing he did was study other systems - primitive as they were - of moving pictures and then put all the existing
Question says → You hear
used available technologyput all the existing
to make a new systemthe first entire motion picture system
Why: He studied the systems that already existed and combined that technology into the first complete motion picture system. Existing technology, new system: B.
The trap: A is tempting because Edison is famous, but Edison didn't invent this technology; he asked the Scotsman to do the work. Nothing says he was already an expert (C).
Question 33
Answer: CAfter the 1894 New York show, at 'a couple of problems'
What was a big problem with the first system?
The camera weighed over 200 kilograms and only one person at a time could see the film.
Question says → You hear
the camera was very heavyThe camera weighed over 200 kilograms
Why: Over 200 kilograms is very heavy, so C matches the first of the two problems.
The trap: A twists the second problem. Only one person could watch the film, which is not the same as only one person being filmed. B, short films, is a later problem.
Question 34
Answer: ARight after the two problems
What led to rival European systems?
news of the new system in America travelled fast and a number of rival European
Question says → You hear
been told about the American systemnews of the new system in America travelled fast
Why: News travelling fast means people heard about it. The European inventors knew of the system by report, which is A, been told about it.
The trap: B, seen it, is the natural assumption, but the lecturer only talks about news spreading. Nobody went to see or use it.
Question 35
Answer: AWhen the lecturer says the problem was projecting onto a screen
Who developed the famous new system of 1895?
Brothers from France … which of course is where the word cinema comes from. There were also two brothers in Germany who developed a successful system
Question says → You hear
a French teamBrothers from France
Why: The famous system came from brothers in France, whose name for it gave us the word cinema. They worked on their own, so A.
The trap: The German brothers come next with their own system, the bioskop. 'Also' shows a separate team, so B (working together) is wrong, and C is wrong because the word cinema came from the French.
Question 36
Answer: COnce projection was solved, at 'the next challenge'
What problem stopped longer films being made?
make the films longer and more interesting. A continuing problem at the time was that the … problem which was caused by the tension between the two wheels, or 'reels' as they are called
Question says → You hear
problems involving the film projectorwhen they were being played
Why: The films kept breaking while they were being played, because of tension between the two reels holding the film. Playing a film is the projector's job, so C.
The trap: 'More interesting' points at A, the subject matter, but that's the goal, not the problem. The camera (B) was the earlier weight problem.
Question 37
Answer: AWhen two American brothers solve the breaking-film problem
How did the Lantham Loop work?
the simple addition of a third reel between the two main reels, and this took all the tension away with the result that the film stopped snapping
Question says → You hear
removing tension between the film reelsthis took all the tension away
Why: A third reel between the two main ones took the tension away, so the film stopped snapping. That's A.
The trap: B says three more reels, but only one was added, making three in total. C is wrong because neither main reel was changed.
Sentence completion (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS)
Questions 38-40
How to attack this block: Two of these are about sound, so separate the steps: 1926 sound effects, 1927 the first part-talking film, 1928 the first all-talking film. For question 38 'The' is printed, so don't write it twice.
Question 38
Answer: Great Train RobberyAfter films of more than two or three minutes become possible
What was the first motion picture called?
Great Train Robbery - the very first movie made
Question says → You hear
The first motion picturethe very first movie made
Why: 'The very first movie' matches 'the first motion picture'. 'The' is printed, so write Great Train Robbery.
The trap: 11 minutes is how long it lasted, said straight after. The Jazz Singer comes later and is the first talkie.
Question 39
Answer: Sound effectsWhen the lecturer moves on to people talking on film
What was first used on film in 1926?
in 1926 when sound effects were first used
Question says → You hear
were used for the first time on film in 1926in 1926 when sound effects were first used
Why: The date matches exactly, and what was used first was sound effects. Plural: 'were used'.
The trap: Talkies and talking come right after, but the first talkie was the following year, 1927.
Question 40
Answer: poor sound qualityAt the end, after 1928
Why were subtitles added to The Lights of New York?
they printed the dialogue along the bottom of the film to compensate for this poor sound quality
Question says → You hear
because of itsto compensate for this poor sound quality
Why: Subtitles were added to make up for the poor sound quality. Three words fit the limit exactly.
The trap: 'The sound on this early film was not very good' says the same thing earlier, but 'not very good' doesn't fit after 'its'. Use the noun phrase.
'Only one person at a time could see the film' turns into the option about one person being filmed. Seeing and being filmed are different; the heavy camera is the problem that matches.
The Europeans had heard about the American system. Nothing says they had seen it or used it, and 'news ... travelled fast' is the clue.
Words from this recording worth keeping
settle the bet(The horse photos)
decide who wins a bet
in quick succession(The horse photos)
one straight after another
primitive(Edison's system)
very simple and basic, early
rival(European systems)
competing
tension(Longer films)
the force of something being pulled tight
sensation(The first movie)
something that causes great excitement
craze(Store theatres)
a very popular short-term trend
compensate for(Sound)
make up for something bad
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The full Cambridge 6 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 6, Test 2, 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.
