Wildlife in city gardens: listening answers and explanations
A student presents their group's Year 2 project on wildlife in the city's gardens. The student explains why they chose the topic and how they did the research, then reports findings for three species: frogs, hedgehogs and song thrushes.
Questions 31-36 follow the first half of the talk in order: the topic, the land figure, the survey, the observations, the reading and why three species were chosen. The table (37-40) starts at 'The first species', and the species come in table order.
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: The speaker gives a method and then a reason for it, and the options often reuse the speaker's words in the wrong place. Listen for the reason words: 'wondered why', 'endorsed by', 'because', 'the whole point'.
Question 31
Answer: CWhen the speaker asks 'how did we choose our topic?'
Why did the group choose this topic?
two of the group mentioned that they had seen yet more sparrow-hawks … in their own city centre gardens and wondered why they were turning up in these gardens in great numbers.
Question says → You hear
investigate a recent phenomenonwondered why they were turning up in these gardens in great numbers
Why: Sparrow-hawks were 'turning up' in gardens in great numbers, something new, and they wondered why. That's investigating a recent phenomenon, C.
The trap: A: there is a decline, but it's of wildlife in the countryside, mentioned later, and it isn't about one species. B: city growth is never discussed.
Question 32
Answer: AWhen the speaker says what proportion of urban land is private gardens
How was the exact proportion of garden land confirmed?
We estimated that it was about one fifth, and this was endorsed by looking at large-scale usage maps in the town land survey office - 24% to be precise.
Question says → You hear
confirmed byendorsed by
consulting some official documentslooking at large-scale usage maps in the town land survey office
Why: 'Endorsed by' is 'confirmed by', and maps in the town land survey office are official documents, A.
The trap: B takes 'large-scale', but they were maps, not photos. C takes 'survey', but they looked at maps in the office, they didn't talk to surveyors.
Question 33
Answer: BWhen the speaker says they decided to survey garden owners
What did the group ask garden owners to do?
Just over 100 of them completed survey once every two weeks for twelve months ticking off species they had seen from a pro forma list
Question says → You hear
keep a record of animals they sawticking off species they had seen from a pro forma list
Why: Ticking off species they'd seen every two weeks for a year is keeping a record of animals, B.
The trap: C borrows 'rarer': owners added rarer species to their list, not got in touch each time they saw one. A is wrong because the talks with neighbours were 'informal discussions'.
Question 34
Answer: BAfter 'Meanwhile, we were doing our own observations'
What kind of gardens did the group observe?
We deliberately chose smaller ones because they were by far the most typical in the city. The whole point of the project was to look at the norm not the exception.
Question says → You hear
which they considered to be representativethey were by far the most typical in the city
Why: The most typical gardens, 'the norm', are representative ones, B.
The trap: A and C both describe unusual gardens (lots of species, rare animals). That's 'the exception', which the speaker says they avoided.
Question 35
Answer: AWhen the speaker mentions research alongside their garden work
What did the group read a lot about?
we were studying a lot of books about the decline of wild animals
Question says → You hear
did extensive reading onstudying a lot of books about
wildlife problems in rural areasthe decline of wild animals … the countryside
Why: The decline of wild animals in the countryside is a wildlife problem in rural areas, A.
The trap: B: urban gardens were their primary research, their own observations, not the reading. C, gardening practices, isn't what they read about.
Question 36
Answer: CWhen the speaker says what they've decided to present today
Why does the speaker talk about only three species?
What we've decided to present today is information about just three species -because we felt these gave a good indication of the processes at work in rural and urban settings as a whole.
Question says → You hear
they best indicated general trendsthese gave a good indication of the processes at work in rural and urban settings as a whole
Why: 'A good indication of the processes ... as a whole' is general trends, C.
The trap: A is tempting: they found 'so much' information. But that's why the speaker can't present everything, not why they chose these three.
Table completion (ONE WORD ONLY)
Questions 37-40
How to attack this block: One row per species. Each reason for the increase is a cause-and-effect sentence, so listen for 'because' and 'which means'. Check whether each gap needs a noun or a verb ('easy to ...').
Question 37
Answer: frogWhen the speaker says 'The first species'
Also accepted: frogs
Which species increases where there is suitable water?
The first species to generate a lot of interesting information was frogs. And there was a clear pattern here - they proliferate where there is suitable water.
Question says → You hear
suitable stretches of waterthey proliferate where there is suitable water
Why: Frogs 'proliferate' (increase) where there is suitable water, like garden ponds. Frog or frogs.
The trap: Sparrow-hawks come at the start of the talk, but only as the reason for choosing the topic.
Question 38
Answer: predatorsThe second species, hedgehogs
What are hedgehogs safer from in cities?
this time because their predators are not finding it quite so attractive to leave their rural environment, so hedgehogs have a better survival rate in cities.
Question says → You hear
safer from ... when in citiestheir predators are not finding it quite so attractive to leave their rural environment
Why: Their predators stay in the countryside, so hedgehogs survive better in cities. They're safer from predators, plural.
The trap: 'Rural environment' is near, but hedgehogs aren't safer from the countryside. It's the predators that stay there.
Question 39
Answer: countStraight after the survival rate
What is easy to do accurately with hedgehogs?
We had lots of sightings, so all in allwehad no difficulties with our efforts to count their numbers precisely.
Question says → You hear
easy to ... them accuratelyno difficulties with our efforts to count their numbers precisely
Why: 'No difficulties' is 'easy', 'precisely' is 'accurately', and the verb is count.
The trap: 'Sightings' is the noun you hear first, but the gap after 'easy to' needs a verb. 'See' is a guess: the word said is count.
Question 40
Answer: seedThe last species, the song thrush
Also accepted: seeds
What do song thrushes have a variety of to eat?
gardeners are buying lots of different plants which means there's an extensive range of seeds around, which is what they feed on.
Question says → You hear
a variety of ... to eatan extensive range of seeds around, which is what they feed on
Why: 'An extensive range' is 'a variety', and 'feed on' is 'eat'. What they eat is seeds. Seed or seeds are accepted.
The trap: Plants are said first, but the thrushes eat the seeds, not the plants.
B and C reuse words from the recording: 'large-scale' maps and the town land 'survey office'. But the proportion was confirmed by usage maps in an official office, which are official documents, A.
A sounds right because the group found 'so much'. But the speaker says they can't present it all, and chose three species because they 'gave a good indication of the processes at work', C.
The gap follows 'easy to', so it needs a verb. Lots of sightings meant no difficulty counting their numbers precisely: count. 'Precisely' becomes 'accurately'.
Words from this recording worth keeping
interim findings(Introduction)
results so far, before the research is finished
inhabit(Choosing the topic)
live in a place
endorsed(Research methods)
confirmed or supported
pro forma(Research methods)
a standard form to fill in
the norm(Research methods)
what is usual or typical
proliferate(Frogs)
increase quickly in number
predators(Hedgehogs)
animals that hunt and eat other animals
resurgence(Song thrushes)
a return to growth after a decline
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The full Cambridge 9 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 9, 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.
