IELTS Listening Practice Test | 2026-01-04

**Narrator:** Now turn to section one. Section one. In this section, you will hear a conversation between a woman and the librarian. Now you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen to the talk and answer the questions 1 to 6.
**Librarian:** Good morning.
**Woman:** Good morning. Can I help you?
**Librarian:** Yes, I'd like to join the library. We're new to the district, you see.
**Woman:** H certainly. Well, all we need is some sort of identification with your name and address on it.
**Librarian:** Oh dear. We just moved, you see, and everything has my old address.
**Woman:** A driving license perhaps?
**Librarian:** No, I don't drive.
**Woman:** Your husband's would do.
**Librarian:** Yes, but his license will still have the old address on it.
**Woman:** H perhaps you have a letter addressed to you at your new house?
**Librarian:** No, I'm afraid not. We've only been there a few days, you see, and no one's written to us yet.
**Woman:** Or what about your bank book?
**Librarian:** That's just the same. Oh dear. And I did want to get some books out this weekend. We're going on holiday to relax after the move, you see. And I wanted to take something with me to read.
**Woman:** Well, I'm sorry, but we can't possibly issue tickets without some form of identification. What about your passport?
**Librarian:** What? Oh, yes. How silly of me. I've just got a new one, and it does have our new address. I've just been to book our air ticket, so I have it on me.
**Woman:** Huh. Well, that's all right. Your ticket will be ready soon.
**Librarian:** Okay. Um, how many books am I allowed to take out?
**Woman:** You can take four books out at a time, and you can also get two tickets to take out three magazines or periodicals. Newspapers, I'm afraid, can't be taken out.
**Librarian:** Oh, that's fine. Uh, do you have a record library? Some libraries do, I know.
**Woman:** Yes, we do. You have to pay a deposit of $5 in case you damage them, but that entitles you to take out two records at a time.
**Librarian:** That's good. Could you show me where your history and biography sections are, please?
**Woman:** Yes, just over there to your right. If there's any particular book you want, you can look it up in the catalog, which you'll find just around the corner. You can also find a touchscreen information service on level two.
**Librarian:** Thank you. Oh, and how long am I allowed to keep the books for?
**Woman:** Well, the normal loan period is 3 weeks with 2 weeks extension.
**Librarian:** Oh, dear. We're going away for 4 weeks. Can I renew them now?
**Woman:** I'm afraid not. You must do that at the end of 3 weeks.
**Librarian:** I see. Thank you very much.
**Narrator:** Before the talk continues, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen to the talk and answer the questions 7 to 10.
**Woman:** Well, let's go into some details. Your name, please, madam.
**Librarian:** My name is Barbara. The surname is Cooper. It's spelled as C O O P E R.
**Woman:** Fine. And what's your contact number? If we have new books coming, we can contact you in time.
**Librarian:** Good. You can call me on 7236518, but it's better after 5:00 p.m. You know, I have to work during the daytime. Do you need the office number?
**Woman:** I don't think so. It's enough. Could you tell me the address?
**Librarian:** I lived in King Road, but of course you need my new address. Um, it's 25 St. Mary Road, Hamill.
**Woman:** That's H A N W E L L. Is that right?
**Librarian:** Yes. Do you need the passport number? I just brought it with me. Here you are.
**Woman:** Yes, thank you. The number of your passport is G5798 0942. Okay. And your ticket is ready. The number is M 930123.
**Librarian:** Thank you. Could I take a look around and check out some books?
**Woman:** Of course, as you like.
**Narrator:** That is the end of section one. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
[Pause]

**Narrator:** Now turns to part two. Part two. First you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16.
Everyone knows that we have achieved a huge amount in terms of space exploration. The space race between ourselves and Russia went on for nearly 20 years, but we were the first to land a man on the moon. At that time, the space race was very close, and the Russians very nearly got to the moon before us.
For me, the most exciting invention and the invention that really showed we were ahead in the space race was the reusable space shuttle. It was first successful in 1981 and has since been used on many missions. The reusable shuttle can carry astronauts on space missions and can serve as a laboratory in which to conduct experiments. It can be used to transport equipment to space stations or to collect or repair satellites. The shuttle carries between five and seven crew members. When a mission is complete, the shuttle fires thrusters which propel it back into the Earth's atmosphere. It then glides down to make its landing.
**Narrator:** Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20.
Although the remains of very early ovens have been found in many parts of the world, it was here that they were first used frequently in people's homes. In ancient Greece and in other parts of Europe and Turkey, people used ovens to bake bread. But it seems there was only one large oven that everyone shared. Here, the remains of villages from 5,000 years ago show that each mud brick house was constructed with an oven and that baking bread and perhaps cooking meat was very common.
The ovens were made of clay and shaped like a beehive. Inside they had shelves so that a number of loaves could be cooked together and an opening at the bottom from which ash could be removed.
**Narrator:** That is the end of part two. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
[Pause]

**Narrator:** Now turn to section three. Section three. You will hear two students, Jenna and Marco, discussing a business studies project they have to do. Now you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
**Jenna:** Come on, Marco. We've got to get on and sort out this project for Professor Barkley.
**Marco:** Hang on. I want to make sure we've got all the information. Now, where are we?
**Jenna:** Well, today we need to sort out exactly what we're going to do and how we're going to divide the work up.
**Marco:** Okay. How long have we got, by the way?
**Jenna:** Um, the end of term is April 6th and he said to hand it in on week 8, so that's March 25th at the latest because the beginning of that week is the 21st. So, not long, right?
**Marco:** Have you got the notes there?
**Jenna:** Yes. He wants us to do a fairly small-scale study like the last one on whether or not businesses were offering more benefits to staff. And we've now got to look at the rise in older workers. It should be fairly straightforward.
**Marco:** Yeah, as long as we keep it small. Who's marking it?
**Jenna:** I don't know. Sometimes he gets the PhD students to mark it for him. Oh, actually it just says here a senior lecturer. I suppose it's too much for Professor Barkley to do them all.
**Marco:** Yeah. Anyway, how are we going to go about this?
**Jenna:** Well, we have to decide how big we want it to be and who—
**Marco:** Yeah, but I think we must sort out a timetable for the project. Otherwise, nothing will get done.
**Jenna:** Okay. Do you want to do that?
**Marco:** All right. I'll do it as soon as we finish here.
**Narrator:** Now you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 25 to 30.
**Jenna:** Okay. What do we have to do now for the project? What's the best way to go about it?
**Marco:** Um, well, Professor Carter suggested we set up a focus group to get some in-depth interviews, but I think that'll take a lot of time.
**Jenna:** Yeah, I agree. If we did a focus group, we'd have to spend time deciding who to include in it, and it's not necessary to do one anyway.
**Marco:** Oh, fine. And if you agree, I think we should get in touch with the businesses on the list Professor Carter gave us and ask them if they're prepared to participate.
**Jenna:** Sounds good. Then we can go there, give them questionnaires, and collect them later.
**Marco:** Exactly. Okay, then. Do we need to book one of those study rooms in the library so we can work together to input the data?
**Jenna:** Perhaps not, as I guess just one of us could just sort it out, actually.
**Marco:** Yes, that would be easier. A lot of what we're doing is qualitative, so it'll be writing up rather than statistics. No software for that, I'm afraid. And I think it would look better if we had actual shots of some of the staff because we're citing appearance as a factor in employability, aren't we?
**Jenna:** Yeah. Okay. I'll factor that all in when I sort everything out tonight. I'm glad we decided to work together. I think it's going to work out well.
**Marco:** Yes. Well, given that we had to work in pairs on this project, I think we were right to choose each other. We complement each other academically, as we're each good at what the other isn't. In fact, we should have tried working together before.
**Jenna:** Yes. Now, how shall we split the work? I'll do the analysis, shall I?
**Marco:** Oh, okay. It's just that it might be faster because I'm used to doing it. Although your English is better than mine. I need more practice at reading.
**Jenna:** Really?
**Marco:** Okay, I'll do the presentation then if that's okay with you.
**Jenna:** Yeah, sure. I don't mind speaking in public, but I hate preparing all the notes for them.
**Marco:** The thing is, the tutor said one person should do the whole presentation, and he said he expects me to do it because I haven't done one yet.
**Jenna:** No, that's fine. Now, let's see.
**Narrator:** That is the end of section three. You now have half a minute to check your answer.
[Pause]

**Narrator:** Now turns to part four. Part four, you will hear a historian giving a presentation about techniques to identify the origin of handwritten books from the Middle Ages. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
[Pause]
**Narrator:** Now listen and answer questions 31 to 40.
My presentation today is on how the science of genetics is being used to shed light on the origin of manuscripts. Anything written by hand produced in the medieval period. That is the period between the 5th and 15th centuries AD.
As many of you know, thousands of medieval handwritten books still exist today. Some of them have a clear provenance. That is, we know exactly where and when they were written. But the origin of many manuscripts has been a complete mystery. That is until 2009 when geneticists started using DNA testing to shed light on their origins.
But before looking at the new research, I need to explain something about the way the manuscripts were produced, particularly what they were written on. Virtually all were written on treated animal skins, and there were essentially two types.
The first was parchment which is made of sheep skin. It has the quality of being very white but also being thin. It has a naturally greasy surface which meant it was hard to erase writing from it. This made it much sought after for court documents in medieval times.
The second type is vellum which is calf skin. This was most often used for any very high status documents because it provided the best writing surface so scribes could achieve lettering of high quality.
So once the animal hides had been chosen, they had to be prepared. Where the right materials were on hand, the skins were put into large barrels or vats of lime where they were agitated or stirred frequently. But if lime wasn't available, then the hides were buried. Both these techniques were designed to cause the hair to sloth off and the skins to become gelatinous and therefore more flexible.
The next stage was to put the hides on stretcher frames and pull them very tight. While on the frame, they were scraped with a moon-shaped knife in order to create a uniform thickness. For parchment, that was the end of the process. But for vellum, there was an additional stage where it was bleached in order to achieve the desired color.
So what does all this preparation mean for the quest to identify the origins of mystery manuscripts? Well, until recently, the only way historians and other academics were able to guess at origins was either through the analysis of the handwriting style or from the dialect in which the piece was written. But these techniques have proven unreliable for a number of reasons.
It was thus decided to try to look at the problem from a different angle. To start from what is known, that is the small number of manuscripts whose origins we do already know. Because these parchments and vellum are both made from animal hides, it was possible to subject them to DNA testing and to identify the genetic markers for the date and location of production. From this was created what is known as a baseline.
The next stage was to test the mystery manuscripts, finding their DNA characteristics and then making comparisons between the known and the mystery scripts. Genetic similarities and differences enabled the scientists to gain more information about the origins of the many manuscripts we had known virtually nothing about up to that point.
Now you might ask what are the potential uses of this new information? Well, obviously it can shed light on the origin of individual books and manuscripts. But that's not all. It can also shed light on the evolution of the whole of the manuscript production industry in medieval times. And because that was such a thriving business involving very large-scale movements right across the globe, the new data in turn help historians establish which trade routes were in operation during the whole millennium.
Now if anyone has any questions—
**Narrator:** That is the end of part four. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
[Music]