IELTS Listening Practice Test | 2026-01-18

**Woman:** Good morning, University Language Center. How can I help you?
**Man:** I'm interested in doing a language course. I did Mandarin last year and now I'd like to do Japanese. Can you give me some information about what courses are available at your center and when they start, that sort of thing?
**Woman:** Yes, certainly. Well, we actually offer a number of courses in Japanese at different levels. Are you looking for full-time or part-time?
**Man:** Oh, I couldn't manage full-time as I work every day, but evenings would be fine and certainly preferable to weekends.
**Woman:** Well, we don't offer courses at the weekend anyway, but let me run through your options. We have a 12-week intensive course, 3 hours, three nights a week. That's our crash course. Or an 8-month course, two nights a week.
**Man:** I think the crash course would suit me best as I'll be leaving for Japan in 6 months time.
**Woman:** Are you a beginner?
**Man:** Not a complete beginner. No.
**Woman:** Well, we offer the courses at three levels. Beginners, lower intermediate, and upper intermediate. Though we don't always run them all. It depends very much on demand.
**Man:** I'd probably be at the lower intermediate level as I did some Japanese at school, but that was ages ago.
**Woman:** Right. Well, the next level two course begins on Monday the 12th of September. There are still some places on that one. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until January or March.
**Man:** No, I prefer the next course.
**Woman:** Right. Can I get some details from you then so I can send you some information?
**Man:** Sure.
**Woman:** What's your name? A family name first.
**Man:** Haggetty Richard. H A G A R T Y. Uh, no. H A G E R T Y.
**Woman:** Oh, okay. And your address, Richard?
**Man:** Well, perhaps you could email it to me.
**Woman:** Right. What's your email address?
**Man:** It's ricky45. That's one word. R I C K Y 4 5 at hotmail.com.
**Woman:** And I just need some other information for our statistics. This helps us offer the best possible courses and draw up a profile of our students.
**Man:** Fine.
**Woman:** What's your date of birth?
**Man:** I was born on the 29th of February, 1980.
**Woman:** 1980. So you're a leap year baby. That's unusual.
**Man:** Yes, it is.
**Woman:** And just one or two other questions for our market research if you don't mind.
**Man:** No, that's fine.
**Woman:** What are your main reasons for studying Japanese? Business, travel, or general interest?
**Man:** My company's sending me to Japan for 2 years.
**Woman:** All right, I'll put down business. And do you have any specific needs? Will there be an emphasis on written language? For instance, will you need to know how to write business letters? That sort of thing?
**Man:** No, but I will need to be able to communicate with people on a day-to-day basis.
**Woman:** Okay. So, I'll put down conversation.
**Man:** Yes, because I already know something about the writing system at an elementary level, and I don't anticipate having to read too much.
**Woman:** You said you'd studied some Japanese. Where did you study?
**Man:** 3 years at school. Uh, then I gave it up, so I've forgotten a fair bit. You know how it is with languages if you don't have the chance to use them.
**Woman:** Yes, but I'm sure it will all come back to you once you get going again. Now, once we receive your enrollment form, we'll contact you.

**Karen:** I feel a bit nervous. I haven't done that before. Although many of my classmates in the same tutorial group have finished theirs, but I think them a little uninteresting because they just read out their notes. I hope mine will be more attractive.
**Tutor:** Seems you have a higher demand for yourself. As for me, I have no sense of uneasiness because I made one last semester, but I feel no sense of satisfaction about it. It lacked strong arguments, I think. How much did you get for the last presentation, Jason?
**Jason:** 83% actually, but my goal for the next one is over 87%.
**Tutor:** It's pretty good. What is your topic for this one?
**Jason:** Uh, strategies for reading. I feel my biggest problem is in the reading speed rather than vocabulary, which is most students problem though. I am slow especially in reading articles on my major courses. They are complex and dull. Have you found any effective methods?
**Tutor:** Well, I am not quite sure. I suppose to skim the books or articles is a good approach.
**Jason:** Yes, by skimming the book first, you get the choicest parts. It saves a lot of time. You don't have to read every word of the passage, but you have to learn to read certain parts intensively.
**Tutor:** Yes, I include that in my presentation. There is one thing I'm not clear yet. Why don't we make presentations more related to our major? Once you learn to write clearly, read analytically, and listen to lectures effectively, you'll begin professional tutorials.
**Tutor:** Well Karen, how is your presentation?
**Karen:** I am still in a panic. I want to find some more interesting topics about writing, but I wonder what articles I can refer to because there are so many of them. Did you get the list of the reading materials handed out last class?
**Tutor:** Yes, but there are over 20 on it. I have only a week to prepare. So, I wonder if...
**Tutor:** Okay, let me give you some suggestions. You needn't read them all because some of them deal with the same issue. The article by Hollessworth is really worth reading. It covers the aspects of organizing the thoughts and ideas.
**Karen:** Okay, Hallworth.
**Tutor:** You should also read the article by Jackson, but just look at the part on research methodology. Now, how they did it.
**Karen:** Right? I'll read that one.
**Tutor:** You should also read the article by Fischer, but just look at the part on the writing plan. That is how to plan your writing in a systematical way.
**Karen:** Okay, Fisher. Got that?
**Tutor:** And if you have time, the one by Risewell says very relevant things. It teaches how to title your articles and make it appealing. You should finish the whole book.
**Karen:** Okay.
**Tutor:** Now, the one by Burns. If I were you, I wouldn't bother with the whole passage. Just read the conclusion which summarizes the use of rhetoric.
**Karen:** Oh, now I understand. Thank you very much.

**Karen:** I've never written an essay of more than 1,500 words before.
**Mark:** An me neither, Mark. And it scares me.
**Karen:** Ah, I wouldn't worry. We'll just have to pretend it's four essays of 1,500 words and join them together.
**Mark:** It says here in the assignment notes Dr. Brightwell gave us that we're to write between 5,000 and 6,000 words on some aspect of students attitudes backed up by our own research which we present in the form of tables, graphs, charts or whatever and supported by reference to the list of books she gave us. Oh, I didn't realize there had been so many social science books written about students. Oh yeah, there are a lot. And the questionnaire?
**Karen:** Yes. Um we have to um prepare a questionnaire to gather our own data for the graphs etc. and hand it in to Dr. Brightwell in draft form in um 2 weeks time.
**Mark:** 2 weeks.
**Karen:** That's what she said and what it says here. She says that it's better to have it checked before we go on to collect the information and start the writing.
**Mark:** H suppose she's right. We better get started then. But she didn't say how we were going to put the questionnaire together. Does it say anything in the notes?
**Karen:** Uh, nope. It only says that we are limited to four sides of A4 and no more than 50 questions.
**Mark:** If that's the case, it's not that bad.
**Karen:** So, how are we going to do it?
**Mark:** Well, first we need to know who we're aiming it at. Then decide how many questions we're going to ask. I think we could have about 40 questions maximum. I don't think there's any real need to go up to the 50 limit.
**Karen:** And I think we should keep the questions themselves very simple.
**Mark:** Don't worry. In my case, they will be.
**Karen:** We could have a mixture of question types like multiple-choice questions, yes, no, and agree, disagree with boxes for people to tick.
**Mark:** If people are asked to write down anything, it's unlikely they will fill it in.
**Karen:** So, are we going to give this questionnaire out to people to hand in, or are we going to just stop and ask them around the campus or on the street?
**Mark:** I don't really know. Did she say anything about this?
**Karen:** Um, no she didn't. And there is nothing in these notes she gave us either.
**Mark:** I think we ought to give them out.
**Karen:** Okay.
**Mark:** Anyway, it won't affect the way we design the questionnaire.
**Karen:** We're both doing it on different subjects, but there's nothing wrong with pooling our ideas about the mechanism of the questionnaire.
**Mark:** No, none. What are you doing your project on?
**Karen:** I've been thinking about doing something around the subject of um how aware students are of world affairs. People think that we're all up to date, but I very much doubt it. It would also be interesting to compare students in different years.
**Mark:** I'm doing something on health and sport and whether students are more or less active since they came to university.
**Karen:** Oh, sounds interesting. As the questionnaires can be anonymous, I'll fill in your first questionnaire for you. But I'm sure you won't be surprised by my answers.
**Mark:** Somehow, I don't think so.
**Karen:** I suggest we put together about 20 or 25 questions each and then meet tomorrow or the day after and compare them.
**Mark:** Are you going to type yours up?
**Karen:** Yeah. Then I can come around to your place and we can work on them. You've got a laptop, haven't you?
**Mark:** Yes. And I've got some new design software so we can play around with the layout.
**Karen:** Brilliant. Are you any good at doing charts and things?
**Mark:** I know how to do simple things on the computer, but we'll sort something out.
**Karen:** Okay.
**Mark:** I feel much better about all this now. It doesn't seem quite as bad as I first thought.
**Karen:** No, don't worry. We'll get it done.

**Narrator:** Do you fancy diving in the wonderful world of coral reefs, green sponges, colorful fish, and red crabs? It is a rich garden beneath the waves. But how much do you know about the corals? Are they animals or plants? What are the threats to coral reefs? Today, Mr. Tim Harford, executive director of the Coral Reef Alliance, is going to introduce the facts about coral reefs.
**Tim Harford:** Good afternoon, everyone. Coral reefs are one of nature's most magnificent creations. It is filled with thousands of unique and valuable plants and animals. Over one quarter of all marine species depend on healthy coral reefs. Humans also depend on coral reefs. These marine ecosystems are the primary source of food and income for millions of people, a vast repository of valuable chemical compounds and medicines and a natural wave barrier that protect beaches and coastlines from waves and storms. Coral is actually the exoskeletons of coral polyp made from limestone. These skeletons build up over time forming the reef. New corals are born each April. At a certain hour on a certain night, mature corals suddenly release clouds of eggs and sperm into the sea. After the fertilized eggs take root on the seafloor, they can grow up to 15 cm per year. Coral reefs are present in the waters of over 100 countries. These are warm, 18 to 29° centigrade. Shallow, sunny regions primarily between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Only clear, warm salt water can support a coral reef. And because sunlight is crucial to the reef's survival, the water must also be shallow. The algae that grow on coral provide much of the coral's food. In deeper water, algae cannot get the sunlight they need to grow. Most coral reefs are in the tropics because natural conditions there are perfect. In their modern form, coral reefs have thrived on Earth for over 50 million years. In recent years, however, more than 11% of the world's reefs have been lost with another 16% severely damaged during the El Nino event in 1998. Up to 32% of coral reefs may be destroyed by human activities in the next 30 years if we do not take action now. Corals and coral reefs are extremely sensitive. Slight changes in the reef environment may have detrimental effects on the health of entire coral colonies. These changes may be due to a variety of factors. One of the greatest threats to coral reefs is human expansion or development. As human population increases, so does the harvest of resources from the sea. Due to over fishing, reef fish populations have been greatly decreased in some areas of the world. The removal of large numbers of reef fish has caused the coral reef ecosystems to become unbalanced. As we know, corals are also very popular as decorations. A large amount of the most healthy corals are selected by commercial collectors. They sell the corals to souvenir shops where a large number of tourists wait to purchase them as decorations or souvenirs. Coral reefs also receive much damage from both commercial and private vessels. The leakage of fuels into the water and the occurrence of spills by large tankers are extremely damaging to local corals. Although much of the coral reef's degradation is directly blamed on human impact, there are several natural disturbances which cause significant damage to coral reefs. The most recognized of these events are hurricanes or typhoons which bring powerful waves to the tropics. These storm waves cause large corals to break apart and scatter fragments about the reefs. Home to a diverse community of creatures, coral reefs are underwater treasure chests of color and activity. Predators and prey swim and crawl among the coral in nature's neverending dance of life and death. This lively, fascinating world beneath the waves is just waiting to be explored.