IELTS Listening Practice Test | 2026-02-07

**Narrator:** Now turn to section one. You will hear a conversation between a woman and the librarian. Now you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6. 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:** 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:** 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:** 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:** Oh, 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. 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. 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, Hanwell.
**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 part one. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

**Narrator:** Section two. You will hear an introduction about sports matches. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 17. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 17.
**Mary White:** Good morning everyone. I'm Mary White, the secretary of the exciting sports club. Welcome to attend match's arrangement meeting. I know you are looking forward to a great season. Now I'd like to give you a short introduction to our arrangement in this season.
This season we still have two competitions. One is tennis and the other is soccer. Let's start with tennis. There will be six teams competition. We hope the players ages are between 16 and 22 years old while the number of soccer teams is only four in this season because we hope all players ages are no more than 20 years old.
Now in this new season there are some changes. The first one is the venue. We will arrange all our matches for both the tennis and soccer competitions in Magic Park instead of Dar Park which was used last year. Tennis matches will be arranged on court 2 and court 4 will hold soccer matches.
Our match schedule, all tennis matches will be played on Sunday afternoons. All matches will begin at 2:00. Soccer matches in this season will be played at 7:00 on Saturday evenings.
The joining fee is still £30, including a new sport gear. We still offer a week of training session before formal match for our new players. There are two training session at 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on next Friday and Saturday afternoon. The fee is only £12.
Now, I'd like to introduce the coach of each training session. George Hansen, who has been supervised the tennis teams for over 4 years, will still be coach this season. While we will invite a good soccer coach who has enough patience and professional skills to work as this season's soccer coach. His name is Paul Bat.
**Narrator:** Now look at questions 18 to 20. Now listen carefully and answer questions 18 to 20.
**Mary White:** In addition, we offer some activities to thank all players. Please look at your brochure. There are some activities and their time arrangements.
At the beginning, we hope to start the season with a barbecue dinner on next Saturday in Magic Park. I do really hope all players will go there to enjoy the dinner and you may invite your relatives and friends. Of course, they have to pay a little fee with just £5.
And then after the final match in the season, we will vote this season's MVP, the most valuable player. The two players from tennis team and soccer team will gain an honor and a prize from our sports center.
This season we hope all players can send a confirm letter to us to ensure our match arrangement. So please write to us before the deadline. It is on Thursday 18th of April. Our secretary, David Black, is in charge of collecting fees and your letters in this season. His room number is 214 and his phone is 332567.
**Narrator:** This is the end of section two. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

**Narrator:** Now it turns to part three. Part three. You are going to hear a lecture. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.
**Peter:** I'd like to introduce Rebecca Bramwell, an artist and illustrator who has come along today to talk to you all about getting your first job or commission as an artist. Over to you, Rebecca.
**Rebecca Bramwell:** Thank you for inviting me. I remember when I graduated back in 1983, I was very excited about getting my first commission. My degree was in fine art and I'd worked long and hard to get it. I was an enthusiastic student and I never found it difficult to find the incentive to paint.
**Narrator:** [Transition to health lecture]
**Peter:** Thanks. Good morning all. Welcome to our regular lecture on health issues. This series of lectures is organized by the students union and is part of an attempt to help you stay healthy while coping with study and social life at the same time. It's a great pleasure to welcome back Miss Mary Kirk who is a professional health adviser and physical education officer.
**Mary Kirk:** Thank you Peter for the introduction. It's a pleasure to be back. Today we're going to discuss the benefits of exercise. University life is hectic and stressful. It also involves a lot of sedentary work. That is sitting for many hours at a time. What I'd like to focus on is how to approach exercise. Not only from the aspect of health benefits, but also as a form of stress relief. I know it's hard to organize your time around studies and socializing, but you can socialize while exercising. If you have an hour free in the morning, afternoon, or evening, it would be a good idea to get together with your friends and create a sports team.
**Narrator:** Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.
**Mary Kirk:** The grounds of the university are ample enough to support every student's need to become active. There are also readily available facilities at your disposal such as a football field, tennis and badminton courts. There's also a swimming center and within that building is a gymnasium with a variety of programs such as aerobics and weight training. If the idea of attending one of these facilities seems daunting, then you can walk along the river. Oh, and that reminds me, the university also offers rowing. If there is a sport that you're interested in that's not on offer, you can approach either your student union representative or speak with sports administration manager, Mr. Lawrence Cavendish.
Now, I want to talk about why exercise is beneficial physically and emotionally. The obvious results are physical. You can keep fit by using muscles that ordinarily don't get used in the classroom. The health benefits are astronomical. You'll live longer, be happier, and look good. By building muscle, you strengthen your bones, a definite advantage for women in their later stages of life. As women are prone to osteoporosis. It also strengthens your heart. Yes, don't forget your heart is a muscle. And the more exercise you do and the harder you work, the more blood is pumped from your heart to your brain.
Now, this brings me to the psychological advantages of exercise. When we are active, endorphins are released into our brain. An endorphin is a chemical that is released when your heart rate is pumping beyond its normal capacity. It's the same as adrenaline. You can actually feel when endorphins kick in. You feel a rush, almost a high. The benefits of this are numerous. Your brain works at peak capacity for a longer period of time. Your awareness is maximized and the fatigue you usually feel at 4:00 in the afternoon will be non-existent. In one word, exercise makes you sharp.
Now, I'm not saying that you should overdo exercise because too much of anything can be dangerous. But if you think about your daily routine, you spend about 6 hours a day in lectures and another two or more hours studying. That's a long time to be sitting. And that is a long time for your body not to be moving around. So try and find at least 1 hour a day to get some exercise. If you can't fit in 1 hour a day, try 1 hour every second day or half an hour a day. You will see rewards instantly. You'll feel great and look great. This I can promise you.
**Narrator:** That is the end of part three. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

**Narrator:** Now turn to section four. Section four. You will hear a lecture's introduction to insect biology 101. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
**Lecturer:** Good afternoon and welcome to Insect Biology 101. I'd like to begin this course with a few remarks about good insects and bad ones. Bugs are all around us and that's both a benefit and an annoyance. Sometimes maybe even serious harm.
First, let's talk about the good things that insects do for us. Probably the most important insect for humans and maybe for all other life is the bee. Bees help plants in the process of pollination and thus are necessary to most flowers and fruit producing trees. That is, they carry pollen from male flowers to female. If it weren't for bees, we'd have very few food plants and no fruit either. In fact, there would be no we. No lesser thinker than Albert Einstein pointed out that without bees, humanity would be dead within a year or less. We'd starve. It's that simple. That should maybe make us just a little humble.
A little less dramatic is the fact that bees also make the honey we eat. Moreover, they produce beeswax, which is useful in candles and is also used as a first rate furniture polish. Sure, these may not be vital to our lives, but they can serve as reminders of how important bees are. That's a point I keep coming back to in this course. Though, in all fairness, I should point out that butterflies aid in pollination as well as bees.
Now, here in Michigan, what's the worst part of summer? Yep, that's right. mosquitoes. But I'm talking about helpful insects, right? So, let's look at the dragonfly first. If there were no dragon flies, there would be even more mosquitoes. Dragonflies mainly eat mosquitoes and also a few other insects. Yes, that's right. They don't just fly around and they also help to eliminate harmful insects. So, the next time you see a dragonfly, don't you dare kill it.
Now, let's talk a little about those harmful insects. Take the mosquitoes I just mentioned as an example. Not so many years ago, mosquitoes here in America weren't just annoying. Some were even deadly. They carried malaria and yellow fever. My own ancestor, the Confederate General John Bell Hood, lived through the worst battles of Civil War, only to die at age 38 from yellow fever. A pest, not a bullet.
Well, besides the mosquitoes in summer, there is also a kind of insect that never seems tired. Right, that is the fly. Before I go on talking, I must mention an African fly called the tsetse fly, which feeds on blood and can cause serious diseases in the people and animals that it bites. Besides, it is still a bearer of sleeping sickness, which affects around 300,000 people every year in Africa and can be treated only with toxic drugs that are hard to administer. Worse still, the drugs sometimes don't work.
Other insects, of course, destroy food crops. In China, for instance, locusts continue to be a danger to the harvest in some areas. Less important, but still annoying, moths eat people's clothes, and dust mites slowly destroy carpets. Worse, but still in the home, termites or white ants eat wood, the wood of your house. If they are not stopped, they can eventually destroy the whole building. Usually, they seriously damage a building before anyone even notices them.
So, as we all know, insects can be a real trouble. So, what to do? you can go ahead and start killing harmful insects. In the early decades after the communist revolution in China, Chairman Mao encouraged the people to swat every fly they could see. Slogans on the walls of buildings called them little capitalists. But flies reproduced too quickly for this to be a long-term solution.
For some decades in the West, to kill insects with chemicals seemed a good remedy. Unfortunately, chemicals can only be used in a limited area for a limited time. It's a small-scale solution. The insects come back. Worse still, some of the poisons used like DDT were found harmful to the environment. Many kinds of wildlife like hawks were harmed. And people in chemical using rural areas have one of the highest rates of liver cancer in the world. It's no secret that chemicals remain harmful to humans.
Like all species, insects adapt to their changing environments at an amazing rate. When a new chemical is introduced to their habitat, the insects that survive are generally the ones with some way of resisting the harmful effects. They then breed with the other survivors. And just like that, insects become resistant to most poison in a few generations. An insect generation remember is a couple of months at most.
So again we have to ask what to do. Well there are biological solutions. Some of these are pretty simple. One is destroying the insect's habitat. You take away their home or food. Cleaning your kitchen is the best way to prevent roaches. No garbage, no food. Getting rid of marshes and swamps eliminates mosquitoes. Other solutions might include bringing in dragon flies or bats in areas where mosquitoes are many. This is a cheaper alternative to chemicals. Biological methods like this also bring no extra pollution to the environment, but you have to be careful. If you change the environment too much, you might be hurting other forms of life accidentally.
One recent method of controlling insect populations involves interrupting their breeding cycle. What does that mean? It means birth control for bugs. Insects are provided with food that makes them unable to reproduce. Since they can't have babies, the population disappears, or nearly so. And since no young are born, resistance is not a problem with no young insects developing increased resistance. Interrupt the life cycle, eliminate the bug.
It's clear that we must have an understanding of the life cycle of the insect. At least that's the plan. We'll go into more detail as the course goes along. Now I will stop here to see whether you have any questions or not.
**Narrator:** That is the end of section four. You now have half a minute to check your answers.