IELTS Listening Practice Test | 2026-02-18

**Clerk:** Good evening, sir. Can I help you?
**Mark:** Yeah, I think I left my camera on the train from London early today.
**Clerk:** Did you, sir? Oh, well, in that case, we'd better fill in a lost property form. Can you tell me your name?
**Mark:** Yeah, it's Mark Adams.
**Clerk:** Okay. Your address?
**Mark:** You mean in Britain or in the States?
**Clerk:** How long are you staying?
**Mark:** Oh, I've still got a few months in Britain.
**Clerk:** Okay, then. Can you give me your address here?
**Mark:** Right. It's 21 Templemead Drive, Leigh-on-Sea. That's L-E-I-G-H on Sea, Essex.
**Clerk:** Do you want the phone number?
**Mark:** Uh, yes. I'd better have that. Okay. Uh, 3521.
**Clerk:** Thanks. And you say it was a camera. What make is it?
**Mark:** It's a Ricoh.
**Clerk:** Ricoh. How do you spell that?
**Mark:** R-I-C-O-H.
**Clerk:** Okay, got that. Now you say it was the London train. What time did it arrive in Edinburgh?
**Mark:** At 4:55 this afternoon. Exactly on time.
**Clerk:** Oh, well then if we find it, sir, shall we phone you?
**Mark:** No, I think I'll drop in the day after tomorrow to check up.
**Clerk:** Right you are, sir. We'll do our best.
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**Presenter:** Hello and welcome to Gourmet Evening and this week we're looking at the world's popular beverage, a great favorite today, beer. And in the studio to tell us all about it is Clark Maxwell. Beer is one of my personal favorite beverages. And I've got a number of facts, tips, and trivia about beer to share with you. So, who invented beer and when? What is beer made of? Actually, historians are not entirely sure when beer was invented, but they guess that beer was created accidentally by early nomadic tribes roughly 10,000 years ago. The four primary ingredients are malt, hops, yeast, and water. Malt, which gives the beer a sweet taste, is made from barley, soaked in water until its husks open and sprout. The sprouts are then dried and crushed. The small flowers of the hops vine are added partly because they taste bitter, helping balance the sweetness of the malt. Hops prevent the growth of bacteria that can spoil beer. Yeast is responsible for fermentation which creates the alcohol and carbonation. Beer makers sometimes use additives or substitutes for malt or hops. Substitutes such as corn or rice can make a beer lighter or cheaper to produce. Adding fruit gives beer a fruity taste. Beer is not high in alcohol. As we know, the lowest type light beer contains no more than 2% alcohol and the highest may reach 6%. Other drinks such as wine are more alcoholic. Wine contains 8 to 20% alcohol. But that is not to say drinking beer is no danger at all. Like all alcoholic beverages, beer can make it difficult to drive and think clearly. Excessive drinking can also lead to liver damage, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, and other health problems. However, beer also helps prevent some health problems when consumed in moderation. Beer contains a moderate number of vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that small amounts of alcohol can reduce the risk of heart disease. Beer also contains selenium, a mineral that promotes bone growth and helps reduce the risk of osteoporosis. I suppose many of you think beer can give you a beer belly, but you are mistaken. Genes determine how fat is deposited. No food or drink can create fat deposits in specific areas of the body. As with all foods, the more calories you consume, the more likely they are to be stored as fat and cause weight gain. Beer contains no fat and averages 150 calories per serving. Well, one more thing. Pay attention to the storage and containers of beer. They will affect its taste. It's a mistake that the taste of beer improves with age like that of some wines. Beer is a food product that will eventually become stale. It should be stored in a cool, dark location before consumption. And the color of a bottle can influence the flavor. Brown bottles block out light that reacts with the hops, which could damage the flavor. Green or clear bottles provide little or no protection from light damage. Do you know which country drinks the most beer? Although Britain isn't even on the list of big consumers. Actually, the Czech Republic consumes the most beer at 156 L per person per year, followed by Ireland and Germany.
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**Lecturer:** Good morning. As part of our lecture series on everyday health issues, today's talk is on tiredness. We should look at the main issues in turn as well as some of the main research that has been carried out in this field. Firstly, it is clear that tiredness is on the rise. No official data exists on the rate of people reporting to doctors with recurring tiredness, but it's a very common complaint. Research suggests that people are not relaxing properly and often work when they do not have enough energy. Furthermore, products to boost energy are also on the rise. Sales of so-called energy drinks loaded with caffeine and sugar have grown by 23% over the last year. And this is not the only instance of an increase in products claiming to boost energy. Guarana, a herbal stimulant, can now be found in everything from chocolate bars to tea bags. Now, let's examine what it is that's making people so tired. Dr. Leehold, a Sydney GP, has done extensive research into this and he believes that financial pressures, not taking holidays, and not having time off when you become ill due to fear of losing your job are all common causes. Some of the other suggested causes are low oxygen levels in offices, poor diet, or illness. The problem is that tiredness is a symptom of just about every kind of illness, which makes tracking down the cause all the more difficult. The next question to ask is, are people getting enough sleep? Dr. Mansfield from Melbourne's Epworth Sleep Center, who specializes in sleep disorders, says insomnia often arises when people are going through a stressful period. Mansfield often needs to re-educate people in how to get off to sleep. He recommends keeping your body clock regular by going to bed and rising at similar times every day and not drinking too much caffeine. And there is some truth in the old story about having a glass of hot milk before bed. Milk contains the amino acid tryptophan which has been shown to help induce sleepiness. Turning to the question of why we need sleep, researchers are still trying to answer this fundamental question. Sleep deprivation experiments have shown that after 14 days without sleep, rats will lie down and die. And after only 3 days sleep loss, humans get confused, forgetful, and start having hallucinations. So whatever sleep does, it is important. However, not all researchers feel the same way. Trent Watson of the Dieticians Association is not convinced by McMahon's theory, explaining that our bodies don't really like to burn protein as a fuel, so it doesn't really contribute to energy levels. Carbohydrates, however, found in fruit, breads, and pastas, are a more common fuel. Anyone following a rigidly high protein diet with low carbohydrates, even if they are operating at low intensity during the day, could subject themselves to fatigue because they just don't have the carbohydrate stores. Watson says in general, a good way to stay energized from a dietary point of view is to eat red meat, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains. These foods give red blood cells the building blocks for optimum performance in their role of delivering oxygen to muscles. To sum up, tiredness is a health problem on the increase, and there continues to be much debate surrounding its causes and remedies. Now, if there are any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
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**Lecturer:** Today I'm going to talk about the city of Barcelona and its architecture. First, the city. Barcelona is a city of some 1 and a half million people. It is a port situated on the northeast coast of Spain in the province of Catalonia. The people speak Catalan as their native language, but most are also fluent in Castellian Spanish and some speak English, too. The city center is surrounded by a ring road which encloses a grid with two major roads running diagonally across it. These are the Avenidas Diagonal and Meridiana. Probably the most famous street in Barcelona is La Rambla which connects the Plaza de Catalonia in the town center to the statue of Columbus on the water's edge. All along the center of this wide boulevard are stalls selling flowers and artistic works. Barcelona was founded by the Carthaginians from modern-day Tunisia in North Africa. It grew under the influence of the Roman Empire, later becoming the capital of Spain. Under strong government, it expanded its trade, exporting cloth to other Mediterranean ports and establishing itself as a financial center. It went into decline after 1400 and in 1640 it was the center of the Catalan revolution against King Philip IV of Spain. Now it is considered by many to be the cultural center of Spain and the Olympic Games were held there in 1992. Now to the architecture. Throughout the city there are many fine buildings, churches, cathedrals, markets and squares which date back to the 13th century. One very fine square which can be entered from La Rambla is the Plaza Reial or Royal Square. This was built by Molina in the 19th century. Seven narrow passages lead into a large central area which is surrounded by two-story buildings. Most of the ground floor is occupied by restaurants and bars and it is traditionally a place of music and entertainment. It is impossible to talk about the architecture of Barcelona without mentioning Gaudí who dominated the scene from the 1880s until his death in 1926. His style was unique, a decorative form of art nouveau, the style of the 1920s and 30s in Europe. It was based on organic natural forms which often seem to defy the qualities of the materials they are made from. I will mention just three of his best known works today. The first is Guell Palace. This was built for the Count of Guell, one of Gaudí's main supporters. The building features two arched gates which lead into the stable area. Inside are two circular staircases, one for people and the other for horses. The ground floor is built of brick, but there is also much natural stone used in the construction. The roof is quite fantastic with brightly colored sculptures built around the chimneys and ventilation shafts. Another project commissioned by Guell is the park named after him. This was meant to be a garden city with 50 houses, but in fact, only two were ever finished. The influence of nature is strong in the cave-like spaces and animal figures. And again, much use has been made of brilliantly colored surfaces. But the greatest of Gaudí's works is still under construction, and it is not expected to be finished until 2041. He began work on this cathedral known as La Sagrada Familia, Church of the Holy Family in 1882, which means that it will have taken 159 years to complete. The finished building will have 18 towers, the highest being 170 m high. The building will be 95 m long by 60 m wide, and it will hold 13,000 people, a truly impressive monument to Gaudí's great genius. And that's all we have time for today. Next week we'll look at some of Gaudí's smaller projects and also his furniture designs. Please make sure that you complete your assignment on Le Corbusier by this coming Friday.