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IELTS Listening — Practice Test 2

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40:00

Section 1 A caller telephones a sports centre to arrange a membership · Receptionist, Caller

Questions 1-7

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1Surname: ______

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

2Mobile number: 0794 615 ______

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

3Type of membership: ______

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

4Monthly cost: £ ______

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

5Method of payment: ______

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

6Main activity: ______

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

7Induction session: ______ at 10 am

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

Questions 8-10

Answer the questions below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

8At what time did the original induction session start?

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

9What must he provide for his membership card?

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

10Which road is the entrance to the members' car park on?

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

Section 2 A librarian gives an orientation talk to new members of a city library · Librarian

Questions 11-13

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

11What does Marion say about the library building?

A It was designed as a library from the start. B It used to be a department store. C It replaced a store that burned down.

12What must new members show in order to join?

A proof of where they live B photo identification C proof of payment of the joining fee

13What is different about today's building tour?

A It will start later than usual. B It will begin from a different place. C It has been cancelled.

Questions 14-17

Where are the following places? Choose the correct letter, A–F, from the plan description below.

Plan of Carnegie Central Library — you are at the main doors, facing into the atrium; the main staircase leads to the upper floors.

A = immediately to the left of the main doors B = ground floor, behind the lifts C = first floor, at the top of the stairs D = first floor, at the far end past the study desks E = second floor, next to the roof terrace F = in the basement

A immediately to the left of the main doors
B ground floor, behind the lifts
C first floor, at the top of the stairs
D first floor, at the far end past the study desks
E second floor, next to the roof terrace
F in the basement

14Café

15Children's library

16Local History Room

17Quiet Reading Room

Questions 18-20

Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

18The opening of the Media Lab has been postponed until ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

19Study rooms may be booked for up to ______ a day.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

20Details of all events appear in the monthly ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER

Section 4 A lecture on the psychology of habit formation · Lecturer

Questions 31-40

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

31A habit is triggered by a stable ______ rather than by an intention.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

32The 'habit loop' consists of a cue, a routine and a ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

33A University College London study found new habits took ______ days on average.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

34In that study, skipping one day made almost no ______ to the result.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

35The point where behaviour runs without conscious thought is called ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

36Many habits break down at once when people ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

37People with high self-control actually report fewer ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

38The effort a behaviour demands is known as ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

39Rewards create habits mainly when they are ______.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

40To make behaviour last, people should redesign their ______ instead of relying on motivation.

NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS

Audio script / transcript

Trace every answer back to the exact words. Distractors — changes of mind, corrections, rejected options — are part of the recording, so read the whole exchange, not just one line.

Section 1 — A caller telephones a sports centre to arrange a membership

Receptionist:Good afternoon, Riverside Sports Centre, this is Angela. What can I do for you?

Caller:Hi, yes — I've just moved to the area and I'd like to join the centre. Can we sort that out over the phone?

Receptionist:We can start it, certainly. I'll take your details now and you can finish the paperwork at the front desk. Your full name, please?

Caller:It's James Whitlock.

Receptionist:Whitlock — is that W-I-T-L-O-C-K?

Caller:Not quite — there's an H in it. W-H-I-T-L-O-C-K.

Receptionist:W-H-I-T-L-O-C-K. Thank you. And a contact number?

Caller:My mobile's best. It's oh-seven-nine-four, six-one-five, three-oh-eight. Hang on, sorry — that's wrong, I always mix up the last bit. It ends two-oh-eight, not three-oh-eight. So oh-seven-nine-four, six-one-five, two-oh-eight.

Receptionist:Zero seven nine four, six one five, two oh eight. Got it. Now, membership. We've got three main options. Full membership is forty-two pounds a month, and you can come in any time we're open. Off-peak is twenty-eight pounds — that covers weekdays before four o'clock, plus all day Sunday. And there's a student rate, but you'd need a valid student card for that.

Caller:I finished studying years ago, sadly. The full one's tempting, because I might fancy the odd evening... but honestly, I work from home, so mornings are easy for me. Let's go with off-peak.

Receptionist:Off-peak it is — twenty-eight pounds a month. Now, how would you like to pay? If you set up a direct debit, we waive the thirty-pound joining fee completely. If you pay month by month on a card, the joining fee does apply, I'm afraid.

Caller:Direct debit, definitely. No point handing you an extra thirty pounds.

Receptionist:Quite right. And what will you mainly be using? I have to log a main activity for each member — it helps us plan the timetable.

Caller:A bit of everything, really. I'll try badminton if I can find a partner, but mostly I'll be in the pool. I used to swim competitively, actually.

Receptionist:I'll put you down for swimming, then. The pool's quietest between nine and eleven, by the way. Now, every new member does a short induction — it covers the gym equipment and the safety rules. There's a session this Tuesday at two o'clock.

Caller:Tuesday at two... yes, I could make that.

Receptionist:Oh — hold on. I'm just looking at the screen, and that Tuesday session has been cancelled — the instructor's away on a training course all week. The next one is Thursday, at ten in the morning. Would that work instead?

Caller:Thursday at ten. That's fine. Do I need to bring anything with me?

Receptionist:Just yourself and your kit, really. Oh — and we'll need a passport-sized photo for your membership card. You don't need any identity documents, just the photo.

Caller:A photo — okay, I've got spares left over from my visa application. What about parking? I drove past yesterday and the car park at the front looked tiny.

Receptionist:Ah, the front one isn't for members — it's reserved for patients at the physiotherapy clinic. Members use the big car park round the back. The entrance is on Mill Road, just past the bus stop, and it's free for up to three hours.

Caller:Mill Road, behind the building. Perfect. So I'll see you Thursday, then.

Receptionist:We'll see you Thursday at ten, Mr Whitlock. Bring the photo — and welcome to Riverside.

Section 2 — A librarian gives an orientation talk to new members of a city library

Librarian:Hello everyone, and welcome to the Carnegie Central Library new members' morning. I'm Marion, one of the senior librarians, and I'll give you the essentials before we walk the building.

Librarian:First, the building itself, because people always ask. Visitors often assume it was purpose-built as a library — it certainly has that grand look. In fact, until 1987 this was Hartley's, the town's biggest department store, and the council converted it when the old library on King Street finally closed. If you look up in the atrium you can still see the original iron balconies where the shop displays used to stand.

Librarian:Joining is straightforward and completely free — there's no charge at all. And contrary to what many people expect, you don't need a passport or any photo identification either. What we do need is proof of your address: a recent utility bill or a tenancy agreement is ideal. Once you have your card you can borrow up to twelve items at a time, for three weeks each.

Librarian:Now let me orient you, because this building swallows people. Imagine you've just come through the main doors, facing into the atrium. The café is immediately on your left as you come in — honestly, you'll smell the coffee before you see it.

Librarian:The children's library — people almost always head upstairs looking for it, but it's actually on the ground floor, tucked in behind the lifts. That was deliberate, so parents with pushchairs don't have to go up a level. Story time happens there every Saturday morning.

Librarian:Take the main staircase up to the first floor. Right at the top of the stairs you'll find the Local History Room — maps, parish records, and a wonderful collection of old photographs of the town. Then, if you carry on past the rows of study desks, right at the far end of that floor is the Quiet Reading Room. Phones off in there, please, and no group work — it's the one space we keep genuinely silent.

Librarian:Up on the second floor, next to the door out to the roof terrace, is our brand-new Media Lab — recording booths, editing software, even a 3D printer. Now, I have to disappoint you slightly. It was due to open this month, but the supplier has had problems delivering the soundproofing panels, so the opening has been put back to October. You're welcome to peer in through the glass, but that's all for now, I'm afraid.

Librarian:One practical change for today. Our building tour normally leaves at two o'clock from the front desk. It's still at two today — but the atrium floor is being polished this afternoon, so we'll gather at the café instead. Same time, different spot; do be there five minutes early so we can head off promptly.

Librarian:A few last things. The study rooms upstairs can be booked at the desk for a maximum of two hours per person per day — they're in very heavy demand around exam season, so book ahead. And if you want to know what's on — author visits, the book club, children's events — everything is listed in the monthly newsletter. Leave your email address at the desk and we'll send it to you. Right — any questions before we start walking?

Section 3 — Two students and their tutor plan a geography field trip on footpath erosion

Dr Shaw:Right, you two — the fieldwork proposal. Talk me through where you've got to.

Emma:So the core question is how trampling affects vegetation — whether plant height and the number of species change as you move away from a footpath.

Liam:We'd lay out transects at right angles to the path and sample along them.

Dr Shaw:Good — that's a measurable question. And the site? Last week you were torn between two.

Liam:I was pushing for Harden Bay. The dunes there get really heavy use, and I still think the erosion is more dramatic...

Emma:It is dramatic, but the practical problem is the tide. The path along the base of the dunes is only safe for about three hours either side of low water. We'd barely have set up before we had to pack away again.

Liam:Hmm. I did check the tide tables last night, and... yeah, you're right, actually. On the day we're all free, low water is at seven in the morning. Fine — Foxton Beck it is. I'm converted.

Dr Shaw:A sensible surrender. Foxton also means you're not paying for the minibus — it's cycling distance from campus. Now, method. Your draft mentioned a drone survey.

Emma:That was our first idea — aerial photographs of the bare patches.

Dr Shaw:I'm going to stop that one now, I'm afraid. The department does own a drone, but nobody in this building currently holds the pilot certificate, and the permission paperwork for flying near a public footpath takes weeks. It isn't going to happen this term.

Liam:Okay. So we do it on foot — old school.

Emma:In that case, I suggest we place the quadrats at fixed intervals — every ten metres along each transect — rather than choosing spots that look interesting. Otherwise we'll bias the whole sample towards the dramatic bits.

Dr Shaw:That's exactly the discipline I want to see written into your method section.

Liam:And I'd like us to photograph every quadrat before we count anything. Then if the numbers look odd later, we can go back to the pictures and check what we were looking at.

Dr Shaw:Good habit. Equipment?

Emma:Tape measures, the quadrat frames, and... something for sighting straight lines across the slope.

Dr Shaw:Ranging poles is the word you want. Take tape measures and ranging poles from the lab store — see the technician and book them, because the second-years are out the same week.

Liam:Will do. On numbers — we reckoned thirty quadrats would be... no, sorry, forty. I keep saying thirty. It's two transects of twenty, so forty in total.

Emma:Forty, yes. Each one takes about six minutes, so it's doable if we start early.

Dr Shaw:It is. Now — paperwork. Nobody leaves campus without a risk assessment.

Emma:We were rather hoping you'd write that for us, honestly.

Dr Shaw:Not a chance — drafting it is part of your training. You two write it, send it to me, and I'll check it and sign it off. It has to be with the office a full week before you travel.

Liam:Understood. And are we still meeting Friday for the pre-trip briefing?

Dr Shaw:Ah — no, Friday's off. The lab's been taken over for the open day. The briefing moves to Wednesday — same room, four o'clock. Bring the draft risk assessment with you and we'll finish everything in one sitting.

Emma:Wednesday at four. We'll be there.

Section 4 — A lecture on the psychology of habit formation

Lecturer:This week we turn to habits. Why do so many of our daily actions happen with no decision at all? By some estimates, roughly forty per cent of daily behaviour is not chosen in any meaningful sense — it simply runs.

Lecturer:A definition first. A habit is a behaviour that has been repeated until it is triggered directly by a stable context — the same time of day, the same place, the same preceding action — rather than by an intention. That word, context, is doing the heavy lifting here.

Lecturer:Psychologists often describe the mechanism as the habit loop, and it has three parts. There is a cue — the trigger in the environment. Then a routine — the behaviour itself. And finally a reward — some payoff, however small, that follows. It is the reward that teaches the brain to run the loop again the next time the cue appears.

Lecturer:How long does formation take? The figure everyone has heard is twenty-one days — and it comes not from any study of habits, but from a nineteen-sixties book by a plastic surgeon whose patients took about three weeks to adjust to their changed appearance. When researchers at University College London actually tracked ninety-six volunteers forming everyday habits, the average was sixty-six days, and the range ran from eighteen days to over two hundred and fifty.

Lecturer:Two details of that study deserve attention. First, missing a single day made almost no difference to the final outcome — the curve barely flickered. Second, the researchers were measuring progress towards what they call automaticity: the point at which a behaviour runs by itself, without conscious thought. That, not the calendar, is the real finishing line.

Lecturer:Now, if habits live in context, it follows that changing the context breaks them — and the evidence here is striking. People who move house change many behaviours at once: how they travel, where they shop, whether they exercise. The weeks after moving house are a rare window in which the old cues are gone and new ones have not yet hardened.

Lecturer:Now the most counterintuitive finding of all. We admire willpower. But when researchers study individuals who score high on self-control, they find something odd: these people report experiencing fewer temptations, not more victories over temptation. They have arranged their lives so that the battle rarely starts — the biscuits are simply not in the house.

Lecturer:Behavioural scientists call the effort a behaviour requires friction, and small changes in friction have outsized effects. In one dataset, people whose gym was around five kilometres from home went five times a month; when the distance crept higher, attendance collapsed to once. The causal chain is mundane but powerful: lower the friction and the behaviour rises; raise it and the behaviour dies.

Lecturer:One final qualification, and it matters. Rewards build habits mainly when they are immediate. A payoff that arrives weeks later — better health, a slimmer waistline — does almost nothing to stamp in a routine, because the brain links a behaviour to what follows it within moments. So the practical conclusion is not to summon more motivation; motivation matters mainly at the start. If you want a behaviour to last, redesign your environment — shrink the friction, sharpen the cue, and give yourself something pleasant now. Next week: how organisations exploit these mechanisms.