Shadowing Practice: Cambridge 19 Listening Test 2 with Answers | IELTS Practice Test 2026 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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301 sentences
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1
You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear.
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There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work.
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All the recordings will be played once only.
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The test is in four parts.
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At the end of the test, you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.
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Now turn to part 1.
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Part 1.
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You will hear two friends talking about a guitar group.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.
11
Hi Coleman, how are you?
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Good thanks.
13
I wanted to have a chat with you
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because our friend Josh told me that you've joined a guitar group and it sounds interesting.
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I'd really like to learn myself.
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Why don't you come along?
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I'm sure there's room for another person.
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Really?
19
So, who runs the classes?
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He's called a coordinator.
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His name's Gary Matheson.
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Let me note that down.
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Gary.. how do you spell his surname?
24
It's M-A-T-H-I-E-S-O-N.
25
Right, thanks.
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He's retired, actually, but he's a really nice guy, and he used to play in a lot of bands.
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Thanks.
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So, how long have you been going?
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About a month now.
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And could you play anything before you started?
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I knew a few chords, but that's all.
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I'm sure everyone will be better than me.
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That's what I thought too.
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When I first spoke to Gary on the phone, he said it was a class for beginners, but I was still worried that everyone would be better than me.
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But we were all equally hopeless.
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Oh, that's reassuring.
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So, where do you meet?
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Well, when I joined the group, they were meeting in Gary's home, but as the group got bigger,
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he decided to book a room at the college in town.
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I prefer going there.
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I know that place.
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I used to go to tap dancing classes there when I was at secondary school.
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I haven't been since, though, and I can't remember what road it's in.
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Is it Lock Street?
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It's just beyond there, at the bottom of New Street, near the City Roundabout.
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Yes, of course.
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The guitar club is on the first floor in room T-347.
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Right.
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And when do you meet?
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Is it at the weekend?
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We meet on Thursdays.
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It used to be 10.30, and that suited me well, but now we meet at 11.
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The class that's in there before us asked if they could have the room for another 30 minutes.
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Oh, I see.
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Well, I'd love to come, but I don't have a guitar.
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Well, you can always buy a second-hand one.
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There's a website called The Perfect Instrument that sells all kinds of guitars, violins and so on.
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I'm sure you'll find something there.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10.
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Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10.
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So, what's a typical lesson like with Gary?
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Well, he always starts by getting us to tune our guitars.
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That takes about five minutes.
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Uh-huh.
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Some people have an app they use, but others do it by ear.
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Gary goes round and helps them.
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And while he's doing that, he tells us what he's going to do during the lesson.
68
Right.
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First, we usually spend about ten minutes doing some strumming.
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So, is that using.. oh, what are they called?
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Plectrums?
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No, we just use our thumbs.
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Much easier.
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Gary reminds us where to put our fingers for each chord, and then we play them together.
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Sometimes we all just start laughing because we're so bad at keeping time.
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So Gary starts clapping to help us.
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Do you learn to play any songs?
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Yes, we do at least one song with words and chords.
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I mean, that's harder than you think.
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Oh, I'm sure it is.
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That part of the lesson takes about 15 minutes.
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He often brings a recording of the song and plays it to us first.
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Then he hands out the song and if there's a new chord in it, we practice that before we play it together, but really slowly.
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Do you do any finger picking?
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That's the last ten minutes of the lesson, when we pick out the individual notes from a tune he's made up.
86
It's always quite simple.
87
That must be hard, though.
88
It is.
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But people like it because they can really concentrate.
90
And if we're all playing well, it sounds quite impressive.
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The only trouble is that he sometimes gets us to play one at a time.
92
You know, alone.
93
Oh, that's scary.
94
Hmm, it is.
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But I've got used to it now.
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At the end, he spends about five minutes telling us what to practice for the following week.
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Well, thanks, Coleman.
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I'll go and have a look at that website, I think.
99
That is the end of part one.
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You now have one minute to check your answers to part one.
101
Part 2.
102
You will hear a man called David talking on the radio about his work as a lifeboat volunteer.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16.
104
Thank you.
105
Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16.
106
I never really planned to be a lifeboat volunteer when I came to live in North Sea.
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I'd been working in London as a website designer.
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But although that was interesting, I didn't like city life.
109
I'd been really keen on boats as a teenager, and I thought if I went to live by the sea, I might be able to pursue that interest a bit more in my free time.
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Then I found that the Lifeboat Institution was looking for volunteers, so I decided to apply.
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The Lifeboat Institution building here in North Sea is hard to miss.
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It's one of the largest in the country.
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It was built 15 years ago, with funds provided by a generous member of the public who'd lived here all her life.
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As the Lifeboat Institution is a charity that relies on that kind of donation, rather than funding provided by the government, that was a huge help to us.
115
When I applied, I had to have a health assessment.
116
The doctors were particularly interested in my vision.
117
I used to be short-sighted, so I'd had to wear glasses, but I'd had laser eye surgery two years earlier, so that was okay.
118
They gave me tests for colour blindness, and they thought I might have a problem there, but it turned out I was okay.
119
When the Coast Guard gets an alert, all the volunteers are contacted and rushed to the lifeboat station.
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Our target's to get there in five minutes.
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Then we try to get the boat off the dock and out to sea in another six to eight minutes.
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Our team's proud that we usually achieve that.
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The average time across the country is eight and a half minutes.
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I've recently qualified as what's called a helmsman, which means I have the ultimate responsibility for the lifeboat.
125
I have to check that the equipment we use is in working order.
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The crew have special life jackets that can support up to four people in the water.
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And it's ultimately my decision whether it's safe to launch the boat.
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But it's very rare not to launch it, even in the worst weather.
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As well as going out on the lifeboat, my work involves other things too.
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A lot of people underestimate how quickly conditions can change at sea, so I speak to youth groups and sailing clubs in the area
131
about the sorts of problems that sailors and swimmers can have if the weather suddenly gets bad.
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We also have a lot of volunteers who organise activities to raise money for us, and we couldn't manage without them.
133
Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20.
134
Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20.
135
The training we get is a continuous process, focusing on technical competence and safe handling techniques.
136
And it's given me the confidence to deal with extreme situations without panicking.
137
I was glad I'd done a first aid course before I started, as that's a big help with the casualty care activities we do.
138
We've done a lot on how to deal with ropes and tie knots.
139
That's an essential skill.
140
After a year, I did a one-week residential course, led by specialists.
141
They had a wave tank where they could create extreme weather conditions,
142
so we could get experience at what to do if the boat turned over in a storm at night, for example.
143
Since I started, I've had to deal with a range of emergency situations.
144
But the work's hugely motivating.
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It's not just about saving lives.
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I've learned a lot about the technology involved.
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My background in IT's been useful here, and I can use my expertise to help other volunteers.
148
They're a great group.
149
We're like a family, really, which helps when you're dragging yourself out of bed on a cold, stormy night.
150
But actually, it's the colder months that can be the most rewarding time.
151
That's when the incidents tend to be more serious, and you realise that you can make a huge difference to the outcome.
152
So if any of you listeners are interested, why don't you give us a call?
153
That is the end of part two.
154
You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part two.
155
Part three.
156
You will hear two students, called Bella and Don, discussing a presentation they plan to do on recycling footwear.
157
First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
158
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
159
Hi Don, did you get the copy of the article on recycling footwear that I emailed you?
160
Yeah, it's here.
161
I've had a look at it.
162
So, do you think it's a good topic for our presentation?
163
Well, before I started reading it, I thought recycling footwear, well,
164
although it's quite interesting, Perhaps there isn't enough to say about it, because we put shoes in recycling bins.
165
They go to charity shops, and that's about it.
166
But there's much more to it than that.
167
I realise that now, and I'm keen to research the topic more.
168
That's great!
169
One of the things I didn't realise until I read the article was just how many pairs of trainers get recycled.
170
Well, a lot of young people wear them all the time now.
171
they've become more popular than ordinary shoes.
172
I know.
173
I guess they are very hard-wearing.
174
But don't they look a bit casual for school uniform?
175
I don't think they're right for that.
176
Actually, I think some of them look quite smart on pupils.
177
Better than a scruffy old pair of shoes.
178
So, do you keep shoes a long time?
179
Yes, though I do tend to wear my old pairs for doing dirty jobs, like cleaning my bike.
180
I must admit, I've recycled some perfectly good shoes that haven't gone out of fashion and still fit, just because they don't look great on me anymore.
181
That's awful, isn't it?
182
I think it's common because there's so much choice.
183
The article did say that recent sales of footwear have increased enormously.
184
That didn't surprise me.
185
No, but then it said that the amount of recycled footwear has fallen.
186
It's 6% now, compared to a previous level of 11%.
187
That doesn't seem to make sense.
188
That's because not everything goes through the recycling process.
189
Some footwear just isn't good enough to resell for one reason or another and gets rejected.
190
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
191
Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
192
So, let's find some examples in the article of footwear that was rejected for recycling.
193
Okay.
194
I think there are some in the interview with the recycling manager.
195
Um, yeah, here it is.
196
Hmm.
197
Let's start with the ladies' high-heeled shoes.
198
What did he say about those?
199
He said they were probably expensive.
200
The material was suede and they were beige in colour.
201
It looked like someone had only worn them once, but in a very wet field, so the heels were too stained with mud and grass to resell them.
202
OK.
203
And the leather ankle boots.
204
What was wrong with them?
205
Apparently the heels were worn, but that wasn't the problem.
206
One of the shoes was a much lighter shade than the other one.
207
It had obviously been left in the sun.
208
I suppose even second-hand shoes should look the same.
209
Sure.
210
Then there were the red baby shoes.
211
Oh, yes.
212
We're told to tie shoes together when we put them in a recycling bin, but people often don't bother.
213
You'd think it would have been easy to find the other, but it wasn't.
214
That was a shame because they were obviously new.
215
Hmm.
216
The trainers were interesting.
217
He said they looked like they'd been worn by a marathon runner.
218
Yeah.
219
Weren't they split?
220
Not exactly.
221
One of the soles was so worn under the foot that you could put your finger through it.
222
Well, we could certainly use some of those examples in our presentation to explain why 90% of shoes
223
that people take to recycling centres or bins get thrown into landfill.
224
Hmm.
225
What did you think about the project his team set up
226
to avoid this by making new shoes out of the good parts of old shoes?
227
It sounded like a good idea.
228
They get so many shoes, they should be able to match parts.
229
I wasn't surprised that it failed, though.
230
I mean, who wants to buy second-hand shoes, really?
231
Think of all the germs you could catch.
232
Well, people didn't refuse them for that reason, did they?
233
It was because the pairs of shoes weren't identical.
234
They still managed to ship them overseas, though.
235
That's another area we need to discuss.
236
You know, I used to consider this topic just from my own perspective, by thinking about my own recycling behaviour, without looking at the bigger picture.
237
So much happens once shoes leave the recycling area.
238
It's not as simple as you first think, and we can show that by taking a very different approach to it.
239
Absolutely.
240
So let's discuss how we're going to split up the present...
241
That is the end of part three.
242
You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part three.
243
Part four.
244
You will hear a zoology student giving a presentation about an animal called a tardigrade.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
246
Thank you.
247
Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
248
For my project on invertebrates, I chose to study tardigrades.
249
These are microscopic, or to be more precise, near-microscopic animals.
250
There are well over a thousand known species of these tiny animals which belong to the phylum tardigrada.
251
Most tardigrades range in length from 0.05 to 1 millimetre,
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though the largest species can grow to be 1.2 millimetres in length.
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They're also sometimes called water bears, water because that's where they thrive best, and bear because of the way they move.
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Moss piglet is another name for tardigrades because of the way they look when viewed from the front.
255
They were first discovered in Germany in 1773 by Johann Goetzer who coined the name tardigrada.
256
As I say there are many different species of tardigrade.
257
Too many to describe here but generally speaking the different species share similar physical traits.
258
They have a body which is short and also rounded, a bit like a barrel, and the body comprises four segments.
259
Each segment has a pair of legs, at the end of which are between four and eight sharp claws.
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I should also say that some species don't have any claws.
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What they have are discs, and these work by means of suction.
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They enable the tardigrade to cling on to surfaces or to grip its prey.
263
Within the body, there are no lungs or any organs for breathing at all.
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Instead, oxygen and also blood are transported in a fluid that fills the cavity of the body.
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as far as the tardigrade's head is concerned the best way i can describe this is
266
that it looks rather strange a bit squashed even though many
267
of the websites i looked at described its appearance as cute
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which isn't exactly very scientific the tardigrade's mouth is a kind of tube
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that can open outwards to reveal teeth-like structures known as stylets these are sharp enough to pierce plant or animal cells.
270
So where are tardigrades found?
271
Well, they live in every part of the world, in a variety of habitats, most commonly on the bed of a lake,
272
or on many kinds of plants, or in very wet environments.
273
There's been some interesting research which has found that tardigrades are capable of surviving radiation and very high pressure,
274
and they're also able to withstand temperatures as cold as minus 200 degrees centigrade
275
or highs of more than 148 degrees centigrade which is incredibly hot.
276
It has been said
277
that tardigrades could survive long after human beings have been wiped out even in the event of an asteroid hitting the earth.
278
If conditions become too extreme and tardigrades are at risk of drying out, they enter a state called cryptobiosis.
279
They curl into a ball called a tun, that's T-U-N, by retracting their head and legs,
280
and their metabolism drops to less than 1% of normal levels.
281
They can remain like this until they're reintroduced to water, when they will come back to life in a matter of a few hours.
282
While in a state of cryptobiosis, tardigrades produce a protein that protects their DNA.
283
In 2016, scientists revived two tardigrades that had been tons for more than 30 years.
284
There was a report that, in 1948, a 120-year-old ton was revived, but this experiment has never been repeated.
285
There are currently several tests taking place in space to determine how long tardigrades might be able to survive there.
286
I believe the record so far is 10 days.
287
So, moving on.
288
In terms of their diet, tardigrades consume liquids in order to survive.
289
Although they have teeth, they don't use these for chewing.
290
They suck the juices from moss or extract fluid from seaweed.
291
But some species prey on other tardigrades, from other species or within their own.
292
I suppose this isn't surprising, given that tardigrades are mainly comprised of liquid and are coated with a type of gel.
293
Finally, I'd like to mention the conservation status of tardigrades.
294
It is estimated that they have been in existence for approximately half a billion years
295
and in that time they have survived five mass extinctions.
296
So it will probably come as no surprise to you
297
that tardigrades have not been evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and are not on any endangered list.
298
Some researchers have described them as thriving.
299
Does anyone have any questions they'd like to ask?
300
That is the end of part four.
301
You now have one minute to check your answers to part four.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Cambridge 19 Listening Test 2 with Answers”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: tardigrade, shoes, questions, answer. This video has 301 sentences and 3216 words to shadow. The speech runs for 28:05. The speaker talks at a steady 115 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| tardigrade adjective | /ˈtɑɹdɪˌɡɹeɪd/ | Sluggish; moving slowly. |
| recycle verb | /ɹəˈsaɪkəl/ | To break down and reuse component materials. |
| lifeboat noun | /ˈlaɪfˌboʊt/ | A boat especially designed for saving the lives of shipwrecked people or people in distress at sea (either launched from the shore with a crew, or else carried… |
| footwear noun | /ˈfʊtwɛə(ɹ)/ | Items or an item of clothing that is worn on the foot; a shoe, sandal, etc. |
| chord noun | /kɔɹd/ | A harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. |
| heel noun | /hil/ | The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. |
| centigrade noun | A centigrade scale for temperature having the freezing point of water defined as 0° and its boiling point defined as 100° at standard atmospheric pressure. | |
| cryptobiosis noun | A state of life, entered by some organisms, in which all metabolic activity is temporarily halted | |
| microscopic adjective | /ˌmaɪ.kɹəˈskɑ.pɪk/ | Of, or relating to microscopes or microscopy; microscopal |
| resell verb | /ɹiːˈsɛl/ | To sell again. |
| claw noun | /klɔ/ | A curved, pointed, horny projection on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird. |
| comprise verb | /kəmˈpɹaɪz/ | To be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts). |
| revive verb | /ɹɪˈvaɪ̯v/ | To cause (a person or animal) to recover from a faint; to cause (a person or animal) to return to a state of consciousness. |
| thrive verb | /θɹajv/ | To grow or increase stature; to grow vigorously or luxuriantly; to enjoy a state of excellent health and well-being; to flourish. |
| moss noun | /mɔs/ | Any of various small, green, seedless plants growing on the ground or on the surfaces of trees, stones, etc.; now specifically, a plant of the phylum Bryophyta… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come along verb | To accompany. | |
| dry out verb | To cause moisture to be completely removed from; to make dry. | |
| go round verb | To physically swirl or rotate. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| hand out verb | To distribute; to give out, either by hand or as if so (figuratively). | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| pick out verb | To remove by picking. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- I'd really like to learn myself.
- Why don't you come along?
- I'm sure there's room for another person.
- Do you learn to play any songs?
- Do you do any finger picking?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to play · used to go · used to be |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've joined · haven't been · We've done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | will be played · will be given · was built |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | helmsman, which means · body which is · research which has |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 67 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'd, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thrive /θɹajv/, withstand /wɪðˈstænd/, thumb /ˈθʌm/, marathon /ˈmæɹəθən/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: casualty /ˈkæʒu.əlti/, extinction /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/, donation /doʊˈneɪʃən/, instruction /ɪnˈstɹʌkʃən/, shade /ʃeɪd/
- Long words — get the stress right: microscopic /ˌmaɪ.kɹəˈskɑ.pɪk/, invertebrate /ɪnˈvəːtɪbrət/, casualty /ˈkæʒu.əlti/, underestimate /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/, metabolism /məˈtæb.əˌlɪz.əm/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like tardigrade, recycle, lifeboat.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.