Shadowing Practice: Cambridge IELTS 10. Test 2. Listening Section 3 - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Section 3.
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You will hear two anthropology students called Victor and Olivia discussing their joint presentation about a Norwegian explorer called Tor Heyerdahl.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
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Right, well, for our presentation, shall I start with the early life of Tor Heyerdahl?
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Sure.
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Why don't you begin with describing the type of boy he was, especially his passion for collecting things?
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That's right.
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He had his own little museum.
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And I think it's unusual for children to develop their own values and not join in their parents' hobbies.
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I'm thinking of how Hayerdahl wouldn't go hunting with his dad, for example.
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Yeah, he preferred to learn about nature by listening to his mother read to him.
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And quite early on, he knew he wanted to become an explorer when he grew up.
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That came from his camping trips he went on in Norway, I think.
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No, it was climbing that he spent his time on as a young man.
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Oh, right.
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After university, he married a classmate,
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and together they decided to experience living on a small island to find out how harsh weather conditions shaped people's lifestyles.
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As part of their preparation, before they left home, they learnt basic survival skills, like building a shelter.
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I guess they needed that knowledge in order to live wild in a remote location with few inhabitants, cut off by the sea, which is what they were aiming to do.
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An important part of your talk should be the radical theory Hayard Al formed from examining mysterious ancient carvings
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that he happened to find on the island.
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I think you should finish with that.
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Okay.
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Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25-30.
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Thank you.
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All right, Victor, so after your part, I'll talk about Tor Haidahl's adult life, continuing from the theory he had about Polynesian migration.
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Up until that time, of course, academics had believed that humans first migrated to the islands in Polynesia from Asia in the West.
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Yes, they thought that travel from the east was impossible
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because of the huge empty stretch of ocean that lies between the islands and the nearest inhabited land.
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Yes, but Hayardal spent ages studying the cloud movements, ocean currents and wind patterns to find if it was actually possible.
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And another argument was that there was no tradition of large shipbuilding in the communities lying to the east of Polynesia.
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But Hayardal knew they made lots of coastal voyages in locally built canoes.
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Yes, or sailing on rafts, as was shown by the long voyage that Hayerdal did next.
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It was an incredibly risky journey to undertake.
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Sometimes I wonder if he did that trip for private reasons, you know, to show others that he could have spectacular adventures.
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What do you think, Olivia?
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Well, I think it was more a matter of simply trying out his idea, to see if migration from the East was possible.
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Yes, that's probably it.
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And the poor guy suffered a bit at that time because the war forced him to stop his work for some years.
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Yes.
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When he got started again and planned his epic voyage, do you think it was important to him that he achieve it before anyone else did?
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Um, I haven't read anywhere that that was his motivation.
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The most important factor seems to have been that he used only ancient techniques and local materials to build his raft.
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Yes.
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I wonder how fast it went.
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Well, it took them 97 days from South America to the Pacific Islands.
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Mmm.
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And after that, Haidtel went to Easter Island, didn't he?
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We should mention the purpose of that trip.
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I think he sailed there in a boat made out of reeds.
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No, that was later on in Egypt, Olivia.
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Oh yes, that's right.
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But what he wanted to do was talk to the local people about their old stone carvings, and then make one himself to learn more about the process.
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I see.
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Well, what a great life.
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Even though many of his theories have been disproven, he certainly left a lasting impression on many disciplines, didn't he?
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To my mind, he was the first person to establish what modern academics call practical archaeology.
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I mean, that they try to recreate something from the past today, like he did with his raft trip.
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It's unfortunate that his ideas about where Polynesians originated from have been completely discredited.
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Yes.
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Right, well, I'll prepare a PowerPoint slide at the end that acknowledges our sources.
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I mainly used The Life and Work of Thor Heyerdahl by William Oliver.
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I thought the research methods he used were very sound, although I must say I found the overall tone somewhat old-fashioned.
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I think they need to do a new, revised edition.
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Yeah, I agree.
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What about the subject matter?
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I found it really challenging.
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Well, it's a complex issue.
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I thought the book had lots of good points.
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What did you think of the illustration?
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That is the end of Section 3.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to section 4.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Cambridge IELTS 10. Test 2. Listening Section 3”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: island, trip, Heyerdahl, raft, Tor. This video has 74 sentences and 869 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:24. The speaker talks at a steady 117 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% 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:

WordPronunciationMeaning
raft noun/ɹæft/A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform.
voyage noun/ˈvɔɪ.ɪd͡ʒ/A long journey, especially by ship.
carving noun/ˈkɑɹvɪŋ/A carved object.
explorer noun/ɛkˈsplɔːɹə(ɹ)/One who explores something
sail noun/seɪl/A piece of fabric attached to a boat and arranged such that it causes the wind to drive the boat along. The sail may be attached to the boat via a combination…
migration noun/maɪˈɡɹeɪʃ(ə)n/An instance of moving to live in another place for a while.
classmate noun/ˈklæs.meɪt/A student who is in the same class at school.
discredit verb/dɪsˈkɹɛd.ɪt/To harm the good reputation of (a person).
disprove verb/dɪsˈpɹuv/To prove to be false or erroneous; to confute; to refute.
inhabitant noun/ɪnˈhæb.ɪ.tənt/Someone or thing who lives in a place.
migrate verb/maɪˈɡɹeɪt/To relocate periodically from one region to another, usually according to the seasons.
originate verb/əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/To cause (someone or something) to be; to bring (someone or something) into existence; to produce or initiate a person or thing.
revise verb/ɹɪˈvaɪz/To review, alter and amend, especially of written material.
shipbuilding nounThe construction of ships.
canoe noun/kəˈnuː/A small long and narrow boat, propelled by one or more people (depending on the size of canoe), using single-bladed paddles. The paddlers face in the direction…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordPronunciationMeaning
cut off verb/ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf]To remove by cutting.
find out verbTo discover, as by asking or investigating.
grow up verbTo mature and become an adult.
make out of verbTo construct from; to create (something) using (a material or substance).
try out verbTo test (something) to see how it works or whether it is suitable.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 8 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, I'll, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: migration /maɪˈɡɹeɪʃ(ə)n/, illustration /ˌɪləsˈtɹeɪ̯ʃən/, harsh /ˈhɑɹʃ/
  • Long words — get the stress right: inhabitant /ɪnˈhæb.ɪ.tənt/, originate /əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/, inhabited /ɪnˈhæbɪtɪd/, archaeology /ˌɑɹ.kiˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, anthropology /ˌænθɹəˈpɑləd͡ʒi/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like raft, voyage, carving.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →