Shadowing Practice: Cambridge IELTS 13 Listening Test 4 Full Test with Answers | Academic & GT - Learn English Speaking with Video

You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear.

There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work.

All the recordings will be played once only.

The test is in four sections.

At the end of the test, you will be given 10 minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.

Now turn to Section 1.

Section 1.

You will hear a man phoning a woman who lives in

an English city called Banford to get some advice about moving to that city.

First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.

You will see that there is an example that has been done for you.

On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first.

Hello, Linda speaking.

Oh, hi Linda.

This is Matt Brooks.

Alex White gave me your number.

He said you'd be able to give me some advice about moving to Banford.

Yes, Alex did mention you.

How can I help?

Well, first of all, which area to live in?

Well, I live in Dalton, which is a really nice suburb.

Not too expensive and there's a nice park.

Linda recommends a suburb called Dalton, so Dalton has been written in the space.

Now we shall begin.

You should answer the questions as you listen, because you will not hear the recording a second time.

Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.

Hello, Linda speaking.

Oh, hi, Linda.

This is Matt Brooks.

Alex White gave me your number.

He said you'd be able to give me some advice about moving to Banford.

Yes, Alex did mention you.

How can I help?

Well, first of all, which area to live in?

Well, I live in Dalton, which is a really nice suburb.

Not too expensive, and there's a nice park.

Sounds good.

Do you know how much it would be to rent a two-bedroom flat there?

Yeah, you should be able to get something reasonable for £850 per month.

That's what people typically pay.

you certainly wouldn't want to pay more than nine hundred pounds.

That doesn't include bills or anything.

No, that sounds all right.

I'll definitely have a look there.

Are the transport links easy from where you live?

Well, I'm very lucky.

I work in the city centre, so I don't have to use public transport.

I go by bike.

Oh, I wish I could do that.

Is it safe to cycle around the city?

Yes, it's fine.

And it keeps me fit.

Anyway, driving to work in the city centre would be a nightmare because there's hardly any parking.

And the traffic during the rush hour can be bad.

I'd be working from home, but I'd have to go to London one or two days a week.

Oh, that's perfect.

Getting to London is no problem.

There's a fast train every thirty minutes, which only takes forty-five minutes.

That's good.

Yeah.

The train service isn't bad during the week, and they run quite late at night.

It's weekends that are a problem.

They're always doing engineering work and you have to take a bus to Haddam and pick up the train there,

which is really slow.

But other than that, Banford's a great place to live.

I've never been happier.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.

Now listen and answer questions six to ten.

There are some nice restaurants in the city centre and a brand new cinema, which has only been open a couple of months.

There's a good art centre, too.

Sounds like Banford's got it all.

Yes, we're really lucky.

There are lots of really good aspects to living here.

The schools are good and the hospital here is one of the best in the country.

Everyone I know who's been there's had a positive experience.

Oh, I can give you the name of my dentist too in Bridge Street, if you're interested.

I've been going to him for years and I've never had any problems.

Oh, OK, thanks.

I'll find his number and send it to you.

Thanks.

That would be really helpful.

Are you planning to visit Banford soon?

Yes.

My wife and I are both coming next week.

We want to make some appointments with estate agents.

I could meet you if you like and show you around.

Are you sure?

We'd really appreciate that.

Either Tuesday or Thursday is good for me, after 5.30. is preferable.

Tuesday I need to get home before 6pm.

OK.

Great.

Let me know which train you're catching and I'll meet you in the cafe outside.

You can't miss it.

It's opposite the station and next to the museum.

Brilliant.

I'll text you next week then.

Thanks so much for all the advice.

No problem.

100

I'll see you next week.

101

That is the end of Section 1.

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You now have half a minute to check your answers.

103

Now turn to section 2.

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Section 2.

105

You will hear a fitness instructor talking on the radio about different ways of keeping fit.

106

First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16.

107

Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16.

108

So, if you're one of those people who hasn't found the perfect physical activity yet,

109

here are some things to think about which might help you make the right decision for you.

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The first question to ask yourself is whether you would enjoy training in a gym.

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Many people are put off by the idea of having to fit a visit to the gym into their busy day.

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you often have to go very early

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or late as some gyms can get very crowded

114

but with regular training you'll see a big difference in a

115

relatively short space of time running has become incredibly popular in

116

recent years that's probably got a lot to do with the fact that it's a very accessible form of exercise

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anyone can run even if you can only run a few meters to begin with

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but make sure you get the right shoes.

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It's worth investing in a high quality pair and they don't come cheap.

120

Another great thing about running is that you can do it at any time of day or night.

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The only thing that may stop you is snow and ice.

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Swimming is another really good way to build fitness.

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What attracts many people is that you can swim in an indoor pool at any time of year.

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On the other hand, it can be quite boring or solitary.

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It's hard to chat to people while you're swimming lengths.

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Cycling has become almost as popular as running in recent years.

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That's probably because as well as improving their fitness, many people say being out in the fresh air in a park or in the countryside can be fun,

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provided the conditions are right of course.

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Only fanatics go out in the wind and rain.

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Yoga is a good choice for those of you looking for exercise which focuses on developing both a healthy mind and body.

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It's a good way of building strength, and with the right instructor, there's less chance of hurting yourself than with other more active sports.

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But don't expect to find it easy.

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It can be surprisingly challenging, especially for people who aren't very flexible.

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Getting a personal trainer is a good way to start your fitness programme.

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Obviously there can be significant costs involved

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but if you've got someone there to encourage you and help you achieve your goals you're less likely to give up.

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Make sure you get someone with a recognised qualification though or you could do yourself permanent damage.

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Before you hear the rest of the radio program, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20.

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Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20.

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Whatever you do, don't join a gym unless you're sure you'll make good use of it.

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So many people waste lots of money by signing up for membership and then hardly ever go.

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What happens to their good intentions?

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I don't think people suddenly stop caring about improving their fitness or decide they have more important things to do.

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I think people lose interest when they don't think they're making enough progress.

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That's when they give up hope and stop believing they'll ever achieve their goals.

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Also, what people sometimes don't realise when they start is

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that it takes a lot of determination and hard work to keep training week after week,

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and lots of people don't have that kind of commitment.

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One thing you can do to help yourself is to set manageable goals.

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Be realistic and don't push yourself too far.

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Some people advise writing goals down, but I think it's better to have a flexible approach.

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Give yourself a really nice treat every time you reach one of your goals.

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And don't get too upset if you experience setbacks.

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It's a journey.

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There are bound to be difficulties along the way.

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That is the end of section 2.

157

You now have half a minute to check your answers.

158

Now turn to section 3.

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Section 3.

160

You will hear a textile design student called Jim discussing his project on using natural dyes for coloring fabrics with his tutor.

161

First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24

162

Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.

163

Okay, Jim, you wanted to see me about your textile design project.

164

That's right.

165

I've been looking at how a range of natural dyes can be used to colour fabrics like cotton and wool.

166

Why did you choose that topic?

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Well, I got a lot of useful ideas from the museum, you know, at that exhibition of textiles.

168

But I've always been interested in anything to do with colour.

169

Years ago, I went to a carpet shop with my parents when we were on holiday in Turkey, and I remember all the amazing colours.

170

They might not all have been natural dyes.

171

Maybe not, but for the project I decided to follow it up,

172

and I found a great book about a botanic garden in California that specialises in plants used for dyes.

173

OK.

174

So, in your project, you had to include a practical investigation.

175

Yeah.

176

At first I couldn't decide on my variables.

177

I was going to just look at one type of fibre, for example, like cotton.

178

And see how different types of dyes affected it?

179

Yes.

180

Then I decided to include others as well.

181

So I looked at cotton and wool and nylon.

182

With just one type of dye?

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Various types, including some that weren't natural, for comparison.

184

OK.

185

So I did the experiments last week.

186

I used some ready-made natural dyes.

187

I found a website which supplied them.

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They came in just a few days, but I also made some of my own.

189

That must have taken quite a bit of time.

190

Yes.

191

I thought it'd just be a matter of a teaspoon or so of dye, and actually that wasn't the case at all.

192

Like, I was using one vegetable, a beetroot, for a red dye, and I had to chop up a whole pile of it.

193

So it all took longer than I'd expected.

194

One possibility is to use food colourings.

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I did use one.

196

That was a yellow dye, an artificial one.

197

Tatrazine?

198

Yeah.

199

I used it on cotton first.

200

It came out a great colour.

201

but when I rinsed the material, the colour just washed away.

202

I'd been going to try it out on nylon, but I abandoned that idea.

203

Were you worried about health issues?

204

I thought if it's illegal food colouring, it must be safe.

205

Well, it can occasionally cause allergic reactions, I believe.

206

Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.

207

Thank you.

208

Number 30.

209

So what natural dyes did you look at?

210

Well, one was turmeric.

211

The colour's great.

212

It's a really strong yellow.

213

It's generally used in dishes like curry.

214

It's meant to be quite good for your health when eaten, but you might find it's not permanent when it's used as a dye.

215

A few washes and it's gone.

216

Right.

217

I used beetroot as a dye for wool.

218

When I chop up beetroot to eat, I always end up with bright red hands.

219

But the wool ended up just a sort of watery cream shade.

220

Disappointing.

221

There's a natural dye called Tyrian purple.

222

Have you heard of that?

223

Yes.

224

It comes from a shellfish, and it was worn in ancient times, but only by important people, as it was so rare.

225

I didn't use it.

226

It fell out of use centuries ago, though one researcher managed to get hold of some recently.

227

That shade of purple can be produced by chemical dyes nowadays.

228

Did you use any black dyes?

229

Logwood.

230

That was quite complicated.

231

I had to prepare the fabric so the dye would take.

232

I hope you were careful to wear gloves.

233

Yes, I know the danger with that dye.

234

Good, it can be extremely dangerous if it's ingested.

235

Now, presumably you had a look at an insect-based dye, like cochineal, for example.

236

Yes, I didn't actually make that.

237

I didn't have time to start crushing up insects to get the red colour.

238

and anyway they're not available here

239

but I managed to get the dye quite easily from a website but it cost a fortune.

240

I can see why it's generally just used in cooking and in small quantities.

241

Yes it's very effective but that's precisely why it's not used as a dye.

242

I also read about using metal oxide.

243

Apparently you can allow iron to rust while it's in contact with the fabric and that colours it.

244

Yes that works well for dyeing cotton

245

but you have to be careful as the metal can actually affect the fabric

246

and so you can't expect to get a lot of wear out of fabrics treated in this way.

247

And the colours are quite subtle.

248

Not everyone likes them.

249

Anyway, it looks as if you've done a lot of work.

250

That is the end of section three.

251

You now have half a minute to check your answers.

252

Now turn to section 4.

253

Section 4.

254

You will hear part of a biology lecture about an animal called the sleepy lizard that is common in parts of Australia.

255

First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

256

Thank you.

257

Last week we started looking at reptiles, including crocodiles and snakes.

258

Today I'd like us to have a look at another reptile, the lizard, and in particular at some studies that have been done on a particular type of lizard

259

whose Latin name is Tiliqua rugosa.

260

This is commonly known as the sleepy lizard because it's quite slow in its movements

261

and spends quite a lot of its time dozing under rocks or lying in the sun.

262

I'll start with a general description.

263

Sleepy lizards live in Western and South Australia, where they're quite common.

264

Unlike European lizards, which are mostly small, green and fast-moving, sleepy lizards are brown,

265

but what's particularly distinctive about them is the colour of their tongue, which is dark blue, in contrast with the lining of their mouth, which is bright pink.

266

And they're much bigger than most European lizards.

267

They have quite a varied diet, including insects and even small animals, but they mostly eat plants of varying kinds.

268

Even though they're quite large and powerful, with strong jaws that can crush beetles and snail shells, they still have quite a few predators.

269

Large birds like cassowaries were one of the main ones in the past, but nowadays they're more likely to be caught and killed by snakes.

270

Actually, another threat to their survival isn't a predator at all, but is man-made.

271

Quite a large number of sleepy lizards are killed by cars when they're trying to cross highways.

272

One study carried out by Michael Freak at Flinders University investigated the methods of navigation of these lizards.

273

Though they move slowly, they can travel quite long distances.

274

And he found that even if they were taken some distance away from their home territory, they could usually find their way back home as long as they could see the sky.

275

They didn't need any other landmarks on the ground.

276

Observations of these lizards in the wild have also revealed that their mating habits are quite unusual.

277

Unlike most animals, it seems that they're relatively monogamous, returning to the same partner year after year.

278

And the male and female also stay together for a long time, both before and after the birth of their young.

279

It's quite interesting to think about the possible reasons for this.

280

It could be that it's to do with protecting their young.

281

You'd expect them to have a much better chance of survival if they have both parents around.

282

But in fact, observers have noted that once the babies have hatched out of their eggs, they have hardly any contact with their parents.

283

So there's not really any evidence to support that idea.

284

Another suggestion is based on the observation that male lizards in monogamous relationships tend to be bigger and stronger than other males.

285

So maybe the male lizards stay around so they can give the female lizards protection from other males.

286

But again, we're not really sure.

287

Finally, I'd like to mention another study that involved collecting data by tracking the lizards.

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I was actually involved in this myself.

289

So we caught some lizards in the wild, and we developed a tiny GPS system that would allow us to track them, and we fixed this onto their tails.

290

Then we set the lizards free again, and we were able to track them for 12 days and gather data, not just about their location,

291

but even about how many steps they took during this period.

292

One surprising thing we discovered from this is that there were far fewer meetings between lizards than we expected.

293

It seems that they were actually trying to avoid one another.

294

So why would that be?

295

Well, again, we have no clear evidence, but one hypothesis is that male lizards can cause quite serious injuries to one another.

296

So maybe this avoidance is a way of preventing this, of self-preservation, if you like.

297

but we need to collect a lot more data before we can be sure of any of this.

298

That is the end of section 4.

299

You now have half a minute to check your answers.

300

Thank you.

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 Practice: Cambridge IELTS 13 Listening Test 4 Full Test with Answers | Academic & GT - Learn English Speaking with Video

What You'll Learn from This IELTS Listening Clip

Listen For These Sounds: Connected Speech in Action

Say It Like a Native: Rhythm and Stress with Shadowing

What is the Shadowing Technique?