Shadowing Practice: Cambridge IELTS 16 Listening Test 4 with answer | #ieltslistening - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Cambridge 16 Listening Test 4.
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You will hear a number of different recordings.
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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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You will have 10 minutes at the end of the test to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
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Now turn to Section 1.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6.
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Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.
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Hello?
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Oh, hello.
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I was hoping to speak to Jack Fitzgerald about renting a cottage.
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I'm his wife, Shirley, and we own the cottages together, so I'm sure I can help you.
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Great.
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My name's Tom.
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Some friends of ours rented Granary Cottage from you last year, and they thought it was great, so my wife and I are hoping to come in May for a week.
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What date did you have in mind?
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The week beginning the 14th, if possible.
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I'll just check.
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I'm sorry, Tom, it's already booked
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that week it's free the week beginning the 28th though for
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seven nights in fact that's the only time you could have it in May oh well we could manage
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that I think we'd just need to change a couple of
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things how much would it cost that's the beginning of high season
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so to be 550 pounds for the week ah that's a
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bit more than we wanted to pay i'm afraid we've budgeted up to five hundred pounds for accommodation
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well we've just finished converting another building into a cottage
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which we're calling cherville cottage sorry what was
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that again cherville c h e r v for victor i
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l oh that's a herb isn't it that's right it grows fairly wild around here you could have
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that for the week you want for four hundred
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and eighty pounds okay so could you tell me something about it please of course
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the building was built as a garage it's a little smaller than granary cottage
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so that must sleep two people as well that's right there's a double bedroom does it have a garden Yes,
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you get to it from the living room through French doors, and we provide two deck chairs.
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We hope to build a patio in the near future, but I wouldn't like to guarantee it'll be finished by May.
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OK.
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The front door opens onto the old farmyard, and parking isn't a problem.
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There's plenty of room at the front for that.
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There are some trees and potted plants 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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What about facilities in the cottage?
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It has standard things like a cooker and fridge, I presume.
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In the kitchen area, there's a fridge freezer, and we've just put in an electric cooker.
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Is there a washing machine?
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Yes.
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There's also a TV in the living room, which plays DVDs too.
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The bathroom is too small for a bath, so there's a shower instead.
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I think a lot of people prefer that nowadays anyway.
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It's more environmentally friendly, isn't it?
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Unless you spend half the day in it.
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Exactly.
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What about heating?
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It sometimes gets quite cool at that time of year.
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There's central heating, and if you want to light a fire, there's a stove.
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We can provide all the wood you need for it.
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It smells so much nicer than coal, and it makes the room very cosy.
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We've got one in our own house.
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That sounds very pleasant.
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Perhaps we should come in the winter to make the most of it.
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Yes, we find we don't want to go out when we've got the fire burning.
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There are some attractive views from the cottage which I haven't mentioned.
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There's a famous stone bridge.
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It's one of the oldest in the region and you can see it from the living room.
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it isn't far away the bedroom window looks in the opposite direction
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and has a lovely view of the hills
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and the monument at the top well
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that all sounds perfect i'd like to book it please would
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you want to deposit yes we ask for thirty percent to secure your booking so that'll be
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and when would you like the rest of the money you're coming in may
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so the last day of march please fine excellent could i just take your details
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so that i can that is the end of part one you now have half a minute to check your answers
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Now turn to part two.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14.
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Now listen and answer questions 11 to 14.
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Right, next on the agenda we have traffic and highways.
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Councillor Thornton.
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Thank you.
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Well, we now have the results of the survey carried out last month about traffic and road transport in the town.
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People were generally satisfied with the state of the roads.
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There were one or two complaints about potholes which will be addressed,
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but a significant number of people complained about the increasing number of heavy vehicles using our local roads to avoid traffic elsewhere.
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We'd expected more complaints by commuters about the reduction in the train service
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but it doesn't seem to have affected people too much the cycle path
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that runs alongside the river is very well used by both cyclists
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and pedestrians since the surface was improved last year
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but overtaking can be a problem so we're going to add a bit on the side to make it wider
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at some stage we'd like to extend the path so
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that it goes all the way through the town but
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that won't be happening in the immediate future the plans to
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have a pedestrian crossing next to the post office have unfortunately
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had to be put on hold for the time being we'd budgeted for this to be done this financial year
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but then there were rumors that the post office was going to move
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which would have meant there wasn't really a need for a crossing now they've confirmed
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that they're staying where they are but the highways department have told us
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that it would be dangerous to have a pedestrian crossing where we'd originally planned it, as there's a bend in the road there, so that'll need some more thought.
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On Station Road, near the station and level crossing, drivers can face quite long waits if the level crossing's closed,
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and we've now got signs up requesting them not to leave their engines running at that time.
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This means pedestrians waiting on the pavement to cross the railway line don't have to breathe in car fumes.
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We've had some problems with cyclists leaving their bikes chained to the railings outside the ticket office, but the station has agreed to provide bike racks there.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20.
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Now, listen and answer questions 15 to 20.
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So, next on the agenda is proposals for improvements to the recreation ground.
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Councillor Thornton again.
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Well, since we managed to extend the recreation ground, we've spent some time talking to local people about how it could be made a more attractive
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and useful space
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if you have a look at the map up on the
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screen you can see the river up in the north and the community hall near the entrance from the road.
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at present cars can park between the community hall and
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that line of trees to the east but this is quite dangerous for pedestrians
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so we're suggesting a new car park on the opposite side
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of the community hall right next to it we also have a new location for the cricket pitch
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as we've now purchased additional space to the east of the recreation ground beyond the trees trees.
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We plan to move it away from its current location, which is rather near the road, into this new area beyond the line of trees.
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This means there's less danger of stray balls hitting cars or pedestrians.
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We've got plans for a children's playground, which will be accessible by a footpath from the community hall, and will be alongside the river.
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We'd originally thought of having it close to the road, but we think this will be a more attractive location.
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the skateboard ramp is very popular with both younger
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and older children we had considered moving this up towards the river
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but in the end we decided to have it in the
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southeast corner near the road the pavilion is very well used at present by both football players
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and cricketers it will stay where it is now to the left of the line of trees
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and near to the river handy for both the football
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and cricket pitches and finally we'll be getting a new notice board for local information
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and that will be directly on people's right as they go from the road into the recreation ground
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that is the end of part two you now have half a minute to check your answers
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Now turn to part three.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
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Now listen and answer questions 21 to 24.
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Now that we've done all the research into bike -sharing schemes in cities around the world, we need to think about how we're going to organise our report.
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Right.
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I think we should start by talking about the benefits.
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I mean, it's great that so many cities have introduced these schemes,
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where anyone can pick up a bike from dozens of different locations and hire it for a few hours.
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It makes riding a bike very convenient for people.
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Yes, but the costs can add up, and that puts people on low incomes off in some places.
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Hmm, I suppose so but
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if it means more people in general are cycling rather than driving then
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because they're increasing the amount of physical activity they do it's good for their health.
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Okay but isn't that of less importance?
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I mean doesn't the impact of reduced emissions on air pollution have a more significant effect on people's health?
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Certainly in some cities bike sharing has made a big contribution to
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that and also helped to cut the number of cars on the road significantly
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which is the main point exactly
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but i'd say it's had less of an impact on noise pollution
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because there are still loads of buses
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and lorries around right shall we quickly discuss the recommendations we're
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going to make in order to ensure bike sharing schemes are successful yes okay well Well,
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while I think it's nice to have really state -of -the -art bikes with things like GPS, I wouldn't say they're absolutely necessary.
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But some technical things are really important, like a fully functional app so people can make payments and book bikes easily.
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Places which haven't invested in that have really struggled.
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Good point.
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Right.
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Some people say there shouldn't be competing companies offering separate bike -sharing schemes, but in some really big cities, competition's beneficial.
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And anyway, one company might not be able to manage the whole thing.
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Right.
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Deciding how much to invest is a big question.
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Cities which have opened loads of new bike lanes, at the same time as introducing bike -sharing schemes, have generally been more successful.
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But there are examples of successful schemes where this hasn't happened.
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What does matter, though, is having a big publicity campaign.
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Definitely.
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If people don't know how to use the scheme, or don't understand its benefits, they won't use it.
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People need a lot of persuasion to stop using their cars.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
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Shall we look at some examples now and say what we think is good or bad about them?
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I suppose we should start with Amsterdam, as this was one of the first cities to have a bike -sharing scheme.
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Yes, there was already a strong culture of cycling here.
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In a way, it's strange that there was such a demand for bike -sharing, because you'd have thought most people would have used their own bikes.
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And yet it's one of the best -used schemes.
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Dublin's an interesting example of a success story.
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It must be because the public transport system's quite limited.
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Not really.
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There's no underground, but there are trams and a good bus network.
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I'd say price has a lot to do with it.
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It's one of the cheapest schemes in Europe to join.
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But the buses are really slow.
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Anyway, the weather certainly can't be a factor.
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No, definitely not.
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The London scheme's been quite successful.
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Yes, it's been a really good thing for the city.
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The bikes are popular and the whole system is well maintained, but it isn't expanding quickly enough.
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Basically, not enough's been spent on increasing the number of cycle lanes.
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Hopefully that'll change.
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Yes.
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Now, what about outside Europe?
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Well, bike -sharing schemes have taken off in places like Buenos Aires.
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Hmm.
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They built a huge network of cycle lanes to support the introduction of the scheme there, didn't they?
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It attracted huge numbers of cyclists where, previously, there were hardly any.
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An example of good planning.
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Absolutely.
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New York is a good example of how not to introduce a scheme.
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When they launched it, it was more than ten times the price of most other schemes.
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More than it costs to take a taxi.
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crazy i think the organizers lacked vision and ambition there i think
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so too sydney would be a good example to use i
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would have expected it to have grown pretty quickly here yes
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i can't quite work out why it hasn't been an instant
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success like some of the others it's a shame really i know
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okay so now we've thought about all the
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that is the end of part three you now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to part four.
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First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
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Thank you.
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to forty one of the most famous cases of extinction is that of a bird known as the dodo
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in fact there's even a saying in english as dead as the dodo used to refer to something
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which no longer exists but for many centuries the dodo was alive
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and well although it could only be found in one place, the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
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It was a very large bird, about one metre tall, and over the centuries it had lost the ability to fly,
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but it survived happily under the trees that covered the island.
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Then, in the year 1507...
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The first Portuguese ships stopped at the island.
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The sailors were carrying spices back to Europe
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and found the island a convenient stopping place where they could stock up with food
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and water for the rest of the voyage, but they didn't settle on Mauritius.
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However, in 1638 the Dutch arrived and set up a colony there.
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These first human inhabitants of the island found the dodo birds a convenient source of meat,
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although not everyone liked the taste.
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It's hard to get an accurate description of what the dodo actually looked like.
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We do have some written records from sailors and a few pictures, but we don't know how reliable these are.
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The best -known picture is a Dutch painting in which the bird appears to be extremely fat, but this may not be accurate.
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An Indian painting done at the same time shows a much thinner bird.
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Although attempts were made to preserve the bodies of some of the birds, no complete specimen survives.
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In the early 17th century, four dried parts of a bird were known to exist.
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Of these, three have disappeared, so only one example of soft tissue from the dodo survives, a dodo head.
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Bones have also been found, but there's only one complete skeleton in existence.
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This single dodo skeleton has recently been the subject of scientific research,
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which suggests that many of the earlier beliefs about dodos may have been incorrect.
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For example, early accounts of the birds mention how slow and clumsy it was,
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but scientists Scientists now believe the bird's strong knee joints would have made it capable of movement which was not slow,
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but actually quite fast.
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In fact, one seventeenth -century sailor wrote that he found the birds hard to catch.
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It's true that the dodo's small wings wouldn't have allowed it to leave the ground,
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but the scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance while going over uneven ground.
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Another group of scientists carried out analysis of the dodo's skull.
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They found that the reports of the lack of intelligence of the dodo were not borne out by their research,
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which suggested the bird's brain was not small but average in size.
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In fact, in relation to its body size, it was similar to that of the pigeon, which is known to be a highly intelligent bird.
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The researchers also found that the structure of the bird's skull suggested
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that one sense which was particularly well developed was that of smell.
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So the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit
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and other food in the island's thick vegetation so it looks as
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if the dodo was better able to survive
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and defend itself than was originally believed yet less than 200
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years after europeans first arrived on the island they had become extinct
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so what was the reason for this for a long time it was believed
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that the dodos were hunted to extinction
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but scientists now believe the situation was more complicated than this
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another factor may have been the new species brought to the island by the sailors these included dogs
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which would have been a threat to the dodos and also monkeys
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which ate the fruit that was the main part of the dodo's diet these were brought to the island deliberately
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but the ships also brought another type of creature rats
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which came to land from the ships
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and rapidly overran the island these upset the ecology of the island not just the dodos
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but other species too however they were a particular danger to the dodos because they consumed their eggs.
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And since each dodo only laid one at a time, this probably had a devastating effect on populations.
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However, we now think that probably the main cause of the bird's extinction was not the introduction of non -native species,
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but the introduction of agriculture culture.
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This meant that the forest that had once covered all the island, and that had provided a perfect home for the dodo,
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was cut down so that crops such as sugar could be grown.
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So, although the dodo had survived for thousands of years, suddenly it was gone.
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that is the end of part four you now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet .
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Who Is This Video For?
This video is perfect for intermediate English learners prepping for the IELTS Listening test—or anyone wanting to sharpen real-world listening and speaking skills. The natural, conversational dialogue mirrors everyday interactions, making it ideal for practicing shadow speech (repeating phrases aloud as you hear them) to boost fluency. Whether you’re aiming for a higher IELTS score or just want to feel more confident in casual conversations, this material hits the mark.
Words & Idioms Worth Stealing
Keep an ear out for these useful terms from the conversation:
- Budgeted up to: Planned to spend no more than. Example: “We’ve budgeted up to £500 for the trip.”
- Converting: Changing a space for a new use. Example: “They’re converting the garage into a home office.”
- French doors: A set of glass doors that open outward. Great for describing homes!
- Environmentally friendly: Good for the planet. A common phrase in modern conversations.
How to Get the Accent Right
The speaker’s clear, friendly tone is easy to follow—perfect for shadow speak practice. Focus on:
- Intonation in questions: Notice how “What date did you have in mind?” rises at the end. Mimic this to sound natural.
- Reduced forms: “I’m sure I can help you” becomes “I’m sure I can help ya” in fast speech. Repeat these to match the rhythm.
- Stress on key words: In “It’s free the week beginning the 28th,” stress “free” and “28th” to highlight important info.
For extra practice, use a shadowing app to record yourself and compare. This helps refine pronunciation and timing—key for nailing IELTS listening and real-life communication. You’ve got this!
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've budgeted · we've just finished · we've just put |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | will be played · was built · be finished |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | potholes which will · location, which is · playground, which will |
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.