Shadowing Practice: Cambridge IELTS 9 | Listening Test 1 | With Answers | HD - Learn English Speaking with Video

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244 sentences

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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 ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.

Now turn to section one.

Section one.

You will hear a man phoning to inquire about a job vacancy.

First, you have some time to look at questions one to four.

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.

The job vacancy is at a restaurant, so a restaurant 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 one to four.

Good evening, King's Restaurant.

Good evening.

I'm ringing about the job.

I understand you have vacant?

Oh, yes.

I'd like to find out a few more details, if I may.

Yes, of course.

Can I take your name it's peter chin okay peter well

if you want to ask about the job and then

if we're both still interested we could arrange for you to

come for an interview great thanks i'm afraid i missed the advert for the job

but heard about it from a friend that's no problem at

all what would you like to know well um what sort

of work is it washing up it's answering the phone oh right fine

and not waiting at table that'd be good

and how many nights a week would it be well we're really only busy at the weekend

so two nights three actually

so it would work out at 12 hours a week that'd

be fine it wouldn't interfere with my studies are you at

the university yes first year physics student all right um and

because i'm not an eu national would i need a work

permit yes you would just get your tutor to sign it

that wouldn't be a problem

if i were to get the job um where exactly is

the restaurant well we have two branches the one we're recruiting for is in hillsdon road i don't know

that how do you spell it please it's h i double l s d u double n e road got

that thanks is it near a bus stop yes the nearest

one would probably be just beside the library oh yes i know it that'd be fine for me

and could i ask about the pay we're offering four pounds

forty -five an hour that's very good my last job was three pounds ninety -five an hour

before you hear the rest of the conversation you have some time to look at questions five to ten

Now listen and answer questions 5 to 10.

We feel it's pretty good and we also offer some good fringe benefits.

Really?

Well, we give you a free dinner, so you eat well.

Right.

better than hostile food we certainly hope so

and we also offer extra pay for working on national holidays

oh that's a really good perk isn't it yes we think

so and then because of the difficulties of getting public transport

if you're working after 11 o 'clock we drive you home

oh that's good to know well we'd certainly be interested in inviting you for an interview

if you're still interested oh yes certainly could i just also ask what qualities you're looking for

well for this particular job we want a clear voice which you obviously do have

thanks and you must be able to think quickly you know well I hope I

so when could you come in for an interview we're actually quite quiet tonight sorry I couldn't come tonight

or tomorrow I'm afraid Thursday's okay that'd be 22nd october fine

after 5 pm yes fine would six o 'clock be okay perfect

and could you bring along the names of two referees yes

that's fine no problem good i look forward to seeing you

oh uh by the way who should i ask for oh

yes of course sorry my name is samira manuja uh can you spell

that please m a n u j a okay i've got

that thanks very much look forward to seeing you later on then

that is the end of section one you now have half a minute to check your answers

Now turn to section 2.

Section 2 You will hear part of a radio programme about the opening of a new local sports shop.

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

Now we go to Jane, who is going to tell us about what's happening in town this weekend.

Right.

Thanks, Andrew.

And now on to what's new.

And do we really need yet another sports shop in bradcaster

well most of you probably know sports world the branch of a danish sports goods company

that opened a few years ago it's attracted a lot of custom and

so the company has now decided to open another branch in

the area it's going to be in the shopping center to the west of bradcaster so

that will be good news for all of you who found

the original shop in the north of the town hard to get to i was invited to a special preview

and i can promise you this is the ultimate in sports

retailing the whole place has been given a new minimalist look with the company's signature colors of black

and red the first three floors have a huge range of sports clothing as well as equipment

and on the top floor there's a cafe and a book and dvd section you'll find all the well known names,

as well as some less well -known ones.

If they haven't got exactly what you want in stock, they promise to get it for you in 10 days, unlike the other store where it can take up to 14 days.

They cover all the major sports, including football, tennis and swimming.

But they particularly focus on running, and they claim to have the widest range of equipment in the country.

As well as that, a whole section of the third floor is devoted to sports bags, including the latest designs from the States.

If you can't find what you want here, it doesn't exist.

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

Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20.

The shop will be open from 9am this Saturday, and if you go along to the opening,

then you'll have the chance to meet the National 400m Running Champion, Paul King, who's coming along to open the shop.

And he will be staying around until about midday to chat to any fans who want to meet him and sign autographs.

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Then there will be a whole range of special attractions all weekend.

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There will be free tickets for local sporting events for the first 50 customers, and also a special competition open to all.

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Just answer 15 out of 20 sports questions correctly to win a signed copy of Paul King's DVD Spring Tips,

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while the first person to get all the questions correct gets a year's free membership of the Bradcaster Gym.

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All entrants will receive a special sports calendar with details of all Bradcaster fixtures in the coming year.

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One of the special opening offers is a fitness test, a complete review of your cardiac fitness and muscle tone,

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actually done in the shop by qualified staff.

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This would normally cost £30, but is available at half price for this month only.

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There are only a limited number of places available for this, so to make a booking, phone 560 -341.

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In addition, if you open an account, you get lots more special offers, including the chance to try out equipment at special open evenings.

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That is the end of Section 2.

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You now have half a minute to check your answers.

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Thank you.

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Now turn to Section 3.

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Section 3.

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Two overseas students called Spiros and Hiroko have just finished the first semester of their university course.

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They are discussing with their English language teacher how they coped with the course.

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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.

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Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.

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Before we start, Spiros and Hiroko, thanks for coming in today to talk about your recent study experiences,

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and congratulations to you both in doing so well in your first semester exams.

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Thank you.

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I'd like to discuss with you the value of the English

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for Academic Purposes course you did here last year before starting your university course.

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Spiros, if I could start with you, what parts of the program have now proved to be particularly valuable to you?

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I think that having to do a seminar presentation really helped me.

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For example, a couple of weeks ago in our marketing subject, when it was my turn to give a presentation, I felt quite confident.

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Of course, I was still nervous, but because I had done one before, I knew what to expect.

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Also, I know I was well prepared, and I had practiced my timing.

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In fact, I think that in relation to some of the other people in my group, I did quite a good job, because my overall style was quite professional.

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What about you, Hiroko?

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Oh, that's interesting.

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in my group i was really surprised by the way the

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students did their presentations they just read their notes aloud can you believe

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that they didn't worry about their presentation style

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or keeping eye contact with their audience and i remember

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that these things were really stressed to us in the course here

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so how did you approach your presentation hiroko well to speak frankly I read my notes too.

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At the time, it was a relief to do it this way, but actually, when I had finished, I didn't feel any real sense of satisfaction.

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I didn't feel positive about the experience at all.

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That's a pity.

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You know, although I was pleased with my presentation, I am not so pleased with my actual performance right now in the tutorials.

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During the whole semester, I've not said anything in our tutorial discussions.

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Not a word.

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Really, Spiros?

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Why is that?

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Do the other students talk too much?

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It's partly that, but it's mostly because I have had no confidence to speak out.

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Their style of speaking is so different.

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It's not the style we were used to during the course.

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They use so many colloquialisms.

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They're not very polite, and sometimes there seems to be no order in their discussion.

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Also, they are very familiar with each other, so because they know each other's habits, they can let each other into the discussion.

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You're right, Spiros.

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I have experienced that too.

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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.

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Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.

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For most of this semester I've said absolutely nothing in tutorials,

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but recently I've been trying to speak up more and I just jump in and I've noticed an interesting thing.

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I've noticed that if they thought my point was interesting or new, then the next time they actually asked for my opinion,

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and then it was much easier for me to be part of the discussion.

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Oh, that's great, Hiroko.

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I hope that happens for me next semester.

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I'll have to work hard to find some interesting points.

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What helped you to find these ideas?

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I think that one thing that helped me with this was the reading.

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i've had to do so much reading this semester just to help me make sense of the lectures

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at first i couldn't understand what the lectures were talking about

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so i had to turn to the books

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and journals every night i read for hours using the lists of references

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that were given and i made pages of notes at breakfast i read

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and read my notes again this habit has helped me to follow the ideas in the lectures, and it's also given me some ideas to use in the tutorials.

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But I did so much reading anyway.

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I don't think there's any time left over for anything extra.

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My reading speed is still quite slow, though I'm much better at dealing with vocabulary than I used to be.

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What else do you think we could add to the course program to help with this reading problem.

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Hmm, there's not really anything because it's my problem.

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I remember we were given long articles to read.

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We didn't like that, but now I realise

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that reading those long articles was good preparation for the things I need to read now.

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Also, in class, we regularly had speed reading tasks to do, and we kept a record of our reading speed,

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so the teachers were encouraging us to work on that.

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That's true, Spiros, but what we read could have been different.

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Sometimes in the English class I felt frustrated

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when I had to read articles about the environment or health or education because I wanted to concentrate on my own field,

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but we didn't read anything about engineering.

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So I think I wasted some time learning vocabulary I didn't need.

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But surely the strategies you were taught for dealing with

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that vocabulary were helpful yes

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but psychologically speaking I would have felt much better working on

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reading from my own field what do you think Spiros oh I agree

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that would have helped my confidence too

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and I would have been more motivated it was good though

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that we could work on our own topics when we wrote the research assignments okay let's move on to writing now

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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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Section 4.

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You will hear part of a lecture about a problem related to the behaviour of certain sea creatures.

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

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Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

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Good afternoon, everyone.

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Well, with some of you about to go out on fieldwork, it's timely that in this afternoon's session I'll be sharing some ideas about the reasons why groups of whales

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and dolphins sometimes swim ashore from the sea right onto the beach and, most often, die in what are known as mass strandings.

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Unfortunately, this type of event is a frequent occurrence in some of the locations that you'll be travelling to,

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where sometimes the tide goes out suddenly, confusing the animals.

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However, there are many other theories about the causes of mass strandings.

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The first is that the behaviour is linked to parasites.

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It's often found that stranded animals were infested with large numbers of parasites.

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For instance, a type of worm is commonly found in the ears of dead whales.

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Since marine animals rely heavily on their hearing to navigate, this type of infestation has the potential to be very harmful.

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Another theory is related to toxins or poisons.

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These have also been found to contribute to the death of many marine animals.

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Many toxins, as I'm sure you're aware, originate from plants or animals.

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The whale ingests these toxins in its normal feeding behaviour,

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but whether these poisons directly or indirectly lead to stranding and death seems to depend upon the toxin involved. In 1988, for example,

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14 humpback whales examined after stranding along the beaches of Cape

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Cod were found to have been poisoned after eating tuna that contained saxitoxin, the same toxin that can be fatal in humans.

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Alternatively, it has also been suggested that some animals strand accidentally by following their prey ashore in the confusion of the chase.

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In 1995, David Thurston monitored pilot whales that beached after following squid ashore.

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However, this idea does not seem to hold true for the majority of mass strandings

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because examination of the animal's stomach contents reveal that most had not been feeding as they stranded.

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There are also some new theories which link strandings to humans.

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A growing concern is that loud noises in the ocean cause strandings.

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Noises such as those caused by military exercises are of particular concern

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and have been pinpointed as the cause of some strandings of late.

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One of these, a mass stranding of whales in 2000 in the Bahamas, coincided closely with experiments using a new submarine detection system.

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There were several factors that made this stranding stand out as different from previous strandings.

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This led researchers to look for a new cause.

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For one, All the stranded animals were healthy.

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In addition, the animals were spread out along 38 kilometres of coast,

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whereas it's more common for the animals to be found in a group when mass strandings occur.

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A final theory is related to group behaviour and suggests

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that sea mammals cannot distinguish between sick and healthy leaders and will follow sick leaders even to an inevitable death.

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This is a particularly interesting theory, since the whales that are thought to be most social, the toothed whales, are the group that strand the most frequently.

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The theory is also supported by evidence from a dolphin stranding in 1994.

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Examination of the dead animals revealed that, apart from the leader, all the others had been healthy at the time of their death.

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without one consistent theory however it is very hard for us

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to do anything about this phenomenon except to assist animals where

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and when we can stranding networks have been established around the world to aid in rescuing animals

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and collecting samples from those

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that could not be helped i recommend john connor's marine mammals assure as an excellent starting point

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if you're interested in finding out more about these networks or establishing one yourself.

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That is the end of Section 4.

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You now have half a minute to check your answers.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “Cambridge IELTS 9”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: questions, section, answer, stranding, animals. This video has 244 sentences and 3037 words to shadow. The speech runs for 26:32. The speaker talks at a steady 114 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% 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

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
strand noun	/ˈstɹænd/	Each of the strings which, twisted together, make up a yarn, rope or cord.
whale noun	/ˈweɪl/	Any large cetacean, usually with the exclusion of dolphins and porpoises.
presentation noun	/ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/	The act of presenting, or something presented.
semester noun	/sɪˈmɛstɚ/	Half of a school year (US) or academic year such as autumn or spring semester.
behaviour noun		British standard spelling of behavior.
lecture noun	/ˈlɛk.t͡ʃə/	A spoken lesson or exposition, usually delivered to a group.
tutorial noun	/ˌtjuːˈtɔːɹɪəl/	A self-paced learning exercise; a lesson prepared so that a student can learn at their own speed or convenience.
carefully adverb	/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/	With care; attentively, circumspectly.
poison noun	/ˈpɔɪ.zən/	A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.
vocabulary noun	/vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/	A usually alphabetized and explained collection of words e.g. of a particular field, or prepared for a specific purpose, often for learning.
ashore adverb	/əˈʃɔɹ/	On the land as opposed to onboard.
clock noun	/klɑk/	A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
fitness noun	/ˈfɪt.nəs/	The condition of being fit, suitable or appropriate.
spell noun	/spɛl/	Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
examination noun	/ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/	The act of examining.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
bring along verb		To escort or carry an item or person to a destination.
come in for verb		To be subjected to.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
speak out verb		To assert or promote one's opinion; to make one's thoughts known.
speak up verb	/ˌspik ˈʌp/	To talk more loudly or clearly.
spread out verb		Become further apart.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

I'm ringing about the job.
I understand you have vacant?
I didn't feel positive about the experience at all.
What helped you to find these ideas?
Hmm, there's not really anything because it's my problem.

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	has been done · has been written · has now decided
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	will be played · will be given · has been done

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 53 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, didn't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: presentation /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/, ashore /əˈʃɔɹ/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, wash /wɑʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/

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 strand, whale, presentation.

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 →

Shadowing Practice: Cambridge IELTS 9 | Listening Test 1 | With Answers | HD - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?