Shadowing Practice: IELTS 7 Listening Test 2 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Test 2.
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You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear.
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There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work.
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All the recordings will be played once only.
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The test is in four sections.
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At the end of the test, you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.
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Now turn to Section 1.
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Section 1.
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You will hear a telephone conversation between a customer and a representative of an insurance company.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.
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You will see that there is an example that has been done for you.
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On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first.
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Hello?
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Motor insurance department?
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Oh, hello.
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I'd like to ask about insurance for my car.
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Yes, of course.
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I'll just take a few details.
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What's your name?
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Patrick Jones.
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The customer's name is Patrick Jones, so Patrick Jones has been written in the space.
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Now we shall begin.
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You should answer the questions as you listen, because you will not hear the recording a second time.
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Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.
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Hello?
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Motor Insurance Department?
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Oh, hello.
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I'd like to ask about insurance for my car.
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Yes, of course.
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I'll just take a few details.
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What's your name?
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Patrick Jones.
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And your address?
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It's 27 Bank Road.
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27 Bank Road.
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Is that in Greendale?
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Yes.
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And what's your daytime phone number?
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My work number is 730453.
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And could I ask what your occupation is?
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Dentist.
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OK.
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Now, a few details about your car.
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What size is the engine?
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It's 1,200 cc's.
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Thank you.
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And the make and model?
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It's a Hewton Sable.
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Could you spell the model name, please?
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Yes.
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S-A-B-L-E.
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Oh, yes.
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Thanks.
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And when was it made?
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1997. Lovely.
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Right.
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I presume you've had a previous insurer?
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Yes.
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Right.
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We need to know the name of the company.
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Yes.
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It was, er, Northern Star.
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Thank you.
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And, er, have you made any insurance claims in the last five years?
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Yes.
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Er, one in 1999.
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And what was the problem?
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It was stolen. But...
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That's fine, Mr Jones.
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That's all we need to know at the moment.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.
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Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.
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And will there be any other named drivers?
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Just the one.
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And his name?
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Simon Painter.
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Could you spell the surname, please?
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P-A-Y-N-T-E-R OK, thank you.
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And what relationship is he to you?
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He's my brother-in-law.
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And what will you or Mr Painter be using the car for?
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Well, mainly for social use.
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Social use.
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Will you be using it to travel to work?
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Yes, sometimes.
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Travel to work.
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Anything else?
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No, that's it.
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And finally, when would you like to start the insurance?
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I'll need it from the 31st of January.
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Right.
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Mr Jones, I'm getting a couple of quotes coming up on the computer now,
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and the best bit looks like being with a company called Red Flag.
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Yeah?
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And that comes out at $450 per year.
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Oh, well, that seems OK.
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It's quite a bit lower than I've been paying up to now.
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Great.
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So, would you like me to go ahead with that?
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Sure, why not?
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How would you like to pay?
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That is the end of Section 1.
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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 2.
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Section 2.
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You will hear a recorded message giving tourists travel information in a large city.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 18.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 18.
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Thank you for calling the tourist line.
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There are many different ways of getting round the city, and we'd like to suggest some you may not have thought of.
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How about a city trip by boat?
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There are four main stopping points, from west to east, Stop A,
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Greenbanks, Stop B, City Bridge, Stop C, Roman Landing, and Stop D, Newtown.
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You can find the main booking office at Stop A.
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The first boat leaves at 8am and the last one at 6.30pm.
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There are also many attractions you can visit along the river.
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At Stop A, if you have time, you can visit the fine 16th century palace here, built for the king, with its beautiful formal gardens.
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It's very near the booking office.
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Now you can enjoy every corner of this superb residence.
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Stop B.
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Why don't you visit Tower Restaurant, with its wide range of refreshments?
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This is a place where you can sit
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and enjoy the wonderful views over the old commercial and banking centre of the city.
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Stop C is the area where, in the first century AD, invading soldiers crossed the river.
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This was much shallower than it is now.
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That's why this area is called Roman Landing.
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There's an interactive museum to visit here, with a large shop, which has a good range of local history books.
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At the furthest point of the trip, Stop D, the most exciting place to visit is the new entertainment complex,
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with seven-screen cinema, bowling alley, and video games arcade.
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Before you hear the rest of the message, you have some time to look at questions 19 and 20.
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Now listen and answer questions 19 and 20.
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Besides the boat tours, there are city buses.
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Two companies offer special services.
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The top bus company runs all its tours with a live commentary in English.
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Tours leave from 8.30 am every 20 minutes.
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There are departures from Central Station, Castle Hill and Long walk.
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This is a hop-on hop-off service and tickets are valid for 24 hours.
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For further details call Top Bus on 0208 944 7810.
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The number one sightseeing tour is available with a commentary in eight languages.
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Buses depart from Central Station every five to six minutes from about 9am,
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with the last bus at around 7pm.
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There are also number one services with an English-speaking guide...
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That is the end of section two.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Thank you.
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Section 3.
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Section 3.
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You will hear a seminar with Dr. Martin Merriweather of the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26.
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Thank you.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26.
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We are pleased to welcome Dr. Martin Merriweather of the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch,
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New Zealand, who has come along to talk to us today about the role of the Centre and the Antarctic Treaty.
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Now my first question is about the choice of location for the Centre.
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Why Christchurch?
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Was it because of the climate?
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Well, actually, New Zealand is the second closest country to Antarctica, and Christchurch is often used on Antarctic expeditions.
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Right, so it's because of where we are, coupled with our historical role.
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So tell us, what is the main purpose of the centre?
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Well, we have two complementary roles.
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One is as a scientific base for expeditions and research, and the other is as an information centre.
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Tell us something about the role as a scientific base.
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We're able to provide information about what scientists should take with them to the South Pole.
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For example, the centre contains a clothing warehouse where expeditions are supplied with suitable clothing for the extreme conditions.
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I suppose you need a bit more than your normal winter coat.
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Yes, exactly.
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And then there's also the specialist library and mapping services.
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Right.
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And which countries are actually located at the centre?
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Well, the centre houses research programmes for New Zealand, for the United States, as well as for Italy.
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There's even a US post office at the American Air Force Base here.
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Really?
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And what does the Visitor's Centre offer?
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Well, since very few people will ever experience the Antarctic first-hand, the Visitor's Centre aims to recreate the atmosphere of Antarctica.
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There's a mock campsite where you can see inside an Antarctic tent and imagine yourself sleeping there.
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And the centre also acts as a showcase for the unique international cooperation which exists in Antarctica today.
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What is it actually like at the South Pole?
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I know you've been there on a number of occasions.
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Yes, I have.
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And each time I'm struck by the awesome beauty of the place.
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It's magnificent, but you can really only visit it in the summer months.
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October to March.
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Yes, because it's completely dark for four months of the year, and in addition, it has to be the coldest place on Earth.
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Colder than the North Pole?
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Why is that?
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Ah, well, unlike the North Pole, which is actually a frozen sea, Antarctica is a landmass shaped like a dome,
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with the result that the winds blow down the slopes at speeds of up to 150 kilometres an hour, and that's what makes it so cold.
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And one other interesting thing is that Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth,
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surprisingly, and so you have to drink large amounts of water when you're there.
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How old is Antarctica?
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We're pretty sure it was part of a larger landmass, but it broke away from the rest of the continent 170 million years ago.
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How can you be certain of this?
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Because fossils and rocks have been discovered in Antarctica, which are the same as those found in places such as Africa and Australia.
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Amazing!
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To think that it was once attached to Africa!
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Now, let's just have a look at the Antarctic Treaty.
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How far back does the idea of an international treaty go?
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Well, as far back as the 19th century, when eleven nations organised an international event.
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When was that exactly?
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In 1870, and it was called the Polar Research Meeting.
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And then, not long after that, they organised something called the First International Polar Year.
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And that took place when, exactly?
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Over two years, from 1882 to 1883.
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But it wasn't until the 1950s that the idea of an international treaty was proposed.
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And in 1959, the treaty was actually signed.
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What do you see as the main achievements of the Treaty?
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Well, firstly, it means that the continent is reserved for peaceful use.
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That's Article 1, isn't it?
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Yes.
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That's important, since the territory belongs to everyone.
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Yes, but not as important as Article 5, which prohibits any nuclear explosions or waste disposal.
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Which is marvellous.
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Well, I'm afraid we're going to have to stop there, because I'm afraid we've run out of time.
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Thanks for coming along today and telling us all about the centre and its work.
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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 a presentation given by a sports science student on her project on left and right-handedness in sport.
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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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Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
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My topic is handedness, whether in different sports it is better to be left or right-sided,
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or whether a more balanced approach is more successful.
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I'm left-handed myself, and I actually didn't see any relevance to my own life
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when I happened to start reading an article by a sports psychologist called Peter Matthews.
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He spent the first part of the article talking about handedness in music instead of sport, which I have to say almost put me off from reading further.
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But what I soon became struck by was the sheer volume of both observation
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and investigation he had done in many different sports, and I felt persuaded that what he had to say would be of real interest.
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I think Matthew's findings will be beneficial, not so much in helping sports people to work on their weaker side,
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but more that they can help them identify the most suitable strategies to use in a given game.
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Although most trainers know how important handedness is,
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at present they are rather reluctant to make use of the insights scientists like Matthews can give, which I think is rather short-sighted,
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because focusing on individual flexibility is only part of the story.
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Anyway, back to the article.
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Matthews found a German study which looked at what he called mixed-handedness,
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that is, the capacity to use both left and right hands equally.
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It looked at mixed-handedness in 40 musicians on a variety of instruments.
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Researchers examined a number of variables, for example, type of instrument played,
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regularity of practice undertaken, and length of time playing instrument, and found the following.
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Keyboard players had high levels of mixed-handedness, whereas string players like cellists and violinists strongly favored one hand.
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Also, those who started younger were more mixed-handed.
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Matthews also reports studies of handedness in apes.
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Apes get a large proportion of their food by fishing ants from anthills.
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The studies show that apes,
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like humans, show handedness Though for them right and left handedness is about equal Whereas about 85% of humans are right handed
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Studies showed that apes consistently using the same hand Fished out 30% more ants than those varying between the two
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Matthew started researching several different sports and found different types of handedness in each.
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By the way, he uses handedness to refer to the dominant side for feet and eyes as well as hands.
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Anyway, his team measured the hand,
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feet, and eyes of 2,611 players and found that there were really three main types of laterality.
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Mixed, you work equally well on both sides, both hand and eye.
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Single, you tend to favor one side, but both hand and eye favor the same side.
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And cross-laterality, a player's hands and eyes favor only one side, but they are opposite sides.
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Let's start with hockey.
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Matthews found that it was best to be mixed-handed.
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This is because a hockey stick must be deployed in two directions.
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It would be a drawback to have hand or eye favoring one side.
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An interesting finding is that mixed-handed hockey players were significantly more confident than their single-handed counterparts.
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Things are slightly different in racket sports like tennis.
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Here, the important thing is to have the dominant hand and eye on the one side.
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This means that there is a bigger area of vision on the side where most of the action occurs.
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If a player is cross-lateral, the racket is invisible from the dominant eye for much of the swing.
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It means that they can only make corrections much later, and often the damage has been done by then.
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And moving to a rather different type of sport, which involves large but precise movements, gymnastics.
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It's been found that cross-hand-eye favouring is best.
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The predominant reason for this is because it aids balance, which is, of course, absolutely central to performance in this sport.
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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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That is the end of the listening test.
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In the IELTS test, you would now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet.
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Who Is This Video For?
This video is ideal for intermediate English learners prepping for the IELTS Listening test, especially those aiming to boost their comprehension of everyday professional dialogues. It’s also perfect for anyone practicing shadowspeak—a technique where you mimic speech in real time—to refine fluency. The clear, conversational tone of the insurance call makes it a great tool for learners who want to learn English with YouTube while focusing on practical, job-related vocabulary.
Words & Idioms Worth Stealing
The dialogue is packed with high-value terms for daily and professional use. "Motor insurance department" and "engine size" are essential for discussing vehicles, while "daytime phone number" and "occupation" are staples of formal conversations. Note how "take a few details" is used to politely request information—this phrase works in any service setting. For shadowspeaks practice, these phrases are easy to mimic and immediately applicable, making them worth adding to your active vocabulary.
How to Get the Accent Right
The speaker’s clear, neutral accent is perfect for improving English pronunciation. Focus on the short, crisp vowels in "27 Bank Road" and "730453"—stressing the numbers correctly is key for clarity. Notice how "Hewton Sable" is spelled slowly; mimic the pace to practice enunciating unfamiliar names. For shadowing, pause the video after each sentence, then repeat it, matching the rhythm and intonation. A good shadowing site can help, but even this video alone lets you practice pacing and stress, two critical elements of natural speech. By mimicking the representative’s calm, professional tone, you’ll not only improve pronunciation but also sound more confident in formal interactions.
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.