Shadowing Practice: IELTS Listening Section-4(Stoicism) with answers - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
Part 4.
2
You will hear a professor of philosophy giving a talk on the ancient philosophy of Stoicism.
3
First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
4
Thank you.
5
Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
6
Ancient philosophy is not just about talking or lecturing or even reading long, dense books.
7
In fact, it is something people have used throughout history to solve their problems and to achieve their greatest triumphs.
8
Specifically, I am referring to Stoicism,
9
which in my opinion is the most practical of all philosophies and therefore the most appealing.
10
Stoicism was founded in ancient Greece by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, but was practiced by the likes of Epictetus,
11
Cato, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius.
12
Amazingly, we still have access to these ideas, despite the fact that the most famous Stoics never wrote anything down for publication.
13
Cato definitely didn't.
14
Marcus Aurelius never intended his meditations to be anything but personal.
15
Seneca's letters were, well, letters, and Epictetus's thoughts come to us by way of a note-taking student.
16
Stoic principles were based on the idea that its followers could have an unshakable happiness in this life,
17
and the key to achieving this was virtue.
18
The road to virtue, in turn,
19
lay in understanding that destructive emotions like anger and jealousy are under our conscious control.
20
They don't have to control us, because we can learn to control them.
21
In the words of Epictetus, external events I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control.
22
The modern-day philosopher
23
and writer Nassim Nicholas Taleb defines a Stoic as someone who has a different perspective on experiences
24
which most of us would see as wholly negative.
25
A Stoic transforms fear into caution,
26
pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.
27
Using this definition as a model, we can see that throughout the centuries,
28
Stoicism has been practiced in more recent history by kings, presidents, artists, writers, and entrepreneurs.
29
The Founding Fathers of the United States were inspired by the philosophy.
30
George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his neighbours at age seventeen,
31
and later put on a play based on the life of Cato to inspire his men.
32
Thomas Jefferson kept a copy of Seneca beside his bed.
33
Writers and artists have also been inspired by the Stoics.
34
Eugene Delacroix, the renowned French romantic artist, known best for his painting, Liberty Leading the People, was an ardent Stoic,
35
referring to it as his consoling religion.
36
The economist Adam Smith's theories on capitalism were significantly influenced by the Stoicism that he studied as a schoolboy,
37
under a teacher who had translated Marcus Aurelius's works.
38
Today's political leaders are no different, with many finding their inspiration from the ancient texts.
39
Former US President Bill Clinton re-reads Marcus Aurelius every single year,
40
and many have compared former President Obama's calm leadership style to that of Cato.
41
Wen Jiabao, the former Prime Minister of China, claims that Meditations is one of two books he travels with,
42
and that he has read it more than 100 times over the course of his life.
43
Stoicism had a profound influence on Albert Ellis, who invented cognitive behaviour therapy,
44
which is used to help people manage their problems by changing the way that they think and behave.
45
It's most commonly used to treat depression.
46
The idea is that we can take control of our lives by challenging the irrational beliefs that create our faulty thinking,
47
symptoms and behaviours by using logic instead.
48
Stoicism has also become popular in the world of business.
49
Stoic principles can build the resilience and state of mind required to overcome setbacks,
50
because Stoics teach turning obstacles into opportunity, a lesson every business entrepreneur needs to learn.
51
I would argue that studying Stoicism is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago,
52
thanks to its brilliant insights into how to lead a good life.
53
At the very root of the thinking, there is a very simple way of living.
54
Control what you can and accept what you can't.
55
This is not as easy as it sounds and will require considerable practice.
56
It can take a lifetime to master.
57
The Stoics also believed the most important foundation for a good and happy life is not money,
58
fame, power or pleasure, but having a disciplined and principled character,
59
something which seems to resonate with many people today.
60
That is the end of part four.
61
You now have one minute to check your answers to part four.
62
Thank you.
63
Thank you.
📺 Same Channel
B21
IELTS Listening Section-3(Labels giving nutritional information on food packaging) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity Students
B1IELTS Listening Practice Section-2(Information on company volunteering projects) with answers
TOEFL PrepBusiness EnglishWorking Adults
B21
IELTS Listening Practice Section-2(Visiting the Sheepmarket area) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B12
IELTS Listening Practice Section-1(Alex's Training) with answers
TOEIC PrepInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B27
IELTS Listening Section-3(Assignment on sleep and dreams) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity Students
B24
IELTS Listening Practice Section-1(Family Excursions) with answers
IELTS PrepTravel English
B12
IELTS Listening Practice Section-1(Cookery Classes)
IELTS PrepUniversity Students
C14
IELTS Listening Section-4(Noise in Cities) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B22
IELTS Listening Section-3(Paper on Public Libraries) with answers
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
B23
IELTS Listening Section-4(The History of Coffee) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B15
IELTS Listening Practice Section-1(Copying photos to digital format) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
IELTS Listening Practice Section-1(Cycle tour leader: Applicant enquiry) with answers
IELTS PrepInterview EnglishUniversity Students
B210
IELTS Listening Section-4(Health benefits of dance) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B28
IELTS Listening Practice Section-2(The Snow Centre) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
IELTS Listening Section-4(Four Business Values) with answers
IELTS PrepBusiness EnglishUniversity Students
B23
IELTS Listening Practice Section-2(Traffic Changes in Granford) with answers
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2IELTS Listening Section-3(Planning a presentation on nanotechnology) with answers
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
✨ Recommend Video
C12
63 sentences
Listening part four (Stoicism) @ieltslisteningpro.24
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1219
24 sentences
IELTS Speaking Part 2: A Place That Changed My Perspective
American AccentBritish AccentIELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C16
12 sentences
Tanya's Words :: The Irrationalism Of Humanity
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
75 sentences
(Level- Medium) IELTS Actual listening Economics and Trust
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C160 sentences
4 IELTS LISTENING MOCK TEST SECTION 4 Stoicism
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C19
61 sentences
Listening part four( The history of weather forecasting) @ieltslisteningpro.24
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
330 sentences
CELPIP Listening Mock Test 2026: Full Practice with Answers & Score Tips | CLB 9+
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C14
158 sentences
The PHILOSOPHER Who Solved The MEANING of LIFE? Leo Tolstoy
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C11
63 sentences
Ielts! CAM19-listening-Test1-Part4
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C15
36 sentences
An introduction to a lecture
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C18
549 sentences
Philosophy of Science Lecture #1: Introduction
IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepCambridge Exam Prep
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This C1 speaking lesson is built on the video “IELTS Listening Section-4(Stoicism) with answers”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Stoic, Stoicism, Cato, Marcus, philosophy. This video has 63 sentences and 758 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:50. The speaker talks slowly, about 97 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| inspire verb | /ɪnˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ | To infuse into the mind; to communicate to the spirit; to convey, as by a divine or supernatural influence; to disclose preternaturally; to produce in, as by… |
| virtue noun | /ˈvɝt͡ʃu/ | The idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known… |
| meditation noun | /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/ | A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation. |
| entrepreneur noun | /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/ | A person who sets up a business; generally, a person who owns and manages a business and assumes its financial risks. |
| ardent adjective | /ˈɑɹdənt/ | Full of ardor; expressing passion, spirit, or enthusiasm. |
| resonate verb | /ˈɹɛz.əˌneɪt/ | To vibrate or sound, especially in response to another vibration. |
| schoolboy noun | /ˈskulˌbɔɪ/ | A boy attending school. |
| setback noun | /ˈsɛtbæk/ | An obstacle, delay, disadvantage, or blow (an adverse event which slows down, or prevents progress towards a desired outcome). |
| unshakable adjective | Not able to be shaken; firm, solid. | |
| initiation noun | /ɪˌnɪʃ.iˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced. |
| irrational adjective | /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/ | Not rational; unfounded, nonsensical or wrong-headed. |
| follower noun | /ˈfɒləʊə(ɹ)/ | One who follows, comes after another. |
| invent verb | /ɪnˈvɛnt/ | To design a new process or mechanism. |
| resilience noun | /ɹɪˈzɪl.ɪ.əns/ | The mental ability to recover quickly from depression, illness or misfortune. |
| faulty adjective | /ˈfɔlti/ | Having or displaying faults; not perfect; not adequate or acceptable. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was founded · were based · has been practiced |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has been practiced · have also been inspired · have compared |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | someone who has · teacher who had |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 3 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, initiation /ɪˌnɪʃ.iˈeɪ.ʃən/, irrational /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/, caution /ˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/, initiation /ɪˌnɪʃ.iˈeɪ.ʃən/, irrational /ɪˈɹæʃ.(ə.)nəl/, resilience /ɹɪˈzɪl.ɪ.əns/, amazingly /əˈmeɪzɪŋli/
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 inspire, virtue, meditation.
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.