Shadowing Practice: VOL 10 TEST 1 AUDIO - Learn English Speaking with Video

7 3 8 8.

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 parts.

Write all your answers in the listening question booklet.

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

Now turn to Part 1 on page 2 of your question booklet.

Part 1.

You will hear a phone conversation between a team leader at a music festival and a volunteer.

First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6.

Thank you.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.

Good afternoon, Mountain Festival.

Hi, my name is Angie, and I'm helping out this weekend at the festival.

May I speak with the team leader?

That's me.

I'm Jack.

Jack, I'm looking for some general information.

It's my first time volunteering at the festival, and I'm not sure what to expect.

No need to be worried.

We've been doing this for over 30 years.

So, the festival doesn't start until Friday afternoon.

I was thinking I'd come in the morning.

Is that okay?

Oh, yeah.

We definitely need you then.

Didn't the volunteer letter tell you that?

Oh, I forgot.

Okay.

And are there any specific things I need to bring for the weekend?

Well, let's see.

It's going to be hot.

We suggest you bring a hat for sure, because the open area doesn't have much shade.

I remember last year everyone needed their umbrellas, but I don't think we'll have any rain this time.

Okay.

Anything else?

There are lots of craft vendors and food booths, too.

You may want to have some cash handy, because most of them don't take credit cards.

Thanks for the tip.

By the way, what are the parking arrangements for volunteers?

I don't have a car.

I'll be riding my bike to the festival.

Is there a special place to leave it?

I don't want to worry about it all weekend.

Sure we do.

There's parking for volunteers at the south end of the site, and there's no need to worry about security.

It'll be very safe there.

Sounds like a lot of people get there that way.

They do.

But if you don't want to get there that way, we have a bus that picks people up at certain points in the city.

There's no charge for that.

Sounds like the organizers have thought of everything.

I hope so.

But remember to go to Gate A when you get here.

They'll give you a pass that you must carry at all times.

This lets everyone know that you're a volunteer here.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10.

Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10.

So, Angie, are you helping out all weekend?

Yes, I am.

Aha, the whole weekend.

So are you going to sleep here?

We have accommodation here for volunteers because the local hotels are all booked up early.

Really?

Well, we set up tents.

They fit 8 to 10 people, so you'll have lots of fun and meet some new friends.

That sounds great.

You just have to bring your own bedding.

Oh, yes, we've really good facilities for a hot shower, so don't forget a towel.

But we do provide soap and shampoo.

Okay.

And now, about my duties as a volunteer.

My confirmation letter says I'm helping in the canteen with some other volunteers who don't have much experience.

Does that mean I'm washing dishes all weekend?

Yep, that's right, because our experienced volunteers wait on tables.

You can eat in the canteen yourself, or you'll have time to visit the food vendors for meals.

You'll be given a ticket, so you don't have to pay.

Wow, lots to remember.

It's the largest festival in the province, and there are lots of volunteers.

So it's better to be prepared.

Oh, I agree.

Okay, is there anything else I need to know before the weekend?

Oh, yeah.

One more thing.

There's a document that needs to be signed by all our volunteers.

You should have already been sent it.

We need the name of who your contact is in the case of an emergency.

Okay, I'll do that.

If you run into any minor health problems over the weekend, there's a first aid area open 24 hours.

They'll help if they can.

They'll have a lot of water on hand because it's going to be so hot.

Right.

Thanks for all your help.

I can't wait for the weekend.

It should be a lot of fun.

You're welcome, and enjoy.

That is the end of Part 1.

You now have one minute to check your answers to part one.

100

Part 2 You'll hear a podcast about a North American company called Bay Life,

101

which organizes boat trips to see marine wildlife.

102

First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15.

103

Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15.

104

In terms of popularity, Baylife is the number one boat tour company in the area.

105

Baylife trips are different than other trips organized to observe marine life.

106

There are other companies which run more boats.

107

We just run two, but ours are the only ones

108

which are accompanied by marine biologists who have the knowledge to run quality trips.

109

We have long experience of organizing these trips to observe marine life, including whales and dolphins.

110

We want to give you as much opportunity for viewing marine life as possible, so all our trips are at least three hours in length,

111

while some even last up to five hours.

112

However, we do not guarantee that you will see all the species that frequent the bay in just one trip.

113

The sea is the home of the creatures which inhabit it, not of humans We explore only limited parts of the bay,

114

and we are careful not to disturb the animals by tracking them too aggressively Bay life's special dolphin trips are extremely popular,

115

especially with children Unlike whales, which pass through the bay only at certain times of the year, dolphins are sighted year-round

116

six species are regularly visible sometimes in schools numbering over a thousand individuals

117

and due to the varying sea depths we can find deep water species of dolphin too

118

the animals are very energetic

119

and are a thrill to watch as they ride the water from the bow

120

and leap in the air to cancel a trip you need to call us at least 24 hours beforehand

121

if you want to avoid the full charge bay life may

122

cancel a trip at any time either due to adverse weather conditions

123

or insufficient passenger numbers trips will depart if it rains but not if there's a strong wind

124

in the event that one of our regular crew is sick we have a reserve list

125

so we can always rely on a full complement of staff

126

if you're unsure about the weather please call us at 482-4865 or go to our website.

127

We can organize private group tours for conferences, corporate events, company rewards, or school and youth groups.

128

These tours can be customized to meet your group's needs, and rates are negotiable.

129

Passengers of all ages are welcome on trips.

130

Before you hear the rest of the podcast, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.

131

Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

132

During the month of May, a local weekly newspaper, the Baytown Gazette, is holding a competition to win a free boat trip for four people.

133

The competition will be announced in the paper on the 2nd of May.

134

So if you're interested in taking part, get a copy of the newspaper and go over the terms and conditions of entry.

135

If, after reading these, you think you're eligible to take part, you need to cut out the application form, which will appear in the same issue, and complete it.

136

The next thing you need to do is find a picture of wildlife.

137

This can be either a plant or animal or insect that you particularly like.

138

It doesn't have to be one that you took yourself, but it should be one that hasn't been published anywhere.

139

Make up a suitable heading for the picture and write it on the back.

140

Then, on a separate piece of paper, explain in a few sentences why you find this particular picture interesting.

141

Your account should be just one paragraph, not more than 150 words in total, so it won't take you long.

142

Finally, staple or clip your papers firmly together, put them in an envelope, and send in your entry to the address given in the newspaper.

143

The closing date for receipt of entries is the 31st of May, and the names of the lucky winners will be announced in the paper on the 6th of June.

144

Good luck!

145

That is the end of part two.

146

You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part two.

147

Part 3 You will hear two trainee teachers called Jeff and Marta talking about Jeff's dissertation,

148

which is about vocabulary learning.

149

First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26.

150

Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26.

151

Well, I think it's a great idea for us to look at each other's work.

152

And give feedback.

153

Exactly, before we hand it in.

154

Well, shall we start with yours?

155

Vocabulary learning.

156

And how students record the new words they learn in a vocabulary notebook.

157

Yeah, well, at the school where I'm teaching part-time, I know my pupils always find learning new words quite a challenge.

158

So the participants, the pupils whose vocabulary books you looked at, were all of them your students?

159

A lot of the participants were.

160

But I wanted to focus on intermediate level, and I didn't have enough students at that level.

161

So I had to borrow a group from another school where a friend teaches.

162

Made life easier.

163

Yes.

164

Well, I did have some problems.

165

I mean, getting the kids to take part wasn't as hard as I thought, and I managed to make a connection between what I found in the notebooks and what theorists were saying.

166

But I looked at over a hundred notebooks.

167

I think I underestimated the quantity of stuff to go through, especially as I was teaching at the same time.

168

I know you looked into the reasons that pupils chose to note down a particular word.

169

I mean, they're just young kids.

170

So didn't they just write down a word if their teacher told them to?

171

That's exactly what I'd anticipated, but according to several of the kids I interviewed it was more often either they thought oh

172

that word looks familiar but I don't really know it

173

or even more common was that they were encountering a word for the very first time.

174

So they thought it must be worth learning.

175

Exactly.

176

Do you think the students made wise choices?

177

They obviously considered them to be but I found

178

that they often chose words that that are so rare and complicated that they would really struggle to use them, given their level.

179

They'd still go off and learn the spelling, write an example sentence, and try to memorise everything on the list.

180

But I wondered sometimes what the point was.

181

Right.

182

I was reading an article about this that said much the same thing, by James, er...

183

Morgan?

184

Yes.

185

He did a similar study with university students in Japan, and their vocabulary notebooks.

186

But you know, despite the differences between his participants and mine, there wasn't much difference between the conclusions we came to.

187

But I did wonder about his methods.

188

Yeah, just basing everything on quantitative research, rather than sitting down with any participants and hearing what they had to say.

189

I don't know what I'd have done without his statistics, though.

190

Gave me something to compare mine with.

191

Right.

192

Well, Morgan's point was that learners need training about recording vocabulary, wasn't it?

193

Yes, because they think of the vocabulary as just being, say, a word like event.

194

So they write that on its own, not in a phrase.

195

Lots of nouns, you mean?

196

No, I mean, why do they just write that and not, for example, major event or organise an event?

197

Much more useful.

198

You mean other words that go with it?

199

Yes, well, they're probably busy writing the translation.

200

Well, not as often as I expected they would.

201

Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30.

202

Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30.

203

Anyway, you've read through my dissertation.

204

What do you think?

205

Yeah, well, let's start with the introduction.

206

Okay.

207

I reckon you've devoted more space than you needed to it.

208

Hmm, you're probably right.

209

There were some bits I wasn't sure about including.

210

Or like my own experiences of learning Spanish vocabulary.

211

Yeah, maybe you should have gone with your first instincts then.

212

Fair enough.

213

Didn't spot any typos, did you?

214

Looks as if you've proofread it already.

215

Oh good, because I'm careless sometimes.

216

What about the methodology?

217

Well, I think you could have brought in more things you'd read, like comparing Morgan's methodology to your own,

218

like how he'd counted and categorised all the words his students had recorded.

219

Actually, I did originally, but then decided to dispense with it.

220

Still got it, though.

221

That's just as well.

222

But you could mention some other writers, too.

223

Just a brief bit about two or three.

224

OK, I'll do that.

225

Then the discussion.

226

There's no shortage of references, which is impressive.

227

But I thought maybe you showed a tendency to take things at face value without really scrutinising and questioning other people's findings.

228

Right, and comparing their ideas with my own.

229

Okay, I'll take another look at that and do something about it.

230

And the conclusion.

231

You cover quite a lot of topics, but it might be clearer if they were dealt with separately.

232

You know, order them, like 5.1, 5.2 and so on.

233

It was quite long, but I don't mean that as a criticism.

234

Fair enough.

235

Well, that's a great help, Marta.

236

Shall we talk about yours, then?

237

That is the end of Part 3.

238

You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3.

239

Part 4 You will hear part of a lecture about the use of different building materials.

240

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

241

Thank you.

242

Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

243

Good morning, everybody.

244

Can you all hear me?

245

Good.

246

Well, today I'm going to be talking about construction materials, where they come from and what their properties are.

247

First of all then, what are the sources of the materials we use in construction?

248

Well, many of them are manufactured.

249

Plastic is one example.

250

Others are natural.

251

But even naturally occurring materials usually require processing before they can be used.

252

Wood, for instance, is rarely used directly from trees.

253

Instead, this natural material is first cut into required lengths and then seasoned to remove the excess moisture.

254

The result is what we call timber.

255

And then timber itself is often treated with preservatives before use, especially if it's going to be used on the outside of a building.

256

In a similar way, stone needs to be cut to shape and may also be polished before being used for building.

257

Of course, the more processing that's required, the more expensive the material becomes.

258

What about selection?

259

When we're deciding which kind of material to use, cost is not the only consideration.

260

It's important to consider the effect on the environment too.

261

The problem is, large amounts of energy are used.

262

For example, it takes huge amounts of energy to produce aluminium, and materials like timber need a lot of energy to transport because of their weight.

263

Well, that's enough about sources.

264

Let's move on to material properties, and let's first consider appearance.

265

now there's a vast range of materials used in the building industry

266

and they vary tremendously in their appearance even for any single building material appearance may vary greatly for example brick

267

and stone come in a very wide range of colors

268

and can be smooth or very rough and timber is especially interesting

269

because the grain patterns on each piece even from the same tree are unique.

270

But properties have to be described very accurately for construction purposes, and that usually involves the use of mathematical formulae.

271

It isn't enough to say that a particular material is rough or strong or heavy.

272

Words are subjective and they can be ambiguous.

273

So verbal descriptions alone aren't enough.

274

Reflectance is a good example of this.

275

precise values for a range of building materials are available.

276

Reflectance is a measure of the ability of a surface to reflect light and a perfect reflector has a reflectance of 1.

277

A polished, mirror-like silver surface has a reflectance of very nearly 1.

278

A plaster surface which has been painted brilliant white has a reflectance of around 0.8.

279

Quarry tiles have a reflectance of about 0.1 and black velvet has a reflectance of nearly zero.

280

Well, let's move on now to another very important property of materials...

281

That is the end of part four.

282

You now have one minute to check your answers to part four.

✨ Recommend Video

248 sentences

BARRON'S IELTS LISTENING TEST - 2 | barron's ielts listening test - 2 | IELTS | RUTVIK IELTS |

IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students

267 sentences

IELTS LISTENING TEST 2 | OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTRY WORK IN SOUTHOE VILLAGE | BEST IELTS LISTENIN

IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

224 sentences

Festival information ielts liatening | 1080p | HD AUDIO

IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students

602 sentences

INCIDENT REPORT | TEST 21 | IELTS LISTENING PRACTICE | Actual Listening Test | Band 9 Practice Test

IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepTOEIC Prep

58 sentences

CAM 18 | IELTS LISTENING TEST | TEST 4 - SECTION 2 #english #listening #ielts #education #iseeielts

IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

248 sentences

IELTS LISTENING PRACTICE TEST 2026 WITH ANSWERS | 21.08.2026

IELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students

312 sentences

First day at work |listening Test Real listening with answers #listeningtest

TOEFL PrepTOEIC PrepBusiness English

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: VOL 10 TEST 1 AUDIO - Learn English Speaking with Video

BARRON'S IELTS LISTENING TEST - 2 | barron's ielts listening test - 2 | IELTS | RUTVIK IELTS |

Transport Form Highgate Village Listening Test

10 listening test 4 - Thorndyke Builder

Vol 3 - test 8 - section 3

IELTS LISTENING PRACTICE TEST 2026 WITH ANSWERS | 03.09.2026

VSTEP Listening - Task 1 - Test 29

IELTS LISTENING TEST 2 | OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOLUNTRY WORK IN SOUTHOE VILLAGE | BEST IELTS LISTENIN

Festival information ielts liatening | 1080p | HD AUDIO

INCIDENT REPORT | TEST 21 | IELTS LISTENING PRACTICE | Actual Listening Test | Band 9 Practice Test

CAM 18 | IELTS LISTENING TEST | TEST 4 - SECTION 2 #english #listening #ielts #education #iseeielts

IELTS LISTENING PRACTICE TEST 2026 WITH ANSWERS | 21.08.2026

First day at work |listening Test Real listening with answers #listeningtest

Why Practice Speaking with This Video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

What is the Shadowing Technique?