Listening practice - mistake log IELTS Practice Set 14 listening test 3

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IELTS Practice Set 14 listening test 3
Author
Affiliation

Hung

Barron’s Writing for IELTS

Published

July 31, 2025

1 Cambridge IELTS 14 - listening test 3

  • Date: 31/07/2025
  • Total Score: 30/40
Type of question Corrects Wrongs Accuracy Wrong answer
[Listening] Multiple Choice 3 1 75.00% 11
[Listening theme] Asking for information 7 3 70.00% 21 22 24
[Listening theme] Giving a speech at an event 7 3 70.00% 11 15 16
[Listening] Matching 8 2 80.00% 15 16
[Listening] Note/Form Completion 19 7 73.08% 2 10 21 22 24 32 40
[Listening theme] Renting a room/flat 8 2 80.00% 2 10
[Topic] Art 8 2 80.00% 32 40

2 Recording 1

Q ❌ Your Answer ✅ Correct Answer Why You Missed It How to Avoid
Q2 sound microphone You understood the general idea (something related to sound), but not the specific item they said. The man asked specifically: “How about a microphone?” — this was answered directly. 🔄 Strategy: If you hear a general topic (e.g. sound), listen for a specific equipment name that follows. Repeat Qs in your head: “Do they have a ___?”
Q10 club clubs This was a plural mistake. The speaker said: “… one of the clubs in the area — there are a great many to choose from.” The word “many” confirms it’s plural. 🔄 Strategy: Always check if they mention numbers or words like “many,” “a few,” “several”, which mean the answer should be plural.

3 Recording 2

Your answers ✅ Correct answers Notes
D Shopping A Decorating ✅ A. Decorating✅ E. Childcare

You got A (decorating) correct – mentioned as: “do some painting or wallpapering.”

You chose D (shopping) — not quite correct. Shopping is suggested in the line:

“…recommend how to plan their budget or how to shop sensibly…”

But that’s only giving advice, not actually shopping.

You missed E (childcare) — mentioned as:

“…do some babysitting so that parents can go out…”

This is direct childcare.

🟨 Common trap: Hearing a keyword (like “shop”) without checking if it’s the actual activity done by the volunteer.

Q Volunteer Your Answer ✅ Correct Why
15 Habib A ✅ F (Remember past times) He takes elderly people to sing-alongs that “take the listeners back to their youth.”
16 Consuela B ✅ A (Overcome physical difficulties) “She has difficulty walking herself” and helps others with walking.
17 Minh ✅ E ✅ Helps isolated man go out again — clearly about escaping isolation.
18 Tanya ✅ G ✅ Elderly woman picks up toy-making as a new hobby.
19 Alexei ✅ D ✅ Helps family solve problems themselves = independence.
20 Juba ✅ C ✅ Teen girl now “far better at expressing herself” — communication.

🔹 Q15: Habib → F (Remember past times)

You chose A: Overcome physical difficulties — which is not the case. It was about music triggering memories, not about any physical help.

✅ What to listen for:

“Songs take them back to their youth” → keyword: “remember”, not “recover physically”

🔹 Q16: Consuela → A (Overcome physical difficulties)

You chose B: Rediscover skills not used — but she wasn’t helping them recover a skill like cooking or crafting.

Instead, it was walking — she inspires mobility by example.

✅ Tip: Listen for physical movement = “overcome physical difficulties”

Q Volunteer ✅ Correct Match ❌ Your Answer Mistake Type
11–12 Activities A & E A & D Misidentified activity (shopping = advice only)
15 Habib F A Confused emotional vs physical outcome
16 Consuela A B Misread “walking” as skill recovery
17–20 Minh, Tanya, Alexei, Juba ✅ ✅ Good comprehension

4 Recording 3

Q ❌ Your Answer ✅ Correct Answer Explanation
21 15 ✅ 50 (or fifty) Joe says: “there are about _50 of them altogether.”_ You may have misheard or confused with “under 20” (his previous experience). Always focus on what is said now, not past comparison.
22 NATIONAL ✅ REGIONAL Joe says: “They aren’t really good enough to enter national band competitions, but they’re in a regional one later in the term.” “Regional” is correct; “national” is a trap word.
23 ✅ CARNIVAL ✅ CARNIVAL Correct. He clearly says: “the town council’s organising a carnival in the summer.”
24 DRAMA ✅ DRUMMER Joe says: “I played a recording… of a drummer talking about how playing in a band had changed his life.” You misheard “drummer” as “drama” — a common pronunciation trap.
Question Your Answer Correct? Mistake Type
Q21 15 ❌ Misheard number (possibly confused with earlier info)
Q22 NATIONAL ❌ Chose a trap word (national ≠ regional)
Q23 CARNIVAL ✅ –
Q24 DRAMA ❌ Misheard word (drummer)

Tips to Fix These Mistakes

🔹 Q21 – Mishearing Numbers

Practice listening to quantities with context, especially when they contrast past and present:

“I used to teach bands of 20, this one has about 50.”

✅ Fix: Pause & mentally label the number with “current size”.

🔹 Q22 – Trap Words

This is a classic IELTS trick: mention a wrong option first (national), then correct it (regional).

“Not national… but regional.”

✅ Fix: Focus on what they finally decide, not the first idea.

🔹 Q24 – Drummer vs Drama

“Drummer” and “Drama” are close in sound, but context helps:

“…playing in a band changed his life” → clearly a musician, not an actor.

✅ Fix: Listen for context clues. Ask: who is talking, what’s the story about?

5 Recording 4

Question Your Answer Correct Answer Type of Error Explanation
32 vibrant energy Word type/grammar error Used adjective instead of correct noun that fits “a great deal of”
40 Olympic Olympics Word form (noun vs. adjective) Used adjective instead of correct noun; didn’t match grammar of sentence

Question 32

You wrote: VIBRANT

Correct answer: ENERGY

Transcript:

“Liza Lim’s compositions are vibrant and full of energy…”

Why this is wrong:

The question says:

“compositions show a great deal of _____”

→ So you need a noun that matches “a great deal of”.

“A great deal of” cannot be followed by adjectives like “vibrant”.

“Vibrant” describes the style, but the answer must be a specific noun, and that noun is “energy”.

Tip

  • Pay close attention to grammatical structures in the question.

  • Look for exact matches between the question’s collocations (like “a great deal of”) and the noun in the audio.

  • Words near the answer (like “vibrant”) can mislead you — IELTS often puts distractors nearby to test your focus on function, not just vocabulary.

Question 40

You wrote: OLYMPIC

Correct answer: OLYMPICS

Transcript:

“…his music for the flag hand-over ceremony of the Olympics held in 1996.”

Why this is wrong:

The word “Olympic” is an adjective (e.g. Olympic Games, Olympic athlete).

The blank in the sentence requires a noun to complete the phrase:

“festival will include his music for the 1996 ________”

So the correct noun is Olympics, referring to the global sports event.

Tip:

Always match the word form (noun/verb/adjective) to the grammar of the sentence.

Listen for plural endings — “Olympics” is clearly plural in pronunciation.

Review common proper nouns and event names like “the Olympics”, “the World Cup”, etc.

5.1 How to improve

  1. Check the grammar of the sentence before choosing your answer — think: Does this need a noun? An adjective? A plural?

  2. Underline key phrases in the question, such as “a great deal of,” “consists of,” “includes,” etc.

  3. Practice identifying distractors — words that appear in the audio but are not correct answers.

  4. Improve your listening for plurals and noun forms, especially for names of events or measurements.