Listening practice - mistake log IELTS Practice Set 16 listening test 2

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listening
IELTS Practice Set 16 listening test 2
Author
Affiliation

Hung

Barron’s Writing for IELTS

Published

August 15, 2025

1 Cambridge IELTS 16 - listening test 2

  • Total Score: 36/40
  • Date: 15/08/2025

2 Performance Summary

Q# Error Type Weakness Fix
11 MCQ distractor Matching keywords instead of meaning Pre-mark differences, focus on paraphrase
12 MCQ distractor Lost context from Q11 Mentally lock each answer before moving
16 Matching decision Not catching final choice Listen for decision signals
27 Flow chart completion Missed plural, predicted wrong form Train plural prediction + endings

2.1 Q11 & Q12 – Likely Listening Part 2

Type: Multiple choice (details about a talk / instructions)

Skills tested:

  • Recognising paraphrase in distractors

  • Listening for specific details rather than topic words

  • Maintaining focus during fast option switches

Common reasons for mistakes:

  • Distractor trap: The speaker may mention all the options, but only one is true for the context.

  • Over-reliance on key words: You may have matched words in the audio directly to the option rather than the meaning.

  • Losing track in double-question format: When 2 MCQs come together (like Q11–12), if you miss one small detail for Q11, it can throw off Q12 as well.

Fix:

  1. Train to underline key differences between options before audio starts.

  2. Expect paraphrase — options often use synonyms (e.g., “easy to reach” = “accessible”).

  3. Pause after each answer in practice to mentally “lock” it before moving on.

2.2 Q16 – Likely Listening Part 2 or 3

Type: Matching / table completion (short answer)

Skills tested:

  • Mapping speakers’ ideas to given categories

  • Distinguishing between similar-sounding items

  • Understanding speaker opinion vs. factual description

Common reasons for mistakes:

  • Misidentifying speaker’s final decision — they may consider an option, reject it, then choose another.

  • Following the wrong speaker in a multi-speaker part.

  • Hearing two possible answers but not catching the conclusion phrase like “OK, let’s do that”.

Fix:

  • Listen for decision signals: “Let’s go with…”, “We’ve decided on…”, “Forget that idea…”.

  • In practice, cover the script and re-listen only for final decisions.

2.3 Q27 – Listening Part 3 Flow Chart

Question: “Check ethical guidelines for working with (27) …” → Correct answer: humans/people

Likely reason for mistake:

  • Plural/singular issue — you said earlier you tend to miss plural endings in fast speech.

  • Possibly misheard as “human research” or “human testing” and didn’t think of the base form “humans.”

  • You might have expected a field/area (like “psychology” or “participants”) instead of the subject of the research.

Fix:

  1. For plural prediction:

    • After “working with…”, ask: Are they referring to a countable group? If yes → expect plural (humans, students, patients).

  2. In listening, watch for /z/ or /s/ endings even when very soft.

  3. Do “plural ending dictation” drills — play 1–2 second clips, write only the last word, mark plural/singular.

3 Recording 1

4 Recording 2

Q I choose Correct Why the correct one wins Classic trap words
11 B C (local council building) Text says: “…intended as his family home,_ but he died… His heir sold it to the local council, who turned it into offices_. A later plan to convert it into a tourist info centre_ didn’t happen_.” → What it used to be before becoming a school = council offices. intended, plan, didn’t come about, instead
12 C B (lower school site → new homes) “The lower school will move to_ new buildings on the main site_. Developers will_ construct houses on the existing lower school site_.” → New school buildings aren’t on the lower site; they’re on the main site. site names (main vs lower), will move to, will construct on
16 C D (daily change) “World Adventures…_ a different country’s cuisine each day_… menus_ planned for a week_.” “Planned for a week” ≠ “changes weekly.” The change is daily; the plan is weekly. each day vs planned for a week

4.1 What to listen for (and how not to get faked out)

  1. Timeline pivots

    • intended/planned to = idea only, not reality.

    • didn’t come about/instead/but = negates the tempting option and points to the real one.

  2. Location precision

    • Map the nouns: main site ≠ lower school site. When you hear construction/moving, anchor what is moving and to/from which site.

  3. Frequency decoder

    • each/every day → daily.

    • each/every week → weekly.

    • planned for a week → schedule visibility, not frequency of change.

4.2 Micro-drills (train your ear)

  • “It was meant to be a museum, but it became a library.” → Used to be: library.

  • “Menus are planned weekly, with a different cuisine each day.” → Frequency: daily change.

  • “The annex will move to the north campus; the old annex site will become housing.” → Housing on old annex site, not north campus.

4.3 Mini checklist for Part 2 MCQ

  • Underline negators: but / however / instead / didn’t happen.

  • Circle place words: main / lower / north / south.

  • Box frequency words: each day / weekly / planned for a week.

  • Ask: “Are they stating a past intention or a past reality?”

5 Recording 3

5.0.1 What happened on Q27

  • Audio line: “because our experiment involves humans, so there are special regulations.”

  • Question stem: “Check ethical guidelines for working with (27) ____”

  • Your answer: human (singular)

  • Required form: humans (plural) — people is also accepted.

5.0.2 Why your answer was marked wrong

  • Grammar cue: The preposition with + a countable noun describing participants almost always takes the plural in this context: with humans / with people / with participants.

  • Echoing rule (IELTS Listening): For gap‑fills, you must write the word(s) you hear. The speaker clearly says humans. Even if you miss the final /z/ sound, the stem “working with …” strongly signals a plural head noun.

5.0.3 How to avoid this mistake next time

  1. Track number in the audio. If you hear humans/people/participants, write the plural.

  2. Use the stem as a safety net. After with, ask: “Would singular sound natural?” → with human ❌, with humans ✅.

  3. Listen for plural markers around the blank:

    • Earlier sentence: “our experiment involves humans” → primes a plural repeat.

  4. Don’t ‘correct’ the audio. IELTS isn’t testing synonyms here; it’s testing recall of the heard word(s) in correct form.

5.0.4 Micro‑drill (10 seconds)

Fill the blank with singular/plural you’d expect from the stem (answers below):

  1. guidelines for working with < >______

  2. consent from the ______ < > guardian

  3. data from ______< > participant

  4. risks to ______ < > subjects

  5. interviews with ______ <> student

1 humans

2 legal

3 each

4 human (adj)

5 each

Answers: 1) humans/people (plural) 2) legal (adj) 3) each (singular cue) 4) human (adj before noun) subjects (plural) 5) each (singular cue) student

Notice how with + people tends to be plural, while human before a noun is often an adjective (e.g., human subjects), which flips the number decision to the noun (subjects → plural).

6 Recording 4