Listening practice - mistake log IELTS Practice Set 17 listening test 3

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listening
IELTS Practice Set 17 listening test 3
Author
Affiliation

Hung

Barron’s Writing for IELTS

Published

August 23, 2025

1 Cambridge IELTS 17 - listening test 2

2 Performance Summary

3 Recording 4

3.1 What went wrong & how to fix it

Q36 — evidence (you wrote “evident”)

  • Why: After “no ___ that…”, English requires a noun, not an adjective.

  • Collocation: “no evidence that …” is the natural pair.

  • Mini rule: If you hear “no / some / much / little ___ that…”, expect a noun (evidence, proof, indication).

  • Word-form pairs to remember: evidence (n) vs. evident (adj); confidence vs. confident; intelligence vs. intelligent.

Q37 — destinations (you wrote “destination”)

  • Why: The script says “Little was known about the actual destinations of particular species and how they travelled there.” Also the note line reads “about the ___ and journeys”, which signals parallel plurals.

  • Mini rule: When a blank is coordinated with another plural (“X and journeys”), make both plural.

Q38 — oceans (you wrote “ocean”)

  • Why: The lecture uses the collocation “over vast oceans.” IELTS often tests the faint -s at word ends.

  • Mini rule: Quantifiers like vast, huge stretches of, and references to large areas often take the plural (oceans, mountains, forests). Listen for the final /z/ sound.

Q40 — atlas (you wrote “atlat”)

  • Why: Simple letter transposition under time pressure. The line was “In 1931, an atlas was published…”.

  • Mini rule: Use the article cue: “an atlas” → vowel sound → atlas. When you hear an article + noun, lock in the standard spelling you know.

3.2 Fast repair drills (15–30 seconds each)

Say these aloud, then write the missing word exactly:

  1. There had been no that storks migrate to Africa. → evidence

  2. Little was known about birds’ actual ____ and journeys. → destinations

  3. Small birds weighing only a few grams could still fly over vast ____. → oceans

  4. In 1931, an ____ of European bird migration was published. → atlas

3.3 Micro-skills to prevent these errors on test day

  1. Grammar slot check (Word form):

    • After no / little / much + __ + that…_ → noun.

  2. Parallelism scan (Number):

    • If the other half is plural (“X and journeys”), make your blank plural too.

  3. End-sound focus (Plural -s):

    • Train your ear for the soft /z/ at the end (oceans, destinations). Shadow-read transcripts to feel the endings.

  4. Article cue for spelling:

    • “a/an + noun” often signals a common, dictionary form you already know. Use the article to sanity-check spelling (an atlas).