IELTS Listening Practice Test 101
4 parts · 40 questions · about 31 minutes of audio. Below are all the questions. Take the test in your free dashboard to play the recordings, answer as you listen, and get your band score with the transcript of every answer.
Part 1: Questions 1–10
You will hear an interview about a woman's career in engineering and medical research.
Questions 1–10
Complete the table below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Career path
| Phase | Detail | Focus |
|---|---|---|
Early ambition | Wanted to become an | Interest in how things are made |
First degree | Studied | Engineering fundamentals |
Industrial placement | Worked on | Practical maintenance experience |
Onboard duties | Directed for turbine engines | Fault diagnosis |
New inspiration | Saw the body as an | Biological systems |
Postgraduate study | Earned a | Combined two departments |
Medical collaboration | Assisted an in Virginia Beach | Surgical observation |
Clinical problem | Sought a substitute for a bearing | Material failure |
Agency proposal | Suggested polymers for | New use for existing substances |
Initial initiative | Launched a at the agency | Early research |
Part 2: Questions 11–20
You will hear a language teacher reviewing listeners' messages about popular culture in various countries.
Questions 11–14
Answer the questions below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Questions 15–20
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Notes on Japanese and Spanish Contributions
Japanese cuisine
- The nation's favourite dish is a noodle soup known as .
- Alternative descriptors proposed for its flavour are 'complex', 'bold' and .
Spanish sport and language
- Rafael admits he dislikes the most widespread sport, namely .
- To repair his sentence, insert after the verb 'feel'.
- The presenter warns that the self-mocking term carries a negative or connotation.
- Rafael humorously describes himself as a grammar .
Part 3: Questions 21–30
You will hear a radio interview about how communities can prepare for and recover from environmental hazards.
Questions 21–26
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Questions 27–28
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Questions 29–30
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Part 4: Questions 31–40
You will hear a commander describing how maritime emergency teams assess their effectiveness and why their work has national importance.
Questions 31–35
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Assessing Response Performance
Measuring how well the teams respond
- Separate the assessment into storm response and .
- For smaller coastal zones, supply information to satisfy a .
- For a major port, establish the of cargo passing through.
- Measure the required to restore access.
- The decision to reopen a port rests with the .
Questions 36–40
Complete the summary below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
The Wider Value of the Service
One memorable case concerned a fishing community where many boats were sinking. The team helped to locate the and supplied information to salvage crews. They also investigated the behind the losses. For people living inland, roughly of the goods they use have arrived via a port. Exports from the therefore rely on .
About this listening test
| Part | Recording | Questions | Question types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Career Change into Health Engineering | 1–10 | Table completion |
| 2 | Correcting Popular Culture Messages | 11–20 | Short-answer questions, Note completion |
| 3 | Building Resilience to Coastal Hazards | 21–30 | Multiple choice, Multiple choice (choose more than one) |
| 4 | Evaluating Port Emergency Responses | 31–40 | Note completion, Summary completion |
How to use it
- Open the test in your dashboard. Each part has its own track with the spoken instructions and the time to read the questions, as in the real exam.
- For exam practice, play each part once at 1× speed. To train your ear, slow it down or replay sections.
- Select words in a question to highlight the keywords you are listening for.
- After submitting, use “Show in transcript” to see exactly where each answer was said.
Audio sources
The recordings are real, copyright-free audio. The questions are written by Sprechify, and the spoken instructions use a synthetic voice.
- Part 1: Science in Space (NASA Houston We Have a Podcast). NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston We Have a Podcast (NASA audio is generally not subject to copyright in the US)
- Part 2: What Is Popular in Different Countries?. VOA Learning English (learningenglish.voanews.com), public domain
- Part 3: What is resilience? (NOAA Diving Deeper podcast). NOAA National Ocean Service, Diving Deeper podcast (work of the US federal government, public domain)
- Part 4: What are NOAA's navigation response teams? (NOAA Diving Deeper podcast). NOAA National Ocean Service, Diving Deeper podcast (work of the US federal government, public domain)