IELTS Listening Practice Test 160
4 parts · 40 questions · about 35 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 a podcast interview about a government agency's partnership with private companies.
Questions 1–6
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Background to the Contract
Origins of the initiative
- The scheme began in .
- An earlier phase produced contracts for .
Ownership and provision
- The authorities do not possess the .
- Firms are engaged to supply a , not hardware.
Future possibilities
- The model could support privately run in low orbit.
- Commercial organisations already send their own to the laboratory.
Questions 7–10
Answer the questions below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Part 2: Questions 11–20
You will hear a talk about sentence patterns in English.
Questions 11–15
Complete the summary using the list of words, A–G, below.
Sentence Patterns Talk
According to the talk, basic grammatical patterns account for Drop or choose answer in English. This view is credited to Drop or choose answer. Earlier episodes have already examined Drop or choose answer. The present programme introduces Drop or choose answer, using lines from a poem by Drop or choose answer.
- A a comprehensive classification
- B a celebrated literary figure
- C three prior linguistic structures
- D a solitary grammatical exception
- E a renowned language specialist
- F the bulk of English sentences
- G an intransitive verb construction
Questions 16–20
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Part 3: Questions 21–30
You will hear an interview with a researcher discussing infectious diseases in amphibians.
Questions 21–25
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Questions 26–30
Complete the table below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Related Herpesvirus Discoveries
| Category | Finding |
|---|---|
Toads | The lesions on infected toads were . |
Toad virus | Closely related to ranid herpesvirus 3, but |
Order of discovery | The herpesvirus found in amphibians |
Common frog | Also known as the frog |
Additional host | Everyday name for Rana dalmatina: |
Part 4: Questions 31–40
You will hear an interview about a study on the increasing number of cases of a bacterial infection.
Questions 31–40
Complete the table below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
| Category | Key finding |
|---|---|
Mild illness | Pontiac fever accounts for roughly in reported cases. |
Extrapulmonary form | Extrapulmonary legionellosis affects organs other than . |
Study periods | The study contrasted a baseline period with a period marked by . |
Age groups | Incidence went up in every age group older than . |
Largest growth | The biggest rise was among people over years old. |
Geographic region | Growth was greater in the Great Lakes, New England and regions. |
Seasonality | Most cases happened in summer and the beginning of . |
Public health roles | Public health focuses on preventing cases and on outbreaks. |
Prevention measure | Prevention involves increasing the use of water schemes in buildings. |
Individual precaution | The best individual protection is staying healthy and avoiding . |
About this listening test
| Part | Recording | Questions | Question types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preparing Crews for New Vehicles | 1–10 | Note completion, Short-answer questions |
| 2 | Understanding Intransitive Verb Patterns | 11–20 | Summary completion (word list), Multiple choice |
| 3 | Detecting Viruses in Frog Populations | 21–30 | Multiple choice, Table completion |
| 4 | Rising Cases of a Bacterial Illness | 31–40 | Table 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: From American Soil (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: Academic Writing: Common Sentence Patterns, Part Three. VOA Learning English (learningenglish.voanews.com), public domain
- Part 3: Ranid Herpesvirus 3 Infection in Common Frog Rana temporaria Tadpoles (CDC, Emerging Infectious Diseases podcast). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emerging Infectious Diseases podcast (work of the US federal government, public domain)
- Part 4: Rising Incidence of Legionnaires' Disease, United States, 1992-2018 (CDC, Emerging Infectious Diseases podcast). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emerging Infectious Diseases podcast (work of the US federal government, public domain)