IELTS Listening Practice Test 22
4 parts · 40 questions · about 29 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 radio programme in which two presenters discuss whether circus performing is an art form.
Questions 1–6
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Notes on the radio programme
Programme details
- Topic of today’s show: Circus
- Pete’s description of performers: athletes with interesting skills and
The debate
- Pete: to swing from a bar you must be very
- Performers who swing from ropes are called trapeze
- Anna says the jugglers are skilled in the art of
The interview
- Kate and Piper tell stories while hanging upside down on a
Questions 7–10
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Part 2: Questions 11–20
You will hear a radio programme about the Wright brothers, the American inventors who built the first engine-powered flying machine.
Questions 11–15
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Questions 16–20
Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A–G, next to Questions 16–20.
- A gave demonstration flights at great heights
- B agreed to buy an aircraft
- C agreed to manufacture the flying machine
- D displays the first airplane
- E took photographs of the first flight
- F taught many other people to fly
- G died of typhoid fever
Part 3: Questions 21–30
You will hear a conversation between a host and a scientist about a plant water management experiment on the International Space Station.
Questions 21–22
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Questions 23–30
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Running the experiment
Part 4: Questions 31–40
You will hear a science report about material returned to Earth by a space mission.
Questions 31–35
Complete the table below.
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
The asteroid mission
| Mission fact | Detail |
|---|---|
Year the samples were collected | |
Year the samples were sent back to Earth | |
How the container landed | by |
State where the samples were recovered | |
Amount of material collected | grams |
Questions 36–40
Complete the summary using the list of words, A–I, below.
What studies of the Bennu samples found
Studies of the Bennu samples found a mixture of Drop or choose answer compounds. Other evidence suggested Bennu's parent body once held salty, liquid Drop or choose answer. NASA said the results do not provide direct evidence of Drop or choose answer itself. The parent body is believed to have measured about 100 Drop or choose answer across. Researcher Yasuhito Sekine said the findings were only possible because the material was collected directly from the Drop or choose answer.
- A organic
- B water
- C life
- D kilometers
- E asteroid
- F carbon
- G meteorites
- H planets
- I cells
About this listening test
| Part | Recording | Questions | Question types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is circus an art? | 1–10 | Note completion, Multiple choice |
| 2 | The Wright brothers | 11–20 | Sentence completion, Matching features |
| 3 | Watering plants in space | 21–30 | Multiple choice (choose more than one), Flow-chart completion |
| 4 | Building blocks of life from an asteroid | 31–40 | Table completion, Summary completion (word list) |
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: Let's Learn English, Lesson 4: Run Away With the Circus!. VOA Learning English (learningenglish.voanews.com), public domain
- Part 2: Wilbur and Orville Wright: The First Airplane. VOA Learning English (learningenglish.voanews.com), public domain
- Part 3: Plant Water Management (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 4: Researchers: NASA Asteroid Samples Contain ‘Building Blocks’ of Life. VOA Learning English (learningenglish.voanews.com), public domain