IELTS Listening Practice Test 79
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 a podcast interview with participants in a year-long isolation study.
Questions 1–5
Complete the form below.
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Post-Isolation Debrief Form
Who they saw first after a year:
Morning routine included exercise and
Final tasks involved completing
Group activity: played a game with
How the crew jokingly describe themselves: the most boring on Earth
Questions 6–10
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Part 2: Questions 11–20
You will hear a talk about political influence on university teaching.
Questions 11–15
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Academic Freedom Concerns
Academic freedom group
- Aim: to protect academic freedom and
- Early February criticism: attempts to control what can be said, taught or
- Congressional hearings month:
- After the , two university presidents resigned
- Claudine Gay: accused of in her academic writing
Questions 16–20
What happened to each of the following at the college? Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A–G, next to Questions 16–20.
- A was strongly criticised
- B was made more limited
- C was forced to leave
- D was given six new members
- E was made different
- F was expanded
- G was investigated by Congress
Part 3: Questions 21–30
You will hear an extract from a podcast interview in which an engineer describes how his team prepares for and reviews complicated operations.
Questions 21–22
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Questions 23–24
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Questions 25–30
Complete the summary below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Working together on the vehicle
The programme draws on one integrated team whose members are involved in both the and the running of the vehicle, and these two disciplines liaise . Those responsible for the craft deliberately try to build into it from the outset, so that whoever flies it knows how to handle it. Operators, meanwhile, would happily accept every available extra, yet each addition raises the vehicle's and the amount of it draws, so compromises are inevitable. The team describes this as playing system games, so that what emerges is a machine the crew can make sense of.
Part 4: Questions 31–40
You will hear a talk about the preparation and recovery of an experimental flight-test vehicle.
Questions 31–35
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Building the Data-Return System
- Data sent to the ground in real time by .
- A reserve mechanism designed to guard against a .
- An adapted military dispenser introduced.
- Two devices fixed to the upper .
- Every device loaded with six .
Questions 36–40
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Post-Test Recovery and Descent
After the test
- Released in increments.
- Contains a thumb drive, a GPS receiver and a .
- Located after splashdown by a boat using a .
Descent plan
- Parachutes omitted chiefly to achieve a saving in .
- With parachute performance proven elsewhere, the module falls to the .
About this listening test
| Part | Recording | Questions | Question types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adjusting to Extreme Isolation | 1–10 | Form completion, Sentence completion |
| 2 | Academic Freedom Under Pressure | 11–20 | Note completion, Matching features |
| 3 | Balancing Design and Operations | 21–30 | Multiple choice (choose more than one), Summary completion |
| 4 | Engineering a Flight-Test Vehicle | 31–40 | Note 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: After a Year on Mars (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: Professors’ Group Speaks Out about Changes at Florida College. Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on AAUP’s report and news reports and information.
- Part 3: Navigating Deep 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 4: Escaping A Speeding Rocket (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)