[0:03]Hello, my name's Liz and in this lesson we're going to look at multiple choice questions for IELTS listening. Multiple choice questions are the most difficult that you will get in your listening test. And in this lesson we're going to look at strategies and techniques to deal with multiple choice. So we're going to start off, I will give you tips about what to do and then we're going to do some multiple choice practice. Then I will go through the answers with you and point out all the traps that IELTS like to use for their listening. And following that, I will give you a list of useful vocabulary so that you can improve your listening for this type of question. And at the end of the lesson, I will give you links so that you can practice more multiple choice for IELTS and also get some more useful IELTS lessons. So, let's start by having a look at multiple choice questions. There are different kinds of multiple choice question in IELTS listening and here are the two types of questions that you can get. The first type is when you've got separate questions and each question has a choice of three or four answers and you must choose the correct answer. Then you move to the next question and you choose the correct answer again. But I like to challenge you and the other type of question is a list selection. Now, with this one, you can see that questions four and five are together. There's only one question for both of them. And then you have a very long list and from this list, you need to choose the correct answers. Now, you might be asked to choose two answers, maybe three, so you have to read these instructions very carefully. And you can see that there are quite a long list of possible answers and you must choose your answers from that list. So this is the most difficult because you have so many options to choose from and in today's lesson, we're going to look at the multiple choice list selection question. Now, before I give you tips for multiple choice, let's have a look at the question that we're going to practice today. Here is the question. We've got questions four to six, so that's three questions together. We've got what three items are recommended to take with you? That's our question. And we have a list of possible answers. We have A camera, B food and drink, C mosquito repellent, D walking boots, E sunscreen, F a large bag, G cash and H extra clothes. And from those options, we need to choose three answers. So, let's start with tip number one. The first tip is a simple tip. Look for a title. Not all questions have titles, but if you see one, please pay attention. The title will give you the context, the situation and that will help you to understand the listening more, it will help you to understand the question more clearly and of course the answers. And for this question, our title is a Rainforest Excursion. And an excursion means a trip. So this is a trip into a rainforest. So it's a visit to a rainforest. And now we understand that the three items that are recommended are recommended for a rainforest trip. Tip number two, read the question. You need to pay close attention to the question. And the first thing we're going to do is we're going to underline the number three. Because we're looking for three answers, we don't want to forget that. So, underline it so you don't get confused. The next thing is to find a keyword. There will be a keyword in the question that will help you to identify which answers are correct and which answers are wrong. And in this question, the keyword is recommended. So, what is recommended for you to take with you into the rainforest? You need to listen for three things that you should take with you into the rainforest. This will also help us to understand the trap that I will give you. Because I will probably talk about many different things. Some things that you should take with you into the rainforest and things you shouldn't take with you into the rainforest. And that is to confuse you. So, what you need to do is pay attention, what is the keyword and listen for that information. The third tip is paraphrase. This is a very important tip for many IELTS questions. And paraphrase means to find another word with the same meaning. So, the more paraphrasing that you can do, the better your IELTS will be. So we already looked for tip number two at the word recommended. And that means for tip number three, we need to paraphrase recommended. You're not going to hear in the test, I recommend you should take with you. It's not so easy. I want to test your English language. I want to test your vocabulary. So how many ways do you know to say recommended or should? And how many ways do you know to say I don't recommend or you shouldn't? So, the more paraphrasing you do, the better your results will be and the easier it will be to hear the right answer. For the fourth tip, it is time to read the options. You need to go through all the possible answers and read through them before you listen. All the options will probably be given. It is very normal in IELTS that you will hear all those words in the recording.
[7:16]But you need to focus because we're only looking for the items that we should take and not for any other items. So, that means that when you hear something, the first time, for example, food and drink, it doesn't mean that's the answer. You need to listen carefully to understand, is it recommended to take food and drink or is it not recommended to take food and drink? Listen carefully. Listen to everything. Pay very close attention. If you think it's the right answer, put a little tick and continue listening because maybe you will find that really that wasn't actually one of the answers. And of course, it's fine to put a tick, you can write all over your listening paper if you want, because at the end of the listening, you have time to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. So it's no problem to underline words and to put ticks and to circle options, you can do whatever you want with your paper. So, basically, tip number four is pay attention. Keep listening. Don't think that the first option is your answer because all these options will be mentioned in the listening, but you need to listen for the three recommended items. And the last tip, the last tip is all about a common trap that I like to give in their listening test. And this is a trap that really tests your ability to concentrate and listen for detail. So, tip number five is watch out for answers that are correct but then the speaker takes them away again. Let me give you an example so you can understand. Now, we're listening for three items that are recommended to take with us into the rainforest. So, something we should take. Now, let's take this for an example. Imagine that the speaker says, usually, we recommend that you should take a large bag with you into the rainforest. But there's no need because we will be bringing supplies with us. So, you don't need the large bag. So what happens is in that sentence, the first part of the sentence says, yes, you should take a large bag with you. But the second part of the sentence says, actually, you don't need to because we have a vehicle and we will take everything for you, so you don't need the large bag. So that's a common way that I try to trap you. So when you're listening and you hear the words, you should take a large bag, you can put a tick, but keep listening. And if the sentence changes and says, but actually you don't need to, put a little cross through. And that way you know that you need to keep listening for more answers. Right, so those are five useful tips for your multiple choice. Now, let's do a practice. I'm going to give you a recording to listen to and you will do the listening and at the end of the listening, I will come back and I will give you all the answers and then I will also give you useful vocabulary.
[11:16]So, good luck. I will see you in just a minute. You now have time to read questions four to six and prepare the answers before the listening begins. Right. So let me give you some information about today's excursion into the rainforest. We'll be traveling from here by bus to the park center. From there, we'll be heading on foot into the rainforest. We'll be going on a six-mile hike and the terrain will be pretty uneven, so you really must have some strong footwear, like a good pair of boots. There will be plenty of photo opportunities on this trip. So I know many of you will want to take a camera, but I'm afraid it's prohibited. I also see that many of you have your binoculars with you. However, I must explain that the forest will be pretty dense where we're going, so you may not have many opportunities to use them. On our trek, it'll be quite shaded, so you don't need to worry about sunscreen. Mosquito repellent, on the other hand, is often useful, but not at this time of year. We'll be walking for a few hours, so you might want to bring refreshments with you. Once you enter the park, there's nowhere to buy anything. So, definitely, that's a must. Now, if I were you, I'd take a good-sized rucksack with you, as you may want to bring a change of clothing with you, as well as other personal items. I know many people recommend to take local currency with you on the trip. But the souvenir shop, which is outside the park, does take credit cards, as well as dollars and euros. So, I'll leave that decision entirely up to you. So, how did you do on the listening? Was it difficult or easy? Well, let's have a look now at the answers. Let's go through the answers. Let's have a look at the first one. You really must have some strong footwear. And of course, when we hear that word, we think about the option walking boots. And it says, like a good pair of boots. Now, it doesn't say walking boots, but we are not looking for the exact words, we're looking for the meaning. And the meaning of this, strong footwear, a good pair of boots, that means walking boots. So, that gave us the first answer. Now, let's look at the next. Many of you will want to take a camera. So, that was one of the possible answers. And he says, but I'm afraid, I'm afraid means unfortunately, it's prohibited, which means you can't, it's not allowed. So, the camera is a no. That is not recommended, you can't take it with you. The next one. It'll be quite shaded. Now, shaded means protected from the sun. There are so many trees in the rainforest. The sun cannot come through, it's shaded. So you don't need to worry about.
[14:55]You don't need to worry about means, you don't need it. It's not necessary, you shouldn't take it. You don't need to worry about sunscreen. So, that's the next option, gone. Let's look at the others. The next one. Mosquito repellent, that was on our list, is useful. But not at this time of year. So, that means mosquito repellent is not our answer. The next one. You might want to bring refreshments with you. Now, the word refreshment, what does it mean? Well, refreshments means food or drink. And that was one of our answers. So it says you might want to bring food and drink with you. It's a must. And that means you really should take it with you. So, food and drink is one of our answers.
[16:03]The next one. If I were you. Now, immediately, we can see if I were you, that is the beginning of a recommendation. If I were you, I'd take a good-sized, that means large, rucksack. Do you know what a rucksack is? Well, a rucksack is a bag that you put on your back. So, it's a bag. So a large bag, I recommend you take a large bag with you. So that is the third answer, a large bag. And if we continue, we will see it says as, this means because. Because you may want to bring a change of clothing. So, that is the option of extra clothes, but it does say may want to bring, which means it's optional. You can choose to bring it or not bring it. It's not recommended. So, we have got the answer is walking boots, food and drink, and a large bag. Now, let's look at the last option and see why that was not the answer. And the last possible answer was of course about cash. And it said, some people recommend, and again, that's what other people recommend, not the speaker. So, that was a trap because obviously, we use the word recommend, but this is not the answer. So it says some people recommend to take local currency, which is the cash. And then later, the speaker says, but, I'll leave that decision to you, which it means it's optional. It's not a recommendation. So here are the answers. And you can see the paraphrasing, the synonyms that is used for these answers. So the first one, walking boots, they said strong footwear, a good pair of boots. The next one, food and drink, they said refreshments. And a large bag, they said a good-sized rucksack. So that's an example of how I will use paraphrasing and different vocabulary to confuse you a little bit and test your English. Now let me give you some more tips before we look at vocabulary. And some more tips for you. And of course, the first one is both the words in the question and the words in the answer options. All of it can be paraphrased. So please pay very close attention to that and build your vocabulary. I listening is all about vocabulary, so start creating word lists and developing and extending your vocabulary. The next one, as you saw, we had a list of possible answers. But the answers do not come in that order. They come in all different orders. So the first answer was walking boots, but walking boots was option D. So don't try to follow that list, the answers will come in different orders. And the last tip, this is one of the most important tips, is your answer must be a letter. So when you transfer your answers to the answer sheet at the end of the test, make sure that you transfer the letter, not the word. So, one of the answers was D, walking boots. If you write walking boots on your answer sheet, the answer is wrong. So make sure that you write the letter and not the words. Now let's have a look at some useful vocabulary. Here are a number of different paraphrases that IELTS could use in their listening test for recommendations. Let's have a quick look. We could say you should, you ought to, I'd advise you to, it's advisable to, I suggest that, it's a good idea to, it's best to, if I were you, I'd, and of course, there's another expression here, if I were in your shoes, I'd. And this is all about recommending something. Of course, the opposite, you turn it to a negative, you shouldn't, you oughtn't, I wouldn't advise you to, it's not advisable to, I don't suggest that, it's not a good idea to. I wouldn't if I were you, or if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't. Now, let's have a look at paraphrases for being allowed to do something, so something you can or can't do. There are many different ways to say that something is not allowed. You could say you can't or you mustn't, it's forbidden to, it isn't permitted to, it's banned, it isn't permissible to, it's not accessible, that means you can't get to it or you can't enter. There's a strict rule that, strict is a negative word, so that means that you can't, it's a rule to stop you. It isn't authorized or it isn't approved, and of course, you could say you won't be able to. If you want to do the opposite to say something is approved, of course, you say you can, it is permitted, it is permissible, it is accessible, there is no strict rule, it is authorized, you will be able to. So all these different paraphrases will help you when you get a question about recommendations or what is allowed. Now let me give you a link so that you can do lots more multiple choice listening practice for IELTS and get some more useful lessons as well. See you soon.
