English Practice

Lesson 3 of 6 · Intermediate · Listening · 18 min · +40 XP

Reject distractors and follow the final decision

Recognise rejected suggestions and identify a speaker's final recommendation.

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Your exam technique

Read the choices → track rejected options → identify the final decision and its paraphrase.

Follow the direction of the conversation

In a discussion, several options can be mentioned before a decision is made. Listen for turns such as initially, the trouble is, on balance, and we have agreed. Keep a possible answer in mind until the speaker confirms it.

Match meaning, not just words

A question may say accessible while a speaker says easy to reach by bus. Read the choices first and predict possible paraphrases. After answering, use the transcript to explain why each rejected choice is wrong. Then listen once more without looking.

Avoid this common mistake

A repeated word can belong to an idea the speakers reject. In review, explain why each alternative is wrong as well as why the chosen answer is supported.

See it in practice

Starting point

We could print a survey, but postage would be expensive. Let's use an online form. → printed survey

Using this skill

We could print a survey, but postage would be expensive. Let's use an online form. → online form

The first idea is rejected because of its cost. The final sentence confirms the method.

Listening practice

A student project update

Read the questions below, then listen once before checking the transcript. Replay afterwards to review a detail you missed.

To practise without audio playback, ask a partner to read the transcript aloud while you listen without looking.

Playback uses your browser's synthetic voice for this original drill. For natural voices and full recordings, use the official IELTS listening samples.

Open the transcript
Here is an update on our student research project. We originally intended to compare three city museums. After our tutor pointed out that travel would take too much time, we narrowed the project to the university museum. We considered interviewing the director, but she is away until next month. Instead, we will ask visitors to complete a short questionnaire after their visit. The museum can give us attendance figures as well, although these will only provide background information. Our main question is whether visitors find the displays easy to understand. We are not trying to measure how much historical knowledge they remember. The tutor has approved the new plan and asked us to test our questions with five volunteers first.

01 / Check your understanding

Try the skill

Choose an answer for each question. You can try again after reading the feedback.

1. What will be the main source of the students' research data?
2. What are the students primarily investigating?

02 / Put it into words

Make it your own

Summarise the final project and explain two rejected ideas. Include one paraphrase linking a quiz question to the recording.

Write at least 45 words. Use the checklist and example to review your work; this exercise does not give an automatic IELTS score.

0 / 45 words minimum Save your response with the button below.

Before you finish

  • I identified the final research method.
  • I explained why earlier ideas were dropped.
  • I matched a meaning expressed in different words.
Read one possible response

Compare the choices this writer made with your own. Many different responses can work.

The students will use visitor questionnaires at the university museum to investigate how clear its displays are. They dropped the three-museum comparison because travel would take too long, and the director cannot be interviewed because she is away. The phrase easy to understand expresses the same idea as clarity in the question.

Earn 40 XP once by answering all questions correctly, reaching the response minimum, and reviewing your work.