What you'll see
Get familiar with the task.
This is a listening task where you hear a short academic recording (about 40–90 seconds) ONCE and select MORE THAN ONE correct answer from 5–7 options. The audio plays automatically after a 7-second countdown and you cannot click Next until it finishes. Scoring is partial-credit: +1 for each correct option ticked, –1 for each wrong option ticked (minimum 0). So don't guess wildly — tick only what you are sure of.
Listen to the recording and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.
Listen to the recording and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.
Press Start to begin
What happened as a result of the arrival of colonists?
3 strategies that work
The mindset before the click.
- 1Strategy 1
Predict from the question + options BEFORE you listen
Use the 7-second countdown to read the question + every option. Guess the topic; activate what you already know.
- 2Strategy 2
Listen for CUE PHRASES, not every word
Signals like 'As a result…', 'From that point on…', 'When the colonists arrived…' flag the sentences that answer the question.
- 3Strategy 3
Stay calm with unfamiliar words — chase the GIST
Don't freeze on hard vocabulary. Keep listening for the main idea; the answers are paraphrases, not exact words.
Try each strategy
Guided practice you can do alone or with a partner.
1Predict from the question + options BEFORE you listen
You only hear the recording once. Reading the question + options first turns listening into a targeted hunt instead of a memory test. The 7-second countdown is your prep time — use every second.
- Read the QUESTION first — what is being asked (cause? effect? purpose? feature?).
- Read every OPTION and underline the noun + verb in each.
- Guess the TOPIC from the wording (e.g. 'colonists' + 'deforested' + 'stones' → European arrival in a colonized land).
- Brainstorm background knowledge: what do you already know about this topic? You'll catch references faster.
- Mark options that seem plausible vs. those that are clearly off-topic — narrow your shortlist before the audio even starts.
- Pair drill: hide the audio, only show the question + options to a partner. Ask them to predict 2 most likely answers.
2Listen for CUE PHRASES, not every word
Native English recordings contain a lot of 'filler' — examples, jokes, repetition. The actual answer often sits right after a signal phrase. Train your ear to react to those signals so your attention spikes at the right moment.
- Cause/effect cues: 'as a result…', 'because of this…', 'one of the first things that happened…'.
- Time/sequence cues: 'when the colonists arrived…', 'from that point on…', 'by the early part of the century…'.
- Emphasis cues: 'the key was…', 'most importantly…', 'in fact…'.
- Contrast cues: 'but…', 'however…', 'on the other hand…' (a contrast can introduce a correct option that contradicts an earlier statement).
- When you hear a cue, sharpen your focus on the NEXT 1–2 sentences and tick any matching option.
- Pair drill: replay the audio with the transcript. Highlight every cue phrase you can find — train the trigger.
3Stay calm with unfamiliar words — chase the GIST
The recordings often use academic vocabulary you've never heard. Beginners panic, lose the next sentence, and miss the answer. Train yourself to NOTICE the unfamiliar word, mark it mentally, and KEEP LISTENING — the gist is usually still clear.
- When you hit an unknown word, mentally note '?' and move on — do not stop processing the audio.
- Focus on the SUBJECT (who) + the VERB (did what) of each sentence. Adjectives and adverbs you don't know rarely change the meaning.
- Paraphrase recognition: 'cleared the land' = 'deforested'; 'stone walls' = 'delineated with stones'. Don't expect identical wording.
- Eliminate confidently wrong options first (topic never mentioned) — narrows what to focus on.
- Remember the scoring: tick what you are SURE of. A wrong tick subtracts 1 mark.
- Pair drill: play a recording at 1.25× speed. The aim is not to understand every word but to summarise the gist in one sentence afterwards.
Press Start. Wait for the 7-second countdown, listen to the recording ONCE, then tick MORE THAN ONE correct answer. Next stays locked until the audio finishes. Reveal the answer key after you submit.
Reveal correct answers + reasoning
Correct: A + E. (A) Huge areas were deforested — CORRECT. The speaker says 'one of the first things that happened as increasing waves of colonists arrived was the need to clear the land' and that by the 1830s–1840s 'the trees and the forests were essentially clear-cut'. (E) Sections of land were delineated with stones — CORRECT. The speaker says glacial erratic stones are 'what we find in the latticework of stone walls' across the landscape — i.e. stones were used to mark out land sections. Wrong: (B) Old farming methods abandoned — not discussed. (C) Large expanses planted with new species — new species are never mentioned. (D) Stone quarries depleted — stone quarries are never mentioned (the stones came from glacial erratics, not quarries).
Do it under time
Simulate the real test.
Same exam rules: 7-second countdown, audio plays ONCE (cannot skip), select MORE THAN ONE answer. Aim for the cue phrase 'what if we consider a light bulb not to be a light bulb…' — the speaker's whole purpose pivots there.
Reveal correct answers + reasoning (Q2)
Correct: B + C. (B) Encourage listeners to think creatively about mundane items — CORRECT. The speaker invites listeners to rethink an everyday object and says 'they have a kind of privileged position above us' and 'paints your room' — encouraging fresh, creative thinking. (C) Illustrate how an everyday object could inspire new technology — CORRECT. The speaker progressively transforms the light bulb into a low-res projector, then a high-res projector, then a device that projects AND collects optical information — illustrating new technology built from a familiar object. Wrong: (A) Make indoor lighting more economical — money/cost is never discussed. (D) Describe an artistic exhibition — art, galleries, museums and exhibitions are not mentioned. (E) Persuade listeners to join a scientific study — no scientific study is mentioned.
Listen to the recording and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.
Press Start to begin
The purpose of this talk is to ___
Tick each box only when you can do it without looking back. This unlocks your next chapter.