IELTS PREDICTION TEST

<h3 data-path-to-node="2">SECTION 1: RENTAL PROPERTY APPLICATION FORM</h3>
Agent: Good morning, McMurray’s Real Estate, Peter speaking. How may I help you?
Susan: Hi Peter. My name is Susan. I’m calling from Australia. I’ll be moving to New Zealand soon and I was hoping you could help me find somewhere to live in Auckland.
Agent: Would be pleased to. I just need to get some information about what you want so we can find the perfect place.
Susan: Sounds good.
Agent: Let’s start with some personal details. What’s your last name?
Susan: It’s Smith.
Agent: And your phone number?
Susan: I only have a mobile, is that okay?
Agent: That’s fine.
Susan: Okay, it’s (1) 614381997. But if you want to contact me, usually the best way is by email.
Agent: OK, what’s your email address then?
Susan: It’s susansmith@(2) post.com. Thanks.
Agent: Now, you said you’re living in Australia, right? In Brisbane?
Susan: OK. What’s your address in Brisbane then?
Susan: 234 Becketts—that’s B-E-C-K-E-double T-S Road, Brisbane, 4-0-5-4.
Agent: Right. Will you be working in New Zealand?
Susan: Yes, I have a job at Auckland Hospital.
Agent: Oh, are you a nurse?
Susan: Most people assume that or think I’m a doctor, but actually I’m a (3) chemist.
Agent: Oh, sorry.
Susan: That’s OK.
Agent: When will you need the accommodation from?
Susan: Well, I don’t start work until February 25th, but I’d like to give myself some time to settle in. A couple of weeks would be nice. Let’s say from February 10th.
Agent: Our leases start from a Monday, and the Monday closest to that is February 8th. Would that suit?
Susan: That’s fine.
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Agent: Okay, let’s talk about what kind of place you’d like to rent.
Susan: Hmm, I like the outdoors, so my dream would be a house that has its own (4) garden.
Agent: Is there anything else you’d consider? An apartment, for example?
Susan: I don’t know, they usually don’t have an outdoor area, but I guess as an alternative, if you could find me one with a large (5) balcony, I’d be happy.
Agent: How many rooms do you want?
Susan: Usually one-bedroom places are too small. Two would be ideal.
Agent: Now, what would you like to have in the place when you move in?
Susan: I’m bringing most of what I need with me. I have beds and sofas and a television, all that sort of stuff, so none of that is necessary.
Agent: Sounds like you want a partially furnished house. With a washing machine?
Susan: Actually, I’m bringing that too. All I really need in the place is a (6) fridge. I don’t have one, so we’ll definitely need one.
Agent: Okay. Can you find something like that for around $350 a week?
Susan: Well, I’ll certainly try. I’ll start looking for places that cost around $300 and see if there’s anything suitable. You definitely won’t need to pay more than (7) 400 for something like that.
Susan: Oh, that’s good. I couldn’t pay more than that.
Agent: Alright, I’ll see what I can find. You’re working at the hospital—do you want to live somewhere near there?
Susan: Most people think it’s strange, but I don’t like living close to work. But I’m a mad keen surfer, so it’s important for me to be close to the (8) beach.
Agent: Okay. Do you need to be near public transport?
Susan: No, I usually drive to work because I work a lot of shift work. So wherever I live, we’ll need to have (9) parking close to the door, so I won’t have to walk far at night.
Agent: Anything else?
Susan: I’ve heard that power bills can get quite expensive, especially in the winter. It would be great if (10) electricity was part of the rent.
Agent: OK, just one last question for our records: where did you hear about us?

Questions 1-10

Part 1

<h3 data-path-to-node="2">SECTION 2: EYESAVER CHARITY INTRODUCTION</h3>
Speaker: Hello everyone, thanks for attending tonight’s event. Let me start with the early history of our charity, Eyesaver.
Eyesaver was founded by a retired optometrist, Timothy Gains. I have spent much of my working life at Eyesaver. I am 60 years old now, and I started working for this organization 15 years ago when I left a corporate position to help people with eye problems.
Now, our charity (11) has been helping people for three decades [Answer: 30 years ago]. You may know that we are now doing various other things to help people with eye problems. That includes medications for children with eye diseases and operational help to those in the public who have eye problems.
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But when Mr. Gains just founded Eyesaver, he wanted the program to (12) be able to offer common eye equipment to those who needed it.
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We receive occasional donations from corporations and charity groups now. We have over 1,500 volunteers who work on the streets with the little red donation boxes, which many of you are familiar with, and (13) this is the main source of funding for us [Answer: money collected on the street]. Besides, we are planning to work to secure donations from wealthy benefactors.
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Many people are passionate about charity cause and have been inquiring how to donate money to us. I really appreciate that, but (14) our main need is to collect glasses for our patients. Many of you have multiple pairs of old glasses in your possession, and we encourage you to gather these pairs which you no longer need and donate them to our cause.
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In doing this, you’ll be able to make sure that someone else can see better. Most of us cannot imagine a life in which we are unable to see well. This is why your eyeglass donations are so critical to our mission.
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And as a side note, we offer full-time positions; let me know if you are interested. (15) Our goal is to make people aware that even the smallest of donations can help change a person’s life [Answer: to show people their donation can make a difference], so your donation can be a turning point for them.
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The other day, when I was talking to some people on the street, they were surprised to find out how easily some eye problems can be cured. And I’m proud to say that our next program will aim at educating people about common eye diseases. We are able to prevent many fatal eye problems.
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In order to publicize our charity program, we surely need to do some advertising. When we first started our program, we used computers to create awareness for our cause. For instance, promoting seminars in which we informed people as to how they could help us to solve eye problems.
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But in recent years, the (16) main means of advertising our program is through audio recordings. We have found it cost-efficient and effective. It’s good to know that many of our staff are recommending our program to their friends and colleagues. But I am afraid that our training cannot show people the whole picture of our program.
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<h3 data-path-to-node="15">PARTNERSHIPS AND ROLES (Questions 17–20)</h3>
Speaker: Finally, I would like to tell you about some organizations which have played important roles in the development and success of Eyesaver.
Our affiliation with the National Vision Funding Group has (17) allowed us to gain fame and to become even more significant [Answer: E – take the reputation to a higher level], so many people around the country are coming for our services.
Our association with the Eye for the Future organization has allowed us to run cooperative ads by which we (18) seek producers of equipment to work with us [Answer: D – help look for equipment manufacturers]. Meanwhile, some of our staff has been sent to this organization for some special training. Their skills should be improved very soon.
Also, we have had a long-time cooperation with Sam’s Eyecare Institution (trong script bạn gửi ghi là Sam’s IKEA, nhưng tên đúng trong bài nghe thường là Eyecare). Our relationship with it has given us the (19) opportunity to link with many different academic institutions, including colleges and universities [Answer: C – earn support from colleges] with good reputation.
And we have a similar friendship with a group called Youth Health. Our connection with that group (20) allows us to link directly with young kids [Answer: B – involve more children in need], since this is a crucial stage in their growth.
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We plan to contact with some colleges and hope that with their help, more college students could get to know our program. So as you can see, we have all bases covered in linking with students, as we have affiliations directly with both administrators and the students themselves.
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Thank you so much for your attention today as we try to stamp out eye problems. We will appreciate your donations, no matter how large or how small. We believe with our efforts, the world will be a brighter and more beautiful place.
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Questions 11-16

National Vision Funding Group {take the reputation to a higher level}
 
Eye for the Future {help look for equipment manufacturers}
 
Sam's Eyecare Institution {earn support from colleges}
 
Youth Health {recruit and support staff}

Questions 17-20

Part 2

<h3 data-path-to-node="2">SECTION 3: FEEDBACK ON BUSINESS PRESENTATION</h3>
Tutor: Thanks, Ron, for coming to my office to discuss the presentation you gave yesterday to the Business Management Seminar. We’ll go over what you did with the aim of helping you improve your next presentation.
Ron: Sounds good.
Tutor: Now, the topic was the Just-in-Time, or J-I-T supply system used by a lot of manufacturers, first in Japan and then in the West, I think?
Ron: Yes, but actually one thing (21) I should have made clearer and talked about was the fact that the Americans actually pioneered the idea of Just-in-Time [Answer: A – credit to the originators], though it wasn’t called that. Henry Ford and his cars, in fact, at the turn of the 20th century. And later, a big US supermarket chain used it, and this was where Toyota in Japan got the idea for its car making.
Tutor: Yes, that would have been a good addition. And now before we go any further, I think I would suggest that (22) you should have stopped and clearly defined Just-in-Time for your seminar colleagues [Answer: B – introductory definition]. You said its aim was to reduce waste, and you mentioned that classic business theory assumes that stock or inventory of parts are counted as assets, but Just-in-Time sees them as unnecessary waste. But you never told us that J-I-T simply means waiting until the last moment to order new supplies as you need them.
Ron: Yes, you’re right. I should have done that.
Tutor: Now, you talked a bit about standardizing parts as a way of streamlining JIT. Where did you get your data from?
Ron: Well, I tried an internet website on the subject, which is called the Lean Clearing House, but it was too technical for me. (23) So in the end, I got my data from a textbook called “Learning from Toyota” [Answer: C – textbook]. I found some journal articles too, but they didn’t seem very useful.
Tutor: Yes, well, there is a US government report on it I’ve seen. I’ll get a copy for you.
Ron: Great, I look forward to reading through it.
Tutor: And while you’re at it, you might want to find out about cases where JIT might not be suitable, and that’s in service industries like tourism or healthcare, (24) where customers are paying for something that they can’t actually see or count [Answer: A – absence of countable things]. Although J-I-T is fashionable today, some people would say it hasn’t proved so successful in the service sector as it has with the manufacturing of goods that can be quantified.
Ron: That would be interesting. I’ll see what I can find out.
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<h3 data-path-to-node="16">CRITIQUE OF TECHNICAL ASPECTS (Questions 25–30)</h3>
Tutor: Now, unless you have any more questions, let’s turn to a critique of the technical aspects of the presentation. I’m afraid I’ll emphasize the things I think you might want to work on. It was a good talk, but with a little work, your next presentation should be excellent.
Ron: Fine, that would be helpful. Actually, I wasn’t happy with my delivery. (25) I sometimes seemed to talk fast and sometimes slow [Answer: B – too irregular]. I was on edge, I guess.
Tutor: Yes, you were. And as well as that, your purpose wasn’t very specific. (26) In future, you need to lay out exactly what you’re going to cover and why [Answer: H – too vague]. Make it clear and concise and not so general.
Ron: And what about my transitions from one section to the next?
Tutor: Well, you didn’t link the sections, did you? You went too quickly from one to the next. (27) It was all just too abrupt [Answer: D – too sudden].
Ron: OK, I’ll try to improve that.
Tutor: Now, your PowerPoint visuals were lovely, but sometimes I got the feeling that, nice as they were as pictures, (28) they didn’t have much to do with what you were talking about [Answer: G – too loosely related].
Ron: Right, you’re right.
Tutor: And you know, another thing I could see from the other students’ reactions: (29) they just didn’t understand some of the vocabulary I was using [Answer: E – too technical]. Remember your audience were laymen, mostly without knowledge of JIT, so you need to simplify and try to put things in everyday English.
Ron: I never seem to do that.
Tutor: And lastly, I’ll just mention your body language. You didn’t use gestures, and you just stood straight without any animation. (30) It didn’t make you seem very interested in the subject [Answer: F – too unenthusiastic].
Ron: I know, even though I really do like the subject. Sorry.
Tutor: Well, despite all this, I enjoyed your presentation and I could see you put lots of work into it. I look forward to an even better presentation from you next time.
Ron: Well, thanks for your help.

Questions 21–24

Questions 25–30

Part 3

SECTION 4: NATURAL BUILDING MATERIALS
Lecturer: There is growing interest in building structures using natural materials these days. I’ll begin this lecture by looking at how some of these materials work, some advantages and problems associated with each.
However, I must start by saying that all these materials and construction techniques require, first and foremost, a solid (31) foundation, which will most often need to be made of concrete. Thus the goal of using 100% natural materials may have to be slightly compromised.
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<h3 data-path-to-node="6">RAMMED EARTH</h3>
Lecturer: One type of natural building material is what is known as rammed earth. Rammed earth is a construction method whereby a framework constructed of wood is set in place to act as temporary walls, and then damp earth or soil is placed within this framework. As it is added, the earth is packed down and subjected to intense compression, either by hand or by using specialized machinery.
Across parts of Africa today, you can see military fortifications built in this way over 10,000 years ago still standing in remarkably good condition. The most appropriate type of soil for this construction method is one with a high concentration of (32) sand in it, though other kinds of soil are sometimes successfully used. Rammed earth buildings are well suited to dry, arid climates.
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<h3 data-path-to-node="10">ADOBE (MUD BRICK)</h3>
Lecturer: Another form of natural construction is called the Adobe method, or sometimes the mud brick method. This utilizes bricks which can be made from a variety of soils, but are most suitable when made from a soil rich in (33) clay. The bricks have got to be carefully made to prevent them from cracking.
The main advantage of this Adobe brick method is that the materials are cheap and also that it’s (34) convenient for people in many geographical areas. Thus, Adobe buildings have been traditional forms of construction in many societies and today can be found all over the world. The construction method is also popular because making the bricks requires minimal (35) training.
However, the Adobe method does have its drawbacks. For proper preparation of the bricks, large quantities of water are required, and because these bricks are manufactured by hand, the process demands significant investment of time as well as (36) labor (hoặc labour), which can be backbreaking and exhausting.
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<h3 data-path-to-node="15">STRAW BALES</h3>
Lecturer: A natural building material which has been popularized in the US is the use of straw bales to create walls. Straw is, of course, dried stalks of plants, especially tall grasses. The straw is shaped into large rectangular blocks called bales, tightly bound together, and these are excellent for use in the building of walls.
When building with straw bales, the first thing that needs to be done is to construct a (37) roof supported by poles so that work can continue even if it rains. Then the straw bales are stacked up to form walls. The bales are then coated with a layer of plaster which seals and protects them and keeps the (38) insects out of them. The most common reason for their use in building today is the fact that they provide a very effective means of insulation for the building.
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<h3 data-path-to-node="19">BAMBOO</h3>
Lecturer: Another great building material is bamboo. This highly versatile plant is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. One of its primary advantages is due to the hollow, round, and segmented shape of its individual stalks, which give it its (39) strength. And because of its lightweight, it is easy to handle.
A significant drawback, however, is that the large varieties of bamboo which are best suited for construction grow only in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. And also, because it catches (40) fire easily, bamboo can be problematic and potentially dangerous.
Now let’s take a look at possible sources of…

Listening Test 27

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