Top tips to ace your IELTS listening multiple choice questions test.

Top Tips To Ace Your IELTS Listening Multiple Choice Questions Test.

During your IELTS Listening test, you will be required to respond to many different types of questions. Most students find that the Multiple Choice questions are the most challenging…so we bring you some tips from the experts, to help you ace your test!

1. Brush up on your synonyms

IELTS Listening and Reading tasks are known to test your comprehension of synonyms; or words that have the same meaning. So, you must expect that the multiple-choice options will not match the exact words that the speaker has used in the first instance.

Examples of some synonyms are:

Anger- enrage, infuriate, arouse, nettle, exasperate, inflame, madden.

Fall – drop, descend, plunge, topple, tumble

TIP: There are many lists of synonyms available both online and with IELTS training centers. You must have a wide-ranging vocabulary at your fingertips in order to grasp the correct synonyms easily.

2. Do not get distracted!

The IELTS Listening Multiple Choice questions contain many distractors, which are similar sounding words that are set to ‘distract’ you from the real answer. It is easy to get confused as you hear the audio just once.

Example 1

Question: The man ordered _____ crates of beer.

Dialogue:

Man: Hi, I’m calling to confirm the delivery of thirty creates of beer to my apartment in Adelaide.

Woman: Oh, we only have one order for Adelaide, sir, and it’s for thirteen crates, not thirty.

Man: Ah, yes! Did I say thirty? Sorry. I meant thirteen. It is thirteen crates.

3. No time to read the questions!

Before each audio excerpt, the IELTS Listening test gives you some time to read the questions and answer choices. Many IELTS students feel, however, that they don’t have enough time to read the questions properly before the audio begins. A few excerpts can be very lengthy, and students are unable to read quickly enough to grasp the full meaning of each option within the allotted time.

TIP

Remember that you do have some time to check over your answers after each section. If you are sure of the answers to one section, do move ahead to the next section so that you can read it more slowly and carefully.

In case you are still low on time, focus on the question only and jot down short notes on your test paper about what you hear. Later, you can check these notes and then get to the correct answer.

Remember, do not get flustered or you will lose track of what the speaker is saying!

4. Stay focused and do not lose the thread

Many students have complained that they are unable to keep up with the pace of the audio. This could also happen if you miss the answer to one question. When the speaker has started talking about the next question, you may still be searching for the previous answer and can lose focus altogether. This is more common than you would imagine!

TIP

Keep your pencil ready and underline the keywords in all of the questions before you start listening. When you hear words that seem to match the next question, make sure that you move on. At a time, you should be thinking about not only the current question but also the next one, in order to keep pace with the audio track.

5. Low level of comprehension

Quite a few students are not able to understand the audio clearly. The speaker may be going too fast, or you may not be used to listening intensely to such a long passage.

TIP

If this is a problem you face often, try listening to the audio without looking at the questions. In case your ability to comprehend is low, then you should spend some extra time to build your general comprehension skills. Listen to google podcasts or watch English serials or movies. Do try to listen to the dialogue with your eyes closed, as for your actual test you will not have the advantage of a visual to aid in your comprehension.