IELTS Preparation Series 2, Episode 21: Health
(Bấm vào đây để xem/nghe bài kế tiếp)
Xem lời thoại bên dưới:
0:02
Hello. I'm
0:14
Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.
0:19
The focus of today's lesson is the IELTS Listening Test.
0:24
In the IELTS Listening Test, you will be tested on your ability to understand spoken English
0:30
in a variety of contexts, so it's important to develop a range of skills that will help
0:36
you with your listening.
0:39
A good way to prepare for the test is to develop your previewing and predicting skills. These
0:45
strategies will help improve your listening comprehension.
0:50
Let's imagine this graphic is a written part of a listening test - a fact sheet.
0:57
You are always given 30 seconds to familiarise yourself with the questions before the listening
1:03
section is played.
1:05
This is when you'll need to use your previewing and predicting skills. They will help you
1:12
learn as much as possible before you listen, so you will know what you will be listening
1:17
to and what you need to listen for.
1:20
Let's start previewing and predicting. Look at the section again. Think about the following
1:27
questions:
1:29
What is the topic?
1:31
Who is speaking?
1:32
Where are they?
1:34
Why are they talking?
1:35
OK. Let's think about the first question you should ask: What is the topic?
1:43
We know from the title of the fact sheet that this section will be about 'health and well-being.
1:50
Next: Who is speaking?
1:53
Because this is a section3 of an IELTS Listening Test, we know that it will be a conversation
1:59
between 2 to 4 speakers about an educational topic. The speakers could be teachers or students.
2:07
Where are they?
2:10
We could guess they are at university. Why are they talking?
2:16
We know from the fact sheet that they are discussing a health study.
2:22
These previewing and predicting skills are very important. You should go through these
2:27
steps before the actual listening test begins, so you are properly prepared.
2:36
It's important to look at the key words in the questions to determine what kind of information
2:42
you need to listen for.
2:44
The key words are highlighted:
2:47
How many children are being tracked?
2:51
We need to listen for a number.
2:54
What are the researchers checking?
2:58
We need to listen for something about the children's health.
3:02
How old are the participants?
3:05
We're listening for age.
3:09
Another skill the listening test assesses is your ability to follow instructions correctly.
3:16
If we look again at the written part of the test, what does the question ask us to do?
3:23
To answer using no more than 3 words or a number. You must read and follow this instruction
3:31
exactly.
3:34
Remember that the listening test is played once only, so it is important to prepare yourself
3:40
well.
3:42
Let's listen now. The announcer would start off by saying something like:
3:48
You are going to hear a passage about a study on the health and well-being of children.
3:54
Listen to the talk, and complete the notes.
3:58
For the past two decades, scientists have been tracking the health and well being of
4:03
7,500 Queensland children in a unique long-term study. It's rather like a scientific version
4:11
of the documentary series '7 Up'. Every few years, researchers revisit the participants
4:18
to check their growth and record their thoughts on life. Now, those chosen to take part in
4:24
the study as babies are coming of age, turning 21 and the data they've provided is giving
4:31
valuable insights into just why some children are healthier than others.
4:41
Well done! Now let's move on.
4:45
Now we're going to talk about listening for main ideas and supporting information.
4:50
This is important to test your ability to identify and understand the relationship between
4:57
ideas, such as: comparisons, examples, facts, opinions, cause and effect.
5:13
Here's an example. I'm going to give some information about sport. Identify what my
5:20
main idea is, and what information I provided to support my main idea.
5:27
Sport provides numerous benefits. Participation in sport can have a positive effect on a person's
5:36
well being, and at the same time improve their coordination. Also, it has been proven to
5:45
help fight disease.
5:50
One way your comprehension might be tested is with a summary completion test.
5:56
Let's imagine this next graphic is part of a listening test where you have to complete
6:02
the summary.
6:06
Here's our three-step strategy:
6:10
Skim the summary to get a general understanding
6:15
While skimming highlight the key words in the sentences
6:20
Then, think about the word form that is needed for each answer.
6:25
Having skimmed the question, we know that it is about a scientific study on the health
6:31
of young people.
6:33
The key words are: young people, alcohol, drugs, data, things, happened, how.
6:49
What is the word form we need in Question 1?
6:53
The study focused on young people who have a _____ on alcohol.
7:00
Before the blank we have a determiner, a, while the preposition on follows the blank.
7:09
We need a noun.
7:12
What word form do we need in Question 2?
7:16
After the pronoun she/he, which also functions as a subject, we need a verb.
7:24
Look at the other verbs - The verbs pointed and happened in the sentence are in the past
7:32
tense. We need a past tense verb.
7:38
We have now prepared ourselves for this section of the listening test.
7:44
Let's listen now. The announcer would start off by saying something like:
7:49
You are going to hear a Professor talking about his investigation into the mental and
7:55
physical health of young people. Listen to the talk, and complete the summary.
8:02
For me, it's compelling. It's totally compelling. You look at someone at 21 who, say, has a
8:08
dependence on alcohol or is using illicit drugs or has a serious mental illness or is
8:15
violent and perhaps already in prison, and you look back through 21 years of that person's
8:22
life; you've collected data periodically, and you look at the range of things that have
8:27
happened to that person and the ways that person's responded.
8:35
Well done! If you practise your listening skills and strategies you will be better prepared
8:41
for the IELTS Listening Test!
8:45
Always remember our three-step strategy for summary completion tasks.
8:51
Skim the summary to get a general understanding. Remember a summary is a short presentation
8:58
of what you hear.
9:00
While skimming, highlight the keywords in the sentences.
9:06
Choose the correct word from noun, adjective, verb, adverb that's needed. Remember look
9:15
before and after the blank space. The strategies for answering questions that
9:22
test this skill are covered on our Study English website. Just go to abcasiapacific.com/studyenglish.
9:30
That's all for today. I'll see you next time. Bye bye.