Tool or game
Lesson
Listening Part 3: Planning a group research project
Two students plan a survey about food waste in their university canteen. Practise Part 3 multiple choice and matching tasks to people, where speakers agree, disagree and change their minds.
What makes Part 3 hard
Two or three people discuss an academic task. The difficulty isn't the vocabulary. It's following who thinks what, and noticing when someone changes their mind.
Listen for agreement and disagreement
| Agreeing | Disagreeing or doubting |
|---|---|
| That makes sense. / Good point. | I'm not sure about that. / The trouble is… |
| Let's do that, then. | Maybe, but… / Wouldn't it be better to…? |
Leila: "We could just do an online survey." Tom: "The trouble is, hardly anyone answered the last one."
The online survey is suggested but not chosen.
The online survey is suggested but not chosen.
Matching tasks to people
When the question asks who will do something, wait for the final decision: "OK, so you do the poster and I'll handle the interviews."
Practise freely
Listening
Food waste in the canteen
Two students, Leila and Tom, are planning a research project for their environmental studies course.
0:00
Answer the questions while you listen. In the real test you hear the recording once.
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Show the transcript (try the questions first)
Leila: So, we need to decide how we're going to measure food waste in the canteen. I was thinking we could just do an online survey and ask students how much food they throw away.
Tom: The trouble is, hardly anyone answered the online survey the student union sent round last term. And people aren't very honest about waste. Nobody likes admitting they throw food away.
Leila: Good point. So what would you suggest?
Tom: We could actually look at what's left on the plates. The canteen manager said we could stand by the tray return at lunchtime and record what comes back.
Leila: I like that. It's real data, not just opinions. But we should still ask a few questions, to find out why people leave food.
Tom: Agreed. Short face-to-face questions, then, not an online form. Maybe just three questions, so it doesn't hold the queue up.
Leila: How many plates do we need to look at? Our tutor said the sample should be big enough to compare different days.
Tom: If we do four lunchtimes and about fifty plates each time, that's two hundred. That should be enough.
Leila: Two hundred, OK. Now, who's doing what? I'm happy to design the questions, since I did the survey module last year.
Tom: Great. Then I'll put together the recording sheet for the plates. We'll both need to be there on the days, though.
Leila: Of course. And the data analysis? I find spreadsheets a bit of a nightmare, to be honest.
Tom: I'll do the spreadsheet, then. But could you write up the background section of the report? You've already read most of the articles.
Leila: Fine. What about the presentation at the end? I thought we might make a poster.
Tom: Doctor Evans said she'd prefer a short video this year, didn't she? Something the canteen could show on its screens.
Leila: Oh yes, I forgot. A video, then. We can make that together once we've got the results.
Tom: And the deadline for the first draft is the fourteenth of November, so we should start the plate counts next week.
Questions 1–4
Choose the correct answer, A, B or C.
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Why does Tom reject the idea of an online survey?
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How will the students collect their main data?
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How many plates do they plan to examine in total?
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What form will the final presentation take?
Questions 5–8
Who will do each task? Choose A, B or C.
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design the questions for students
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prepare the recording sheet
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analyse the data in a spreadsheet
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make the video
Questions 9–10
Complete the notes. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER.
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Leila will also write the section of the report.
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First draft deadline: November
More listening practice
Practice test
Cambridge IELTS Listening tests (Books 10–21)
PDF worksheet