Two students, Hannah and Josh, discussing their project on noise
IELTS Listening — IELTS Practice Originals, Listening Practice Test 10, Section 3
{# No redirect, deliberately: the text above must be the same thing a reader and a crawler get, and the CTA is how a reader crosses into the timed app. #} Listen and answer Play the recording once, as in the exam, then see every answer with the moment in the audio it comes from. Start nowTranscript
{# Shown in full, as the review screen does after a sitting: it is the text a searcher is looking for, and hiding it would leave this page with nothing on it but a heading. #}Section 3. You will hear two students, Hannah and Josh, discussing their project on noise around the campus with their tutor. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.
TUTOR: Hannah, Josh, your study measured noise levels across the campus. How did you actually record it?
HANNAH: We used an app on our phones at first, but the readings were all over the place, so we borrowed a proper sound meter from the engineering department, which was far more reliable.
JOSH: And we took readings at the same three times each day, so we could compare like with like, rather than just wandering around whenever.
TUTOR: Good discipline. Where did you find the worst noise?
JOSH: Not where we expected. We'd assumed the road would be the problem, but actually the loudest single place was the main library atrium, of all places, because everyone treats it as a meeting spot and chats.
TUTOR: The library, how ironic. And the quietest?
HANNAH: The old walled garden behind the arts building, hardly anyone knows it's there, it was like stepping into another world.
TUTOR: Now, what did students themselves say bothered them most?
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.
HANNAH: Interestingly, it wasn't the loudest noise that annoyed people, it was sudden, unpredictable noise, a door slamming, a chair scraping, that sort of thing disturbed concentration far more than a steady background hum.
TUTOR: That fits the research. And your main recommendation to the university?
JOSH: A simple one, really, create more clearly signed quiet zones, students said they'd happily use them but often didn't know where they could go to work in silence.
TUTOR: Now, before we finish, let's be clear about the limitations, because I'll ask about them in the viva. Hannah?
HANNAH: The obvious one is that we only collected data over two weeks, in term time, so we can't say anything about how it changes across the year.
TUTOR: Right, and I'd add that you measured volume but not the type of sound, which, as you found, matters just as much. Josh, one more?
JOSH: We only surveyed students, not staff, and staff use the buildings differently, so their experience of the noise might be quite different from ours.
TUTOR: All fair points, and good that you've spotted them yourselves. Let's look at your maps.
That is the end of Section 3. You now have some time to check your answers.