Cambridge 15 Listening Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. The note asks for the agent's surname, following the first name 'Becky'. 'Jamieson' is a proper noun, so it must be capitalised exactly as given and would typically be spelled out or clearly enunciated by the speaker rather than paraphrased.

2. 'Best to call her in the ___' needs a time-of-day noun. 'Afternoon' fits the sentence pattern 'in the afternoon' — one of a small closed set (morning/afternoon/evening) an exam writer can test, so listen for the specific part of the day named, not a clock time.

3. The suffix 'skills' tells you the gap is an adjective/noun that combines with 'skills' — 'communication skills' is a common collocation for job requirements, matching 'must have good ___ skills'.

4. 'Jobs are usually for at least one ___' needs a singular time-unit noun after the numeral 'one'. 'Week' is the natural unit for describing minimum job duration in temporary/agency work.

5. 'Pay is usually £___ per hour' calls for a number. The source gives '10/ten', meaning either the digit or the word form is acceptable — a reminder that for numeric answers you should write down the number you hear, in either digit or word form.

6. 'Wear a ___ to the interview' needs a clothing noun. 'Suit' is the expected item of formal interview attire, fitting the instruction context of registering with an agency.

7. 'Must bring your ___ to the interview' needs a noun for an identification document. 'Passport' is the standard ID document requested for registration processes of this kind.

8. 'Questions about each applicant's ___' needs an abstract noun describing a personal quality. 'Personality' fits — agencies commonly ask about character traits alongside skills and experience.

9. 'The ___ you receive at interview will benefit you' needs an uncountable noun for information given about performance. 'Feedback' is the standard term for comments given after an interview, and is a classic IELTS Section 1 vocabulary item.

10. 'Less ___ is involved in applying for jobs' needs an uncountable noun matching the quantifier 'less'. 'Time' fits — the sentence is contrasting the effort/duration of job-hunting through an agency versus alone.

11. The stem asks what the speaker claims about the company. Option A ('has been in business for longer than most of its competitors') is a longevity claim; B and C are plausible-sounding distractors about the scale of destinations and customer numbers. The correct answer is specifically about how long the company has operated, not about how big it is.

12. The stem asks for a specific meeting location before travel. Of the three place names offered — Liverpool, Heysham, Luton — the answer is Heysham (B), the port town typically used for Isle of Man ferry departures, distinguishing it from the other two plausible-sounding UK place names.

13. This is a number-distractor question: three, four, or five lunches. The answer is 'three' (A) — expect the real number to be mentioned alongside at least one other close number as a distractor, so listen for the exact figure rather than assuming the largest or first number heard is correct.

14. The stem asks what customers pay extra for. Option C ('transferring to another date') is the correct extra charge, while A (a larger room) and B (booking at short notice) are plausible related costs raised as distractors — the task is to isolate which specific circumstance triggers an additional fee.

15. 'Hotel dining room has view of the ___' needs a noun naming a geographical feature. 'River' fits as a typical scenic detail given about accommodation in a holiday itinerary.

16. The suffix 'not 979' flags that a decoy year is mentioned alongside the real one — this is a classic number-distractor format where an incorrect date is stated before or after the correct one. The correct founding year is '1422', not the nearby-sounding '979'.

17. 'Train to the ___ of Snaefell' needs a noun for a summit/position. 'Top' fits describing where the mountain railway terminates.

18. 'Company provides a ___ for local transport and heritage sites' needs a noun for a travel document. 'Pass' fits as the standard term for an all-inclusive ticket covering transport and attractions.

19. 'Take the ___ railway train from Douglas to Port Erin' needs an adjective describing the train type. 'Steam' fits — the Isle of Man's heritage railway is historically known as a steam railway, a plausible and specific detail for this kind of itinerary note.

20. 'Coach to Castletown, former ___ has old castle' needs a noun describing Castletown's historical status. 'Capital' fits, since Castletown is described as a former seat of government, distinguishing it from a simple town name.

21. This matching task pairs each family position with one of eight personality traits (A–H: outgoing, selfish, independent, attention-seeking, introverted, co-operative, caring, competitive), each used only once. The eldest child is matched with 'caring' (G) — with eight items and eight slots, work through the list systematically, since ruling out traits assigned to other positions helps narrow down each answer.

22. The middle child is matched with 'co-operative' (F) from the same eight-option list used across questions 21–26 — a trait research on middle-child dynamics often highlights, distinguishing it from traits like 'competitive' or 'attention-seeking' assigned elsewhere in the set.

23. The youngest child is matched with 'outgoing' (A). Since all eight traits are drawn from a single shared list across six questions, the same word cannot be the answer twice — process of elimination against the other five answers helps confirm this one.

24. A twin is matched with 'introverted' (E) — a less obvious pairing than some of the others, which is exactly the kind of item this matching format tests: don't assume the 'expected' stereotype trait, listen for which one the discussion actually assigns.

25. An only child is matched with 'selfish' (B), one of the traditional stereotypes about only children found in psychological literature on birth order, which the speakers are discussing critically.

26. A child with much older siblings is matched with 'independent' (C) — fitting the idea that having much older siblings functions similarly to being an only child in terms of autonomy.

27. The stem asks what the speakers say about evidence on birth order and academic success. Option C ('some studies have neglected to include important factors such as family size') is the correct critique of the research; A and B present specific factual claims about oldest children and socio-economic status that serve as plausible but incorrect distractors.

28. The stem asks what Ruth finds surprising about oldest children's academic performance. Option A ('mainly thanks to their roles as teachers for younger siblings') is correct; B and C describe alternative explanations (modest advantage, parental attention) that are raised as distractors but don't match what Ruth specifically finds surprising.

29–30. Questions 29 and 30 share one prompt asking for TWO letters from a five-option list (A–E) about valuable sibling-rivalry experiences. The two correct options are B ('learning to stand up for oneself') and D ('learning to be tolerant'); A, C and E are plausible-sounding alternatives from the same theme (sharing, losing gracefully, apologising) that must be ruled out — for 'choose TWO' items, both letters must be identified from the same short passage of speech.

31. 'It provides ___ and food for a wide range of species' needs a noun paired with 'food'. 'Shelter' fits — a standard way to describe a tree's ecological role for wildlife.

32. 'Its leaves provide ___ which is used to make a disinfectant' needs an uncountable noun for a substance extracted from leaves. 'Oil' fits — eucalyptus oil is the well-known product referenced here.

33. 'Lime used for making ___ was absorbed' needs a plural noun for a type of infrastructure. 'Roads' fits the explanation of the 'Mundulla Yellows' disease cause given in the note.

34. 'Cause — ___ feed on eucalyptus leaves' needs a plural noun for the organisms responsible for the 'Bell-miner Associated Die-back' condition. 'Insects' fits, since the note is asking what feeds on the leaves.

35. 'High-frequency bushfires result in the growth of ___' needs a plural/uncountable noun for a type of vegetation. 'Grass(es)' fits, contrasting with the tree cover being lost.

36. 'Mid-frequency bushfires make more ___ available to the trees' needs an uncountable noun for a resource trees need. 'Water' fits as the resource whose availability increases.

37. 'Mid-frequency bushfires maintain the quality of the ___' needs a noun for the ground/growing medium. 'Soil' fits, paralleling the 'water' answer in the previous note as another environmental factor bushfires affect.

38. 'Low-frequency bushfires result in the growth of ___ 'rainforest'' needs an adjective modifying 'rainforest'. 'Dry' fits — 'dry rainforest' is the specific ecological term being defined by the note.

39. 'This is a ___ ecosystem' needs an adjective describing ecosystem complexity. 'Simple' fits, following on from the dry rainforest point as a description of that habitat type.

40. 'An ideal environment for the ___ of the bell-miner' needs a noun for what a bird builds/uses. 'Nest(s)' fits, tying this closing note back to the bell-miner bird mentioned earlier in the lecture (linked to the die-back disease in Q34).