IELTS Listening Multiple Choice questions (MCQs) consist of just 3 choices (a, b, c) compared to 4 in the Reading section.
Listening Section 4 is usually made up of gapfill questions, but multiple choice questions are also common.
This IELTS Part 4 will help you recognise signals, understand synonyms and avoid distractors in Section 4 Multiple Choice Questions.
This lesson analyses signals in the tapescript to understand how Multiple Choice Questions work.
Do this yourself whenever you do Listening Practice Tests.
Doing Practice Tests as tests will not develop your Listening skills quickly.
You need to engage with the texts, become more familiar with fast speech and start to recognise clues such as emphasis and intonation.
Use the tapescripts (included below) to analyse the questions and answers.
Tips for IELTS Listening Multiple Choice Questions in Section 4
Although this type of question is less common in the last part of the Listening Test, you need to be prepared to follow the same strategies as with all Multiple Choice Questions:
- recognising signals
- using synonyms
- avoiding distractors
- improving your knowledge of fast speech features
- understanding intonation changes
Get more advice and practice with IELTS Listening Multiple Choice Questions.
Research about people’s attitudes to doctors
31 In order to set up her research programme, Shona got
A advice from personal friends in other countries
B help from students in other countries
C information from her tutor’s contacts in other countries
I’ve been doing some research into what people in Britain think of doctors, the ones who work in general practice, and comparing this with the situation in a couple of other countries. I want to talk about the rationale behind what I decided to do.
Now I had to set up my programme of research in 3 different countries so I approached postgraduates in my field in overseas departments, contacting them by email to organise things for me at their end. I thought I would have trouble recruiting help but in fact everyone was very willing and sometimes their tutors got involved too.
32 What types of people were included in the research?
A young people in their first job
B men who were working
C women who were unemployed
I had to give my helpers clear instructions about what kind of sample population I wanted them to use. I decided that people under 18 should be excluded because most of them are students or looking for their first job, and also I decided at this stage just to focus on men who were in employment and set up something for people who didn’t have jobs and for employed women later on as a separate investigation.
33. Shona says that in her questionnaire her aim was
A to get a wide range of data
B to limit people’s responses
C to guide people through interviews
I specifically wanted to do a questionnaire and interviews with a focus group. With the questionnaire, rather than limiting it to one specific point, I wanted to include as much variety as possible. I know questionnaires are a very controlled way to do things but I thought I could do taped interviews later on to counteract the effects of this. And the focus group may also prove useful in future by targeting subjects I can easily return to, as the participants tend to be more involved.
34. What do Shona’s initial results show about medical services in Britain?
A Current concerns are misrepresented by the press.
B Financial issues are critical to the government.
C Reforms within hospitals have been unsuccessful
So I’m just collating the results now. At the moment it looks as if, in the UK despite the fact that newspapers continually report that people are unhappy with medical care, in fact it is mainly the third level of care which takes place in hospitals, that they are worried about. Government reforms have been proposed at all levels and although their success is not guaranteed, long-term hospital care is in fact probably less of an issue than the media would have us believe. However, I’ve still got quite a bit of data to look at.
35. Shona needs to do further research in order to
A present the government with her findings
B decide the level of extra funding needed.
C identify the preferences of the public
Certainly I will need to do more far-reaching research than I had anticipated in order to establish if people want extra medical staff invested in the community, or if they want care to revert to fewer, but larger, key medical units. The solution may well be something that can be easily implemented by those responsible in local government, with central government support of course.
36. Shona has learnt from the research project that
A it is important to plan projects carefully.
B people do not like answering questions
C colleagues do not always agree
This first stage has proved very valuable though. I was surprised by how willing most of the subjects were to get involved in the project – I had expected some unwillingness to answer questions honestly. But I was taken aback and rather concerned that something I thought I’d set up very well didn’t necessarily seem that way to everyone in my own department.
31 In order to set up her research programme, Shona got
B help from students in other countries (= other countries)
32 What types of people were included in the research?
B men who were working (= in employment)
33. Shona says that in her questionnaire her aim was
A to get a wide range of data (= as much variety as possible)
34. What do Shona’s initial results show about medical services in Britain?
A Current concerns are misrepresented by the press. (= less of an issue than the media would have us believe)
35. Shona needs to do further research in order to
B decide the level of extra funding needed. (to establish if people want…)
36. Shona has learnt from the research project that
C colleagues do not always agree (= didn’t seem that way to everyone in my department)
Get more advice and practice with IELTS Listening Multiple Choice Questions.
Get the full listening walk-through with all my Listening tips in the Members Academy 28-Day IELTS Listening Course.
Learn more about IELTS Listening on the official IELTS website.
Do you need motivation, high-quality materials, a roadmap, feedback, guidance and an IELTS specialist teacher?
Upgrade to the Members Academy today.
Get instant access to all courses, challenges, boot camps, live classes, interactive and engaging classes, 1:1 support, and a friendly tight-knit community of like-minded learners to get you to Band 7+.

Leave a Reply