Multiple choice in the Listening test

A step-by-step approach to three-option and choose-two multiple choice questions in IELTS Listening, including how to read ahead and follow paraphrase.

Multiple choice is the task that Listening candidates find hardest. The reason is not the listening; it is the reading. For five questions you may have to keep around 150 words of text in mind while following speech that never stops. This lesson shows how to reduce that load.

The two formats

One answer from three (A, B or C)

12 Why did the mill close in 1968? A It could not compete with foreign producers. B Its equipment was destroyed by a flood. C Its owner decided to retire.

Two answers from five (A–E)

Choose TWO letters, A–E. Which TWO problems of urban beekeeping will Leila discuss in her presentation?

In the second format each correct letter is one mark, and the order does not matter.

Before you listen: reduce each option to a word or two

You do not have time to reread full sentences while the recording plays. In the reading pause, do three things for each question.

1. Read the stem and decide what it is really asking. Why did the mill close? → I need a reason for closing.

2. Find the key difference between the options and highlight just that. A foreign producers · B flood · C owner retire

3. Think how each might be said differently. A → imports, cheap cloth from abroad, overseas competition B → the river burst its banks, water damage, machinery ruined C → gave up, stopped working, too old to carry on

Now, when the recording plays, you only need to glance at three short labels.

If the pause is too short to prepare all the questions fully, prepare the first two or three properly and at least read the stems of the rest. Stems are more important than options, because they tell you when each question is being answered.

While you listen: follow the stems

The questions come in order. The speaker will move from the topic of question 11 to the topic of question 12, and the stem tells you what that topic is. Often you hear a phrase that echoes the stem:

Stem 12: Why did the mill close in 1968? Recording: ‘The mill kept working right up until 1968. Now, in those days a lot of mills in this region shut because…’

As soon as you hear ‘1968’, you know question 12 has begun, whether or not you managed to answer question 11.

Expect to hear all three options

In a well-written IELTS question, every option is mentioned or suggested in the recording. Two are mentioned and then dismissed, or mentioned in connection with something else.

‘Now, in those days a lot of mills in this region shut because they couldn’t compete with cheap cloth from abroad, but that wasn’t the case here. The business was doing rather well. What happened was that the river burst its banks that winter, and the water ruined most of the machinery. The family who owned the mill simply couldn’t afford to replace it.’

• A – foreign competition: mentioned, then rejected (‘that wasn’t the case here’).
• B – the flood: introduced by ‘What happened was’, the real reason.
• C – the owner: the family is mentioned, but they could not afford repairs; nobody retired.

Answer: B.

The correct option paraphrases the recording: equipment was destroyed by a flood = the water ruined most of the machinery. The wrong options often sound more like the recording: ‘foreign producers’ echoes ‘from abroad’, and ‘owner’ echoes ‘the family who owned the mill’.

So a useful rule of thumb: be suspicious of an option that uses the speaker’s exact words, and listen for an option that expresses the speaker’s meaning.

Opinion and attitude questions

In Parts 3 and 4, many stems ask about what a speaker thinks, feels or decides:

What surprised Maya at the upstream site? What does the tutor say about Leila’s first slide? What do they decide to do with the section about costs?

For these, listen for evaluating language:

‘The first one’s attractive. The photograph works well, and you haven’t crowded it with text. My only concern is the figure you give… you need to find the original source.’

Stem: What does the tutor say about the first slide? A too much text → rejected (‘you haven’t crowded it with text’) B photograph not suitable → rejected (‘works well’) C the statistic needs a reference → correct (‘find the original source’)

Here the speaker praises twice before giving the criticism. Questions about a tutor’s feedback very often work like this.

Choosing TWO answers

1. Highlight the exact question. Which TWO problems will she discuss? is different from Which TWO problems are mentioned?
2. All five options are usually mentioned, in a different order from the list.
3. As each is mentioned, mark it ✓ or ✗ on your notepaper, or click/unclick it on screen.

‘People always mention stings, but the risk is tiny, so I won’t spend time on that. The one I think really matters is food… wild bees and other insects go short. That’s definitely going in. … I considered noise, and theft… but they’re not really scientific issues. The other thing I want to talk about is infection… a disease in one colony can pass very quickly to the next.’

• A stings ✗ (‘won’t spend time’)
• B shortage of food for other insects ✓ (‘definitely going in’)
• D noise ✗, E theft ✗ (‘not really scientific issues’)
• C spread of disease ✓ (‘the other thing I want to talk about’)

Answer: B and C.

If you get lost

It happens to everyone: you are still thinking about question 22 and suddenly realise the speakers are discussing something else.

1. Do not go back. The recording will not.
2. Look at the stems of the next two questions and listen for either topic.
3. Guess the one you missed from what you remember and move on. A guess has a one-in-three chance; a blank has none.

Losing one question is normal. Losing three because you were still worrying about the first is avoidable.

Practice routine

1. Stems only. Cover the options, play the recording and answer each stem in your own words. Then uncover the options and match. This trains you to listen for meaning.
2. Transcript analysis. For each question, find where each of the three options is mentioned and explain why two are wrong.
3. Paraphrase list. Write the wording of each correct option beside the words actually spoken. This is the Listening equivalent of the paraphrase notebook in the Reading course.

Key points

• Use the reading time to turn each option into a one- or two-word label.
• Follow the stems to know which question is being answered.
• Expect all options to be mentioned; the correct one is confirmed, the others dismissed.
• The right answer is usually a paraphrase; exact echoes are often traps.
• For ‘choose TWO’, tick and cross each option as it is discussed.
• If you miss one, guess and move on immediately.

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