Introduction
IELTS Listening multiple choice is a question type where you have to listen to a recording and select one or more than one answer option from the given choices. This is one of the most difficult task types in the listening section of the IELTS test. This task is difficult because it requires you to multi-task. You have to read and understand the question, listen to the recording and find the correct answers.
Types of IELTS Listening Multiple choice
There are two types of multiple choice questions in the IELTS Listening test.
- Multiple choice(one answer) – In this type of question you have to select one option as an answer from the given 3 or 4 options.
- Multiple choice(Multiple answers) – In this type of question you have to select more than one option as an answer from the given options.
Strategy
Before the recording
Read the question
Read the question carefully to understand what needs to be done. You must identify whether you have to select one correct option or more than one option from the answer options given.
Some questions will have the title information, so it can help you identify the main topic of the recording.
Skim through the text
You get 30 seconds to read the question so you need to read the text fast. The best way to do this is to skim through the text. This would help you to understand what it is the general topic and what it is talking about. This is a real struggle as the text can be very wordy at times.
Identify the keywords
It is important to identify the keywords in the text so that you know what the actual question is in the text and what you will need to look for. These keywords help you identify what is needed in the question.
Predict the answer
Analyse the answer options and try to predict what could be the correct ones.
During the recording
Listen to the recording carefully
The recording will play only once so listen carefully to the recording to find the answer to the questions by selecting the correct answer option(s).
Identify the synonyms
Synonyms are used in the recording to convey the same meaning as the answer options. Listen carefully and understand the actual meaning of each sentence.
Look out for traps
The answer will not be readily available in the recording some traps will be thrown in.
Example 1: You might hear a keyword from one of the answer options but then this will be discarded in the recording by the speaker in some way. So it is important to identify the meaning instead of matching the keywords in answer options to what you hear in the recording.
Example 2: One of the options from the answer options may be suggested by the speaker initially but then it may be rejected.
so listen to every sentence and understand it meaning to conclude if it matches one of the answer options.
Eliminate the wrong options
Using the strategy eliminate the wrong options by listening to the recording carefully and understanding the core meaning of each sentence. Using this strategy you will be able to arrive at the correct answer option.