Listening practice
IELTS Listening Matching (Lists) practice
Match items from a list.
This page is for doing Matching (Lists) questions: start the drill, then use the routine and the checks below to make each attempt count. For the strategy behind it, read the Matching (Lists) guide.
Practise Matching (Lists) only
5 Matching (Lists) questions from Academic Practice Test 2, with the recording and instructions they were written for. Your answers are saved and marked exactly as in a full section.
- Questions
- 5 questions
- Time
- 32 minutes
A Listening section is one continuous recording, so the drill plays the whole recording — you only answer the Matching (Lists) questions in it.
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What Matching (Lists) looks like on screen
A numbered list of items sits beside a box of lettered options, and you choose one letter for each item as the recording plays. The box often holds more options than there are items, so some letters are never used. The instructions say if a letter can be used more than once.
Where you will meet it
Matching is often set in Part 2, where one speaker describes several places or arrangements, and in Part 3, where students discuss several options. The items are usually discussed in the order they are listed, but the options in the box are in no particular order.
A routine for doing a set against the clock
Listening sets its own pace: the recording plays once, and there is time to read the questions before each part. The routine is about where your eyes and attention go:
- Spend the reading time on the box of options rather than the items; the items are short, the options are what you have to recognise.
- Notice which options sound alike, so you know which pairs need careful listening.
- Follow the items in order, with your eye on the item being discussed rather than the one after it.
- Choose a letter as soon as the speaker moves to the next item, even if you are only fairly sure, and flag it.