Hi guys, this is Fiona from IELTS.
With Fiona, and in today's lesson we're going to do a listening and I'm going to continue in my quest to show you that all of the gap fills are predictable.
I've got a whole list of them.
You might know already, but I've got a new shop on my website and There are a few of my documents, or workbooks or planners, things like that, that are included in the Members Academy.
But if you're not in the Members Academy, you can get them in my shop.
So one of them is a list of the most common gap fill words and the words that you need to know how to spell.
And there are patterns.
So I'm going to talk about some of those patterns today again.
But the second thing which is really important about this particular listening, it's called Maple Syrup.
That's the title.
And it's part four and it's book 17.
So it's one of the newer tests.
You know, part four is always divided kind of into two parts and there's a small gap in between the two parts for you to catch your breath a little bit.
Well, the final half of this is a description of how maple syrup is made.
Now, what does that remind you of?
Well, to me, immediately, it reminds me of academic task one.
And this is why everything is connected in IELTS.
And this is why I strongly recommend that you learn everything together.
You don't try to isolate.
Just do the writing or just do the listening.
Um, that's okay, you know if you're really struggling with just one part, but i think every part helps each other and and this, you're going to really see this in today's listening.
So, as i said, it's called maple syrup and there are really Four parts three, four parts.
The first one, it says, what is maple syrup?
Then the maple tree, then early maple sugar producers.
And the second half, the fourth part is today's maple syrup.
And it talks about the trees and then the production.
So that's the bit where it really is like a task one basically, and it's going to be really useful for us.
All of that useful language will be great for task one, writing a process.
They give you quite a lot of information in this particular example.
Everyone has like four or five bullet points with a lot of information.
So I think it really helps you follow your way through the listening.
So the first part, what is maple syrup?
It says it's made from the sap of the maple tree.
Then the next bullet point says the colour described as something.
So remember, it's noteworthy.
So the colour is described as something.
Well, think about maple syrup.
What colour is it?
It's added to food or used in cooking.
And then the next gap, it's very something compared to refined sugar.
So think about comparing sugar with maple syrup.
In what way might maple syrup be better?
So remember to start thinking about those things before you before the test starts.
So you're looking for maybe an adjective, a colour and an adjective for 32 as well.
It's very something compared to sugar.
So let's go.
She says, hello, everyone.
Today, we're going to look at another natural food product, and that's maple syrup.
What is this exactly?
Well, maple syrup looks rather like clear honey, but it's not made by bees.
It's produced from the plant fluid or sap inside the maple tree, and that makes maple syrup a very natural product.
Maple syrup is a thick golden, sweet tasting liquid that can be bought in bottles or jars and poured onto food such as waffles and ice cream, or used in the baking of cakes and pastries.
So that was quite tricky, I think.
It says maple syrup is a thick, golden, sweet tasting liquid.
There's no mention of colour in the text.
So you had to unfortunately pick up that golden.
And if you were prepared for it when you were making guesses about the gaps, you probably got that one.
What about the next one compared to sugar?
Then it says it contains no preservatives or added ingredients and it provides a healthy alternative to refined sugar, a healthy alternative.
So, remember you're only allowed one word.
Sorry I forgot to say that, but these days it's usually one word and we've got a healthy alternative.
So, what's the adjective there?
Well, the answer is healthy.
Now, how does that fit with my list of common words?
Well, I've got a list where They've chosen lots of words with EA in them, things like weather and wealth, just because the spelling and the sound we'll see another example later in this same text is difficult.
So healthy is the correct answer.
Now we go on to the next section, which is about the maple tree.
It gives us these bullet points.
It says it has many species.
It needs moist soil, but does not need fertilizer.
Those soil and fertilizer, two words on my key IELTS word list, needs sunny days and cool nights.
Maple leaf has been on the Canadian flag since 1964.
So, a lot of information there until we come to question 33.
Best growing conditions and something are in Canada and North America.
So, Canada and North America provide the best growing conditions and something else, a noun.
What else would be noticeable or significant about Canada and North America that would help maple trees to grow?
Well, let's go.
As I said, it's quite a long paragraph with a lot of information in it.
So you're waiting almost till the last line because that's where it's the last bullet point.
She says, let's just talk a bit about the maple tree itself, which is where maple syrup comes from.
There are many species of maple tree.
So cross that out on your bullet point.
Has many species.
And they'll grow without fertilizer in areas where there's plenty of moisture in the soil.
So tick that one off.
Moisture, by the way, is today's Instagram.
We're doing the words that end with ch like picture and nature.
So moisture.
Again, it's a common word, moist moisture.
However, they'll only do this if another important criterion is fulfilled, which is that they must have full or partial sun exposure during the day and very cool nights.
So the bullet point says sunny days and cool nights.
So cross that or tick that one off.
The next bullet point is about the Canadian flag.
And the speaker says, there are only certain parts of the world that provide all these conditions.
One is in, sorry, did I miss?
No.
One is Canada.
And by that, I mean all parts of Canada.
And the other is the northeastern states of North America.
In these areas, the climate suits the trees perfectly.
The climate suits the trees perfectly.
In fact, Canada produces over two thirds of the world's maple syrup, which is why the five pointed maple leaf is a Canadian symbol and has featured on the flag since 1964.
Now that's not very nice.
They've put the Canadian flag in the bullet point, kind of parallel to the gap.
So it's hard to tell what the order is.
I think in the real test they wouldn't do that, to be honest, because I was waiting for the Canadian flag.
But in fact, the first thing that comes up is that the climate suits the trees perfectly.
So The answer is climate.
Now, why have they chosen that word?
Well, if you look at my list of common words for IELTS gap fills, you'll see a list of words that end in A-T-E.
Why is that important?
Well, we know the word ate and mate and fate.
It's A-E.
And the verbs appreciate, anticipate, exacerbate all end with the pronunciation A-T-E.
But the adjectives don't.
The adjectives have the weak form.
So think about chocolate.
It's one of my key words and also one of the most mispronounced words.
It's on another list in the speaking planner.
So many people say chocolate, chocolate, but it's chocolate, chocolate.
Think about a pirate.
Pirates of the Caribbean.
Desperate, separate, deliberate.
It's a ut sound.
And they're testing that.
So the answer here, climate, looks like climate.
I don't know.
In America, do they say climate?
I don't know.
I will need to check that.
The next section is a heading, early maple sugar producers.
It brings us to another very typical IELTS issue, IELTS issue, IELTS topic about indigenous people.
So they made holes in the tree trunks and they used hot something to heat the sap.
I don't think you could guess it, but it's one of my commodities words.
It's on a list.
They used hot something, an uncountable noun, to heat the sap.
They used tree bark to make containers for collection and they sweetened food and drink with sugar.
So what did they use to heat the sap?
So she says, how did maple syrup production begin?
Notice she poses those questions so that if you're a bit lost then you'll know to go to section three early maple sugar producers.
Well, Long before Europeans settled in these parts of the world, the indigenous communities had started producing maple sugar.
They bored holes in the trunks of maple trees and they used containers made of tree bark to collect the liquid sap as it poured out.
As they were unable to keep the liquid for any length of time.
They didn't have storage facilities in those days.
They boiled the liquid by placing pieces of rock that had become scorching hot from the sun into the sap.
They boiled.
The liquid synonym for boiled is heated by placing pieces of rock that had become hot from the sun.
So that's your answer.
Rock.
It's a commodity.
It's a material.
It's uncountable.
It's on my list.
They did this until it turned into sugar.
And that's the last bullet point.
And they were then able to use this to sweeten their food and drinks.
Since that time, improvements have been made to the process. but it has changed very little overall.
The second half of this listening has the title Today's Maple Syrup and there are two headings the trees and the production.
So with the trees, there are two bullet points and it says tree trunks.
So think about what happens when a tree grows for 40 years.
What changes?
And the text says, Let's look at the production of maple syrup today.
Clearly, the maple forests are a valuable resource in many Canadian and North American communities.
The trees have to be well looked after, and they cannot be used to make syrup until the trunks reach a diameter of around 25 centimetres.
This can take anything up to 40 years.
So, it can take anything up to 40 years for the trunks to reach a diameter of around 25 centimetres.
So, that is the answer, diameter.
I have no explanation for that.
That's a tricky one.
And then the bullet points talk about the changing temperature and movement of water within.
The tree produces the sap.
So there's quite a lot of talk in here before the next thing.
It says as I've already mentioned, maple trees need the right conditions to grow and also to produce sap.
Why is this?
Well, what happens is that during a cold night, the tree absorbs water from the soil and that rises through the tree's vascular system.
But then, in the warmer daytime, the change in temperature causes the water to be pushed back down to the bottom of the tree.
This continual movement up and down leads to the formation of the sap needed for maple syrup production.
This is not relevant to what you need, but I'm reading it out for you to feel a bit more comfortable, to build confidence that there are large extracts of the passage which are not relevant to what you're looking for.
And you have to constantly be primed, be ready.
For the next one, it has a title.
It's called The Production.
And what are you listening for?
Well, it says a tap is drilled into the trunk and a something carries the sap into a bucket.
I think you could probably guess what, you know, what would they use to get the sap into a bucket?
So it says when the tree is ready, it can be tapped.
And this involves drilling a small hole into the trunk and inserting a tube into it that ends in a bucket.
So I'm sure you guessed this one.
A tube carries the sap into a bucket.
Why is it a common word or the kind of word they check?
Well, I guess because of the magic E.
I've got a list of the effects of the magic E and one of them is tub to tube, like cub to cube.
So it is being tested here.
Now, remember, we're looking at this from the point of view of a process as well.
So let's just use the next bit and see what it says. about a process.
The trees can often take several taps, though the workers take care not to cause any damage to the healthy growth of the tree itself.
So listen for the present simple.
The sap that comes out of the trees consists of, and consists of is an important word.
We use it in the Members Academy a lot when we're talking about percentages and I always say be careful the way you use it.
You know all of those words, I call them mark words makes up accounts for represents, constitutes and then consists of.
They can be tricky, but here we've got a nice example.
Consists of 98 water and 2 sugar and other nutrients.
It has to be boiled so that that's a nice linking word that you can use in processes.
It has to be boiled so that much of the water evaporates.
So present simple again.
And this process has to take place immediately using what are called evaporators.
That would be a nice touch in your process.
If you saw on the diagram there was a name of a machine like this one evaporators then you could say using what are called evaporators or using what is called a polishing machine, whatever it is in the graph.
Right, so the next gap we want.
Large pans... of sap called evaporators are heated by means of a something.
So how do you think you would heat these pans?
Again, prepare yourself mentally.
Try to picture it.
Imagine a pan.
What are you going to use to heat the pan?
It says evaporators are basically extremely large pans.
The sap is poured into these.
A fire is built and the pans are then heated until the sap boils.
So you probably guessed a fire is built and fire, F-I-R-E, is the answer.
A lot of something is produced during the evaporation process.
Now, could you guess this?
Can you remember back to your science lessons in school?
What is produced when things evaporate?
It says, as it does this, the water evaporates and the syrup begins to form.
The evaporation process creates large quantities of So, steam is the answer.
It's another uncountable noun.
And notice the spelling.
The second example, we had healthy with the E-A and now we've got steam with the E-A.
They do often test that with words where I don't know that you might have a double E instead of an E-A.
So, they're testing the E-A spelling.
The next bullet point, there's a lot in this second half.
It says sugar sand is removed because it makes the syrup look something and affects the taste.
So we're looking for another adjective now.
How would the syrup look if it had a lot of this kind of sandy sugar in it?
Well, yeah.
We're looking for that word.
OK, let's go.
So it says.
When the sap is thick enough to be called maple syrup, the worker removes it from the heat.
After this process, something called sugar sand has to be filtered out, as this builds up during the boiling process and gives the syrup a cloudy appearance and a slightly gritty taste.
So, it gives the syrup a cloudy appearance.
Cloudy, C-L-O-U-D-Y.
It's another one of those vowel sounds that has different pronunciations and spelling.
Well, pronunciations depending on the words.
So, cloudy. is the answer there.
And it says then, the next bullet point, the syrup is ready for use.
And the last gap, a huge quantity of sap is needed to make a something of maple syrup.
So we can guess that it's some kind of quantity or container.
Here could be a bottle or a jar or whatever.
So You could guess this.
Let's see.
It says once this has been done.
Notice present perfect for processes.
Very nice.
Once this has been done, the syrup is ready to be packaged so that it can be used for a whole variety of products.
I'm just picturing one that we did recently in the academy, which is the producing things from leather products.
It's got lots of similarities to this.
Leather is used for a whole variety of products.
It's a nice expression to learn.
It takes 40 litres of sap to produce one litre of maple syrup.
40 litres of sap to produce one litre of maple syrup.
So we were looking for.
A huge quantity of sap is needed to make a, and the space is a litre of maple syrup.
And litre, both spellings, okay.
British spelling, L-I-T-R-E.
American, L-I-T-E-R-E.
And I think it's interesting that they also had diameter in the gap 35.
But diameter only has one spelling.
So I wonder if that's what they're testing.
Who knows with IELTS?
Who knows?
Anyway, that was maple syrup.
I would really recommend having a look at that tape script.
You can find them for free online.
And just analysing that process again and how useful that is.
I would probably go on YouTube and have a look about how maple syrup is made.
I think this could be really useful for you for your academic writing task one.
OK.
Just before you go, if you're interested in the Members Academy, it's changed recently quite a lot.
And I just wanted to let you know that now there are two options and I think they're better options.
So before you could get just the courses only for one year, or you could get the courses plus all of the tuition and the speaking lessons and the writing feedback.
But that was a three month limit because it was a lot more intensive.
So now what's happened is you can still get all of the courses, everything included for one year.
And then the other option is you still get one year, but you get like eight writing and eight speaking included.
So it's a bit more flexible.
So you get all the courses, but you choose how many writing and speaking you want.
That's up to you.
So I think it's probably better in terms of you know some people work at, you know the pace is slower.
So they want to take more time over it.
They don't want that three month intensive.
You have to hand in your writing every week and have to do a speak in every week and all that.
They want to take it a bit more slowly.
So.
This means that you could take it as slowly or as quickly as you want or as you need.
You know, if you've got the exam in three months, you can do all those materials easily in three months, or and hand in all of your writings and speaking.
But if you want to take more time, then you can.
You could spread it over a longer period so you can relax a bit.
My aim when I made it three months is I didn't want you to relax because I thought if I put a limit then it will force you to take action.
And I strongly, strongly believe that.
I only ever finish courses when I know that there's a limit.
So it's a way of making you take action.
I don't like the idea of you know a lifetime uh deal, because i think you'll never use it because you'll know it's always there.
So the the three month, uh the three month um city program was yeah, really designed for you to put three months aside and focus for that three months.
I mean you can still do that, but you've just got a bit more leeway.
If you want to take six months or a year, then now you've got all those materials to do that.
And from the other point of view, if you just want the courses only, you can do that.
And then you can say, OK, now I'm ready.
I've done all the courses.
Now I'm ready for feedback.
And again, it's more like at your own pace.
You decide when you get the feedback.
So I think it's better.
Anyway, go and have a look.
You can find on my website.
Just go to IELTS ETC forward slash courses and you can find all the information there, or just get an individual course if it's better for you.
Thanks for listening and I will chat to you soon.
If you have any requests, let me know and I'll do my best to cover them in the podcast.
Oh, by the way, sorry if you're still here, probably not.
But if you get anything from my shop, then you automatically get into the Facebook group where I do live sessions and you can make requests there and we have a QA.
Well, that's the plan starting from August.
So that's another benefit or bonus.
You'll be in a Facebook group and you'll have access to me and my live lessons.
OK, and that's for everybody, everybody who either buys a course or anything from my shop or becomes a member.
That's it.
Thank you very much for listening.
Chat soon.
Have a lovely evening or day or wherever you are.
Bye bye.
