Hi guys, this is Fiona from IELTS exam training courses, or IELTSetccom, and this podcast is brought to you today by the Members Academy, a place where you can get everything you need to prepare for the IELTS exam just on one website.
Today I'm going to talk about two things.
First of all, the speaking challenge.
That's going really well and secondly, I'm going to do a reading, a very difficult reading, I think, but I'm going to show you how you can make it much easier for yourself.
First of all, in the speaking challenge, we're on day seven today and the whole week has focused on the question of have you ever?
The aim of the challenge is to help you get used to answering, choosing the correct tense.
So this have you ever?
Is a present perfect question, and it gave you options to answer, possibly in the past, simple or with a present perfect like yes, I have.
I've done that many times.
So what I'd like to talk about today is the problem that came up about what to do if you've never done the thing that they've asked you or this experience has never happened to you.
Of course, you can just be honest and say no, I haven't.
That's fine.
But remember, in part one, the examiner has a set of questions And at the end of each question they've got a little why or why not question to ask you if they think maybe you could talk a bit longer about that subject.
So they're actually trying to help you.
So if there's a question, for example, have you ever been to a hot country?
And you say, no, I haven't.
And that's it, a short answer.
Then they might say, why not?
And that's fine.
That's absolutely fine.
But a sign of a strong candidate is somebody who doesn't need these little prompts to help them speak longer.
So you want to show the examiner that you are at least a band seven.
A band seven is able to speak at length without difficulty, without too much effort.
And that's the impression that you want to give, even in the first part, part one of the test.
Some people have asked me, do I have to speak for one minute in the first part?
No, you don't.
The speaking challenge is just to encourage you to extend your answers.
And yes, the examiner may interrupt you if the examiner thinks that you have said enough.
But the point is you're showing the examiner that it's easy for you.
You can talk easily about this topic, even if you've never had that experience.
And to be honest, with most of the examples we've done this week, I've never had that experience.
So today I'm going to give you three tips that might help you when you're in that situation.
So imagine you get the question have you ever done this extreme sport?
That was yesterday's question and your answer is no, I haven't.
That's it fair enough.
Well, how could you extend that?
Here are the three ways.
Number one you could say no, I haven't, but I'd love to, because and that gives you a reason to talk about why you think that experience might be interesting.
So you might want to say no, I've never jumped out of no, I've never done anything extreme, but I'd really like to try parachuting or paragliding, because I think the experience would be amazing.
Second point, you could say, no, I haven't, but my sister has, for example.
You could talk about somebody that you know who has had this experience.
So then that would allow you to tell the examiner more about somebody else's experience.
So, no, I haven't done anything dangerous, but my sister has.
She did a bungee jump when she was living in Australia and she said she didn't feel scared.
Blah blah, blah.
Those are some things you could talk about the other person's experiences.
Especially that question we had about have you ever met or seen anybody famous?
Well, no, I haven't, but my friend has, you know, and then you can talk about your friend.
So, number one, you could say no, I haven't, but I'd like to because, and explain why you would like to do this.
This would show that you can use the conditional tense, and you could use lots of adjectives to describe that.
Secondly, you could talk about somebody else.
That would encourage you to use past tenses to tell the story of when your friend or sister did or had this experience.
Finally, you could talk more generally about why you've never done this thing.
Tip number three is to say actually no this does not appeal to me at all.
I have no interest in doing an extreme sport because I would be very nervous.
I'm not a risk taker.
I would be very afraid to do something like this.
So again, that just gives you a lot more talking time about that subject.
There are a few other tips you can see on my instagram and facebook posts and if you come and join the group, i'm going live in there every day almost, where i try and give you some tips on each answer.
So the other tips we had here were, for example, you could say no, i can't really afford to do that at the moment, but i'd like to, Or no, I've never been to a hot place because I don't like traveling.
You know, kind of giving reasons just to extend or give a full answer.
OK, so remember, the speaking challenge is still open.
It's all through November.
And even if you don't post, then just do the challenge by yourself.
And you will notice a huge improvement very quickly.
It will help you with your ideas and the language and vocabulary that you will need to answer this type of question.
Next week, the next seven days, we're going to change the grammar.
So there'll be a different question.
So we'll be able to practice a different type of answer.
And if you'd like to get the progress log.
You can just go to my website and on the front page there's a little link, a yellow link, where you can sign up and you will get the progress log in your email and any updates.
All right, so let's move on to today's reading.
And this one is all about crows.
It's section reading passage two.
And it talks about the intelligence of crows.
And as usual it's a kind of research article that we've talked about before, where you can see a very clear structure in the reading.
It starts with a kind of nice, something to get your attention.
It talks about Betty and her mate Abel, our captive crows family in a research center in oxford university, so that kind of gets your interest.
It makes it personal and where they come from and what they are.
There's a little bit of background and it tells us they're the only birds to use a wide selection of self-made tools to find food.
And that comes also in the subtitle where we can see.
It tells us a research team at Oxford University discover the remarkable tool making skills of new Caledonian crows.
So, because it's all about research and the tool making skills, the first half really of the reading is structured to give us examples of that, those skills.
So the first three paragraphs tell us in some detail what these crows can do, and then the second half is the kind of so what of the research?
So what?
What do we learn about ourselves And our own brain?
How can we apply it to humans?
And what do we learn about evolution and how we use both sides of our brains?
Why did we adapt to using tools?
So you can see, that's the kind of clear second half of the reading which is very typical of a research structure.
The first half they give you the theory and the details, and the second half they try to apply it to real life and to say why this research is important.
The questions therefore mirror the structure of the text.
There are three sets of questions.
The first set is just true, false, not given.
It's questions 18 to 23 and this relates entirely to the first.
Well, three paragraphs, but basically paragraph 2 and paragraph 3.
The second set of questions.
You have to choose three letters and we'll come on to that in the second half.
And then the third part is, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I had the page the wrong side.
OK, that makes more sense.
So the first part is just actually a picture of the tools and you have to find that paragraph, the text, but it is in the first paragraph.
Yes, so we start off with a description of the tools and you have to label the diagram.
Then we've got the true false given and then we've got the three letters.
Now in this I'm not in this listening in this podcast I'm not going to describe the tools because you can't see the pictures.
You need to go to my website to see that.
It describes three tools made by crows.
And I don't think if I describe them that that would help you.
So that's why I had the page on the other side.
I'm moving straight to the true, false, not given page.
But if you go to my website tomorrow, it's not there yet.
If you go tomorrow, you will see that I will explain more in more detail the pictures of the tools.
So let's start with the true, false, not given questions.
I'm going to read these questions first, and then I'm going to read the text and the sentence which applies here to these sentences.
They are all in exact order, as I always say they are, and it's almost one sentence after.
Each other has a true, false or not given answer.
So these questions all relate to something called a patternous probe.
Don't worry about the vocabulary if it's a difficult and essential to your understanding.
If it's a difficult word and if it's essential to your understanding, they will explain it to you.
And the first line of paragraph three says the crows make an ingenious tool called a padonus probe from padonus tree leaves.
So that topic sentence tells us that here are the answers for the whole set of questions about the Padanus probe.
So all six questions relate to this in this one paragraph.
And the only reason it's called Padanus is because of the tree leaves.
So the crows make a tool from the tree leaves.
So the first sentence says there appears to be a fixed pattern for the padonus probes construction.
A fixed pattern, so it says.
What makes this tool special Is that they manufacture it to a standard design, as if following a set of instructions.
That is the sentence.
Exactly what do you think?
Is there a fixed pattern for the construction?
The answer is yes.
There is a standard design as if it's following instructions.
A set of instructions.
So synonyms there.
Possibly fixed is standard.
Pattern is design.
And construction is possibly the manufacturing.
They manufacture it to a standard design.
That's it.
So the first answer is true.
Sentence 19 says there is plenty of evidence to indicate how the crows manufacture the Padanus probe.
So we're looking about how much evidence there is to show how they make this tool.
So the next sentence says although it is rare to catch a crow in the act of clipping out a pedanus probe, we do have ample proof of their workmanship.
So we were looking for plenty of evidence.
And the synonyms for plenty of evidence is we do have ample proof.
Proof is evidence.
Ample, that's a-m-p-l-e means plenty.
So the answer for statement 19 is true.
The sentence did start negatively.
It said, although it is rare to catch the crow making the probe, we have ample proof of their workmanship.
And the proof is the discarded leaves from which the tools are cut.
Okay, question 20.
So we've had two trues now.
It must be a false or a not given.
Let's see what you think.
20.
Crows seem to practice a number of times before making a usable pedanus probe.
So we need to know do they practice before they actually make a usable pedanus probe?
So let's go to the text.
It's the next line and it says the remarkable thing that these leaves tell us is that crows consistently produce the same design every time, with no in between or trial versions.
I repeat with no in-between or trial versions.
So the question was, do they practice a number of times?
And a very clear answer here, there are no trial versions.
There's no practice.
There's no in-between.
They produce the same design every time.
So the answer for question 20 is false.
False.
Now, just to show you that you can never guess what IELTS will do next.
We've had two trues and a false.
So let's look at question 21.
The researchers suspect the crows have a mental image of the probe before they create it.
So this is an interesting one.
The researchers suspect.
They're not sure, but they think that the crows have a kind of image in their head, a mental image, of the Padanus probe before they create it.
Well, how can they prove this?
Let's see.
It has left the researchers wondering whether, like people, They envisage the tool before they start and perform the actions they know are needed to make it.
That's it.
So it's left the researchers wondering whether, like people, they envisage the tool before they start.
So we've got here envisage, which means they have a mental image before they create it, before they start.
And the synonym for the researchers suspect, it says the researchers are wondering whether.
So the answer is true.
That's what the researchers suspect.
They have no evidence, but we don't need any for this.
It is all about what the researchers think or guess.
So we've had true, true, false and true.
So 22.
Research into how the Padanus probe is made has helped to explain the tool making skills of many other bird species.
So we do hear about other bird species.
I'm going to read the next sentence.
Research has revealed that genetics plays a part in the less sophisticated tool making skills of finches in the Galapagos Islands.
No one knows if that's also the case for the new Caledonian crows, but it's highly unlikely.
Their tool making skills are hardwired into the brain.
So that's all we've got.
We've got a mention of research into genetics in other birds on the Galapagos Islands.
But it does not tell us that this research has helped to explain the tool making skills of many other bird species.
There's no connection between them.
There might be.
But we don't know.
We can't find evidence for that in the text.
So question 22 is not given.
Now, the trick there, I think, is that it says many other bird species.
And when you read the text, it says only one other bird species.
It mentions finches on the Galapagos Islands.
So you might think, no, you might think it's false.
But here it just doesn't make a connection between the research of the crows and it doesn't explain the tool making skills of many other bird species.
We just don't know.
So I suppose you could guess that 22 if you're not sure would be not given, because we haven't actually had a not given yet.
And there's always at least one given.
And maybe the last question, 23, will help you to make that kind of educated guess.
So in question 23, the last one, it says the researchers believe the ability to make the Padanus probe is passed down to the crows in their genes.
So we have to decide whether the ability to make the tool is genetic.
And do the researchers believe this?
When we look at the last sentence in that paragraph, it says it is highly unlikely that the tool making skills are hardwired into the brain.
That gives us our answer a clear no.
It is not likely.
It is highly unlikely that their skills are hard wired into the brain.
So that gives us the answer false for question 23.
So when i talked about making an educated guess about 22, 22 is the only one here which is actually not given.
So 20 is a clear false.
23 is a clear false.
So you have to kind of look at if you're really stuck and you really don't know if it's no or not given, then you can guarantee there will be one not given.
And that is number 22.
OK, I'm going to move on and look at the next section now.
The second set of questions relates to the second half of the text.
As I mentioned before, it's a research type text, which means that the structure helps us know where to find and locate those questions and answers very quickly.
So there are only three questions here, but you're asked, according to the information in the passage, which three of the following features are common to both crows and human beings.
So you go to the second half, where they apply all of this research to human beings.
They relate it to us, and that's where you'll find, or need to look for, three features that we have in common with the crows.
And this is clearly introduced.
There are three paragraphs in the second half.
The first paragraph tells us about this new idea that maybe it will help us understand.
And it says there could be a lesson in it for understanding our own evolution.
And it talks about our ancestors.
Maybe they actually weren't that sophisticated.
Maybe the brain just developed.
Well, we'll talk about that later.
OK, so here are the six statements that you need to match.
And I'm going to read those first.
So remember, we're looking what do human beings have?
In common or the same as these new Caledonian crows.
A. They keep the same mate for life.
B. They have few natural predators.
C. They have a bias to the right when working.
D. They can process sequential tasks.
E. They live in extended family groups.
F. They eat a variety of foodstuffs.
And G. They can adapt to diverse habitats.
Now, this isn't as difficult as it looks, because once you've read these remaining two paragraphs, you'll probably immediately see which ones are either not mentioned or are clearly wrong.
So I'm going to give you the answers.
Yes, I think I'm going to give you the answers and then I'm going to go through the ones which were not correct.
So it says right.
First thing, it says that what we have in common, one of these things may be a strong degree of laterality, the specialisation of one side of the brain to perform specific tasks.
In people, the left side of the brain controls the processing of complex sequential tasks.
One of the consequences of this is thought to be right-handedness.
Biologists have noticed that most Padanus probes are cut from the left side of the leaf, meaning that the birds clip them with the right side of their beaks, the crow equivalent of right-handedness.
The team thinks this reflects the fact that the left side of the crow's brain is designed to handle Sequential processing required to make complex tools.
So you have two answers there.
They're quite clear.
First one is that the humans and crows have a bias to the right when working, and they are both able to process sequential tasks.
Now I had to look at that twice when it said a bias to the right when working, because the text talks a lot about how they do things.
They cut from the left side, but all this means is that means that the right side is, you know, the right handedness thing.
That is what's working when they're cutting from the left.
So basically, when you see the other answers, there's no doubt that that is correct.
So One sentence is C a bias to the right when working.
And another sentence is D, they can process sequential tasks.
So we're looking for just one more.
And in the next paragraph it says under what conditions might this extraordinary talent have emerged in these two species?
They are both social creatures. and wide-ranging in their feeding habits.
Okay, so you've got the mention of being social creatures and their eating habits.
So if we look at the statements, it says they live in extended family groups or they eat a variety of foodstuffs.
So which one is closer?
You can only choose one, remember.
So social creatures?
Not the same, as they live in extended family groups, unfortunately so.
The answer is F.
They eat a variety of foodstuffs and that comes from the synonyms wide-ranging in their feeding habits.
So those are our three answers.
Let's look at the ones which are not correct.
A They have the same mate for life.
There is no mention of this.
It's not even mentioned.
It's not even a trick.
So immediately cross it off.
B. They have few natural predators.
Again, no mention of predators at all in this paragraph.
Um, actually no, they do mention it in the first paragraph.
It says new caledonian crows are predators.
Okay, that's it.
Okay, so that's a trick, and anyway, you don't jump around, you don't go back to the first paragraph, you stay in the same paragraph.
So the other trick was living in extended family groups.
Well, yeah, both they are social creatures.
It's not specific enough.
It's not saying that they live in extended family groups.
It just says they are social.
And finally, G says they can adapt to diverse habitats again.
I think habitats are mentioned here somewhere in the text, but not in the place where we're looking for them.
And particularly it doesn't mention that they can both adapt to diverse habitats.
I'm just having a quick look.
Do they mention habitats earlier on?
Well, no, but it's still not in the right place.
Okay so I'll be putting that on my website as soon as possible with the three pattern pictures.
And just before we finish, I'd like to point out a few of the really useful words from the text that I think you should learn.
The first one is in the first line captive crows.
So we often talk about animals in captivity or animals in the wild.
So captive means they are obviously in captivity like in a zoo.
It also says that they are predators.
Predators is a key IELTS word.
It's an animal which eats another animal.
So you need to know the prey.
So a cat is a predator and the mouse is the prey.
It also talks a lot about evolution and genetics.
So it says that their skills are not hardwired into the brain.
This is a huge topic in IELTS.
What is nature and what is nurture.
So it talks about cultural transmission as a learned habit.
You know, they learn how to make tools and it is therefore not genetic and it is hardwired into the brain.
It then goes on to talk about evolution itself and talks about our ancestors.
So this whole topic, of course, is essential.
Um, it talks about how we developed skills for survival and that maybe we had some weaknesses, some shortcomings that's a good word for weaknesses.
Maybe we were not as sophisticated as maybe we think and we could not make physical adaptations.
So, for example, giraffes made adaptations, they adapted so that they could eat the trees, the leaves from the higher trees.
Maybe we couldn't do this, we had shortcomings and therefore we had to use our brain, our cognitive skills, to produce sophisticated tools.
So they are all key and useful words to know about.
That's it from this difficult reading.
As i mentioned, i'll get that on my website straight away and go there and find it, but it doesn't matter if you've just listened to this today.
This will help you, give you a bit of background vocabulary and a few strategies of how to deal with the structure of the text and how to find those answers quickly and how to know if they are true or false or not given.
Thanks ever so much for listening today.
Come and join us in the speaking challenge.
Come and share your videos with us or just share your thoughts and ideas.
That's all for now.
Thanks for listening.
I appreciate it.
Bye for now.
Bye.
