USING THE QUESTIONS ·TO HELP YOU FOLLOW A TALK

02. Look at the 'short-answer questions'. What do the questions tell you about the content and organisation of the lecturer's talk?

1. What were used as an ancient type of currency for trade?

2. What were the first coins made in Greece a natural mixture of?

3. Which material did the Chinese use in the seventh century BC to make coins?

4. What did most early Chinese coins resemble?

5. What distinguished the coins of the first emperor of China, Shi Huangdi, apart from being circular?

6. According to historians, what was the purpose of the round jade discs that Shi Huangdi's coins were based on?

7. Which aspect of previous Chinese coins was not kept for Shi Huangdi's coins?

8. Which industrial process can Shi Huangdi's coin-making be seen as a primitive example of?

Suggested answer

The questions suggest that the talk will feature some detailed discussion of early coins and how they are made, and have been made, in different parts of the world. Around the middle of the talk there appears to be a section in which the lecturer will focus in more detail on Chinese coins

03. Look at the first four questions from the exam task. What do the underlined words tell you about the answer you will need to listen for?

1. What were used as an ancient type of currency for trade?

2. What were the first coins made in Greece a natural mixture of?

3. Which material did the Chinese use in the seventh century BC to make coins?

4. What did most early Chinese coins resemble?

Suggested Answer

1. You will need to listen out for a plural rather than a singular noun for your answer. It is likely that this will either be a plural noun, an adjective+ plural noun, or a compound plural noun.

2. The word natural suggests that the lecturer will say that these coins are made of a material that is found in the physical world rather than one that is artificially created.

3. You will need to listen for a single material or substance of some sort.

4. As is often the case in IELTS questions, the adverb that is used in the question is very important. This one tells you that you will probably need to listen out for a paraphrase of most, and also that you may hear a distractor - in this case, another quantifier.

04. With a partner, think of possible answers you might hear in the recording for these questions.

1. What were used as an ancient type of currency for trade?

feathers, cows or sheep, crops, beads, etc.

2. What were the first coins made in Greece a natural mixture of?

3. Which material did the Chinese use in the seventh century BC to make coins?

4. What did most early Chinese coins resemble?

Students' own answers: Sample answers

2 different metals, e.g. gold and copper, iron and silver
3 material: wood, stone, clay, metal
4 some kind of shape that looks like a well-known thing: a star, a key, a sword, a heart, an arrow head, an egg

05. Using your ideas for 1-4 above, for each question write a possible sentence that you might hear in the recording that gives the answer and paraphrases the words in the question. The first one has been done for you.

1. What were used as an ancient type of currency for trade?

Thousands of years ago, feathers were used as a means of payment.

2. What were the first coins made in Greece a natural mixture of?

3. Which material did the Chinese use in the seventh century BC to make coins?

4. What did most early Chinese coins resemble?

Sample answers

2 Ancient Greeks mixed together gold and bronze to create their earliest examples of currency.
3 More than 2700 years ago, Chinese coins were manufactured from wood.
4 The majority of ancient Chinese coins were star-shaped.

06. Listen to the first part of the lecture and answer questions 1-4 above. Use NO MORE THAN THREEWORDS for each answer.