All answers on this page include the question number, correct answer and a brief explanation of where to find it in the passage or audio. Use these alongside the original Cambridge IELTS books for the best practice experience.
Test 2 Listening Answers with Clear Explanations
Find all 40 Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 2 Listening answers with evidence-based explanations. The recording, questions and answer key are the same for Academic and General Training, so every answer link on this page supports both routes.
Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 2 Listening Answer Key
Use the key for quick marking, then read the explanations below. A slash separates accepted alternative forms. Where two letters are required, enter both letters across the two question numbers, in either order.
Part 1: Opportunities for voluntary work in Southoe village
Questions 1 to 10Part 2: Oniton Hall
Questions 11 to 20Part 3: A review of Romeo and Juliet
Questions 21 to 30Part 4: The impact of digital technology on the Icelandic language
Questions 31 to 40Part 1: Opportunities for voluntary work in Southoe village
Questions 1-10. A speaker explains local voluntary work opportunities and village social events.
1Library: Help with ____ books (times to be arranged).
Answer: collecting
Where to Listen: Part 1, library duties
The library needs someone to collect donated and borrowed books. Collecting fits after help with and describes the activity, whereas a car is only the equipment needed to do it.
2Help needed to keep ____ of books up to date.
Answer: records
Where to Listen: Part 1, library administration
Volunteers keep records of donated books and books borrowed from the town library. These records need updating. Computer describes the system used, not what must be kept up to date.
3Library is in the ____ Room in the village hall.
Answer: West
Where to Listen: Part 1, library location
Jane names the West Room in the village hall. The word Room is already printed, so write only West rather than the full two-word name.
4Lunch club: Help by providing ____.
Answer: transport
Where to Listen: Part 1, lunch club
Frank offers help with transport, and Jane explains that more drivers are needed for people from neighbouring villages. The gap asks for the service provided rather than the volunteers themselves.
5Help with hobbies such as ____.
Answer: art
Where to Listen: Part 1, hobby groups
Frank singles out art groups as a hobby he could help with. Jane agrees to check where help is needed. The broad category hobbies is already supplied in the question.
6Help for individuals needed next week: Taking Mrs Carroll to ____.
Answer: hospital
Where to Listen: Part 1, Mrs Carroll's appointment
Mrs Carroll needs a lift to hospital on Tuesday. The question asks for her destination, not the day or the length of time the appointment will take.
7Work in the ____ at Mr Selsbury’s house.
Answer: garden
Where to Listen: Part 1, Mr Selsbury's house
Other volunteers will decorate the kitchen. Frank is asked to weed the garden, so garden is the location of his work rather than kitchen.
819 Oct: ____ at the Village hall; help needed: providing refreshments.
Answer: quiz
Where to Listen: Part 1, October event
The event on 19 October is a quiz in the village hall. Refreshments are the help required, not the event name that belongs in the gap.
918 Nov: dance at the Village hall; help needed: checking ____.
Answer: tickets
Where to Listen: Part 1, November dance
Tickets are sold beforehand and need checking at the door. Frank is helping with admission rather than selling tickets or organising the band.
1031 Dec: New Year’s Eve party at Mountfort Hotel; help needed: designing the ____.
Answer: poster
Where to Listen: Part 1, New Year's Eve party
The hotel and band are already arranged. A poster is still needed, and Frank's graphic-design experience makes him suitable for creating it. Use the singular noun.
Part 2: Oniton Hall
Questions 11-20. A guide introduces Oniton Hall and activities offered at locations on its farm.
11Many past owners made changes to
Answer: B - the house.
Where to Listen: Part 2, alterations to the estate
Previous owners added or demolished rooms, changing the house. The farm has stayed largely the same, and work on the flower beds is attributed to the current owner only.
12Sir Edward Downes built Oniton Hall because he wanted
Answer: C - a place for artists and writers.
Where to Listen: Part 2, Sir Edward's intentions
Sir Edward withdrew from politics and welcomed painters, poets and other talented guests. This supports a meeting place for artists and writers rather than political discussion or displaying wealth.
13Visitors can learn about the work of servants in the past from
Answer: C - people in costume.
Where to Listen: Part 2, servants' working lives
Costumed volunteers demonstrate servants' work and explain their activities. This feature replaced the audio guide. Photographs are mentioned as insufficient for showing what the work was like.
14What is new for children at Oniton Hall?
Answer: B - mini tractors
Where to Listen: Part 2, children's activities
Child-sized tractors are identified as the latest addition. Dressing up and the adventure playground also exist, but the question asks which attraction is new.
15dairy
Answer: D - eating and drinking
Where to Listen: Part 2, the dairy
The dairy now serves lunch, tea, coffee and cake, making eating and drinking the current activity. Its former role in cheese production is a distractor.
16large barn
Answer: C - seeing old farming equipment
Where to Listen: Part 2, the large barn
The large barn displays a collection of old agricultural tools. Visitors see equipment used in the past, rather than being invited to use those tools themselves.
17small barn
Answer: G - helping to look after animals
Where to Listen: Part 2, the small barn
Visitors can groom donkeys and horses to clean their coats. Grooming is a way to help look after animals, which matches G.
18stables
Answer: A - shopping
Where to Listen: Part 2, the stables
The stables no longer house horses. They sell gifts, books, preserves and woollen goods, so the activity is shopping rather than animal care.
19shed
Answer: E - starting a trip
Where to Listen: Part 2, the shed
Visitors board a horse-drawn carriage outside the shed for a tour. This makes the shed the starting point of a trip, even though it is itself an old farm building.
20parkland
Answer: F - seeing rare breeds of animals
Where to Listen: Part 2, the parkland
The cattle and sheep in the parkland are types rarely found on farms today. The estate is preserving these breeds, supporting the rare-animal option.
Part 3: A review of Romeo and Juliet
Questions 21-30. Two students discuss what to include in their reviews of a production of Romeo and Juliet.
21Which TWO things do the students agree they need to include in their reviews of Romeo and Juliet?
Answer: D + E (Either Order)
Where to Listen: Part 3, review requirements
Both students agree to discuss how the performance affected them emotionally. This is a personal reaction, D. Their other choice is E, and the pair may be entered in either order.
22Which TWO things do the students agree they need to include in their reviews of Romeo and Juliet?
Answer: D + E (Either Order)
Where to Listen: Part 3, review requirements
They agree to mention key scenes, including the balcony scene and the fight. This supports E. A plot summary is unnecessary, and a theatre description would exceed their available space.
23the set
Answer: D - They agree this was a major strength.
Where to Listen: Part 3, set design
Both praise the set as visually impressive and memorable, making it a major strength. Ed has seen similar ideas elsewhere, so they do not both describe it as original.
24the lighting
Answer: C - They agree this created the right atmosphere.
Where to Listen: Part 3, lighting
Gemma first criticises the dim lighting, but accepts Ed's point that it helped establish the mood. Their final agreement concerns atmosphere, not simply visibility.
25the costume design
Answer: A - They both expected this to be more traditional.
Where to Listen: Part 3, costumes
Gemma is surprised by modern clothes, and Ed says he expected a conventional approach. Both had anticipated a more traditional costume design, even though Ed thought the modern version worked.
26the music
Answer: E - They were both disappointed by this.
Where to Listen: Part 3, music
Gemma admires the musicians but regrets the music's limited impact in later acts. Ed agrees this was a shame, so both are disappointed by how the music was used.
27the actors’ delivery
Answer: F - They disagree about why this was an issue.
Where to Listen: Part 3, delivery of lines
They agree delivery was a problem but disagree about its cause. Gemma blames excessive speed, while Ed blames insufficient volume. The disagreement is about why it failed.
28The students think the story of Romeo and Juliet is still relevant for young people today because
Answer: B - it deals with problems that families experience.
Where to Listen: Part 3, relevance today
The students connect the play with continuing tension between teenagers and parents. They regard this familiar family problem as more relatable than the violence or extreme emotions.
29The students found watching Romeo and Juliet in another language
Answer: C - moving.
Where to Listen: Part 3, translated performance
They could follow the story despite missing some words and found the ending emotionally powerful. Moving describes that response. Gemma expected difficulty but did not find it as challenging as expected.
30Why do the students think Shakespeare’s plays have such international appeal?
Answer: C - They can be interpreted in many ways.
Where to Listen: Part 3, international appeal
They stress that the plays work on different levels and allow directors to find new angles. This supports multiple interpretations rather than merely exciting plots or familiar character types.
Part 4: The impact of digital technology on the Icelandic language
Questions 31-40. An academic lecture considers how digital technology affects Icelandic and its young speakers.
31The Icelandic language has approximately ____ speakers.
Answer: 321,000 / 321000
Where to Listen: Part 4, number of speakers
The lecture gives approximately 321,000 Icelandic speakers. The answer is a single number. Both 321,000 and 321000 represent the same total.
32It has a ____ that is still growing.
Answer: vocabulary
Where to Listen: Part 4, language development
Icelandic speakers create words for new concepts, so its vocabulary continues to increase. The question's still growing paraphrases this expansion, not growth in the speaker population.
33It has its own words for computer-based concepts, such as web browser and ____.
Answer: podcast
Where to Listen: Part 4, digital vocabulary
The lecturer gives web browser and podcast as examples of concepts with Icelandic terms. Web browser is already in the note, leaving podcast as the missing example.
34Young speakers are big users of digital technology, such as ____.
Answer: smartphones
Where to Listen: Part 4, digital devices
Smartphones are the example of technology young people use for reading, films, games and music. Those activities explain the devices' uses, but are not the device name requested.
35They are becoming ____ very quickly.
Answer: bilingual
Where to Listen: Part 4, language skills
Exposure to English promotes bilingual skills, and the change is happening rapidly. After becoming, the gap needs the adjective bilingual rather than the noun skills.
36They are having discussions using only English while they are in the ____ at school.
Answer: playground
Where to Listen: Part 4, school conversations
Teachers report conversations entirely in English in secondary-school playgrounds. The question specifies the location at school, so playground completes the note.
37They are better able to identify the content of a ____ in English than Icelandic.
Answer: picture
Where to Listen: Part 4, younger children's vocabulary
Younger children can find it easier to describe what is in a picture in English. The gap concerns the thing whose contents they identify, not the language used.
38Technology and internet companies write very little in Icelandic because of the small number of speakers and because of how complicated its ____ is.
Answer: grammar
Where to Listen: Part 4, barriers for technology companies
Besides the small market, Icelandic has unusually complex grammar. These are two separate reasons for limited digital support, and the gap asks for the second.
39The Icelandic government is worried that young Icelanders may lose their ____ as Icelanders.
Answer: identity
Where to Listen: Part 4, cultural concern
The lecturer asks whether young Icelanders could lose their sense of identity as their language becomes less central. Identity is the cultural concern, not a prediction that all speakers will lose it.
40It is worried about the consequences of children not being ____ in either Icelandic or English.
Answer: fluent
Where to Listen: Part 4, command of both languages
The final concern is that children might not become fully fluent in either language. The adjective fluent follows being and describes their ability to express themselves.
Academic and General Training Listening Answers
Are the Academic and GT Test 2 Listening Answers the Same?
Yes. Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 2 uses the same Listening questions, recording and answers for both routes. This single guide supports Academic and General Training candidates.
Which Practice Link Should I Use?
Choose the Academic or GT button for your test pathway. Both lead to the same Listening content. Reading and Writing are different, so choose the correct route for those skills.
How Do I Mark Two-Answer Questions?
Enter both required letters, one per question number. Either order is accepted. Repeating one correct letter does not supply the second required answer.
What to Do After Marking
Group your errors by misunderstanding, distractors, spelling and instructions. Review the difficult section, then try another complete test to check whether your accuracy improves.