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 4 Listening Answers with Clear Explanations
Find all 40 Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 4 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 4 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: Easy Life Cleaning Services
Questions 1 to 10Part 2: Reducing staff turnover in hotels
Questions 11 to 20Part 3: Thomas’s sporting activities and sporting equipment
Questions 21 to 30Part 4: Maple syrup
Questions 31 to 40Part 1: Easy Life Cleaning Services
Questions 1-10. A customer asks about domestic cleaning packages, additional services and cleaner vetting.
1Basic cleaning package: Cleaning the ____ throughout the apartment.
Answer: floor / floors
Where to Listen: Part 1, basic cleaning
The client has no carpets but needs the floor cleaned, and Jacinta confirms that every room is covered. The test key accepts floor and floors.
2Additional services every week: Cleaning the ____.
Answer: fridge
Where to Listen: Part 1, weekly extras
Jacinta suggests oven cleaning, but the client rarely uses it and requests the fridge instead. The final requested service, not the first suggestion, supplies the answer.
3Additional services every week: Ironing clothes - ____ only.
Answer: shirts
Where to Listen: Part 1, ironing
The client needs only work shirts ironed each week. Clothes is the general category already given, while shirts identifies the specific items requested.
4Additional services every month: Cleaning all the ____ from the inside.
Answer: windows
Where to Listen: Part 1, monthly window cleaning
The client agrees to have the inside of the windows cleaned. Specialists already clean the outside, so the new service concerns the interior surfaces only.
5Additional services every month: Washing down the ____.
Answer: balcony
Where to Listen: Part 1, monthly washing
The client declines curtain cleaning but asks for the balcony to be washed. Jacinta offers to use a pressure washer, confirming the requested location.
6They can organise a plumber or an ____ if necessary.
Answer: electrician
Where to Listen: Part 1, maintenance contacts
The company can arrange either a plumber or an electrician. The plumber is already supplied in the note, so electrician completes the second trade and fits after an.
7A special cleaning service is available for customers who are allergic to ____.
Answer: dust
Where to Listen: Part 1, special vacuum system
The system captures dust from indoor air and is offered as a service for people troubled by allergies. Dust names the substance in the question, not the equipment used.
8Before being hired, all cleaners have a background check carried out by the ____.
Answer: police
Where to Listen: Part 1, staff checks
Applicants undergo a police security check to establish whether they have a criminal background. References are also required, but police identifies who carries out the specified check.
9All cleaners are given ____ for two weeks.
Answer: training
Where to Listen: Part 1, staff preparation
Suitable applicants receive two weeks of training followed by a test. The duration belongs to training, not the background check or the final test.
10Customers send a ____ after each visit.
Answer: review
Where to Listen: Part 1, quality monitoring
Clients complete and email a review after each cleaning visit. This allows the company to identify problems promptly. The gap asks for the feedback document, not its delivery method.
Part 2: Reducing staff turnover in hotels
Questions 11-20. A speaker discusses why hotel employees leave and approaches used to improve staff retention.
11Many hotel managers are unaware that their staff often leave because of
Answer: A - a lack of training.
Where to Listen: Part 2, reasons staff leave
Managers often blame pay and working hours, but the speaker says they overlook inadequate training. The question asks specifically for the reason managers may not recognise.
12What is the impact of high staff turnover on managers?
Answer: A - an increased workload
Where to Listen: Part 2, effect on managers
Managers spend time recruiting replacements and covering duties, increasing their workload. The discussion of negative feelings concerns remaining colleagues rather than the effect specifically asked about.
13What mistake should managers always avoid?
Answer: A - failing to treat staff equally
Where to Listen: Part 2, fair treatment
The speaker warns against favouring particular staff when allocating shifts. Everyone should have some choice and share less desirable shifts, so equal treatment is the central recommendation.
14What unexpected benefit did Dunwich Hotel notice after improving staff retention rates?
Answer: C - a rise in spending per customer
Where to Listen: Part 2, Dunwich Hotel
After improving staff conditions, the hotel found that each customer spent more. The earlier complaints were from staff, not customers, and the loyalty scheme is a later development.
15The Sun Club
Answer: A - improving relationships and teamwork
Where to Listen: Part 2, The Sun Club
Junior employees are now invited to meetings and encouraged to contribute ideas. This improves their relationship with management and their involvement as a team.
16The Portland
Answer: C - providing career opportunities
Where to Listen: Part 2, The Portland
The hotel identifies employees with management potential and offers training. The scheme creates a route to advancement, making career opportunities the best match.
17Bluewater Hotels
Answer: B - offering incentives and financial benefits
Where to Listen: Part 2, Bluewater Hotels
High-performing staff receive a fully paid overseas trip. Although the trip includes learning, it is introduced as a reward, so incentives and financial benefits is the category.
18Pentlow Hotels
Answer: C - providing career opportunities
Where to Listen: Part 2, Pentlow Hotels
Junior reception staff receive extra responsibilities and experience in different roles through a management programme. The aim is to show them future career prospects within the hotel.
19Green Planet
Answer: B - offering incentives and financial benefits
Where to Listen: Part 2, Green Planet
The hotel supplies childcare vouchers to help employees meet costs. This is a financial benefit rather than promotion or a team-building activity.
20The Amesbury
Answer: A - improving relationships and teamwork
Where to Listen: Part 2, The Amesbury
Louise Marsh creates a supportive workplace where staff feel valued as part of a family. Her approach centres on cooperation and relationships, not a financial reward scheme.
Part 3: Thomas’s sporting activities and sporting equipment
Questions 21-30. Thomas and Jeanne discuss school sport, Kenya and the historical development of sporting equipment.
21Which TWO points do Thomas and Jeanne make about Thomas’s sporting activities at school?
Answer: C + E (Either Order)
Where to Listen: Part 3, school sport
Thomas admits that he should have practised more, supporting C. He does not say training was beyond his ability. The second required answer is E.
22Which TWO points do Thomas and Jeanne make about Thomas’s sporting activities at school?
Answer: C + E (Either Order)
Where to Listen: Part 3, classmates' opinion
His classmates thought he was brilliant and expected him to become a professional athlete. That is admiration, E. Enter C and E in either order for Questions 21-22.
23Which TWO feelings did Thomas experience when he was in Kenya?
Answer: A + D (Either Order)
Where to Listen: Part 3, competing in Kenya
Thomas could hardly believe he was not good enough when competing with top young athletes. That reaction supports disbelief, A. Stress is not his stated feeling on arrival.
24Which TWO feelings did Thomas experience when he was in Kenya?
Answer: A + D (Either Order)
Where to Listen: Part 3, opportunity in Kenya
Thomas describes feeling fortunate to have been selected and appreciating the chance. That supports gratitude, D. Questions 23-24 require A and D in either order.
25the table tennis bat
Answer: B - The material was being mass produced for another purpose.
Where to Listen: Part 3, table tennis bats
Pimpled rubber was already being produced in bulk for another use when someone applied it to bats. The key point is adapting an existing mass-produced material.
26the cricket helmet
Answer: F - It was unpopular among spectators.
Where to Listen: Part 3, cricket helmets
Spectators booed the first batsman wearing a helmet because they disliked its appearance. The criticism came from people watching, not from every player who used one.
27the cycle helmet
Answer: A - It could cause excessive sweating.
Where to Listen: Part 3, cycle helmets
Early helmets left cyclists with wet hair after strenuous exercise. The students connect later ventilation openings with this overheating and sweating problem.
28the golf club
Answer: D - It often had to be replaced.
Where to Listen: Part 3, golf clubs
All-wood clubs broke easily, forcing players to obtain replacements. The passage of discussion concerns durability rather than the material being expensive.
29the hockey stick
Answer: C - People often needed to make their own.
Where to Listen: Part 3, hockey sticks
At the start of the game, players had to produce their own sticks. The answer concerns making equipment personally, not a claim that wooden sticks are no longer used.
30the football
Answer: G - It caused injuries.
Where to Listen: Part 3, footballs
Older leather balls absorbed rainwater and became heavy. Heading them could damage players' necks, supporting the injury option rather than merely a change in manufacturing material.
Part 4: Maple syrup
Questions 31-40. A lecture explains maple trees, early sugar producers and modern maple-syrup production.
31What is maple syrup? Colour described as ____.
Answer: golden
Where to Listen: Part 4, syrup appearance
The lecture describes maple syrup as golden. Thick concerns texture and sweet concerns taste, whereas the gap specifically asks for colour.
32It is very ____ compared to refined sugar.
Answer: healthy
Where to Listen: Part 4, comparison with sugar
The speaker calls maple syrup a healthy alternative to refined sugar. Healthy therefore completes the listening note. This explains the recording's wording rather than giving independent nutritional advice.
33The maple tree: Best growing conditions and ____ are in Canada and North America.
Answer: climate
Where to Listen: Part 4, growing conditions
The specified regions provide conditions that suit maple trees, including the right climate. Moisture and temperatures help explain those conditions, but climate is the word used for the overall factor.
34Early maple sugar producers used hot ____ to heat the sap.
Answer: rock / rocks
Where to Listen: Part 4, early production
Indigenous producers put pieces of hot rock into sap to boil it. Rock and rocks are both listed in the test key. Tree bark was used for containers, not as the heating material.
35The trees: Tree trunks may not have the correct ____ until they have been growing for 40 years.
Answer: diameter
Where to Listen: Part 4, tree maturity
Trees must reach a trunk diameter of around 25 centimetres before tapping. Forty years is a possible time needed to reach that size, not the missing physical measurement.
36The production: A tap is drilled into the trunk and a ____ carries the sap into a bucket.
Answer: tube
Where to Listen: Part 4, collecting sap
A tube inserted into the drilled hole carries sap to a bucket. The bucket receives the liquid, while the tube is the connection the question asks about.
37Large pans of sap called evaporators are heated by means of a ____.
Answer: fire
Where to Listen: Part 4, heating evaporators
Sap is placed in large pans and heated over a fire. Evaporators names the pans, whereas fire identifies the means of heating them.
38A lot of ____ is produced during the evaporation process.
Answer: steam
Where to Listen: Part 4, evaporation
Boiling removes water and produces large quantities of steam as the sap thickens. The gap asks what is released during this stage rather than the final syrup.
39“Sugar sand” is removed because it makes the syrup look ____ and affects the taste.
Answer: cloudy
Where to Listen: Part 4, filtering sugar sand
Sugar sand gives syrup a cloudy appearance and a gritty taste. Since the question asks how it looks, cloudy is required, not gritty.
40A huge quantity of sap is needed to make a ____ of maple syrup.
Answer: litre / liter
Where to Listen: Part 4, production quantities
Forty litres of sap are needed for one litre of syrup. The gap asks for the unit of finished syrup. Both British litre and American liter are accepted.
Academic and General Training Listening Answers
Are the Academic and GT Test 4 Listening Answers the Same?
Yes. Cambridge IELTS 17 Test 4 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.