How to Crack Section 2 of IELTS Listening?

 

Section 2 is one of the easy parts in IELTS listening exam because in this section, you hear an audio which is a monologue where only one speaker is there to talk about every day social situation. IELTS Listening Section 2 generally consists of questions related to table completion, flow chart, diagram labelling or matching heading but may also include MCQs.
Let us now discuss how to crack Section 2 of IELTS Listening, considering the example of a table completion question:

Brand	Good Points	Bad Points	Conclusion
Brand A	Simple to ……………	Does not have……..	……………….
Brand B	Convenient to…………	Many problems in……	……………….
Brand C	……can be improved	Lacks sufficient……..	……………….

 

In the 1 minute given to you for reading questions, underline some keywords you can concentrate on while listening the audio. In the above question, let us see how to underline the important keywords in this table.

Brand	Good Points	Bad Points	Conclusion
Brand A	Simple to ……………	Does not have……..	……………….
Brand B	Convenient to…………	Many problems in……	……………….
Brand C	……can be improved	Lacks sufficient……..	……………….

 

As you can see, the major keywords are “simple”, “not have”(or simply “not”), “convenient”, “problems”, “improved” and “lacks” which serve the main purpose behind the question, focusing on which you can find the appropriate word as your answer from the audio. The main key point here is that main words such as nouns, verbs etc. are important, not the prepositions or so.
Another important thing to be kept in mind is that if you do not lose your focus or in other words, do not skip any part of the audio in these questions, you can get all the correct answers in this section.
Essential Tips on Cracking Section 2 of IELTS Listening:

1. Following up well the order of information in the audio is crucial here because if you do not go with the flow, you would get lost in the middle and it would be difficult to come back on the track again.
2. You should recognise the transition point between two rows in the question while listening so that you can keep yourself aligned with the audio to avoid skipping any part of it.
3. Always go through the questions completely including the statements as well as blanks, in the one minute given to you, to get an understanding of the topic. Familiarizing yourself with the question helps you to gain confidence.
4. Always keep in mind that you are required to write the exact word that you listen in the audio. Since you do not have sufficient time, to analyse the information and scan the answer the way you get in reading, exact words are expected as the answers in IELTS listening.
5. Be careful about the word instruction given at the top of every question and stick to it. For this purpose, prefer underlining the instruction like a keyword so that you may not forget it while writing down your answer. It would really be a silly mistake if you understood the audio, got the answer also but did not write it as per the instruction.