IELTS Listening: Tips for Matching Statements / Information Question

There will two or more than two people talking on a particular issue. This question usually appears in section 1 or 3 of listening test. There will be two sets of information, and you will be required to match them. This question may appear in two ways. One is like the example 1 below where you will be given a list for expressions and another list for the words that those expressions relate to.

Example 1

Source: Cambridge English IELTS Past Papers

The another way that you can face this question is like the example 2 below where you can see that there are five (21-25) subject areas. And for each statement of 21-25, you are given three (A, B, C) possible answers to choose from. You are allowed to choose any answer for multiple times. Remember, you are instructed to write only the correct letter in the answer sheet, not the words.

Example 2

Source: Cambridge English IELTS Past Papers

Solution Tips

This question is not difficult if you can bear the keywords in your mind when you are listening the clip. Because once you can focus on keywords, you can relate the information. To do this:

You need to complete reading the question text before the audio clip starts.

Find the keywords that you need the information about.

Don't worry about grammar in this question. All you need is choose appropriate option.

Look at the example 1, you are given more answer options than you need. You have enough flexibility to choose from. But the instruction sentence of example 1 didn't say that you can use the same option more than once. Therefore, you have to use one answer option only once.

However, in example 2, you are provided with only three answer options. But that should not be a problem for you. Because, you are instructed that you can use the same answer option multiple times.