How to Master the ielts

[Q271]
normal template. The text must be double­spaced to enable the tutor to add
[Q272]
comments, either above or below the text, and also to facilitate reading. 
Choose a 12 point Times New Roman font for your essay – it must be typed
[Q273]
and justified – nothing is to be handwritten, OK? Don’t indent the para­
graphs, and don’t add additional blank lines between the paragraphs. It 
makes the essay look longer than it really is, but this will not fool the examiner.
Now, your essay will be marked and assessed anonymously, to avoid any
[Q274]
discrimination. So make sure that your candidate number appears in the 
right­hand corner of every page, in the top margin – the header – but your 
name must not appear anywhere on the final essay. Right, any questions 
so far? All this is in your handbook, by the way. I’ll just mention the word 
count. To avoid being penalized don’t exceed the word count by more than 
10 per cent. So a 3,000 word essay shouldn’t overrun by more than 300 
words, or to put it another way, a 3,000 word essay should not be any longer 
[Q275]
than 3,300 words. If you write any more words than this, the examiner is 
not obliged to read them. Don’t write anything less than 3,000 words though, 
OK?
Right, I’d like to move on to referencing. Well, why do we need to do
it? ... Does anybody know? ... Firstly, citing references in an essay lends 
support to your own ideas and arguments; it’s important to substantiate 
them. Secondly, in academic research, correct referencing enables other 
researchers

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AUDIO­SCRIPTS FOR THE LISTENING TESTS 
165
[Q276]
to locate the source of the material, so that they can study it and check it. 
Finally, by acknowledging who wrote the work you cannot be accused of 
taking another author’s ideas as being your own – which is plagiarism.
Now… some people might argue that there are no original ideas out there 
– that whatever you write, somebody else will already have written it – in 
which case you would end up having to reference all your written work. This 
[Q277]
is not true. You do not have to reference facts that are well established and 
in the public domain. So, for example, you can safely state that Sigmund 
Freud was the founder of psychiatry without having to reference it because 
it is a widely accepted fact; but what you cannot do is state that Freud
was the first person to study the ‘dreams of childhood’, without quoting the 
relevant text… OK… I hope I’ve made that clear enough.
Now, we use the Harvard System of referencing here; its an author–date 
system. So in the body of the essay you would write, in parenthesis, the
[Q278]
author’s surname, without the first name, followed by a comma, followed by 
the date of the source. For example, Freud was the first person to study 
‘childhood dreams’; open brackets, Freud comma 1906, close brackets. 
OK?
[Q279]
When compiling your reference list, it should be placed in alphabetical order, 
with the author’s surname, initial, followed by the year of publication in 
[Q280]
brackets, then the title – which should be underlined – and finally the city 
where the book was published along with the publisher’s name. For example: 
Freud, S, 1920, A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, New York, Boni 
and Liveright. OK, that’s it. Please refer to your red book for more details.

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Answers
Marking scheme
There are 40 marks available for the Listening Test and 40 marks available for the 
Reading Test. You need at least 30 correct answers for every 40 questions, in other 
words no more than 10 wrong answers per test. If you achieve a minimum of 30 
marks you should be ready to sit the IELTS test as long as you have kept to the
time limits. If you score less than 30 out of 40 you need more practice. Academic 
candidates who fall short of 30 marks can attempt the General Training exercises for 
additional practice.
The table below shows approximately how many marks you need to score in the 
real IELTS for the Band Score indicated. General Training Candidates have to score 
higher marks in the Reading and Writing to achieve the same Band Score as 
Academic candidates in Reading and Writing. The table shows only full Band scores, 
but it is possible to be awarded half Band scores such as 6.5 and 7.5.