Expert ielts 5 Teacher’s Online Materials Pearson Education Limited 2017

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Expert IELTS 7.5 Teacher’s Online Materials © Pearson Education Limited 2017
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Review Test 5 Audio Script
You hear an expert on music talking to teachers about its 
importance.
Good morning everyone. The focus of today’s talk is the 
importance of music, and in particular the part it plays 
in the education of young children. I think it’s important 
to focus on this because music education is surprisingly 
undervalued in society nowadays. A high percentage of 
the population feel negative about its role, and personally 
I imagine that the majority of people who expressed 
these opinions have never actually studied music. 
I’d like to begin by suggesting you completely forget 
about the distinction between classical music and 
popular music, and consider music in its broadest 
possible sense from a simple tune played on a flute to a 
full-scale orchestra. Nowadays we’re constantly exposed 
to music, eliminating the need to ever attend a formal 
performance. For instance, on vacation recently, I was 
struck by the artistic flair of some music being played in 
the street on tin cans. Each one was filled with rice to 
varying depths so combined, they constituted a musical 
scale and the player tapped them with a spoon. The effect 
was extraordinary! The chances are you’ll hear music in 
some form or other when you go into a shopping mall, a 
restaurant or wander around a gallery!
So how exactly does music affect us from birth onwards? 
Well, research shows that babies respond to music in a 
similar fashion to responding to the stimulus of smiles. 
I’m sure many of you will have seen or heard adverts 
for music specifically targeted at children under the age 
of one. And just last week I read a fascinating study of 
people who had been in jail for a number of years. They 
were encouraged to stage a musical, and the whole 
exercise had a hugely positive effect on their behaviour. 
OK … so what are the main advantages of teaching music 
from a teacher’s perspective? Well show me a young 
person who isn’t into pop or rap music or who doesn’t 
want to download the latest hits created to appeal to the 
masses. Using this type of music in class will establish 
a connection between you and the children you’re 
teaching. There’s a wide body of evidence based on 
global research that children who have some form of 
music education go on to develop increased levels of 
confidence. And, perhaps more importantly, their levels 
of concentration show a marked improvement, which 
from a teaching point of view is obviously a considerable 
bonus. 
I can give you specific examples to further support the 
educational value of music. Most of you will have heard 
about that very famous and inspirational project in South 
America which made music tuition available freely to 
disadvantaged young people. And there was another one 
… less high-profile as it hasn’t resulted in a world-famous 
orchestra … in Northern Europe, that’s shown that music 
lessons have had an amazing effect on children’s ability 
in mathematics. And when it came to teaching foreign 
languages, singing appeared to improve young children’s 
grasp of rhythm and intonation … quite an achievement 
I’d say. 
The research findings are perhaps less surprising, but 
nonetheless they’re still worth recounting. One school 
reported that children who took part in lessons learning 
to play the recorder, as well as simply enjoying the activity 
and having improved coordination, showed that they 
were better able to get on with their peers when it came 
to group activities. The improved sense of teamwork from 
this was very apparent. 
Finally, I want to mention some work being done in music 
education with children who have to deal with some 
sort of impairment. Children who are profoundly deaf 
can nevertheless be taught to read music and respond to 
rhythm. I never fail to be impressed when I hear just how 
many accomplished musicians, especially percussionists, 
are deaf. And in some cases, children who are born blind 
have a wonderfully musical capability, as if the absence of 
one sense sharpens all the others. Such children are often 
referred to as musical savants. 
Now, if any of you have questions at this point I’d be 
happy to answer them …

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Expert IELTS 7.5 Teacher’s Online Materials © Pearson Education Limited 2017
Photocopiable
2
Review Test 5 Answer Key
Listening
1 
education 
2
classical
3
spoon
4
smiles 
5
behaviour 
6
connection 
7
concentration
8
South America
9
group activities
10 
Deaf 
Reading
1 
True 
2 
Not Given 
3 
True 
4 
False 
5 
B 
6 
A
7 
D 
8 
C 
9 
D 
10 
A 
Writing 
Sample answer
The economy of a country reflects the people in that 
country. In recent times, it has become apparent that 
some people earn extremely high salaries, while others 
seem just about able to make ends meet. Some people 
are of the opinion that this distribution of money is good 
for the economy of the country. Others, however, believe 
that governments should restrict earnings beyond a 
certain level.
Firstly, we must acknowledge that some people are 
more highly skilled than others. Such people should be 
rewarded with higher salaries. Furthermore, paying a high 
salary to certain workers may be a way of deterring skilled 
and talented workers from leaving the country. High 
salaries are also vital in enticing people to do some of the 
more dangerous or unpleasant jobs in society.
There are, however, certain disadvantages to paying high 
salaries. It can be disheartening for people to know that 
while they earn a low salary, there are others being paid 
huge amounts, and often apparently unjustifiably so. This 
leads to inequality and an uneven distribution of wealth. 
If there were some limitation on the salaries that workers 
could earn, then the money that is available could be 
ploughed into funding public services, which would 
benefit society as a whole.
In my opinion, an individual who has worked hard to 
progress in his or her career deserves to reap the financial 
rewards. However, care must be taken to ensure that 
while people are allowed to capitalise on opportunities, 
the less disadvantaged in society are not marginalised.
Speaking 
Please use the IELTS Speaking assessment criteria to score 
your students.