Cambridge IELTS 17 · Listening · Test 1 · Part 4

Listening Test 1, Part 4: answers explained

Labyrinths

The recording and its 10 questions (31–40). Every answer is explained with the words that give it away.

Take the whole test, timed Show the answers

Part 4 recording

Play it once, as in the exam, and answer the questions below as you listen.

Questions 31–40

Note completion
31 Mazes are a type of ______
32 ______ is needed to navigate through a maze
33 the word ‘maze’ is derived from a word meaning a feeling of ______
34 they have frequently been used in ______ and prayer
35 Ancient carvings on ______ have been found across many cultures
36 Ancient Greeks used the symbol on ______
37 The largest surviving example of a turf labyrinth once had a big ______ at its centre
38 Believed to have a beneficial impact on mental and physical health, e.g., walking a maze can reduce a person’s ______ rate
39 patients who can’t walk can use ‘finger labyrinths’ made from ______
40 research has shown that Alzheimer’s sufferers experience less ______

Answers explained

Answer the questions first: finding the evidence yourself teaches more than reading it. The answers stay folded until you ask.

Question 31

puzzle

What you hear

a kind of puzzle

Why

Having described the labyrinth's single path, the lecturer turns to mazes and calls a maze 'a kind of puzzle' with an intricate network of paths. The note's 'a type of' is only a paraphrase of 'kind of'. Network and paths sit in the same sentence, but puzzle is the one word that names what a maze is.
Question 32

logic

What you hear

using logic to work out the pattern

Why

Mazes involve getting lost a few times and only then 'using logic to work out the pattern'. What you need to navigate one is logic. Pattern is the tempting wrong word because it sits beside it, but it is what logic uncovers, not what the solver must bring to the maze.
Question 33

confusion

What you hear

a Scandinavian word for a state of confusion

Why

The lecturer traces 'maze' to a Scandinavian word for 'a state of confusion', which the note rephrases as 'a feeling of'. The remark about 'amazing' follows straight afterwards but is a separate point about another word, so the gap takes confusion rather than amazement.
Question 34

meditation

What you hear

used as a meditation and prayer tool

Why

Labyrinths served as 'a meditation and prayer tool', so meditation is the activity paired with prayer, and the note's 'frequently' echoes 'many cultures over many centuries'. The calm that labyrinths encourage is mentioned a clause earlier, but a feeling is not something you use a labyrinth in. Mind the -tion ending.
Question 35

stone

What you hear

carved into stone

Why

The earliest spirals were 'carved into stone' from Sardinia to Arizona, which is the note's ancient carvings found across many cultures. Baskets, coins and mosaics arrive later in the talk, but each is a different material belonging to a particular people, so none of them completes a sentence about carvings.
Question 36

coins

What you hear

the labyrinth spiral was used on coins

Why

'Ancient Greece' is the cue, and the lecturer says the spiral 'was used on coins' there. The Romans' mosaics come in the following sentence and the Pima baskets just before it, so they tempt a careless listener but belong to other peoples. The gap needs the plural, coins.
Question 37

tree

What you hear

used to have a large tree in the middle of it

Why

Of the eleven turf labyrinths that survive, the largest is at Saffron Walden, which 'used to have a large tree in the middle of it'. The note's 'once had a big' paraphrases 'used to have a large', and 'centre' stands for 'middle', so the missing noun is tree.
Question 38

breathing

What you hear

slower breathing and a restored sense of balance

Why

Among the claimed benefits is 'slower breathing', and only breathing can sensibly be followed by 'rate'. Balance and perspective are said to be restored, not reduced, so they cannot complete a sentence about what the walk lowers. The question says maze where the lecturer is speaking of labyrinths.
Question 39

paper

What you hear

a paper ‘finger labyrinth’ brought to their bed

Why

The hospital detail separates two groups. Visitors can walk a real labyrinth, but patients who can't walk are brought a paper 'finger labyrinth' to their bed. 'Made from' asks for the material, which is paper. Corridors and waiting rooms were mentioned only as places where walking is less stressful.
Question 40

anxiety

What you hear

relief from anxiety

Why

The Alzheimer's study reported 'short-term calming, relaxation, and relief from anxiety'. Only anxiety is something a person can experience less of, whereas calming and relaxation are positive states. Relief is the trap word, because it sits immediately before the answer but does not fit after 'less'.

Part 4 audioscript

Part 4 · audioscript

Labyrinths have existed for well over 4,000 years. Labyrinths and labyrinthine symbols have been found in regions as diverse as modern-day Turkey, Ireland, Greece, and India. There are various designs of labyrinth but what they all have in common is a winding spiral path which leads to a central area. There is one starting point at the entrance and the goal is to reach the central area. Finding your way through a labyrinth involves many twists and turns, but it’s not possible to get lost as there is only one single path.

In modern times, the word labyrinth has taken on a different meaning and is often used as a synonym for a maze. A maze is quite different as it is a kind of puzzle with an intricate network of paths. Mazes became fashionable in the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe, and can still be found in the gardens of great houses and palaces. The paths are usually surrounded by thick, high hedges so that it’s not possible to see over them. Entering a maze usually involves getting lost a few times before using logic to work out the pattern and find your way to the centre and then out again. There are lots of dead ends and paths which lead you back to where you started. The word ‘maze’ is believed to come from a Scandinavian word for a state of confusion. This is where the word ‘amazing’ comes from.

Labyrinths, on the other hand, have a very different function. Although people now often refer to things they find complicated as labyrinths, this is not how they were seen in the past. the winding spiral of the labyrinth has been used for centuries as a metaphor for life’s journey. It served as a spiritual reminder that there is purpose and meaning to our lives and helped to give people a sense of direction. Labyrinths are thought to encourage a feeling of calm and have been used as a meditation and prayer tool in many cultures over many centuries.

The earliest examples of the labyrinth spiral pattern have been found carved into stone, from Sardinia to Scandinavia, from Arizona to India to Africa. In Europe, these spiral carvings date from the late Bronze Age. The Native American Pima tribe wove baskets with a circular labyrinth design that depicted their own cosmology. In Ancient Greece, the labyrinth spiral was used on coins around four thousand years ago. Labyrinths made of mosaics were commonly found in bathhouses, villas and tombs throughout the Roman Empire.

In Northern Europe, there were actual physical labyrinths designed for walking on. These were cut into the turf or grass, usually in a circular pattern. The origin of these walking labyrinths remains unclear, but they were probably used for fertility rites which may date back thousands of years. Eleven examples of turf labyrinths survive today, including the largest one at Saffron Walden, England, which used to have a large tree in the middle of it.

More recently labyrinths have experienced something of a revival. Some believe that walking a labyrinth promotes healing and mindfulness, and there are those who believe in its emotional and physical benefits, which include slower breathing and a restored sense of balance and perspective. This idea has become so popular that labyrinths have been laid into the floors of spas, wellness centres and even prisons in recent years.

A pamphlet at Colorado Children’s Hospital informs patients that ‘walking a labyrinth can often calm people in the midst of a crisis’. And apparently, it’s not only patients who benefit. Many visitors find walking a labyrinth less stressful than sitting in a corridor or waiting room. Some doctors even walk the labyrinth during their breaks. In some hospitals, patients who can’t walk can have a paper ‘finger labyrinth’ brought to their bed. The science behind the theory is a little sketchy, but there are dozens of small-scale studies which support claims about the benefits of labyrinths. For example, one study found that walking a labyrinth provided ‘short-term calming, relaxation, and relief from anxiety’ for Alzheimer’s patients.

So, what is it about labyrinths that makes their appeal so universal? Well …

Part 4 recording

Questions 31–40

Answers explained

Question 31

Question 32

Question 33

Question 34

Question 35

Question 36

Question 37

Question 38

Question 39

Question 40

Part 4 audioscript