Cambridge IELTS 1 · Academic · Test 3 · Passage 1
Spoken Corpus Comes to Life — IELTS Reading Answers
All 12 answers for Spoken Corpus Comes to Life, Cambridge IELTS 1 Academic Reading Test 3 Passage 1, with the passage evidence and an explanation for each.
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Spoken Corpus Comes to Life answer key at a glance
Questions 1–12. Tap an answer to see the evidence.
What this passage tests
This passage is tested with Matching Headings (Q1–6), Diagram Labeling (Q7–11), One Choice (Q12–12). Each section below gives the strategy for that question type, the answers, and the sentence that proves them.
Questions 1–6: Matching Headings
Strategy: Read the paragraph first and summarise its main idea in five words. Choose the heading that matches the whole paragraph, not a repeated keyword.
Paragraph A
“The compiling of dictionaries has been historically the provenance of studious professorial types - usually bespectacled - who love to pore over weighty tomes and make pronouncements on the finer nuances of meaning”
Paragraph A describes dictionary compiling as the historical preserve of studious, bespectacled professors poring over weighty tomes, an image of traditional lexicographers.
Paragraph B
“For the first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into their data In one project, 150 volunteers each agreed to discreetly tie a Walkman recorder to their waist and leave it running for anything up to two weeks”
Paragraph B announces that dictionary publishers now incorporate real, spoken English, with 150 volunteers recording their speech for up to two weeks.
Paragraph D
“But the database does allow lexicographers to search for a word and find out how frequently it is used - something that could only be guessed at intuitively before”
Paragraph D says the database lets lexicographers search for a word and find how frequently it is used, something previously only guessed at.
Paragraph E
“The phrase “it’s a question of” crops up on the database over and over again. It has nothing to do with enquiry, but it’s one of the most frequent English phrases which has never been in a language learner’s dictionary before: it is now”
Paragraph E highlights the phrase it's a question of, very frequent yet never before included in a language learner's dictionary.
Paragraph F
“It also reveals the power of the pauses and noises we use to play for time, convey emotion, doubt and irony”
Paragraph F reveals the power of pauses and noises used to play for time and convey emotion, doubt and irony.
Paragraph G
“The Spoken Corpus is part of the larger British National Corpus, an initiative carried out by several groups involved in the production of language learning materials: publishers, universities and the British Library”
Paragraph G describes the Spoken Corpus as part of the larger British National Corpus, a cooperative initiative by publishers, universities and the British Library.
Questions 7–11: Diagram Labeling
Strategy: Locate the labelled part on the diagram, then find the matching description in the passage. Answers are usually concrete nouns.
“This has been the basis - along with an existing written corpus - for the Language Activator dictionary”
The diagram label needs the kind of corpus used alongside the spoken one; the text mentions an existing written corpus.
“In the dictionary, key words such as “eat” are followed by related phrases such as “wolf down” or “be a picky eater”, allowing the student to choose the appropriate phrase”
The label needs what follows key words such as eat; the text says these are followed by related phrases like wolf down.
“If you look at the word “like”, you may intuitively think that the first and most frequent meaning is the verb, as in “I like swimming”. It is not. It is the preposition, as in: “she walked like a duck””
The label needs what the dictionary orders by frequency; the text says the most frequent meaning of like is the preposition.
“For the first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into their data”
The label needs the type of English now incorporated into dictionary data; the text says real, spoken English is being added.
“It also reveals the power of the pauses and noises we use to play for time, convey emotion, doubt and irony”
The label needs what the corpus reveals about spoken delivery; the text names the pauses and noises we use to play for time.
Questions 12–12: One Choice
Strategy: Read the question stem and predict the answer before looking at the options. Wrong options often repeat passage words while the correct one paraphrases them.
Why was this article written?
- ATo give an example of a current dictionary.
- BTo announce a new approach to dictionary writing.correct
- CTo show how dictionaries have progressed over the years.
- DTo compare the content of different dictionaries
“For the first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into their data. It gives lexicographers (people who write dictionaries) access to a more vibrant, up-to-date vernacular language which has never really been studied before”
The article announces that for the first time publishers are incorporating spoken English, giving lexicographers access to vibrant vernacular, a new approach.
Learn the question types in this passage
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Spoken Corpus Comes to Life passage come from?
It is Passage 1 of Cambridge IELTS 1 Academic Reading Test 3, and it covers Questions 1–12.
What question types appear in Spoken Corpus Comes to Life?
The passage is tested with Matching Headings, Diagram Labeling, One Choice. Each type is explained on this page, alongside the answers.
Are these reading answers reliable?
Every answer is paired with the sentence that proves it, so you can check each one against the passage yourself. Use the page after a timed attempt, not instead of one.
Cambridge IELTS is published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Band9Prep is not affiliated with Cambridge. This page is an independent study aid: it gives the answer key, the passage evidence and an explanation so you can review an attempt you have already made.