How to do MCQ in IELTS Listening? 3 Powerful Strategies to Crack Multiple Choice Questions

How To Do MCQ in IELTS Listening is a common question asked by most candidates. In the IELTS Listening module, the most difficult question is said to be the IELTS listening MCQ i.e. question along with some options to choose from. In some questions, only one option is correct while in some of the other questions, more than one option is correct.

You ask any candidate appearing in IELTS and they will tell you the fear associated with MCQs. So, let us understand what your IELTS listening strategy should be?

We would now try to understand all strategies by discussing each IELTS listening multiple choice question according to its difficulty level. The most important strategy to solve the IELTS listening practice test is to underline the keywords.

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Strategy 1 IELTS Listening MCQ Difficulty Level – Easy

In the easy type of MCQs, you will find “one word or two words” options to choose from. In this case, it is extremely easy to concentrate on the audio and question simultaneously. For example,

Which of the two things are included in the tour cost?

#Accommodation

#Picnic

#Fishing trip

#Table tennis

#Restaurant meal

In the above question, “two things” and “tour cost” are the major keywords that you can concentrate on. From the options, “accommodation” and “picnic” are two “one-word” options to easily focus on, however, in the other three options, you can put more emphasis on words such as “fishing”, “tennis” and “meal” though you can not completely ignore the other words also in the options.

Strategy 2 IELTS Listening MCQ Difficulty Level – Moderate

In the moderate type of MCQs, you find short statements as the options which are easy to solve once a few main keywords are highlighted in these statements. For example,

In the year 1994, Michael Willson went to Japan

#As a part-time student

#As a volunteer worker

#As a businessman

In the above question, you can see options have at least three words. Here, you can underline the main keywords which are “Japan”, “Micheal Wilson”, and “1994”.

Also Read: How is the IELTS Listening Test Conducted? An Insight into the IELTS Listening Aspect

Strategy 3 IELTS Listening MCQ Difficulty Level – Advanced

In the advanced MCQs, the difficulty level is increased as the listener struggles to simultaneously understand the audio conversation and concentrate on all the options.

For example, What problem did the company face in 1999?

#Not meeting the targets leading to reduced sales

#The market strategy was weak as compared to competitors

#The media started criticizing the company for its failures

In the above question, statements in the options are too long. Hence, you can understand the main aspects of these options by understanding them and then underlining the keywords that define the main aspects.

Another important strategy for such questions is to keep the gist of the IELTS listening multiple choice question in mind when trying to find answers while understanding the audio. For example, in the above question, while looking at the options, you just need to keep your focus on the problem faced by the company, whether it was reduced sales, weak market strategy or criticizing the media.

Conclusion

This article might have given a clear idea on how to improve IELTS listening score. To get a high band score in the listening score you should train exceptionally well. One way of doing this is to solve mock IELTS listening tests. Solving practice tests will help you familiarize yourself with the pattern and questions asked in the IELTS listening test. You can also visit the IELTS Ninja website to read more about the IELTS listening section.