A Monologue About Cooking Ginger on the Radio Broadcast - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

Oct 8, 2021

The IELTS Listening section comprises four sections with a total of 40 questions. The candidates need to properly listen to the IELTS Listening audio then proceed with the 10 questions. These audio recordings will be in the form of monologues or conversations between two or more people. This topic is section Two of IELTS listening and contains the following question types:

Complete the notes
Complete the table

Audio Transcript

Presenter:

Hello and welcome to Cooking Corners. And this week we’re looking at that most versatile and aromatic of plants: a fairly recent addition to the list of Australian agricultural produce, but nevertheless, a great favourite today – ginger. And in the studio to tell us all about it is Jennifer Johnson.

Jennifer:

Ginger is one of my personal favourite spices and I’ve got a number of wonderful recipes to share with you later on in the programme. So what is ginger? Well, actually it’s a spicy tasting root with an aromatic flavour; it's related to the bamboo family and has a hundred different uses in the kitchen. The Chinese have cultivated it for years, particularly to use in medicine, though you are probably more familiar with its culinary uses. But first, let's take a brief look at its history before we look at how it can be used, because it has a very interesting history. Ginger originated in the southern provinces of China and in India, where it had been used in medicine and food for over 5,000 years. The early traders who came upon the plant took it to many parts of the world such as Nigeria, the West Indies, Central America, East Africa and even Indonesia.

Ginger became extremely popular because of its exotic, aromatic properties and was highly valued by spice traders in the 17th and 18th centuries because they were able to sell it back in Europe for a very good price. Although Australia is now the largest producer of ginger in the world, it wasn’t grown in Australia until the early 20th century.

Apparently some pieces of raw ginger found their way to an area about 100 kilometres north of Brisbane in Queensland earlier this century. The comparatively high rainfall and humidity in this area produce conditions which are perfect for growing ginger. So it became well established, but in the early days the relatively high cost of production placed it at a disadvantge in the market by comparison with the much cheaper ginger produced by other countries with lower production costs.

Then in 1941 the supply of ginger to Australia started to run out. Remember … this was in the middle of the Second World War when everything was in short supply. This provided a perfect opportunity for the Queensland growers to expand their production and sales. Five local farmers got together and formed a cooperative association in a place called Buderim. They started with only 25 pounds between them. (That was in the days when Australian currency was pounds, not dollars.)

So they set up the company with two wooden vats and 14 tons of raw ginger, but they went on to become the most successful ginger farmers in the world.

In fact, nearly all the world’s ginger now comes from the Buderim ginger factory in Queensland. 40% of the production is used in Australia and the remaining 60% is exported overseas to places like Europe, North America, south Africa, and even to Asia, where it originated in the first place.

So now let’s move on to look at ways of using ginger in the kitchen…

Questions 11-14

Complete the notes as you listen. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Weekly Cooking Corner – Gingers
Ginger is a spicy-tasting root related to the bamboo family and has a variety of uses in the kitchen. (Example)

The Chinese used ginger principally for 11___________________.
Ginger was first grown in 12____________________ and ______________________
Spice traders were able to get 13__________________ for ginger.
Ginger was introduced to Australia in the 14__________________ century.

Question 11.

Answer: medicine

Explanation: Jennifer mentioned “The Chinese have cultivated it for years, particularly to use in medicine” hence the answer is ‘medicine’.

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Question 12.

Answer: China; India (in either order)

Explanation: As mentioned by the speaker “Ginger originated in the southern provinces of China and in India,” therefore the answer is China; India.

Question 13.

Answer: a good price /lot of money

Explanation: Jennifer stated, “in the 17th and 18th centuries because they were able to sell it back in Europe for a very good price.” So, it is clear that the answer is a good price.

Question 14.

Answer: (early) 20th

Explanation: The speaker said, “it wasn’t grown in Australia until the early 20th century.” So, the answer is early 20th.

Questions 15-17

Complete the table below.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Ginger Production in Australia
Cause	Effect
High rainfall in Queensland	15_________________
High 16___________________	Australian ginger was not price competitive
17__________________	Supplies of ginger ran low

Question 15.

Answer: Perfect / Ideal (conditions)

Explanation: The woman said “The comparatively high rainfall and humidity in this area produce conditions which are perfect for growing ginger” this means that the effect of high rainfall in Queensland is perfect conditions for growing ginger.

Question 16.

Answer: production cost(s) / cost of production

Explanation: The speaker stated, “ in the early days the relatively high cost of production placed it at a disadvantage in the market by comparison with the much cheaper ginger produced by other countries with lower production costs.” Here “at a disadvantage in the market” means its price was not competitive.

Question 17.

Answer: Second World War/ World War II

Explanation: Jenifer told that the supply of ginger ran out in the middle of the Second World War. Therefore the Second World War is the answer.

Questions 18-20

Complete the fact sheet below.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
FACTS ABOUT BUDERIM COOPERATIVE

Cooperative was formed with £ 18_____________ and two wooden vats and 19_______________ of raw ginger.
40% of ginger is used in 20_________________.
60% of ginger is exported to Asia, Europe, and elsewhere.

Question 18.

Answer: twenty-five/25

Explanation: It is mentioned in the passage that “They started with only 25 pounds between them.” So the answer is 25.

Question 19.

Answer: 14 tons/fourteen tons

Explanation: The company was set up with two wooden vats, the cooperative association also owned 14 tons of raw ginger. So, the answer is 14 tons.

Question 20.

Answer: Australia

Explanation: The speaker mentioned “40% of the production is used in Australia” thus the answer is easy to spot which is Australia.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.