A Monologue On The History Of The British Pottery - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

In the IELTS Listening section, candidates will hear a number of different recordings and will be required to answer the questions based on what they hear. The IELTS Listening test is in four sections. This particular topic - A lecture on the history of British pottery is a section Four topic. There are numerous similar topics available in IELTS listening practice papers for candidates to practice. This section contains the following question type:

• Complete the sentences
• Complete the notes

Audio Transcript

You will hear a lecturer giving the beginning of a talk on the history of British pottery.

Thank you for coming to this series of talks. Before I talk in detail about the experiments and Innovations of the British ceramicists, I'd like to give you a summary of the social and manufacturing background in which they lived and worked. So we're talking about England or more specifically the region known as the Midlands and we need to go back mainly to the 18th century, and briefly even earlier to put it in a global context. Now at that period, the majority of the population, whatever their station in life as you might say, were dependent for their living in one way or another, not on the geographical location of where they lived, but on the physical characteristics of the actual land they lived on. This is true whether we're talking about the aristocracy, the owners of great estates who incidentally had no snobbery about the concept of making money from all the reserves of coal or timber or stone on their rolling acres or the farmers making a fat living from the rich soils. And besides these groups and the less affluent ones, the deposits of iron ore and lead, the limestone and flint, and the brown and yellow clays, also sustained the numerous industries in the area. It's important to recognize that it was already an industrial region and had been so for centuries. There were many Midland trade, some of them indigenous some of them not, for example, there were immigrants from France who came as early as the late 16th century and they were producers of glass. A century later, there is plenty of evidence that the variety of trade was enormous there was brewing, in Burton- on-Trent, silk weaving and ribbon making near Coventry, framework knitting around Nottingham. And of course in Cheshire, men dug the salt as we still do nowadays even which in that era was sent down river to the estuary of the mercy. Now among these well-established trades, one of the oldest of the local crafts was pottery. As you will probably be aware, ceramics has always been a mix of science, design and skill. And a good potter is in a sense, an experimental chemist, trying out new mixes and glazes and needing to be alert to the impact of changes of temperature on different types of clay. For 200 years, up to the time we are concerned with, potter's had been making butter pots and pitchers and patterned plates using the clay which was plentiful in the area where they lived, in a handful of North Staffordshire villages dotted along the low heels.

Now, I want to explain a little about the industrial processes which had preceded the great breakthrough in Germany in 1708. That's when the formula for porcelain was discovered, a secret that had been held in China for a thousand years. In the Midlands, in England as elsewhere, there had basically been two kinds of pottery. The first was known, is still known, as earthenware. Now this was a bit rough and ready, but it was deservedly popular for several reasons. To start with it was relatively cheap, so it could be used by most households. This was because it could be made from local clay without any complicated processing or added materials. From The potter’s point of view, there was another reason for its cheapness. This was that it could be fired in simple ovens or kilns and at relatively low temperatures. So he didn't have to spend so much money on fuel to achieve the necessary heat. On the other hand, after one firing in the liln the problem with earthenware was that it remained porous, so had limited usefulness. So for most purposes it had to go back in the kiln for a second firing before it became waterproof. And another thing was that it was extremely breakable. I mean before it had even been sold. I suppose the potter wouldn't mind it so much if people just had to keep coming back for more every time they broke a jug or whatever, but it was very inconvenient because it meant there was a lot of wastage in the course of the manufacturing process. Anyway, for all these reasons, if people could afford it and that would be all but the very poor they would buy stoneware a much tougher product. Now for this the potter used a slightly more expensive raw material, which was made by combining clay and flint and this mixture was fired at a far higher heat with the result that the ingredients vitrified, that is to say, in effect, the whole thing became glassy and because of this, it was non-porous and naturally this was regarded as a great advance.

Well, that's the situation in the 18th century. Are there any questions at this stage? Okay, so now we can go on to look at the age of innovation.

That is the end of section four.

Questions 31-35

Complete the sentences below.

Write ONLY ONE WORD for each answer.

Manufacturing in the English Midlands

31. In the eighteenth century, the _________ still determined how most people made a living.
32. In the ground were minerals which supported the many _________ of the region.
33. Since the late sixteenth century the French settlers had made _________
34. In Cheshire _________ was mined and transported on the River Mersey.
35. Potters worked in a few _________ situated on the small hills of North Staffordshire.

Question 31.

Answer: land

Explanation: As stated in the lecture “the majority of the population, whatever their station in life as you might say, were dependent on their living in one way or another, not on the geographical location of where they lived, but on the physical characteristics of the actual land they lived on.” Therefore ‘Land’ is the answer.

Also, check:

Question 32.

Answer: industries/trades

Explanation: The lecturer mentioned, “the deposits of iron ore and lead, the limestone and flint, and the brown and yellow clays, also sustained the numerous industries in the area.” These minerals supported the many industries in the area thus the answer must be ‘industries’.

Question 33.

Answer: glass

Explanation: As we follow the lecture we can hear the lecturer mentioning “immigrants from France who came as early as the late 16th century and they were producers of glass.” Therefore ‘glass’ is the answer.

Question 34.

Answer: salt

Explanation: As stated by the lecturer “ in Cheshire, men dug the salt as we still do nowadays even which in that era was sent down the river to the estuary of the mercy.” Accordingly, the answer must be ‘salt’.

Question 35.

Answer: villages

Explanation: “Potters had been making butter pots and pitchers……. in the area where they lived, in a handful of North Staffordshire villages” The answer is ‘villages’.

Questions 36-40

Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD for each answer.

Pottery notes
Earthenware
Advantages:

Pottery used 36_________ clay

saved money on 37_________

Disadvantages:

needed two firings in the Kiln to be 38_________

fragility led to high 39_________ during manufacturing

Stoneware

more emotive but better made from a 40_________ of clay and flint

Question 36.

Answer: local

Explanation: As mentioned in the lecture “this was because it could be made from local clay without any complicated processing” therefore the answer should be ‘local’.

Question 37.

Answer: fuel

Explanation: The lecturer stated, “So he didn't have to spend so much money on fuel to achieve the necessary heat.” This means that he saved money on fuel hence the answer should be ‘fuel.

Question 38.

Answer: waterproof

Explanation: One of the disadvantages was that for most purposes it had to go back in the kiln for a second firing before it became waterproof. Therefore the answer is ‘waterproof.

Question 39.

Answer: wastage/waste

Explanation: Another disadvantage stated by the lecturer is “it was very inconvenient because it meant there was a lot of wastage in the course of the manufacturing process.” Therefore ‘wastage’ could be the answer.

Question 40.

Answer: mixture / mix / combination

Explanation: It is mentioned in the lecture “which was made by combining clay and flint and this mixture was fired at a far higher heat” therefore mixture must be the correct answer.