Lecture about Fireworks - IELTS Listening Sample Answer

Oct 30, 2021

IELTS Listening section consists of conversations and monologues. Candidates need to carefully listen to the IELTS listening audio as it is played only once. This topic - A lecture about fireworks is IELTS Listening section four. The following IELTS listening question types need to be answered by the candidate:

Fill in the blanks
Diagram completion
Multiple-choice questions

Check: Take IELTS Coaching Sign up for the Free Trial

Audio Transcript:

You will hear part of the lecture about fireworks. First, you have some time to read questions 31 to 40.

Now, listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

Good afternoon, everyone and welcome to this short talk on the subject of fireworks. Now fireworks, as I'm sure many of you know, were invented in China. Though, there has long been disagreement as to exactly when or even In which century. The consensus, nowadays, though is that it was in the sixth as there is considerable evidence of war rockets being made then. We also know that fireworks were in use by the 7th Century in Arabia, where they were called chinese arrows reflecting their military potential. It then took a long time for them to spread to Europe. In fact, it wasn't until the 1200s, that fireworks made their appearance there.

The basic ingredients of fireworks have changed little, to this day. Their explosive capacity comes mainly from black powder also known as gunpowder which is produced from a mixture of charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate. A modern aerial firework, the kind used nowadays in big public displays, not the small rocket type that you might remember from your childhood, is normally made in the form of a shell, often a sphere, about the size of a peach. Inside the shell are a number of stars, surrounded by black powder and running through the center of the round shell is a charge that makes the firework explode, when it reaches the desired altitude. This is known as the bursting charge. When it explodes, it ignites the outside of the stars which begin to burn with bright showers of sparks. Since the explosion throws the stars in all directions, you get the huge sphere of sparkling light that is so familiar at firework displays. A shell of this kind is launched from a 75 millimeter diameter mortar, which in some ways resembles the type used by the military. The mortar is a steel or increasingly for safety reasons, shatterproof plastic pipe. This is likely to be 500 mm long and sealed at one end. The other end is aimed at the sky and at the bottom of the pipe below the shell is placed the cylinder containing black powder. This has a long fuse, which projects out of the tube. When this is lit, it quickly burns down to the lifting charge which explodes to launch the shell. In so doing, it also lights the shell's fuse. The shell’s fuse burns while the shell rises to its correct altitude and then ignites the bursting charge so that it explodes. More complicated shells are divided into sections and burst in two or three phases. Shells like this are called multi break shells. They may contain stars of different colours and compositions to create softer or brighter light, more or less sparks etc.

Some shells contain explosives designed to crackle in the sky or whistles that explode outward with the stars. The sections of a multi break shell are ignited by different fuses and the bursting of one section ignites the next. The shells must be assembled in such a way that each section explodes in sequence, to produce a distinct separate effect. The pattern that an aerial shell paints in the sky depends on the arrangement of stars, inside the shell. For example, if the stars are equally spaced in a circle with black powder inside the circle you will see an aerial display of smaller star explosions equally spaced in a circle. To create a specific figure in the sky, for instance, heart shape you create an outline of the figure in stars inside the shell. Then you place explosive charges inside those stars to blow them outward into the shape of a large heart. Each charge has to be ignited at exactly the right time or the whole thing is spoilt. Many other shapes have particular names like the willow. This is formed by stars that fall in the shape of willow tree branches spreading a little to the side and then downwards. The high charcoal composition of the stars makes them long burning so they may even stay visible until they hit the ground. The ring shell is fairly basic. It is produced by stars exploding outwards to produce a symmetrical ring of coloured lights. More complex is the pattern created by the palm, which contains large comets or charges in the shape of a solid cylinder. These travel outwards, explode and then curve downwards like the limbs of a palm tree. The serpentine, the last one for now is different again. When this one bursts, it sends small tubes of in centuries scattering outwards in random paths, which may culminate in exploding stars. It can be quite spectacular.

Section 4
Questions 31-40

Q.31-33

Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Fireworks were first used in China, probably in the 31 _________ century.

Answer: 6th

Explanation: According to the lecture, fireworks were first used in China probably in the 6th century.

Also check:

Lecture about a Project on Household Waste Recycling - IELTS Listening Sample Answer	Conversation between Training College Students and their Liaison Officer - IELTS Listening Sample Answer	Lecture by Sally Jackson to a Group of University Students - IELTS Listening Sample Answer
A Telephone Conversation of a Man Ordering Items from a Library - IELTS Listening Sample Answer	A Lecture about the changes in the Labor Market - IELTS Listening Sample Answer	A Conversation among Martin and Amanda with their Tutor - IELTS Listening Sample Answer
A Monologue on Nutrition - IELTS Listening Sample Answer	A Monologue By A Meteorologist About Weather Forecasting – IELTS Listening	A Monologue By an Artist Illustrator – IELTS Listening
A Conversation Between a University Tutor and a Student About a Job Fair – IELTS Listening	Conversation Among A Woman And A Group Of People Around Sports – IELTS Listening	A Monologue on How Music and Art are Used in the Healing Process - IELTS Listening Sample Answer