Ocean Biodiversity IELTS Listening Answers

Ocean Biodiversity IELTS Listening Answers is a lecture on the diversity of species that live in the world’s oceans. The candidates need to answer the following type of questions:

• One word only

For one word only, candidates need to answer the question keeping in mind the word limit. To answer these questions, candidates should listen carefully to the numbers that the speaker tells in the audio.

IELTS Listening section assesses the abilities of the candidates in listening skills. Candidates are required to answer correctly by listening to the given audio.

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Topic: Ocean Biodiversity

Audio: 

Questions 1-10:
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Ocean Biodiversity
Biodiversity hotspots

• areas containing many different species
• important for locating targets for 1________
• at first only identified on land

Question 1:

Answer: conservation
Explanation: The lecture talks about the significance of hotspots. Hotspots are significant because they allow us to locate key areas for focusing efforts on conservation.

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Boris Worm, 2005

• identified hotspots for large ocean predators, e.g. sharks
• found that ocean hotspots:

- were not always rich in 2______
- had higher temperatures at the 3 ______
- had sufficient 4 ______ in the water

Question 2:

Answer: food/foods
Explanation: The main thing that the speaker expected to find high concentrations of food. But to his surprise that was only true for four of the hotspots. The remaining hotspot was quite badly off in that regard.

Question 3:

Answer: surface
Explanation: The water at the surface of the ocean had relatively high temperatures. But the depth is cooler.

Question 4:

Answer: oxygen/O2
Explanation: The speaker states that the water must have enough oxygen in it. So that it can support the high metabolic rate of large fish.

Lisa Ballance, 2007

• looked for hotspots for marine 5 ______
• found these were all located where ocean currents meet

Question 5:

Answer: mammals
Explanation: A researcher called Lisa Ballance, working in California. She started looking for ocean hotspots. Later she was interested in marine mammals like seals.

Census of Marine Life

• found new ocean species living:

- under the 6 ______
- near volcanoes on the ocean floor

Question 6:

Answer: ice
Explanation: One thing that stunned researchers was that there were large numbers of species. They lived below the ice - sometimes under a layer up to 20 metres thick.

Global Marine Species Assessment

• want to list endangered ocean species, considering:

- population size
- geographical distribution
- rate of 7 ______

• Aim: to assess 20,000 species and make a distribution 8 ______ for each one

Question 7:

Answer: decline/declining/decrease
Explanation: It is quite difficult looking at fish as they’re so mobile. Hence they calculated the rate at which the decline of the species is happening.

Question 8:

Answer: map
Explanation: For each one researcher assesses the data to collect the species to produce a map showing its distribution.

Recommendations to retain ocean biodiversity

• increase the number of ocean reserves
• establish 9 ______ corridors (e.g. for turtles)
• reduce fishing quotas
• catch fish only for the purpose of 10 ______

Question 9:

Answer: migration
Explanation: The lecture then shifts to leatherback turtles. They lived out on the high seas but have their nesting sites on the American coast. Hence the researchers needed to create corridors for migration.

Question 10:

Answer: consumption
Explanation: To stop unwanted catching of fish, the commercial fishing boats must be controlled. The equipment used must be more selective, so that only the fish are wanted for consumption.