Researching the Origin of Medieval Manuscripts IELTS Listening Answers

Researching the Origin of Medieval Manuscripts IELTS Listening Answers requires candidates to listen to a monologue of a historian giving a presentation. The presentation is about techniques to identify the origin of hand written books from the middle ages. The candidate needs to answer the following question types:

  • No more than two words

In no more than two words, candidates are required to write the correct answer with a word limit of two.

The IELTS Listening section tests a candidate’s listening ability. The candidates are required to listen to an audio and then answer the given IELTS listening questions.

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Topic: Researching the Origin of Medieval Manuscripts 

Audio: 

Questions 1-10:
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Background

  • Medieval manuscripts - handwritten books produced between the fifth and fifteenth centuries
  • Origin of many manuscripts unknown until 2009; scientists started using DNA testing

Animal hides - two types

Parchment

Sheep skin: white in colour and 1_________

Answer: thin
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the first was parchment, which is made of sheepskin. It has the quality of being very white but also being thin.

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Greasy - writing can’t be erased so often used for 2_________

Answer: court documents
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the parchment which was a naturally greasy surface. It was hard to erase writing from it. This made it much sought after for court documents in medieval times.

Vellum

Calf skin: most popular for prestigious work because you can get 3_________ lettering.

Answer: high-quality
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the often used for any very ‘high-status’ documents. It provides the best writing surface to achieve high-quality lettering.

Preparation of hides

  • Treated in barrels of lime - where this was not available, skins were 4_________ (removed hair -> more flexible)
  • Stretched tight on a frame
  • Scraped to create same 5_________
  • Vellum was 6 _________

Question 4:

Answer 4: buried
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about how the animal skins were put into large barrels or vats of lime. This was to make the hides buried in case the lime was unavailable.

Question 5:

Answer 5: thickness
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the frame they were scraped with a moon-shaped knife in order to create a uniform thickness. Hence thickness is the correct answer.

Question 6:

Answer 6: bleached/whitened
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks that for the parchment, at the end of the process, there was an additional stage where it was bleached.

Genetic testing - finding origins

Previously - analysed handwriting and 7_________ used by the writer

Answer: dialect
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the

Now - using genetic data from ‘known manuscripts’ to create a 8 _________

Answer: baseline
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the only way historians and other academics were able to guess at origins. It was either through the analysis of the handwriting style or from the dialect in which the piece was written.

Uses of new data

Gives information on individual books

Shows the 9_________ of the book industry

Answer: evolution
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about shedding light on the evolution of the whole manuscript production industry in medieval times. Hence evolution is the correct answer.

Helps define 10_________ in medieval period

Answer: trade routes
Explanation
:
In the monologue, the historian talks about the historians established which trade routes were in operation during the whole millennium.

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

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