In this lesson, we will provide some tips for the IELTS listening question types called Plan, Map, and Diagram Completion questions. This is a common type of question that you might encounter in the IELTS Listening Exam.
For example, a plan is basically the floor plan of a building, and it shows the layout of the rooms and different things you would find inside a building. And some information is missing. And the questions are the things you need to fill in, the missing information that you need to fill in.
A diagram will be also similar, but it will not be a map of any kind or a plan. It will be a diagram, usually of some kind of object or some type of process or phenomenon. The other thing to note here, just quickly, usually this type of question, plan, map, and diagram completions, will have the answer choices in a box for you.
Not always, these can be short answer questions sometimes. But most frequently, you will have a list of options to choose from to fill in the blanks on the plan, map or diagram you are looking at. The thing you are going to be listening for in this type of question is often a directional vocabulary.
So things like north, south, east, west, to go through the door. There is going to be someone often giving a tour of some places, or for some reason describing the layout of a building. You might be listening to a tour guide of some kind or you may be lost and this person is helping you to find various destinations. They are going to give you directional vocabulary.
That is what you sort of use to locate and identify the different parts of the map or the plan that you are looking at. If it is a diagram question, you might be hearing descriptions of an object or some type of phenomenon and you need to label the various elements that you see on the diagram itself. You use the directional vocabulary, descriptions of the places or the things you are looking at from the speakers, and descriptions of whatever object or phenomenon are taking place.
And you try to use those to fill in the gaps that you see in the questions. Here is some advice on how to handle this particular type of IELTS listening question. First of all, make sure that you take a close look at the given information on the visual that you are looking at. They are going to give you some names of places. They are going to give you some clues about where things are that are going to relate directly to what the speakers talk about.
It is important to have a good sense of where things are located on the particular vision that you are looking at, for this type of question. Definitely, step number one should be to just take a scan, scan over the visual to sort of get your sense of where things are located. The specific things you should look at. The title, directional information, any labels that are already there for you on the visual, and also, of course, do look at the answer choices that you have.
Because these things will all relate in some way to what the speakers say in the passage. The next thing you want to do then after you sort of scanned the entire thing trying to gather as much information as you can about where things are and what is gonna be described by the speakers.
The next thing you wanna do is locate the first question. That is where you are gonna hear the information to help you answer that first question first from the speakers. That is the place to begin. Take a close look at the surrounding areas surrounding that first question to give you clues about what you need to be listening for to get that first answer.
More tips can be found in the above video (will be updated later).
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