Assignment On Sleep And Dreams - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From Cambridge IELTS 16 Academic Listening Test 2 · Part 3 · Questions 21–30
Audio
Questions
Questions 21–24 Multiple Choice (One Answer)
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Assignment on sleep and dreams
Questions 25–30 Flow Chart Completion
Complete the flow chart below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Assignment plan
| Decide on research question:
Is there a relationship between hours of sleep and number of dreams? |
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| Decide on sample:
Twelve students from the 25 department |
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| Decide on methodology:
Self-reporting |
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| Decide on procedure:
Answers on 26 |
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| Check ethical guidelines for working with 27
Ensure that risk is assessed and 28 is kept to a minimum |
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| Analyse the results
Calculate the correlation and make a 29 |
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30 the research |
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q21 | B | we might get mixed up about what actually happened and what we dreamed. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript is saying that if we don't forget our dreams, we might become confused about what actually happened in real life versus what we dreamt. Answer Explanation: The answer indicates that we might forget dreams to prevent confusion between reality and dreams. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'B' because it aligns with the idea presented in the excerpt that if we remember all our dreams, we could potentially mix them up with actual events, leading to confusion about what truly occurred. |
| Q22 | A | but the explanation I’ve read is that for each dream that comes true, we have thousands that don’t | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript is saying that the explanation for dreams predicting the future is that while some dreams may seem to come true, there are many more dreams that do not come true. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that dreams predicting the future might just be due to chance, meaning it could happen randomly without any specific reason or power. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is A because it aligns with the idea presented in the transcript that for every dream that appears to predict the future, there are many more dreams that do not come true. This supports the notion that any predictive nature of dreams may be coincidental rather than intentional. |
| Q23 | C | But they didn’t really find an answer. They spent a lot of time working out the most appropriate methodology, but the results didn’t seem to show any obvious patterns. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about how researchers couldn't find a clear answer despite spending a lot of time figuring out the best way to study preschool children taking naps. The results didn't show any clear patterns. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that the study failed to reach any clear conclusions. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'C - failed to reach any clear conclusions' aligns with the information in the excerpt where it is mentioned that despite efforts to determine the best methodology, the study did not provide clear results or patterns, indicating a lack of conclusive findings. |
| Q24 | C | Last time I had problems with the final stage, where we had to describe and justify how successful we thought we’d been. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about a previous assignment where the students had difficulty evaluating how successful they had been. Answer Explanation: The answer choice 'self-assessment' refers to the process of evaluating one's own performance or progress, which aligns with the mentioned difficulties faced by the students. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'self-assessment' because the excerpt mentions the challenge of assessing their own success, indicating a need for self-evaluation. |
| Q25 | history | Let’s use people from a different department. What about history? | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript suggests choosing students from a history department for the research study. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests using 'history' as the missing word to complete the flow chart. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'history' because it fits logically with the context provided in the excerpt where history department is proposed for selecting students. This ensures consistency and relevance in the research sample selection process. |
| Q26 | paper | But in this case, paper might be better as they’ll be doing it straight after they wake up … in fact while they’re still half-asleep. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript is suggesting that using paper could be more suitable for collecting data as participants are likely to provide more accurate responses when they are still half-asleep. Answer Explanation: The answer 'paper' means using physical paper for data collection. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'paper' is appropriate because in the case mentioned in the excerpt, using physical paper for data collection is practical and effective, especially when participants are in a sleepy state and may find it easier to record their responses on paper rather than on electronic devices. |
| Q27 | humans / people | Right. And we’ll have to check the ethical guidelines for this sort of research. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions the need to review rules for how to do this type of research and make sure no harm is done to individuals involved. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to people which would be students in this case, as the research involves working with them. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is appropriate because for this research, students are part of the sample population being studied, and the ethical guidelines should ensure that no harm comes to them during the research process. Hence, the focus is on how to interact with and protect 'humans/people' in the study. |
| Q28 | stress | There’s a whole section on risk assessment, and another section on making sure they aren’t put under any unnecessary stress. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions a section focused on determining and managing any possible sources of worry or pressure that the participants might face. Answer Explanation: The answer 'stress' refers to mental or emotional tension that could impact the participants during the research process. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer matches the context provided in the excerpt, where it emphasizes the importance of ensuring that participants are not subjected to unnecessary stress while conducting the research to comply with ethical guidelines. |
| Q29 | graph | Then when we’ve collected all our data we have to analyse it and calculate the correlation between our two variables, that’s time sleeping and number of dreams and then present our results visually in a graph. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that after collecting data on sleeping time and number of dreams, we must look for a pattern between them. We use a special calculation called 'correlation' to do this. Lastly, we show the results using a picture, such as a chart or graph. Answer Explanation: The answer mentions 'graph'. A graph is a picture that shows information. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer, 'graph', is right because the excerpt states that we present the results visually, meaning using a picture. Graphs are commonly used to present results visually, so it is the correct answer. |
| Q30 | evaluate | And the final thing is to think about our research and evaluate it. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript is saying that the final step is to think about and assess our research work. Answer Explanation: The answer means to carefully assess or judge the quality of the research conducted. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'evaluate' fits the context because it matches the idea of assessing and reviewing the research work mentioned in the excerpt. |
Transcript
SUSIE: So Luke, for our next psychology assignment we have to do something on sleep and dreams.
LUKE: Right. I’ve just read an article suggesting why we tend to forget most of our dreams soon after we wake up. I mean, most of my dreams aren’t that interesting anyway, but what it said was that if we remembered everything, we might get mixed up about what actually happened and what we dreamed. So it’s a sort of protection. I hadn’t heard that idea before. I’d always assumed that it was just that we didn’t have room in our memories for all that stuff.
SUSIE: Me too. What do you think about the idea that our dreams may predict the future?
LUKE: It’s a belief that you get all over the world.
SUSIE: Yeah, lots of people have a story of it happening to them, but the explanation I’ve read is that for each dream that comes true, we have thousands that don’t, but we don’t notice those, we don’t even remember them. We just remember the ones where something in the real world, like a view or an action, happens to trigger a dream memory.
LUKE: Right. So it’s just a coincidence really. Something else I read about is what they call segmented sleeping. That’s a theory that hundreds of years ago, people used to get up in the middle of the night and have a chat or something to eat, then go back to bed. So I tried it myself.
SUSIE: Why?
LUKE: Well it’s meant to make you more creative. I don’t know why. But I gave it up after a week. It just didn’t fit in with my lifestyle.
SUSIE: But most pre-school children have a short sleep in the day don’t they? There was an experiment some students did here last term to see at what age kids should stop having naps. But they didn’t really find an answer. They spent a lot of time working out the most appropriate methodology, but the results didn’t seem to show any obvious patterns.
LUKE: Right. Anyway, let’s think about our assignment. Last time I had problems with the final stage, where we had to describe and justify how successful we thought we’d been. I struggled a bit with the action plan too.
SUSIE: I was OK with the planning, but I got marked down for the self-assessment as well. And I had big problems with the statistical stuff, that’s where I really lost marks.
LUKE: Right.
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SUSIE: So shall we plan what we have to do for this assignment?
LUKE: OK.
SUSIE: First, we have to decide on our research question. So how about ‘Is there a relationship between hours of sleep and number of dreams?’
LUKE: OK. Then we need to think about who we’ll do they study on. About 12 people?
SUSIE: Right. And shall we use other psychology students?
LUKE: Let’s use people from a different department. What about history?
SUSIE: Yes, they might have interesting dreams! Or literature students?
LUKE: I don’t really know any.
SUSIE: OK, forget that idea. Then we have to think about our methodology. So we could use observation, but that doesn’t seem appropriate.
LUKE: No. it needs to be self-reporting I think. And we could ask them to answer questions online.
SUSIE: But in this case, paper might be better as they’ll be doing it straight after they wake up … in fact while they’re still half-asleep.
LUKE: Right. And we’ll have to check the ethical guidelines for this sort of research.
SUSIE: Mm, because our experiment involves humans, so there are special regulations.
LUKE: Yes, I had a look at those for another assignment I did. There’s a whole section on risk assessment, and another section on making sure they aren’t put under any unnecessary stress.
SUSIE: Let’s hope they don’t have any bad dreams!
LUKE: Yeah.
SUSIE: Then when we’ve collected all our data we have to analyse it and calculate the correlation between our two variables, that’s time sleeping and number of dreams and then present our results visually in a graph.
LUKE: Right. And the final thing is to think about our research and evaluate it. So that seems quite straightforward.
SUSIE: Yeah. So now let’s …