Pockets - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations
From Cambridge IELTS 18 Academic Listening Test 2 · Part 4 · Questions 31–40
Audio
Questions
Questions 31–40 Note Completion
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
Pockets
Reason for choice of subject
- They are 31 but can be overlooked by consumers and designers.
Pockets in men’s clothes
- Men started to wear 32 in the 18th century.
- A 33 sewed pockets into the lining of the garments.
- The wearer could use the pockets for small items.
- Bigger pockets might be made for men who belonged to a certain type of 34
Pockets in women’s clothes
- Women’s pockets were less 35 than men’s.
- Women were very concerned about pickpockets.
- Pockets were produced in pairs using 36 to link them together.
- Pockets hung from the women’s 37 under skirts and petticoats.
- Items such as 38 could be reached through a gap in the material.
- Pockets, of various sizes, stayed inside clothing for many decades.
- When dresses changed shape, hidden pockets had a negative effect on the 39 of women.
- Bags called ‘pouches’ became popular, before women carried a 40
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q31 | convenient | even though we often carry bags or briefcases as well, nothing is quite as convenient as being able to pop your phone or credit card into your pocket. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that even though we carry bags or briefcases, having pockets is very handy for quickly putting small items like a phone or credit card. Answer Explanation: The answer means that pockets are very useful and practical for storing items because they are within easy reach and provide a sense of convenience. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'convenient' because it accurately reflects the idea that pockets make it easy to access and store small items, like a phone or credit card, quickly and conveniently, compared to using bags or briefcases. |
| Q32 | suits | that was the time when suits became popular. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about the popularity of suits during a particular period of time. Answer Explanation: The answer 'suits' refers to a type of formal clothing worn by men, often consisting of a matching jacket and trousers. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'suits' is appropriate because the excerpt mentions the time when suits became popular, which aligns with the historical context of men starting to wear pockets in the 18th century when suits were indeed fashionable attire. |
| Q33 | tailor | all three garments were lined with material and pockets were sewn into this cloth by whichever tailor the customer used | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript describes how pockets were added to garments by a tailor chosen by the customer. This means the tailor, who is a person skilled in making or altering clothes, sewed the pockets into the lining of the garments. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to a person called a 'tailor,' who is someone that sews, adjusts, and makes clothes for customers. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'tailor' because it fits the context of the excerpt where it mentions that pockets were sewn into the clothing by the tailor. The tailor is the skilled individual responsible for creating the pockets in the garments as requested by the customers. |
| Q34 | profession | they were often larger but plainer if the wearer was someone with a profession who needed to carry medical instruments | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript mentions that pockets might be made bigger for men who had certain jobs where they needed to carry medical instruments. This implies that professionals needed larger and plainer pockets. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to the kind of job or occupation a person has. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer refers to 'profession,' which signifies the type of work a person does. This fits the context of the excerpt where it describes how pockets were designed differently for men with certain professions, such as those who needed to carry medical instruments. |
| Q35 | visible | For one thing, they weren’t nearly as visible or as easy to reach as men’s. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript says that women's pockets were not easy to see or use compared to men's pockets. Answer Explanation: The answer 'visible' means something that can be seen. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer 'visible' is right because the excerpt says women's pockets weren't very visible, meaning they were hard to see. |
| Q36 | string / strings | So – what they did was to have a pair of pockets made that were tied together with string. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about a pair of pockets that were connected or held together using a piece of string. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to a material called 'strings' used to link the pair of pockets together. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer aligns with the information provided in the excerpt, which specifically mentions the pair of pockets being tied together with string. |
| Q37 | waist / waists | Women tied the pockets around their waist so that they hung beneath their clothes. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about how women wore their pockets by tying them around their waist and letting them hang beneath their clothes. Answer Explanation: The answer 'waist' refers to the part of the body around which women tied their pockets to wear them under their clothes. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'waist' because it directly relates to how women wore their pockets by tying them around this specific body part as mentioned in the excerpt. |
| Q38 | perfume | They would have an opening in the folds of their skirts through which they could reach whatever they needed, like their perfume. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript describes how women used to store items like their perfume in hidden pockets inside their clothing by reaching through an opening in their skirts. Answer Explanation: The answer refers to a nice-smelling liquid that people wear. Women could reach their perfume through the gap in their skirts. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'perfume' because the excerpt mentions that women would keep items like perfume in their hidden pockets and access them through the opening in their clothing, which matches the description provided. |
| Q39 | image | That’s when dresses became tighter and less bulky, and the pairs of pockets became very noticeable – they stood out too much and detracted from the woman’s image. | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript explains that when dresses became tighter and less bulky, the pockets that were previously hidden inside clothing became very noticeable. This made the pockets stand out too much and take away from the woman's overall appearance. Answer Explanation: The answer 'image' refers to how the noticeable pockets had a negative effect on the woman's appearance or how she was perceived by others. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is 'image' because it captures the idea that the visible pockets detracted from the woman's overall image or how she looked. This aligns with the information provided in the excerpt that the noticeable pockets were a problem because they stood out too much and took away from the woman's image. |
| Q40 | handbag | they inevitably led on to the handbag of more modern times | Excerpt/Transcript Explanation: The transcript talks about how something led to the creation of the handbag we see today. Answer Explanation: The answer suggests that women started carrying handbags instead of using hidden pockets. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer fits because it shows the progression from hidden pockets to handbags, as mentioned in the excerpt when it says 'they inevitably led on to the handbag of more modern times.' This indicates a shift in how women carried their belongings from pockets to handbags. |
Transcript
Good morning. Now, we’ve been asked to choose an aspect of European clothing or fashion and to talk about its development over time.
I decided to focus on a rather small area of clothing and that’s pockets. I chose pockets for two reasons, really. We all have them – in jeans, jackets, coats, for example – and even though we often carry bags or briefcases as well, nothing is quite as convenient as being able to pop your phone or credit card into your pocket. Yet, I suspect that, other than that, people don’t really think about pockets too much and they’re rather overlooked as a fashion item.
It’s certainly very interesting to go back in time and see how pockets developed for men and women. In the 18th century, fashions were quite different from the way they are now, and pockets were too. If we think about male fashion first … that was the time when suits became popular. Trousers were knee-length only and referred to as ‘breeches’, the waistcoats were short and the jackets were long, but all three garments were lined with material and pockets were sewn into this cloth by whichever tailor the customer used. The wearer could then carry small objects such as pencils or coins on their person and reach them through a gap in the lining. Coat pockets became increasingly decorative on the outside for men who wanted to look stylish, but they were often larger but plainer if the wearer was someone with a profession who needed to carry medical instruments – a doctor or physician, for example.
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The development of women’s pockets was a little different. For one thing, they weren’t nearly as visible or as easy to reach as men’s. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women carried numerous possessions on their person and some of these could be worth a lot of money. Women were more vulnerable to theft and wealthy women, in particular, worried constantly about pickpockets. So – what they did was to have a pair of pockets made that were tied together with string. The pockets were made of fabric, which might be recycled cloth if the wearer had little money or something more expensive, such as linen, sometimes featuring very delicate embroidery. Women tied the pockets around their waist so that they hung beneath their clothes. Remember, skirts were long then and there was plenty of room to hide a whole range of small possessions between the layers of petticoats that were commonly worn. They would have an opening in the folds of their skirts through which they could reach whatever they needed, like their perfume. Working women, of course, also needed to carry around items that they might use for whatever job or trade they were involved in, but their pairs of pockets still remained on the inside of their clothing, they just got bigger or longer sometimes reaching down to their knees!
So the tie-on pockets went well into the 19th century and only changed when fashion altered towards the end of that period. That’s when dresses became tighter and less bulky, and the pairs of pockets became very noticeable – they stood out too much and detracted from the woman’s image. Women who had been used to carrying around a range of personal possessions – and still wanted to – needed somewhere to carry these items about their person. That was when small bags, or pouches as they were known, came into fashion and, of course, they inevitably led on to the handbag of more modern times, particularly when fashion removed pockets altogether.