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IELTS / Guides / Listening · Choose two answers
IELTS Listening · Guide

Choose Two Answers in IELTS Listening: how to handle five options

You hear a conversation or talk and choose the two correct options from five, A to E. Each correct letter is one mark and the two letters can be given in either order. It tests whether you can keep five ideas in mind and tell the ones that are confirmed from the ones that are rejected, mentioned for another reason or never stated.

About Listening practice

Format

  • Mostly in Parts 2 and 3. The task fills two consecutive question numbers, for example Questions 13 and 14, with one set of five options.
  • Each correct letter earns one mark, and the order in which you choose them does not matter.
  • The discussion of all five options happens in one stretch of the recording, but they are not mentioned in the order printed.
  • Three of the five options are wrong: they are rejected, corrected, said about something else or not mentioned at all.
  • On computer you click two boxes. The instruction names the number to choose, so check that exactly that many are selected.

Strategy

  1. Read the stem and work out its frame: 'problems', 'reasons for the change', 'what the students found useful'. Every correct option must fit that frame, and a true statement outside it is wrong.
  2. Cut each of the five options to a keyword phrase. If two look similar ('cost' and 'time saved'), expect the speaker to separate them, and be ready to decide which one fits the frame.
  3. Mark every option as it is discussed: tick when confirmed, cross when rejected, question mark when unclear. The speaker usually deals with all five, so you should have an opinion on each by the end.
  4. Keep listening after you find the first answer. The second is often separated from it by other material, and the question number you are on does not change until both are done.
  5. Listen to what is said about an option, not only that it is mentioned. 'The data was impressive but the sample was far too small' is positive about the data and critical of the sample, so which option is correct depends on the frame.
  6. Check your count. Three ticks means one option does not fit the question, so reread the frame; one tick means the second answer was paraphrased more heavily, so look back at your question marks.
  7. Select your two letters, then move on to the next question. If you are still unsure, choose the option that fits the frame best, because a guess can still earn a mark.

Common traps

  • Choosing options because they were mentioned. In a choose-two question three of the five options are mentioned and wrong, so a mention proves nothing.
  • Stopping after the first correct answer and missing the second, which the speaker may reach a minute later.
  • Choosing a statement that is true in the recording but does not answer the stem, such as a feature when the question asks for a problem.
  • Missing a correction: the speaker accepts an option and then adds a fact that removes it ('we thought of printing leaflets, but nobody reads them').
  • Selecting too many or too few letters because you could not decide, when the instruction asks for exactly two.

Practise it inside a real Listening section

Practice on PrepFreely is always a complete section, so you meet this question type in the same place and proportion as on test day. Random sections never repeat until you've done them all. Every answer is explained.

Practise Listening Take the Listening course

FAQ

Do I get both marks only if both letters are right?

No. Each correct letter is worth one mark, so one right letter and one wrong letter earns one mark.

Does the order of my two letters matter?

No. B and D is the same as D and B.

Are the two correct options mentioned one after the other?

Not necessarily. They can be separated by other points, so keep listening after you find the first.

What if I only find one answer?

Select your best guess for the second. There is no negative marking, and an empty choice cannot score.

Is there ever a 'choose three' question in Listening?

Occasionally, from a longer list. Always read the instruction, because it states how many letters to choose and from which range.

More IELTS Listening guides

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