# Planning a Student Survey on Sleep: answers and explanations

Testmigo Practice Test 1, Listening Part 3

Source: Written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 21 | A, E | adults should sleep seven or more hours regularly ... seven hours becomes our cut-off for short sleep |
| 22 | A, E | That gap is perfect for our limitations section |
| 23 | B, D | the master's students have booked them all until next term |
| 24 | B, D | if you lie awake in bed without moving, the device can record that as sleep |
| 25 | C | Let's have them as the very last thing people see |
| 26 | B | use it exactly as it's printed |
| 27 | G | list typical drinks beside it, like a mug of coffee or a can of cola |
| 28 | E | ask about the last hour before they go to sleep instead |
| 29 | F | Let's get rid of it. |
| 30 | D | we could let people skip it ... it stays, but nobody has to answer it |

## Why these answers are right

**21. A, E.** Maya prefers the sleep medicine statement that adults need seven or more hours, and Tom agrees that seven hours becomes their cut-off for short sleep. A single minimum used to divide results is option A.

**22. A, E.** In the caffeine study a headband monitor showed over an hour of lost sleep while the diaries showed about forty minutes. Maya wants to use that gap in their limitations section, and Tom replies that they should definitely use it. This matches a mismatch between two ways of measuring sleep, option E.

**23. B, D.** Maya says the department owns only six monitors and that the master's students have booked every one of them until next term. That means none are free for the survey, which is option B, too few available to borrow.

The why and the trap for questions 24 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/planning-a-student-survey-on-sleep/answers).

## Transcript

**Announcer:** Part 3. You will hear two students, Tom and Maya, planning a survey about sleep for their health psychology module.

**Announcer:** First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.

**Announcer:** Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.

**Maya:** Okay, Tom, shall we start with the reading? We need some solid findings for the introduction.

**Tom:** Sure. I thought we'd open with the National Sleep Foundation's range for young adults, which is seven to nine hours a night.

**Maya:** Hmm. The trouble with a range is deciding where to draw the line when we sort our results. The consensus statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is simpler.

**Maya:** It just says adults should sleep seven or more hours regularly. It even says more than nine might be fine for young adults.

**Tom:** Which is basically us. Okay, you're right. So seven hours becomes our cut-off for short sleep.

**Maya:** Agreed. What about that e-reader study you found?

**Tom:** Right. Twelve adults read for four hours before bed, on a tablet or from a printed book. After the tablet, they took nearly ten minutes longer to fall asleep and were less alert next morning.

**Tom:** I'd like to make it our main evidence about phones.

**Maya:** I'm not sure that works. It was four hours of reading a night under lab conditions. That's nothing like checking your phone in bed for twenty minutes.

**Tom:** Fair point. I suppose we'd be stretching it, so let's leave it out.

**Maya:** The paper also mentions a survey, doesn't it? Ninety per cent of Americans using electronics in the hour before bed, a few nights a week at least?

**Tom:** Yes, but that's American adults in general, not students. Our own survey will give us a better figure.

**Maya:** True. Now, the caffeine study is the one I really liked.

**Maya:** People took four hundred milligrams of caffeine six hours before bed. A headband monitor showed they lost over an hour of sleep, but their own diaries showed only about forty minutes.

**Tom:** So they didn't really notice.

**Maya:** Exactly. That gap is perfect for our limitations section, since our survey depends entirely on what people tell us.

**Tom:** Definitely, let's use that. That's also why I still think we should give some people wrist monitors. Then we'd have something objective.

**Maya:** I did look into that. The department only has five of them, sorry, six, and the master's students have booked them all until next term.

**Tom:** Oh. But would people even wear them? They might be uncomfortable.

**Maya:** Actually, they're about the size of a watch, so I doubt that would bother anyone.

**Tom:** And I suppose one night of data wouldn't tell us much anyway.

**Maya:** No, people normally wear them for several days at least. The real issue is that if you lie awake in bed without moving, the device can record that as sleep.

**Tom:** So it has its own blind spot. All right, you've convinced me. Questionnaire only.

**Announcer:** Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.

**Announcer:** Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.

**Tom:** So, the sections of the survey. First, the background questions: age, course and year of study.

**Maya:** Our tutor said those put people off if they come first. Let's have them as the very last thing people see.

**Tom:** Okay. Then the Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire. It's nineteen questions, so I was going to cut it down, or ask about the past week instead of the past month.

**Maya:** We can't, though. The University of Pittsburgh owns it, and you need their written permission to change anything. It's also only been validated for a one-month period.

**Tom:** Then we'll use it exactly as it's printed.

**Tom:** Next, caffeine. At the moment it asks how many milligrams of caffeine people have a day.

**Maya:** Nobody knows that! Could we cut it down to two questions, one on coffee and one on tea?

**Tom:** That misses energy drinks, and plenty of people on our course drink those. Why don't we keep the question but list typical drinks beside it, like a mug of coffee or a can of cola, so people can count them?

**Maya:** Good, that's much clearer.

**Maya:** The screen question says, in the evening. That could mean six o'clock or midnight.

**Tom:** So let's ask about the last hour before they go to sleep instead.

**Maya:** Perfect. Then there's the alcohol question.

**Tom:** I'm not keen on that one. It isn't part of our research question, and sensitive topics need a full ethics committee review, which takes weeks.

**Maya:** Then it's not worth it. Let's get rid of it.

**Tom:** And what about the mood question? I'd be tempted to drop that as well.

**Maya:** I'd rather keep it. That consensus statement linked regular short sleep with depression, so it's relevant.

**Maya:** But we could let people skip it if they'd rather not answer.

**Tom:** Fine, it stays, but nobody has to answer it.

**Maya:** Great. I'll update the draft tonight.

**Announcer:** That is the end of Part 3. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers.

[Practice Planning a Student Survey on Sleep](https://testmigo.com/ielts/listening/planning-a-student-survey-on-sleep)