# SPOKEN CORPUS COMES TO LIFE: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 3, Reading Passage 1

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 1, Test 3, Reading Passage 1. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | vi | The compiling of dictionaries has been historically the provenance of studious professorial types |
| 2 | ii | For the first time, dictionary publishers are incorporating real, spoken English into their data. ... 150 volunteers each agreed to discreetly tie a Walkman recorder to their waist |
| 3 | x | the database does allow lexicographers to search for a word and find out how frequently it is used |
| 4 | viii | it's one of the most frequent English phrases which has never been in a language learner's dictionary before: it is now. |
| 5 | iv | It also reveals the power of the pauses and noises we use to play for time, convey emotion, doubt and irony. |
| 6 | ix | an initiative carried out by several groups involved in the production of language learning materials: publishers, universities and the British Library. |
| 7 | existing | along with an existing written corpus |
| 8 | phrases | key words such as "eat" are followed by related phrases such as "wolf down" or "be a picky eater" |
| 9 | meanings | you may intuitively think that the first and most frequent meaning is the verb |
| 10 | spoken | Researchers have found that written English works in a very different way to spoken English. |
| 11 | noise | It also reveals the power of the pauses and noises we use to play for time |
| 12 | B | The latest technology, and simple technology at that, is revolutionising the content of dictionaries and the way they are put together. |

## Why these answers are right

**1. vi.** Paragraph A describes how dictionaries used to be made: by studious, bespectacled professors who pored over weighty tomes and pronounced on fine shades of meaning. That is the traditional lexicographical method, heading vi. The final sentence about new technology only introduces the change described later.

**2. ii.** Paragraph B explains how spoken data was gathered: 150 volunteers wore Walkman recorders for up to two weeks, and audio typists turned the tapes into a ten-million-word database. Collecting real conversation this way is a new method of research, heading ii.

**3. x.** Paragraph D uses the word like to show that intuition about frequency can be wrong, since the preposition, not the verb, is its most frequent meaning. It ends by saying the database lets lexicographers find out how often a word is used, so heading x fits.

The why and the trap for questions 4 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/spoken-corpus-comes-to-life/answers).

[Practice SPOKEN CORPUS COMES TO LIFE](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/spoken-corpus-comes-to-life)