Track stages, not just repeated words
A flow chart turns a process into a sequence. Read its completed steps before filling any gap. Identify what enters the process, what happens to it, which checks affect its route and what leaves at the end. Words such as “after”, “until”, “before” and “otherwise” often explain more than the nouns naming the equipment.
The practice below follows how a community archive prepares recorded interviews. Each step contains an instruction or outcome, and the missing answers name an object, a document or a person. Predict that role first. When a step says a copy is reviewed by someone, you should search for a reviewer rather than the software used to make the copy.
Be especially careful with branches. A failed check may send work back to an earlier stage rather than forward. This exercise shows that loop in words so it works with a screen reader as well as visually. You do not need specialist knowledge about recording; every answer comes from the passage. Copy only the required words, within the limit.
Original passage: From an interview to an archive entry
A. The Harbour Voices project records residents describing changes in the town. Before an interview begins, a volunteer checks the recorder’s batteries and makes a short test recording. The volunteer listens to the test through headphones. If speech is unclear, the microphone is moved and the test is repeated. The full interview starts only when the sound is understandable.
B. After the conversation, the volunteer copies the original audio file to a secure drive. A second copy is used for editing, leaving the original unchanged. The editor removes long periods of silence but retains the speaker’s wording. Background noises are described in a log when they explain a pause or interruption, rather than automatically being removed from the recording.
C. A transcript is then prepared from the edited copy. Another volunteer reads it while listening to the audio, correcting typing mistakes and marking any words that remain uncertain. The project does not guess what an unclear sentence must have meant. The checked transcript is sent to the speaker, who can request that particular passages be withheld from public access.
D. Once those requests have been applied, a cataloguer writes a description and adds topic tags. The interview is listed in the public catalogue only after the speaker has approved a release form. The catalogue links to the permitted material, while restricted sections remain unavailable to visitors. Every six months, staff check that the stored files can still be opened. This maintenance happens after publication and is separate from the interview’s original sound check.
Original fictional learning text. The passage and questions were created for this lesson, not copied from an IELTS test.
Complete the process
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each gap. Read the conditional loop in Step 2 before moving to the recording stage.
The recording device needs a power check.
If speech is unclear, move the microphone and repeat this test. If clear, record the interview.
Use a separate copy for editing; keep the original unchanged.
Compare the written version with the audio and mark uncertain words.
Apply any requests to withhold particular passages.
Add the description and tags, then make permitted material available.
Answers and the evidence behind them
Compare your reason as well as your answer. Each explanation identifies the decisive detail and the tempting mistake.
1. Reveal answer and explanation
batteries. Paragraph A places the battery check before the test recording. The later file-opening check belongs to long-term maintenance, not the preparation stage shown here.
2. Reveal answer and explanation
headphones. The volunteer listens through headphones. Moving the microphone is the corrective action if the test fails; the microphone is not the listening equipment requested by this gap.
3. Reveal answer and explanation
secure drive. Paragraph B specifies the destination of the original audio file. “Second copy” refers to the version used for editing, so it would not answer the destination question.
4. Reveal answer and explanation
transcript. Paragraph C creates a written version from the edited audio and has another volunteer check it. The log in paragraph B records background noises; it is a different document with a different role.
5. Reveal answer and explanation
speaker. The checked transcript goes to the speaker, who can request restrictions. Another volunteer already performed the accuracy check. Keep the sequence of reviewers and their responsibilities separate.
6. Reveal answer and explanation
release form. Paragraph D makes approval of this form a condition for public listing. A description and tags are also prepared, but the passage does not make either of them the speaker-approved document.
Explain the branch in your own words
A successful flow-chart answer should preserve the process, not just collect six nouns. Cover the passage and explain what happens after an unclear test recording. The correct route is microphone adjustment followed by another test; it is not immediate publication, transcription or a six-month file check. This small retelling checks whether you understood the conditional structure.
Next, compare the two checks that involve listening. The first decides whether sound is understandable before the interview. The later check compares a transcript with existing audio. If you confused their equipment or people, add the stage to your notes: “before recording” or “after editing”. A time label can prevent a correct fact being inserted into the wrong part of a process.
For a second exercise, remove the six-month maintenance sentence and ask whether the publication procedure changes. It does not: the sentence describes later preservation, not permission to publish. Try diagram labelling next to map the parts of an object, or table completion to organise comparisons rather than sequences.
Question-format reference: official IELTS Academic Reading guidance, checked 15 October 2026. All teaching examples and practice material on this page are original.