Lecture: The Psychology of Habit Formation: Listening Answers & Explanations
IELTS Listening practice test · 11 questionsPart 4hard
Haven't taken this test yet?
Looking at the answers first spoils the practice — you only get one honest first attempt at a recording. Take the test with the audio + 10 minutes to check, get an instant score and estimated band, then come back here to study every answer.
About this recording
The recording opens: “Good morning. Today we're going to examine something you all do hundreds of times a day without noticing — acting out of habit.”
- Transcript length: about 670 words
- Questions: 11
- Question types: Note Completion, Summary Completion, Sentence Completion
“Lecture: The Psychology of Habit Formation” is an original IELTS-style practice recording written by IELTS-Bank. It is not taken from an official IELTS or Cambridge test, so these answers only apply to our version.
Answer key at a glance
Lecture: The Psychology of Habit Formation answers with explanations
Questions 1–3: Note Completion
What a habit is
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
- 1
A habit is a behaviour repeated so often that it becomes ______.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: automatic
Why: The answer is found in the passage where it explains that a habit is a behavior repeated frequently enough that it becomes automatic, requiring little to no conscious thought.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 2 “A habit is simply a behaviour that has been repeated so often that it has become automatic — you do it with little or no conscious thought.”
- 2
The main value of a habit is that it saves the brain a lot of ______.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: effort
Why: The answer is found in the passage where it explains that habits become automatic to conserve mental energy, suggesting that without habits, the brain would be overwhelmed by having to consciously process every small action.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 2 “And that automatic quality is the whole point of a habit, because it saves the brain an enormous amount of effort.”
- 3
Once formed, habits are controlled by a brain structure called the basal ______.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: ganglia
Why: The answer is found in the passage where it explains that once a habit is established, control shifts from the conscious decision-making part of the brain to the basal ganglia, an older brain structure responsible for automatic actions.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 3 “Instead, habits are controlled by a deeper, older structure called the basal ganglia.”
Questions 4–6: Summary Completion
The habit loop
Complete the summary below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
- 4
Part 1 of the loop is the ______, a trigger that starts the behaviour.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: cue
Why: The answer "cue" is found in the passage where it explains that the first part of the habit loop is the "cue," which acts as a trigger signaling the brain to initiate the behavior.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 4 “The first is the cue — a trigger that tells your brain to start the behaviour.”
- 5
Part 2 is the ______, the behaviour itself.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: routine
Why: The answer is found in the section where the passage explains the habit loop, stating that the second part is the routine, which refers to the actual behavior performed as part of the habit.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 4 “The second part is the routine — the behaviour itself, the thing you actually do.”
- 6
Part 3 is the ______, the benefit that makes the loop worth repeating.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: reward
Why: The answer is found in the passage where it explains that the third part of the habit loop is the "reward," which is the benefit received that signals to the brain that the loop is valuable to remember.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 4 “And the third part is the reward — the benefit you get, which tells your brain the loop is worth remembering.”
Questions 7–8: Note Completion
How long it takes
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
- 7
The popular claim that a habit forms in ______ days is a myth.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: 21 (also accepted: twenty-one)
Why: The answer is found where the passage mentions a common misconception about habit formation, stating that the belief it takes twenty-one days is incorrect and originates from a misunderstanding of an old book.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 5 “You've probably heard that it takes twenty-one days to form a habit.”
- 8
Research found it took on average about ______ days for a behaviour to become automatic.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: 66 (also accepted: sixty-six)
Why: The answer is found in the section where the passage discusses a study from University College London, which determined that the average time for a behavior to become automatic is approximately sixty-six days.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 5 “The actual research, a well-known study from University College London, found that on average it took about sixty-six days for a behaviour to become automatic.”
Questions 9–11: Sentence Completion
Building and breaking habits
Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
- 9
One technique is to make the new behaviour as ______ as possible.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: easy
Why: The answer is found in the section discussing techniques for building a good habit, where it mentions that making the new behavior as simple as possible is supported by evidence, using the example of reducing effort and removing friction.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 6 “The first is to make the new behaviour as easy as possible — reduce the effort, remove the friction.”
- 10
Attaching a new habit to an existing one is called habit ______.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: stacking
Why: The answer is found in the section discussing techniques for building good habits, where it mentions that attaching a new habit to an existing automatic one is referred to as "habit stacking.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 6 “The second technique is called habit stacking: you attach the new habit to an existing one that's already automatic.”
- 11
To break a bad habit, keep the cue and reward but change the ______.(max 1 word)
Show answerHide answer
Answer: routine
Why: The answer is found in the section that advises not to resist the cue or reward when breaking a bad habit, but instead to replace the routine in the middle with a healthier one.
What you hear · Transcript, paragraph 7 “Instead, you keep the same cue and the same reward, but you deliberately swap the routine in the middle for a better one.”
Estimated band score for this test
Your raw score out of 11 scaled to the 40-question IELTS Listening conversion table. This is the same estimate the practice page shows after you submit. A single recording is a small sample, so treat it as a guide.
| Correct answers | Estimated band |
|---|---|
| 11 / 11 | 9.0 |
| 10 / 11 | 8.0 |
| 9 / 11 | 7.5 |
| 8 / 11 | 6.5 |
| 7 / 11 | 6.0 |
| 5–6 / 11 | 5.5 |
| 4 / 11 | 4.5 |
| 3 / 11 | 4.0 |
| 2 / 11 | 3.0 |
| 1 / 11 | 2.5 |
| 0 / 11 | 0.0 |
Full-test score? Use the IELTS band calculator.
Tips for the question types in this test
Listening Part 4
- Spend the whole preparation time on the notes: the headings tell you the lecture’s sections, and each gap’s surrounding words tell you the grammar and meaning of its answer.
- Predict the word class for every gap — noun, adjective, number — and any obvious semantic field (a material, an animal, a place).
Common trap: Losing your position mid-lecture and missing a run of answers — the single biggest cause of Part 4 disasters.
Full Listening Part 4 strategyPractise “Lecture: The Psychology of Habit Formation” under exam conditions
Free, auto-marked, with the audio + 10 minutes to check and an instant band estimate.
Take this test first (with audio)More IELTS Listening tests with answers
Lecture: Gutenberg and the Printing Revolution
medium
Lecture: Nudges and Behavioural Economics
hard
Lecture: Seagrass Meadows and the Ocean
hard
Lecture: The Garden City Movement
hard
Lecture: The Loss of the World's Languages
hard
Lecture: The Rise of Urban Beekeeping
hard