IB Diploma Programme Language B – Paper 2: listening and reading comprehension Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – the IB holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or the IB store.

This practice set covers the skills of Paper 2 (receptive skills) in IB Diploma Programme Language B, at SL and HL: locating evidence, synonyms, reference words, paraphrase, inference and listening for detail. It follows the IB Language B subject brief for first assessment 2020, which remains the examined course until the new syllabus is first assessed in May 2029, so it applies to the 2026, 2027 and 2028 sessions. The passages are in English and touch the themes identities, human ingenuity and social organization; repeat each task type on a target-language text with your teacher.

Learn the methods first with the Paper 2 study guide and the revision notes. Course links: Language B hub · printable checklist. For theme practice, see the identities practice set.

Questions

Passage A – blog post (original text written for Marlbridge)

The language my grandmother kept

I was sixteen before I heard my grandmother speak her first language properly. She had used it only for counting, under her breath, while she cooked. When my cousin’s wedding brought relatives from her home valley, the kitchen filled with it, and she laughed in a way I had never heard.

That autumn I asked her to teach me. She refused at first. “Nobody needs it now,” she said, and changed the subject. I kept asking. By winter she was writing out words for me on the backs of envelopes, and by spring she was correcting my accent with obvious pleasure.

I will never speak it like she does. But when I greet her in it, she answers in it too, and for those few sentences we are part of something older than both of us.

1. Answer briefly, using Passage A.

(a) How old was the writer when she first heard her grandmother speak her first language properly? [1] (b) What had the grandmother used her first language for? [1] (c) What event brought relatives to the house? [1]

2. Find the word or phrase in Passage A that means:

(a) very quietly (paragraph 1) [1] (b) declined (paragraph 2) [1] (c) putting right (paragraph 2) [1]

3. True or false? Justify each answer with a short quotation from Passage A.

(a) The grandmother agreed to teach the writer straight away. [2] (b) The grandmother came to enjoy the lessons. [2]

4. In Passage A, what do these words refer to?

(a) “it” in “the kitchen filled with it” [1] (b) “we” in “we are part of something older” [1]

5. What does “Nobody needs it now” suggest about the grandmother’s view of her language, and what later shows that view has changed? [3]

Passage B – local news article (original text written for Marlbridge)

Borrow a drill, not a book

Harwell Library’s newest shelf holds no books. Since March, residents have been able to borrow a drill, a ladder or a sewing machine for up to a week, using the same card they use for novels.

The idea came from volunteer Tomasz Beck, a retired electrician. “Half the street owns a ladder they use once a year,” he says. “Why not share one?” He checks every tool when it comes back.

The scheme has rules. Borrowers must be over eighteen, must attend a ten-minute safety talk, and pay a small fine for late returns. Not everyone approved. Priya Nand, who owns the hardware shop on the high street, worried at first that her sales would fall. “Actually, the opposite happened,” she admits. “People try a tool at the library, then come to me to buy their own.”

6. Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.

(a) Residents can borrow a tool for: A one day; B up to a week; C a month; D as long as they need. [1] (b) Tomasz Beck’s main reason for the scheme is that: A tools are expensive; B people rarely use the tools they own; C the library had empty shelves; D he wanted paid work. [1]

7. Complete each sentence with words from Passage B.

(a) Before borrowing, residents must attend… [1] (b) If a tool comes back late, the borrower must… [1] (c) When a tool is returned, Tomasz Beck… [1]

8. Explain in your own words why Priya Nand’s worry turned out to be wrong. [3]

9. “Not everyone approved.” Explain how the article presents both support for the scheme and doubt about it. Refer to the words “at first” and “admits”. [4]

Passage C – radio interview transcript (original text written for Marlbridge)

Have someone read this aloud once, at normal speed. Answer without looking.

PRESENTER: Today I’m with Nadia Rahimi, seventeen, whose invention has won a regional science prize. Nadia, what is it?

NADIA: It’s a small sensor that clips onto a kettle. If my grandfather hasn’t made his morning tea by ten o’clock, it sends a message to my mum’s phone. He lives alone, and he’s proud. He’d never wear an alarm around his neck.

PRESENTER: How much did it cost to build?

NADIA: About forty euros – no, less, thirty-five, once I found cheaper batteries.

PRESENTER: Did it work straight away?

NADIA: We tested it in June, but it kept sending messages at night, so it wasn’t reliable until August. Now six families on our street use one.

PRESENTER: And your grandfather?

NADIA: He says he doesn’t need it. But he makes his tea at half past nine every day, just to be safe.

10. Complete the notes.

(a) The sensor is attached to a… [1] (b) A message is sent if there is no tea by… [1] (c) Final cost: … euros [1] (d) Reliable from: … [1]

11.

(a) Give two reasons why Nadia designed a kettle sensor rather than an alarm. [2] (b) What does Nadia’s last answer suggest about her grandfather’s attitude to the sensor? [2]

12. Passages A and C each show an older person responding to something new. Using both passages, explain each person’s attitude, how it is shown, and how far it changes. Use brief quotations and your own words. [8]

Answers

1. (a) sixteen [1] (b) counting (while she cooked) [1] (c) her cousin’s wedding [1] Examiner insight: Give only the detail asked; if you add extra material and part of it is wrong, your answer is no longer clear.

2. (a) under her breath [1] (b) refused [1] (c) correcting [1] Examiner insight: Match the form: “declined” is a past-tense verb, so the answer is refused, not refusal; copy the word exactly as it appears.

3. (a) False [1] – “She refused at first.” [1] (b) True [1] – “correcting my accent with obvious pleasure” [1] Examiner insight: The quotation must prove the verdict by itself; “I kept asking” shows the writer’s effort, not the grandmother’s feeling.

4. (a) the grandmother’s first language [1] (b) the writer and her grandmother [1] Examiner insight: Substitute your answer for the word and reread; “the relatives” for “it” makes no sense, so it cannot be right.

5. She sees her language as useless or out of date [1]; changing the subject suggests she is also reluctant, perhaps sad, to discuss it [1]. The change is shown by “writing out words for me on the backs of envelopes” or “with obvious pleasure” [1]. [3] Examiner insight: Strong answers move from quotation to implication; “she says nobody needs it” only repeats the text.

6. (a) B [1] (b) B [1] Examiner insight: Option C is a trap built from the first sentence; check each option against the lines about Beck’s reason, not the opening.

7. (a) a ten-minute safety talk [1] (b) pay a small fine [1] (c) checks every tool / checks it [1] Examiner insight: Your completion must fit the sentence’s grammar: after “must”, use the base form pay, not pays.

8. She feared the tool shelf would take customers away from her shop [1]. In fact her sales went up rather than down [1], because people test a tool at the library and then buy one of their own from her [1]. [3] Examiner insight: “In your own words” means rewording: copying “the opposite happened” shows where the answer is, but not that you understood it.

9. Support: Beck’s argument that owned tools are rarely used, “Half the street owns a ladder they use once a year” [1]. The rules (a safety talk, fines) show the scheme is organised to deal with risks [1]. “At first” implies Nand’s doubt did not last [1]. “Admits” suggests she concedes, a little reluctantly, that she was wrong [1]. [4] Examiner insight: When a question names words, each needs its own comment on what it implies; one general remark about “balance” covers neither.

10. (a) kettle [1] (b) ten o’clock [1] (c) 35 (thirty-five) [1] (d) August [1] Examiner insight: Forty and June are both spoken first and both corrected; “no, less” and “but” are the signals to wait for.

11. (a) Her grandfather is proud [1]; he would never wear an alarm around his neck [1]. (b) He claims not to need it, which shows his pride [1], but he makes his tea early every day so it never sends a message, suggesting he accepts it or does not want to worry his family [1]. Examiner insight: Part (b) needs the contrast between what he says and what he does; either half alone is only a summary.

12. Indicative points; a response like this would be judged on the quality of understanding as a whole, so treat the list as a guide, not a checklist. A model plan:

• Passage A: the grandmother first resists – “She refused at first” [1] – because she thinks the language has no use: “Nobody needs it now” [1].
• Her attitude changes step by step, from autumn to winter to spring [1], ending in open enjoyment: “with obvious pleasure” [1].
• Passage C: the grandfather rejects the sensor in words: “He says he doesn’t need it” [1], and his pride explains why: “he’s proud” [1].
• His actions contradict his words: tea “at half past nine every day, just to be safe” [1].
• Comparison: the grandmother’s change is complete and openly shared; the grandfather’s is partial and hidden behind pride [1].

Examiner insight: Weave the two passages together in the final point; two separate summaries leave the comparison, the part that shows deepest understanding, unmade.

Where marks are usually lost

• Choosing a line near the answer because it shares a keyword (Q6b option C).
• Justifying true/false with a quotation that proves something else.
• Giving a synonym in the wrong word class or form.
• Treating a reference word as pointing to the nearest noun without checking the sense.
• Repeating a quotation instead of saying what it implies.
• Copying text for an “own words” question.
• Writing the first number or month heard before the speaker corrects it.
• Summarising two passages one after the other when the question asks for a comparison.

Next steps

• Paper 2 revision notes
• Paper 2 study guide
• Language B course hub
• Printable Language B checklist
• All free 10-minute diagnostics
• Book a free trial class

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Language B, first assessment 2020 (2018). Paper 2 is described in its assessment model.