LISTENING TEST
The Listening test takes around 30 minutes. There are 40 questions and four sections. During the test, you are given time to read the questions, write down your answers and then check them. The audio for the Listening test is played only once. You should write your answers on the question paper as you listen. When the recording ends, 10 minutes are allowed for you to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.
The test measures how well you can manage the following skills:
- Listening for specific information
- Listening for main ideas, supporting information and details
- Understanding the speaker’s opinion
1.THE LISTENING NODULE SECTIONS
Each of the four sect‘ions in the Listening module may have up to three different types of questions testing a combination of sills.
Before each section, you will hear a short introduction about the speaker(s) and the situation. This introduction is not printed on the question paper. You are then given time to look through the questions. There is also a break in the middle of sections 1, 2 and 3, giving you time to look at the questions in the second half.
Each section is heard once only and the questions always follow the order of the information presented in the recording. After each section, you are given 30 seconds to check your answers.
SECTION 1
Section 1 usually features a conversation concerning social needs, for example, an interview at an accommodation agency, or a survey. Typical question types that you may have to answer in this section are form completion, multiple choice and short answer The target listening skill in this section is that of listening for specific information, for example, names, prices, memutements, etc.
The topic is usually social or general, and one speaker usually requires information from the other. The following are examples of conversations you may have to tisten to in section 1:
•Answering the questions of customs/passport officials at the airport
•Asking a passer-by for directions to the nearest bank, post office, etc.
•Checking into a student residential college
•Making an appointment to meet a friend
SECTION 2
Section 2 usually concerns social and training needs. You will hear a monologue on a general, non- academic subject, for example, a shore talk on how to use the local library facilities. Typical tasks found in this section are usually note/ table/flow chart/sentence completion. The target listening skill is that of listening for main ideas and supporting points. The following are examples of monologues you may have to listen to in section 2:
•A library orientation talk
•A speech on healthy eating
•A talk about enrolment procedures at a fitness centre
•A cadio broadcast about interesting places to visit in the area
SECTION 3
Section 3 is concerned with educational or training contexts. You will hear a conversation among up to four people, for example, a discussion between a tutor and a student, or several students discussing an assignment. Some typical tasks that can be found in this section are summary complerion, diagram labelling, and matching. This section may test a range of st 11s, such as listening for specific information, main ideas and supporting points, and understanding a speaker’s opinion. The following are examples of conversations yoti may hear in section 3:
•A conversation between a turor and a student about completing an entry form for an engineer competition
•A group of students giving a presentation on an academic topic
•A job interview
•A discussion between a student and a tutor on [row to complete a project
SECTION 4
Section 4, which is also concerned with educational and training contexts, will feature a monologue, for example, a lecture or ralk of general, non-specialist academic 1nieiesi. Some qpicA question types found in this section are matching, classification and multiple choice. As there
is no break during this section, you must look through all the questions in the time given at the beginning. It is also especially important to listen for words signalling a change from one part of the Lecture to another. The following are examples of monologues you may hear in section 4:
•A lecture on the radio about a health problem
•A university lecture about eclipses
•A monologue on how to breed animals
•A lecture about Neolithic Britain
2.THE LISTENING Task Types
The first two sections are concerned with social needs. There is a conversation between two speakers in the first section. For example, it could be a conversation between two people organising an event and discussing their options regarding venues and food available. The second section contains a monologue, which could, for example, be a speech about student services on a university campus or arrangements for meals during an event.
The final two sections are concerned with situations related more closely to educational or training contexts. In the third section, there is a conversation among up to four people. It could be a talk among three students discussing a research project. The fourth section contains another monologue, which could be a lecture or talk of general academic interest.
A range of native-speaker English accents are used in the test. A variety of questions are used, selected from the following types:
•Note/summary/flow-chart/table completion
•Multiple choice
•Short-answer questions
•Sentence completion
•Labelling a diagram
•Classification
•Matching
Task Type 1:THE BASICS
You have to fill in gaps in an outline that covers part or all of the listening text. In order to complete the task, you may have to choose your answers from a list on the question paper or identify the missing words from the recording thar bit into the outline. You should not change the words from the recording in any way, and should keep to the word limit stated in the instructions.
The text could be a form, a set of notes,a table, a flow chart or a summary. The answers will focus on the main ideas in the text. In all cases except the summary, notation form can be used to complete the gaps, which means that articles and auxiliary verbs may be omitted when they are not necessary for the meaning. The summary consists of connected sentences and must therefore be grammatically correct.
Task Type 2:MULTIPLE CHOICE
Multiple choice items may include a question followed by three possible answers. You have to choose the one correct answer: A, B or C. They may require you to understand specific points or the main points of the listening text.
The task may also involve sentence completion. You will be given the first part of a sentence and will have to choose the best way to complete it from the options given. Sometimes you are given a longer list of possible answers, and told that you have to choose more than one of them.
Task Type 3:SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS
You have to write an answer to a question using information from tke recording. Yoti should tead the instructions carefully, as they indicate the word limit given for each task. Sometimes you are given a question that asks you to list two or three points.
Task Type 4:SENTENCE COMPLETION
You need to read a set of sentences summarising key information from the entire listening text
or from one part of it. You have to complete a gap in each scntence using information from the listening text. You usually have to write no more than three words and/or a number. The words
will be taken directly from the listening text and written in the space on your question paper, to be transferred later.
Task Type 5:LABELLING A DIAGRAM,PLAN OR MAP
You have to complete labels on a visual such as a diagram, set of pictures, plan of a building or a map of a part of a town. The answers are usually selected from a list on the question paper.
Task Type 6:CLASSFICATION
You have to match a numbered list of items from the listening text to a set of criteria. This task type is designed to test your ability to recognize relationships and connections between facts in the listening text. It is therefore often used with texts dealing with factual information. This task tests your ability to listen for detail.
Task Type 7:MATCHING
You have to match a numbered list of items from the listening text to a set of items in a box. Many variations of this task type ate possible regarding the types of options to be matched.