Listening: inferring attitude from a voicemail
Students hear a short voicemail (transcript provided in the exam paper for this practice task). A grandmother, Μαρία, calls her granddaughter. She says: «Καλησπέρα αγάπη μου. Πήρα τηλέφωνο για τα γενέθλιά σου, αλλά μάλλον είσαι στη δουλειά. Τέλος πάντων, να τα εκατοστήσεις! Όταν βρεις χρόνο, πάρε με - όχι ότι βιάζομαι, αλλά... ξέρεις, θέλω να σου πω για το ταξίδι. Άντε, τα λέμε.» The question asks students to identify Μαρία's attitude and the purpose of the call, and to explain how they know.
1. What is Μαρία's attitude in the call? Support your answer with two features of the language.
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Her attitude is affectionate but slightly hesitant and hopeful. Affection: the diminutive endearment «αγάπη μου» and the birthday wish «να τα εκατοστήσεις». Hesitation/hope: «μάλλον είσαι στη δουλειά» shows she is guessing and does not want to intrude; «όχι ότι βιάζομαι, αλλά...» explicitly denies pressure while signalling she does want a call; the trailing «...» and «ξέρεις» invite the listener in. The phrase «Τέλος πάντων» marks a small retreat after not reaching her. The answer should name the feature and then say what it signals - a claim without textual evidence earns little credit.
2. What is the primary purpose of the call, and what is the secondary purpose? How does the structure of the message reveal this?
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Primary purpose: to wish her granddaughter happy birthday (stated directly, first substantive content). Secondary purpose: to arrange a conversation about a trip - «θέλω να σου πω για το ταξίδι» - which is the real reason she wants a callback. The structure reveals the hierarchy: greeting, then the occasion, then a soft complaint about not reaching her, then the request to call, then the hook (the trip). The birthday wish is delivered and closed quickly; the trip is left open, which is what makes the listener call back. A strong answer distinguishes what is said explicitly from what the structure implies.
3. A student writes: «She is annoyed because her granddaughter did not answer.» Assess this answer.
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It is a misreading. The text gives no marker of annoyance: there is no reproach, no «γιατί δεν απάντησες;», and «μάλλον» hedges rather than accuses. «Τέλος πάντων» can sound resigned, but here it follows her own guess that the granddaughter is at work - it closes the topic rather than criticising. The evidence points to mild disappointment handled with understanding. The exam skill being tested is resisting the temptation to over-interpret one phrase; the correct method is to check whether the whole message supports the claimed emotion, and to weigh hedges («μάλλον», «όχι ότι») as signals of the speaker softening, not attacking.