Listening-Reading Comprehension: Combining Speech with Documents
What this section tests
Listening-reading items give you written material - a schedule, price table, floor guide, graph, or memo - while a short spoken passage plays. Neither source alone answers the question; the answer exists only in the relationship between them. Expect tasks such as: which row must be corrected, which chart matches what the speaker describes, which option satisfies both the notice and the announcement, or what figure belongs in a blank cell.
Two-direction integration. Sometimes the spoken text supplies a change that overrides the document (「開始時刻が変更になりました」). Sometimes the document supplies a constraint the speaker never repeats (「ただし、土日を除く」). Decide which source is authoritative for each field before you choose.
Table literacy. Scan headers first: the unit (円/千円/万円), the basis (税込/税抜), and the comparison (前年比/前月比). A tenfold error usually comes from the unit row, not from the numbers themselves.
Graph literacy. Identify the axis direction, whether bars are stacked, and whether a line shows cumulative or monthly values. The spoken text often names a trend in words (「横ばい」, 「微増」, 「落ち込み」) that you must map onto the visual shape.
Traps
- Anchoring on the printed figure and missing the later spoken correction.
- Ignoring a ただし or なお exception clause.
- Confusing a percentage with percentage points.
- Choosing an option that is true of the document but false of the conversation, or the reverse.
Rule of thumb
Mark up the document while listening: cross out superseded values, circle the field the question asks about, and write the speaker's final number beside it. The correct option satisfies both sources at once.
Worked example. A flyer says the seminar starts at 13:00 with reception from 12:30. The announcement says: 「受付は十二時十五分から、開始は予定どおりです。」 Reception moves to 12:15 while the start remains 13:00; any option that shifts the start time is wrong.