A2 Key Listening: Five Parts, Corrections and Spelling
Format
About 30 minutes, five parts, 25 questions. Every recording is heard twice. Part 1: short dialogues with three pictures - choose the right picture. Part 2: a short talk with gaps to fill (a number, a time, a name, a place). Part 3: a longer conversation with multiple-choice questions. Part 4: five short conversations, choose A, B or C. Part 5: match two lists.
Concepts you must control
- Predict before you listen. Use the pause to read the options and decide what you are listening for: a time, a price, a place, a reason or a person.
- Numbers, times and spelling: 13/30, 15/50, £4.50, half past, quarter to, and names spelt aloud letter by letter.
- Function language: suggesting, agreeing, refusing, apologising - "Shall we…?", "I'd rather…", "Sorry, I can't."
- Answer limits: Part 2 usually allows one or two words or a number. Write no more than the instructions allow.
Traps
Every option is normally mentioned, but only one is right. Speakers correct themselves: "We said ten, but the film's at half past nine now." If you write the first thing you hear, you often write the wrong thing. Other losses come from poor spelling of days and months, and from leaving a blank when the recording has already moved on.
Worked example
You hear: "The coach leaves at a quarter to eight, not eight o'clock - sorry, I told you the wrong time." Options: A 7:45, B 8:00, C 8:15. The correction gives the answer: A. The first time mentioned is a trap.
Rule of thumb
Listen for the correction. Words like "but", "actually", "sorry" and "instead" usually come just before the real answer, so keep listening for a second or two after you hear a number or name that matches an option.