Part 4 listening: the same-word trap and the second-listening switch
A candidate is on Part 4 of the Listening paper: seven multiple-choice questions on a three-minute interview with a man who gave up a career to open a bookshop. Question 24 asks: How did the man feel when he handed in his notice? A He was disappointed. B He was relieved. C He was surprised. The speaker says: 'I'd assumed I'd be devastated - I'd wanted that career since I was nineteen. But sitting in the car afterwards, I just felt this enormous weight lift. I was amazed how easy it was.' The candidate marks A, hears the extract a second time, and switches to C. The recording is played twice, followed by a five-minute transfer window.
1. Which option is correct, and what makes the two wrong options attractive?
Read the worked answer
B (relieved). Both wrong options are built from the speaker's own words.
- A echoes devastated verbatim - but inside a hypothetical frame: I'd assumed I'd be devastated. He is describing an expectation he did not have to pay for. Same-word options are the standard Part 4 trap; the words are present precisely because they were not the answer.
- C echoes amazed - but amazed attaches to how easy the act was, not to his feeling about resigning. Right word, wrong target.
- B is never said. It is a paraphrase of this enormous weight lift.
The working rule: on Part 4, an option that repeats a word from the recording is a suspect, and an option that paraphrases an image is a candidate. Check what the word is attached to, not just whether it was spoken.
2. The candidate changed A to C on the second listening. What principle should govern answer changes, and how should the five-minute transfer be used?
Read the worked answer
Change only on new evidence, never on new doubt.
- He moved between two traps: A was never supported, C was never supported. The switch was not evidence-driven, it was anxiety-driven - the net effect of two chances to be wrong.
- Correct procedure: use the first listening to commit to a provisional answer, and the second to verify that answer against the exact words, not to re-shop the whole question. If a specific piece of evidence overturns it, change. If the answer merely feels shakier, keep it.
Five-minute transfer:
- Copy every answer onto the answer sheet as you go - an answer left only on the question paper scores nothing.
- Check the spelling of Part 2 gap-fill answers (a correct word misspelled may not be credited) and that no gap is blank.
- Never leave a blank in multiple choice: a guess costs nothing and a blank is a guaranteed zero.
Marking rewards what is on the sheet, not what was understood.