Listening
What the paper tests
Listening lasts about 40 minutes and has four parts, heard twice. Part 1 has short extracts with multiple choice; Part 2 is sentence completion; Part 3 is multiple matching; Part 4 is a longer interview or discussion with multiple choice. You need gist, specific detail, attitude and opinion, function, and the relationship between speakers. The key skill is recognising paraphrase: the correct answer usually restates the audio in different words.
Traps to recognise
The biggest trap is the 'heard word' distractor: an option repeats a word from the recording but in the wrong context or with the wrong speaker. Another is changing an answer after the second listening without a clear reason. In Part 2, answers must fit the grammar of the sentence and be spelled correctly; do not write a full phrase when a word or two is enough. Numbers, dates and letters are often confused (fifteen/fifty, M/N). In Part 3, one option may be mentioned by several speakers, but only one matches each question.
Rule of thumb
Before the audio, underline the key words in the question and predict the kind of answer (a place, a reason, a feeling). Do not expect those exact words; listen for synonyms such as 'cheap' for 'affordable' or 'annoyed' for 'irritated'. In Part 2, read the whole sentence after writing to check it makes sense. On the second listening, confirm rather than rewrite.