Listening
The Listening paper lasts about 40 minutes and contains four parts and 30 questions. Each recording is played twice. Part 1 has three short extracts with two multiple-choice questions each; Part 2 is a sentence-completion task with nine gaps; Part 3 is a five-question multiple-choice task based on a longer interview; Part 4 is a multiple-matching task with five speakers and two matching tasks. The paper tests gist, specific detail, attitude, opinion, function, and inference.
Core rules and concepts
- Part 1: focus on the speaker's purpose and relationship, not just the topic. Short extracts often turn on a function such as agreeing, complaining, or recommending.
- Part 2: complete each sentence with a word or short phrase. The answer must fit the grammar of the sentence and be spelled correctly. The questions follow the order of the recording.
- Part 3: the correct option reflects what the speaker actually says or believes. Other options may be mentioned as alternatives, reported views, or rejected ideas.
- Part 4: match each speaker to an option in each of two tasks. The same speaker may mention several listed ideas, so listen for the final stance or the reason given.
Worked example
You hear: 'The centre was originally going to open in March, but building delays pushed it back to July.' Sentence: 'The centre finally opened in ______.' Answer: July. Reasoning: 'finally opened' matches 'pushed it back to'; 'March' is attached to 'originally', a distractor; the contrast marker 'but' signals the correction; and 'July' is the only answer that completes the sentence accurately. Writing 'in July' would be redundant because 'in' is already in the sentence.
Traps
- Choosing an option because a word from it appears in the recording; C2 items usually reward paraphrase.
- In Part 2, writing too much, missing a plural, or giving a word that does not fit the grammar of the sentence.
- In Part 3, confusing a view the speaker reports with the view the speaker holds.
- In Part 4, matching a speaker to the first idea mentioned rather than the final position.
- Losing your place in Part 2 and then missing several answers in sequence.
- Ignoring intonation and stress, which often carry the speaker's real attitude.