Platform 5, not 3: a delayed train and a competing announcement
You are sitting the A1 listening paper. The recording is played twice. In the second item, a station announcement is played slowly, with one competing announcement in the background. The candidate hears: «Το τρένο για τη Λάρισα, ώρα 14:30, θα αναχωρήσει από την αποβάθρα 5. Καθυστέρηση δέκα λεπτά.» A different announcement, played moments earlier, said: «Το τρένο για τη Θεσσαλονίκη, ώρα 14:45, από την αποβάθρα 2.» During the first listening, the candidate writes: «Λάρισα – 14:30 – αποβάθρα 3». They have twenty seconds to check their notes before the second listening. The candidate is tempted to keep 14:30 and 3 because those were the first numbers heard and because the speaker does not say the word «αλλαγή» (change). The item asks: what time does the Larisa train leave, and from which platform? The task tests selective listening for numbers, the meaning of «καθυστέρηση», and the ability to disregard a competing train announcement.
1. Which two details in the candidate's notes are wrong, and what should replace them? Explain the listening strategy that prevents the error.
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Correction: the platform is 5, not 3; the departure time is 14:40, not 14:30. The announcement says «από την αποβάθρα 5» and «καθυστέρηση δέκα λεπτά». The scheduled time is 14:30, so the actual departure is 14:30 + 10 minutes = 14:40.
Why the notes went wrong: the candidate wrote the first number heard and stopped listening for a correction. The announcement does not need the word «αλλαγή»: a new platform stated after the train name replaces the old one. The competing Thessaloniki announcement (14:45, platform 2) is a distractor because it shares the same structure and a similar time.
Strategy: during the first listening, note only keywords («Λάρισα», «αποβάθρα», «καθυστέρηση») rather than committing to numbers; use the second listening to confirm every number against the question. At A1, announcements often repeat the key information in a second sentence, so listen to the end of the item.
2. The candidate hears «αποβάθρα 5» but thinks it might be «αποβάθρα 15». What features of A1 listening and Greek numbers should they use to decide?
Read the worked answer
Decision: choose 5. In Greek, 5 is «πέντε» and 15 is «δεκαπέντε»; the extra syllable «δεκα-» is audible even at slow speed. At a small station, platform 15 is also less plausible than platform 5, and the item's answer options, if any, will not pair a local train with an implausible platform number.
What to listen for: the number is embedded in a fixed phrase: «από την αποβάθρα + number». On the second listening, focus only on the first syllable after «αποβάθρα»; if there is no «δεκα-», eliminate 15. Do not guess from the written notes alone, because the notes were made during the first listening and may already contain the error. If the candidate is still unsure, they should answer from the second hearing, not from memory of the first.