Listening Comprehension
Listening comprehension
This domain checks understanding of spoken dialogues, announcements, and short monologues: gist, specific facts, numbers, speaker relationships, attitude, and implied action.
Core rules
- Before the audio, read the question stems and underline the information type needed (time, place, reason, speaker).
- Note content words, not full sentences; use abbreviations and symbols.
- Listen for signposts: but, actually, the thing is, so, instead. Corrections often follow actually.
- When two numbers or times appear, decide which one is current, proposed, or rejected.
- For attitude items, track adjectives and tone words, not just facts.
Worked example
Man: "I thought the deadline was Friday." Woman: "It was, but they moved it to Thursday because the printer is closed on Friday." Question: When is the deadline now? Reasoning: Friday is the original date, explicitly displaced by but they moved it. The reason clause refers to the printer, not the deadline. The current deadline is Thursday. Choosing Friday means you stopped at the first date heard.
Traps
- Selecting the first number mentioned rather than the final or corrected one.
- Missing negation or a change of plan (I was going to... but...).
- Confusing who says or decides what in a dialogue.
- Assuming an answer because it is plausible rather than because it was said.
- Failing to transfer answers during the pause.