Listening comprehension (音声問題)
What the listening section asks
The 音声問題 checks whether you grasp the purpose of a conversation, not every word. You hear short dialogues, a longer dialogue, and a short talk such as a school announcement, with the questions printed in English. The recording is played a fixed number of times, so your notes must be usable after one hearing.
Core rules
- Read the question and choices during the example reading time; decide what to listen for: a time, a place, a reason, or a person.
- Write only numbers, names, and arrows. Do not write full sentences while the audio is playing.
- Follow the second speaker. The first speaker often gives incomplete or wrong information, and the reply corrects it.
- Listen for contrast words: but, actually, instead, only, except. These usually carry the answer.
Worked example
Recording: "The city library closes at six on weekdays. On Saturdays it stays open until eight, but it is closed on the third Sunday." Question: What time does the library close on Saturday? Reasoning: three time facts appear; the question asks about Saturday, so "six" (weekdays) and the Sunday closing are distractors. The answer is eight.
Traps
- 音声一致: an option repeats a word you heard (library, Sunday) but answers a different question.
- Numbers: 13/30, 15/50, and "a quarter past" vs "a quarter to".
- Negatives: "not until", "doesn't have to", "no longer".
- Leaving a blank. A guessed answer costs nothing; an empty one always does.