The Make-Up Test Listening Trap: Tuesday or Wednesday?
You are reviewing a listening comprehension item with a student. The script (which you have written out for study) is a short conversation. A student says, 'Excuse me, is the make-up test on Tuesday in Room 230?' The teacher answers, 'No, the retake is on Wednesday, not Tuesday. And it is in Room 203, not 230. Please bring your student ID, not your textbook.' The question asks: 'When and where is the make-up test?' The student chose 'Tuesday, Room 230' because those were the first words in the question and the numbers sounded familiar. The correct answer is 'Wednesday, Room 203.' The student says, 'But the teacher said Tuesday and 230 in the question.' The student wants a strategy for the next listening task.
1. Explain why the student's answer is wrong and identify the two corrections the teacher makes.
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The student's answer is wrong because it copies the question rather than the answer. The student in the script asks, 'Is the make-up test on Tuesday in Room 230?' Those words are a guess, not confirmed information. The teacher begins with 'No,' which signals that the guess is incorrect and a correction will follow. The teacher then makes two corrections: the day is Wednesday, not Tuesday, and the room is Room 203, not 230. The phrase 'not Tuesday' repeats the wrong day, so a listener who hears 'Tuesday' twice may accidentally choose it. The correct answer must come from the teacher's corrected information, not from the student's question. The student also needs to notice that 'retake' means the same as 'make-up test'; otherwise, the correction may sound like a different test.
2. What listening strategy should the student use when a speaker says 'No' or 'not'?
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Treat 'No' as a signal to expect a correction and listen for the item that follows 'not.' A simple note-taking pattern is two columns: wrong information and corrected information. When the teacher says 'Wednesday, not Tuesday,' the student should write 'day: Wed' in the corrected column and cross out Tuesday. For numbers, the same strategy applies: 'Room 203, not 230' means the corrected room is 203. The student should not stop listening after hearing a familiar number, because the first number may be the trap. It also helps to wait for the final confirmation: the teacher repeats the corrected information in a complete sentence. Finally, the student should practice similar-sounding numbers (203/230) and days, and remember that the question in the script often contains the wrong option on purpose.