The Two Buses: A One-Play Listening Announcement
You are a second-year student at a Kanagawa public high school. During morning homeroom, the ALT plays a recorded announcement about next week's English Camp. You hear the recording only once, and you cannot ask questions. The announcement says: 'Bus A leaves the north gate at 7:40. Students in Group 1, Rooms 1 and 2, must be at the north gate by 7:25. Bus B leaves the south gate at 7:50. Students in Group 2, Rooms 3 and 4, must be at the south gate by 7:35. Do not wait in the gym. The cafeteria will be closed, so bring a lunch. The first activity begins at 9:00.' The speaker repeats 'by 7:25' twice and adds, 'That means fifteen minutes before departure.' Your friend Kenji is in Room 4. He says he will arrive at the school gate at 7:45 and take Bus A because it leaves earlier. In your notebook you have written: 'Kenji - Bus A - 7:40 - gym.'
1. Kenji says he will take Bus A at 7:40. What should you tell him, and why?
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Kenji is in Room 4, so he is in Group 2. The announcement assigns Rooms 3 and 4 to Bus B, which leaves the south gate at 7:50. The 7:25 deadline is only for Group 1 and Bus A; Group 2 has a parallel deadline of 7:35. His plan to arrive at 7:45 is too late even for Bus B, and he cannot choose Bus A just because it leaves earlier. Correct advice: go to the south gate by 7:35 and take Bus B. This requires matching room → group → gate → bus → deadline, not just hearing '7:40.'
2. Why does the speaker repeat 'by 7:25' and add 'that means fifteen minutes before departure'?
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The repetition is a clarification, not a new meeting time. 'By' sets a latest arrival time, so 7:25 means no later than 7:25 for a 7:40 departure. The speaker is preventing students from arriving exactly at departure. It also creates a trap: 7:25 belongs to Group 1's bus, so copying it onto Group 2 would be wrong. The correct inference is that each bus has its own deadline with the same 15-minute buffer.
3. What should you change in your notebook, and what should you keep?
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Change the bus, gate, and time: 'Kenji - Bus B - south gate - 7:35.' Keep the useful facts 'bring lunch' and 'do not wait in the gym,' because the cafeteria is closed and the first activity is at 9:00. Remove 'Bus A - 7:40' from Kenji's line because it belongs to Group 1. A good notebook line separates person, group, gate, deadline, and departure, so a later reader cannot confuse the two buses.