Listening: A Camp Announcement with a Room Change and a Rain Plan
You are taking part in a two-day English camp at a public junior high school in Tokyo. On the first morning, the teacher reads this announcement aloud twice. You may not ask questions during the reading.
'Good morning. This is Ms. Sato. The opening meeting will be in Room 203, not the gym, because the gym floor is being repaired. It begins at 9:00, so please come by 8:50 for the name check. Bring your textbook and a pencil case. You do not need your dictionary today. After the meeting, we will walk to the city library; it takes about fifteen minutes. If it rains, we will take the bus from the west gate at 10:10 instead. Lunch will be at the library cafeteria, so you do not have to bring lunch, but please bring a water bottle. The afternoon activity starts at 1:30 in the library meeting room.'
1. Rina arrives at the school gate at 9:05. She is carrying a textbook, a pencil case, a dictionary and a lunch box. Where should she go, and which two items does she not need? Give one reason from the announcement for each answer.
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Where to go: Room 203. The announcement says the meeting is in Room 203, not the gym, because the gym floor is being repaired. Arriving at 9:05 is late, but that does not change the room. She should enter quietly and join the name check late.
Unnecessary items:
- The dictionary: 'You do not need your dictionary today.'
- The lunch box: 'Lunch will be at the library cafeteria, so you do not have to bring lunch.'
What she should keep: the textbook and pencil case, both of which are explicitly requested, and a water bottle if she has one.
Exam skill: the announcement gives a room change and a lateness problem at the same time. The correct judgement is that the room change still applies; being late does not send her back to the gym.
2. At 9:50 the sky turns dark and it starts to rain. What will the students do at 10:00, and what will they not do? Use the announcement.
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The announcement gives a conditional: 'After the meeting, we will walk to the city library... If it rains, we will take the bus from the west gate at 10:10 instead.' Because it is raining at 9:50, the condition is met.
- They will not walk to the library.
- They will go to the west gate and take the 10:10 bus.
- The destination and the lunch plan do not change: lunch is still at the library cafeteria, and the afternoon activity still starts at 1:30.
Trap to avoid: the bus time is 10:10, not 10:00, and it leaves from the west gate, not the school gate. The rain changes only the way they travel, not the programme.
3. Why does Ms. Sato mention the gym? Answer in one sentence.
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To explain why the meeting place has changed, so that students do not go to the gym by mistake. The gym is mentioned only as the place that is unavailable, because its floor is being repaired, not as a place to meet.
In listening questions, a place name mentioned early is often a distractor. The correct place is the one attached to the actual instruction: Room 203.