The Sleep Scientist's Caveat
You are on Listening Part 4. A radio interviewer asks a sleep scientist about a supplement marketed to students. The scientist says: 'We found a 23 per cent reduction in recall errors - though I'd caution that the sample was 48 students and the effect disappeared at six months.' The interviewer says, 'So the supplement works short-term?' The scientist replies, 'It may do, in that group, under those conditions.' Your notes read: 'supplement improves memory long-term; 23% improvement; sample 48; effect gone at 6 months.' The multiple-choice question asks what the scientist claims about the supplement. Option A says it improves long-term memory; Option B says it reduced errors in one small short-term study; Option C says it is ineffective. You lean toward A because '23 per cent' sounds like a strong result and you wrote 'improves memory' first. The recording is played once. You have 45 seconds to choose.
1. Which note misrepresents the scientist's claim, and which linguistic markers should have alerted you?
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'Supplement improves memory long-term' misrepresents it. The scientist's 'though I'd caution' introduces a limitation, and 'the effect disappeared at six months' directly contradicts long-term improvement. The reply 'It may do, in that group, under those conditions' is a double hedge: may marks possibility, in that group restricts the population, under those conditions restricts the setting. None of these is an endorsement of general efficacy. The interviewer's 'So the supplement works short-term?' is a paraphrase offered for confirmation; the scientist's 'It may do' confirms only a qualified possibility. Option B preserves both the 23 per cent result and the caveats. At C2, the distractor often keeps the number and deletes the scope.
2. Why is the 23 per cent figure not sufficient to answer the question, and what else matters?
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A percentage is a result, not a claim. The question asks what the scientist claims, so you need the scope of the result: 48 students, a short follow-up, and a measured outcome (recall errors). A 23 per cent reduction in a small sample may be statistically fragile; the disappearance at six months changes the practical claim. The scientist's own framing - 'I'd caution', 'may do' - tells you she is not asserting long-term memory improvement. If you answer from the number alone, you confuse effect size with evidential warrant. In Listening Part 4, the correct option usually combines a finding with its limitation, while the wrong option either inflates the finding or dismisses it entirely.
3. How should you take notes during the recording so that stance is preserved?
Read the worked answer
Use a two-column layout: content on the left, stance markers on the right. Write '23% fewer recall errors' and beside it 'small n = 48; effect gone 6 mo; may do'. Note the scientist's modals (may, would caution) and scope phrases (in that group). Do not write 'improves memory' as a summary; that converts a qualified finding into a claim. Abbreviate stance with symbols: '?' for hedge, '!' for strong claim, 'x' for negation. After the recording, answer by matching the option to your stance column first, then check the content column. This prevents the common error of choosing an option because it contains the number you heard most clearly.