Listening Notes When the Speaker Corrects Herself
Paper 2 Listening. You hear a teacher announce the science fair. The recording says: 'The fair will be on Thursday the 14th - sorry, Friday the 15th - in the main hall. Set-up begins at 8:30, but all exhibits must be in place by 9:15 because judging starts at 9:30. Please bring your own extension cables; the school only has four. And don't forget your permission slips - no slip, no exhibit.' Your notes have blanks: Date: ____; Exhibits in place by: ____; Bring: ____; Extra item: ____. You write 'Thursday 14th', '8:30', 'extension cables' and 'permission slip'. You have 10 seconds before the next question. The speaker's correction is easy to miss because she laughs and repeats 'Friday' quietly, and the next sentence begins immediately.
1. Which blank is wrong, and what principle should guide you when a speaker self-corrects?
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The date is wrong: it should be Friday the 15th, not Thursday the 14th. The speaker says 'Thursday the 14th - sorry, Friday the 15th', so the correction replaces the first date. The principle is that the last complete version before the speaker moves on is usually the one that counts, especially after cues such as 'sorry', 'I mean', 'rather' or a repetition. The 'Exhibits in place by' blank should be 9:15, not 8:30: 8:30 is when set-up begins. 'Extension cables' is correct, but do not write 'four cables' - the school has four, so you bring your own. 'Permission slip' is correct.
2. Why is 8:30 a plausible but wrong answer, and how can you avoid that trap?
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8:30 is plausible because it is a time, it is close to the date, and it is said clearly. But the question asks when exhibits must be in place, and the speaker separates 'set-up begins at 8:30' from 'all exhibits must be in place by 9:15'. The trap is matching a number to the wrong cue. Avoid it by reading the blank label before the recording starts and holding it in mind: 'in place by' is not 'set-up begins'. While listening, write the cue word next to the number, for example '8:30 set-up / 9:15 in place', then choose. Do not copy the first number you hear.
3. What does 'no slip, no exhibit' imply, and how should it appear in your notes?
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It implies that a permission slip is compulsory: without it, you cannot display your exhibit. The words are a compact conditional, not a direct instruction to 'bring a slip', so you have to infer the requirement. In notes, write 'permission slip - compulsory' or 'must bring slip'. Do not write 'slip if possible', which reverses the meaning. This is the kind of item that tests inference rather than recall: you hear the consequence ('no exhibit') and work back to the rule. If the blank says 'Extra item', the answer is 'permission slip', not 'extension cables', because cables were already mentioned as the main item to bring.