Listening: prediction, distractor control and accurate transcription
What the section demands
Password Skills Plus Listening plays each recording once. You hear a mix of monologues and conversations - service encounters, academic discussions, announcements - in a range of accents, and answer note-completion, table or form completion, multiple choice, and matching items. Accuracy in spelling, numbers and word limits matters as much as comprehension.
Concepts you must control
- Prediction before playback: use the question stems to predict the word class and topic of each missing answer (time → a clock time; fee → a sum of money).
- Signposting: first, then, however, the thing is, actually, what I meant was. These tell you a change of direction or a correction is coming.
- Paraphrase: the answer word appears in the audio, but the question is usually phrased with synonyms, so listen for meaning not echo.
- Distractor design: two or three plausible options are mentioned; only one survives to the end of the exchange.
- Transcription discipline: numbers, dates, proper names spelled aloud, plurals, and units (£, km, per cent).
Traps
Writing the first number or name you hear when the speaker corrects it seconds later ("Nine - sorry, half past ten"); missing a plural or a unit and losing the mark; answering an option that was mentioned only to be rejected ("I thought about the train, but it's far too expensive"); losing your place in note completion because you waited on a word you missed. If you miss one, abandon it and re-orient on the next heading.
Worked example and rule of thumb
Note: Departure time: ______. Audio: "We were due to leave at nine, but the coach is now scheduled for half past ten because of the roadworks." The answer is 10:30 (or half past ten), not nine. Rule: keep listening for two or three seconds after the number or noun you expect - corrections and clarifications almost always arrive immediately after it.