Listening
Listening in Skills for English B2 is computer-delivered. You hear short monologues and conversations, usually played once, and answer multiple-choice, matching or note-completion questions. At B2 the test moves beyond literal detail: you must recognise purpose, agreement, doubt and the speaker's final position.
Predict before you hear
Use the pause to read the question and options. Ask: who is speaking, to whom, and what decision or opinion is at stake? In note completion, check the word limit and the part of speech the gap needs.
Listen for signposts, not isolated words
Speakers signal shifts: 'actually', 'to be honest', 'the thing is', 'having said that'. A change of mind often follows 'but' or 'although'. The correct answer usually paraphrases the recording; a wrong option often repeats its exact words.
Worked example
Woman: 'I thought the conference was going to be a waste of time, to be honest.' Man: 'So did I - but the workshop on data protection was genuinely useful.' Question: What do the speakers agree about? A The whole conference was useful. B One part of the conference was valuable. C The workshop was badly organised. Answer B. 'So did I' shows shared expectation, and 'but' marks the contrast: both now value the workshop. A overgeneralises from one workshop to the whole event. C is not mentioned; 'useful' is the opposite of badly organised.
Traps that cost marks
- Hearing a number and writing it before the speaker corrects it.
- Missing a negative ('not many', 'hardly any').
- Losing the next answer because you are still thinking about the last one.
- Ignoring the word limit in note completion.