SFL/METU
Dept. of B. E.
Elementary Group
LHO 1
November 2015
A GUIDE FOR WHILE LISTENING (I)
(Student’s Copy)
At DBE listening comprehension is comprised of two sections: While Listening Section and NoteTaking Section. The while-listening section consists of:
1. Statements
2. Dialogues
3. Mini-Talks
4. Interviews
5. Lectures
STATEMENTS / DIALOGUES
In this part, you are expected to understand the meaning of functional and idiomatic expressions,
vocabulary and structures. You are also expected to recognize paraphrasing and draw conclusions. For
each question, you listen to a statement / dialogue, and then choose the alternative which best answers
the question. You will be given 15 seconds to have a look at the four alternatives to the question.
There are two types of questions:
a) Fact questions: These questions ask about specific information,
b) Inference questions: These questions ask about the implied or suggested information.
Statements generally contain inference questions, but dialogues may contain both types of questions.
Here are some example questions:
Examples of fact questions:
Examples of inference questions:
What does the woman/man want to know?
What does the woman/man say about X?
How does the woman/man feel?
What does the woman/man buy?
Where does the woman/man work?
Who(m) is the woman/man waiting for?
What is the woman/man asking?
What does the woman/man
mean?
imply?
suggest?
assume?
Where does this conversation probably take place?
What will the woman/man probably do?
What can we say about X?
TIPS ABOUT STATEMENTS / DIALOGUES
TIP 1
Be careful of the vocabulary. Listen for the key words, synonyms and idioms, as they are
important words that help you understand the conversation. You should also look for the repeated
words or the synonyms in the alternatives.
Examples of Key Words and Key Word Synonyms:
1. She did not comprehend the lesson.
She did not understand the lecture.
2. Capital punishment should be abolished.
The death penalty should be lifted.
3. Few people participated in the survey. Therefore, the results were not reliable.
The results of the survey were not trustworthy as there were not enough participants.
1
TIP 2
Finding out the key words as you read the alternatives will help you guess what the question will
be about.
Examples:
1. What could be a possible question for these alternatives?
a) In the summer.
b) At weekends.
c) When she is off.
d) In the morning.
* All the alternatives seem to answer a ‘when’ question. Therefore, the question will possibly be
something like, “When does X …?” or “When does Y go to …?”
2. What could be a possible question for these alternatives?
a) Because she was ill.
b) Because she had a terrible headache.
c) Since she went to the airport to pick up a friend.
d) Since she had an appointment with the doctor.
* All the alternatives seem to answer a ‘why’ question and they give the reason why somebody did not
perform an action. Therefore, the question will possibly be something like, “Why didn’t X do
something?” Or “Why didn’t X go somewhere?”
Exercise 1: Write a possible question for each set of alternatives.
1. ________________________________________________________________?
a) By learning how to use a computer.
b) By learning a new language.
c) By improving his appearance.
d) By learning a new skill.
2. ________________________________________________________________?
a) It was a romantic film.
b) The film was boring.
c) The story of the film was fascinating.
d) The story of the film was very interesting.
3. ________________________________________________________________?
a) Worried
b) Excited.
c) Angry.
d) Bored.
4. ________________________________________________________________?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Rent a house.
Stay with a friend.
Go back to her hometown.
Stay in a boarding house.
TIP 3
Check the negative words, negative prefixes and negative expressions in the sentences because
negative meaning is widely used in English. Words such as ‘not, never, nobody, none, nothing’
etc., prefixes such as “de-, dis-, non-, un-, in-, il-, im-, ir” can be used to give an opposite meaning
to the whole sentence.
2
Example
The man
: Why did they ask Tom to resign?
The woman : He was very impolite towards his colleagues.
Why did Tom lose his job?
a) He was very thoughtful towards his friends at work.
b) They did not like his performance.
c) His attitude hurt other people at work.
d) He did not have enough qualifications.
* The correct answer is (c) because “impolite” means rude/not polite towards other people.
TIP 4
Sometimes the sentence may have one negative expression, which makes the meaning negative.
However, two negatives make the meaning affirmative.
Example:
The man
: Are you still planning to buy a car?
The woman : My husband doesn’t disagree but first we have to plan our budget.
Why haven’t they bought a car yet?
a) Her husband is against the idea.
b) They have to think about their financial situation.
c) They decided not to buy a car.
d) First, she needs to persuade her husband.
* The correct answer is (b) because when ‘not’ and –dis are used together, the sentence has an
affirmative meaning. This shows that the husband didn’t have any objections but they have some
problems related to their budget.
Exercise 2: Answer the following questions.
1. The man
The woman
: Why are you so angry?
: It is the children! They never come home on time.
What makes the woman angry?
a) The children have arrived too early.
b) The children always wait for her.
c) The children have just come home.
d) The children are late again.
2. The man
: What do you think of Peter?
The woman
: Well, he is a clever student but he seems uninterested in class.
What does the woman mean?
a) Peter is a hardworking student.
b) The classes are not interesting.
c) Peter does not have an interest in schoolwork.
d) The classes are too difficult for Peter.
3
TIP 5
The reference time (the tense) and the time markers such as while, after, before, during, for, since
are important in order to answer questions related to the sequence of events.
Example:
The man
: Do you still meet your classmates once a year?
The woman : I last saw them three years ago.
What does the woman mean?
a) She meets them every three years.
b) She meets them three times a year.
c) She hasn’t seen them for three years.
d) She will meet them in three years’ time.
* The correct answer is (c) because the sentence ‘I last saw them three years ago” expresses the idea that
she met her classmates three years ago and she has not seen them since then.
Exercise 3: Answer the following questions:
1. The man
: Why are you still in the office?
The woman
: I can’t leave until I get the call I have been waiting for all day.
What does the woman mean?
a) She can leave the office before she gets the call.
b) She has already received the call.
c) She can leave only after she gets the call.
d) She has been talking on the phone all day.
2. The man
The woman
: How did you meet your husband?
: We met during a flight to Tokyo.
What does the woman mean?
a) She met her husband in Tokyo.
b) They met while they were flying to Tokyo.
c) She met her husband after she came back from Tokyo.
d) She met her husband during her stay in Japan.
TIP 6
Check who is speaking and where the situation takes place or what the situation is. This will help
you to answer fact and inference questions easily. Some common questions are:
- Who is the woman/man?
- What does the man/woman do?
- Where does this conversation probably take place?
Example:
The woman : I’m sorry but the flight has been delayed. The next flight is at 11.45.
The man
: This is all your fault. I’m going to miss an important meeting in Rome.
Where does the conversation take place?
a) At a cinema.
b) At a petrol station.
c) At an airport.
d) At a restaurant.
* The correct answer is (c). The key words are “flight”, “delayed”.
4
Exercise 4: Answer the following questions.
1. The woman: I can’t take it anymore. They treat me so rudely.
The man : Don’t take it seriously. Just serve them, take your tip and forget about what they say.
What does the woman probably do?
a) She is a waitress.
b) She is a teacher.
c) She is a doctor.
d) She is a lawyer.
2. The man
: Good evening, ma’am.
The woman
: Please don’t park it too far. I’ll be leaving right after the wedding ceremony.
Who is the woman?
a) The bride.
b) The man’s friend.
c) A guest.
d) The parking attendant.
TIP 7
Checking the topic of the conversation is necessary to understand what the speakers are talking
about.
Example:
The man
: I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend the class today.
The woman : Oh! What’s the matter?
What does the woman want to know about the man?
a) When he’ll be back.
b) What the subject of his lecture is.
c) Why he can’t attend the class.
d) What he is planning to do today.
* To answer this question, you must understand the key phrase “What is the matter?”, which means
“What is the problem?” The woman wants to know why he will not be able to attend the class.
Therefore, the correct answer is (c).
Exercise 5: Answer the following question.
1. The man
: Don’t you know that copying someone’s ideas is cheating?
The woman
: I just wanted to mention an expert’s opinion.
What does the man mean?
a) He accuses her of using someone’s ideas inappropriately.
b) He accuses her of cheating in the exam.
c) He doesn’t think she did anything wrong.
d) He doesn’t like the idea of her working with an expert.
5
WHILE LISTENING
A. STATEMENTS
For the items in this section, you will hear a statement for each item and a question related to it.
Before you listen to each statement and the related question, you will be given 15 seconds to look at the
four alternative answers to the question. Each statement will be spoken only ONCE. Please listen to
each statement carefully and mark the alternative which best answers the question that follows.
1.What does the speaker mean?
a) Susan made a cake for Mary.
b) The cake was for dinner.
c) Mary made a cake without any help.
d) They made the cake together.
2. What does the speaker say about working people?
a) They are afraid of jogging in the dark.
b) They don’t want to go jogging at daytime.
c) They can’t find time to go jogging.
d) They like jogging in the dark.
3. What does the speaker imply about pandas?
a) The mother doesn’t want the panda after two years.
b) The panda can leave home after two years.
c) The mother has to find food for the panda after two years.
d) The panda doesn’t need help to find food before leaving home.
4.What does the speaker imply?
a) People’s level of cholesterol rises when they worry about fried food.
b) The risk of high cholesterol prevents people from eating fried food.
c) The level of cholesterol in fried food has made it more attractive.
d) People are more worried about the taste of food than their cholesterol level.
5. What does the speaker suggest parents should do?
a) Prohibit their children from watching television.
b) Encourage children to watch educational programs.
c) Help children to interpret contents of programs correctly.
d) Use filter programs to check what their children are watching.
6. What does the speaker mean?
a) He will go to Paris in 3 years’ time.
b) He spent 3 years studying in Paris.
c) He had a holiday in Paris 3 years ago.
d) He plans to spend 3 years as a student in Paris.
7. What does the speaker mean?
a) She is afraid to offer the job to Alex.
b) Alex lacks the required qualifications.
c) She’ll offer the job when Alex has the skills.
d) Skills aren’t important, so Alex should get the job.
8. What does the speaker mean?
a) Paul’s advisor changed the schedule.
b) Paul was advised to change his schedule.
c) Paul changed the schedule for his advisor.
d) Paul changed advisors because of his schedule.
6
B. DIALOGUES
For the items in this section, you will hear a dialogue for each item and a question related to it.
Before you listen to each dialogue and the related question, you will be given 15 seconds to look at
the four alternatives to the question. Each dialogue will be spoken only ONCE. Please listen to
each dialogue and mark the alternative which best answers the question that follows.
1. How often does the woman go shopping?
a) Twice a week.
b) Once a week.
c) Three times a week.
d) Every Saturday.
2. How does the woman feel about the weather?
a) She enjoys the rain.
b) She doesn’t mind the
c) She is upset about the rain.
d) She is surprised.
3. What can be inferred about Laura?
a) She wants to learn to type be.
b) She needs to earn $80 a week.
c) She is a talented secretary.
d) She can read 80 words a minute.
4. Why did the woman choose to live in Ireland?
a) She wanted a higher standard of life.
b) She was sent there by her company.
c) She needed a long-term job.
d) She loved the Irish daily life.
C. DIALOGUE
For the items in this section, you will hear a dialogue between a man and a girl in a shop. You will
hear the dialogue only ONCE. As you listen, mark the choice that best answers each question or best
completes the sentence. Before you listen to the dialogue, you will have 45 seconds to look at the
questions related to the dialogue.
1.
What is the girl shopping for?
a) A gift for her mother.
b) A gift for her grandfather.
c) A gift for her father.
d) A gift for her friend.
2.
How much is the black wallet?
a) $49.95.
b) $40.95.
c) $44.95.
d) $45.95.
3. Why doesn't the girl like the brown wallet?
a) There isn't a place to put pictures.
b) It's too big and heavy.
c) She doesn't like the color.
d) It’s too small for her father.
4. About how much can the girl spend?
a) $5.00.
b) $13.00.
c) $15.00.
d) $10.00
5. What does the girl decide to buy?
a) A black wallet.
b) A brown belt.
c) A tie.
d) A hat.
7