TRICKS TO FACE LISTENING COMPREHENSION

TRICKS TO FACE LISTENING COMPREHENSION

                First section in TOEFL test is Listening Comprehension. This is used to know how is your ability in understand a conversation in English. There are 50 questions which are divided in 3 parts. The time durations provided to answer all parts is only 35 minutes.

                For most people, Listening Comprehension is the challenging and difficult part in TOEFL test. Well don’t worry, in this test we don’t only have ability in English but also we should have tricks to answers it. Here I want to tell some tricks to answers Listening Comprehension.

                There are 3 parts in Listening Comprehension, so I will tell from the first part.

1.       PART A : SHORT CONVERSATION

The first part is called Short Conversation. This part consists of short conversations between 2 people. These conversations are usually about daily life in America. This is the tricks to face it:

• §  You should focus to the second speaker

Almost questions in this part are clarification question about what the second speaker says.

• §  Don’t be panic if you don’t understand word by word in conversations completely. You only need to get the idea in conversations

Even though you don’t understand the conversations completely, but you still have chance to answer the question correctly, because usually the questions are about the main idea of that conversations. Once again, you only need to be more focus to second speaker. Next, choose the answer which is restatement from the second speaker.

Example:

Woman: I hope you were able to be really productive today.

Man      : It was so hot that I couldn’t get any work done.

Narrator: WHAT DOES THE MAN MEAN?

For this question, this is the choices answer:

a.       He didn’t accomplish much because of the weather

b.      It couldn’t be too hot to work

c.       He completed a lot of work in spite of the weather

d.      Unless it’s very hot, he doesn’t get much work done

You only need to remember ‘hot’ and ‘couldn’t get any work done’. Once again, the question is about restatement, so you only to understand that the second speaker couldn’t work well because the weather was too hot. In the other words he didn’t accomplish much because of the weather. So the answer is A.

• §  If you don’t understand at all what second speaker says, choose the answer which is the most distinct than what you hear in conversations.

This is like standard pattern in TOEFL test, which the answer is really different than the second speaker says. So, you should avoid to choose the answer same like what you hear from the second speaker. This pattern is only to deceive participants.

Example:

Woman: is Nicky going to work on the science project with us?

Man      : she prefers not to work on group projects.

Narrator: WHAT DOES THE MAN SAY ABOUT NICKY?

For this question, this is the choices answer:

a.       She’d rather work alone

b.      Group work is her preference

c.       She’s working on a project about group preferences

d.      She projected that the group wouldn’t work

The most distinct in those choices which is said by second speaker is A. If you choose A without you understand what the speaker means and you only see the most distinct answer from what the second speaker says, it means your choice is right because the answer is A.

• §  Understand the form of functional expression (agreement, uncertainty, suggestion, surprise), idiomatic expression, and the situation when conversation goes on.

·         Functional Expression

The questions are more about statement which is used to express something, such as agreement, uncertainty, suggestion and surprise.

Example:

For Agreement:

Woman: I never want to take another test like that again.

Man: you can say that again.

Narrator: WHAT DOES THE MAN MEAN?

For this question, this is the choices answer:

a.       The woman is always talking about the test

b.      It’s all right if the woman keeps talking

c.       He would like the woman to repeat what she said

d.      He agrees that the exam was terrible

‘you can say that again’ means that the second speaker agrees that the was terrible. So, the answer is D.

·         Idiomatic Expression

Idiomatic expression is a set of words or phrases which make one meaning but we can’t interpret one by one of those words. For example ‘fly into a rage’ totally doesn’t have meaning ‘terbang’ like what ‘fly’ means, but this phrase means ‘being so angry’.

Example:

Woman: I asked Roger if he was going to help us, but he really didn’t answer my question.

Man: oh, he’s always beating around the bush.

Narrator: WHAT DOES THE MAN SAY ABOUT ROGER?

For this question, this is the choices answer:

a.       He never gives them any help

b.      He enjoys working in the garden

c.       He never gives direct answers

d.      He always beats them when they play

‘beating around the bush’ is used to express that Roger always gave answer convoluted or never gave direct answers. So, the answer is D.

·         Situation

In this part often to ask the situation or condition is talked between the two speakers. Such as place, the possibility what will happen next, or topic which is the two speakers are talking about.

Example:

Woman: did you get the tickets?

Man: yes, I did. Let’s go on in because the film’s about to start.

Narrator: WHERE DOES THIS CONVERSATION PROBABLY TAKE PLACE?

For this question, this is the choices answer:

a.       At a sporting event

b.      In front of the police station

c.       In front of a movie theater

d.      At a film developer’s

If you scrutinize what they’re talking about, you will know the correct answer. So, the answer is C.

2.       PART B : LONGER CONVERSATION

This part tests 2 longs dialogues between 2 speakers. Every each dialogue followed by 4 questions. Conversation in this part usually takes the main idea about school’s life, such as how the teacher conveys the studies, conversation between 2 students talk about their homework, or the situation when they are presenting their tasks. Also talk about environment issues, health and etc.

To answer this part, this is some tricks to help you:

• §  When the narrator reads ‘direction of part B’, you should read the choices answer at glance, and then record in your mind or expect what is the topic that they are going to talk about.
• §  When listen to the conversations, you should know what the topic which is going on.
• §  Be careful of each question.
• §  Look at the conditions and situations that occurred during the conversation, arise of the place and time of the conversations, what and who is concerned.

3.       PART C : TALKS

This part consists of long monolog. Every monolog is followed by 4 questions. Usually it talks about academic’s life, such as speech in school or presentation, and also hot topic.

You can use these tricks to answer this part.

• §  If you have time, look at the choices answer and find the keyword.
• §  Be careful of the first sentence, because the main idea is the next sentence.
• §  Focus on what, who, when, where, why and how.
• §  Make a conclusion of the situation during the conversation.

Well, those are some tricks to answer Listening Comprehension. Hope it can help you to face it. Thank you J

Reference:

Saiffudin, Irham Ali dkk (2007). Buku Pintar TOEFL. Jogjakarta: ©DIVA Press.