Listening

Questions 1-4
This is a fairly easy exercise. It’s the easiest part of the paper, so I’m just
going to be brief.

In the first exercise, you will hear four short recordings, to which there will be
four two-part questions each. These recordings are in no way related to each
other. You need only write a very short answer, in no more than three words.
Each recording will be played twice, so if you don’t catch the answer the first
time, there’s the second time.

Before each recording starts, quickly read the question. Underline the
keyword you should look for, including the what/where/when/which/how, so
you’ll know what exactly you should answer. Concentrate on the
recording (closing your eyes while listening will help) as the questions are very
specific.

Question 5
This is a note-taking exercise. A long recording will be played and you will be
required to fill in the gaps given on the note by listening to the contents.

First, read the note. Get an idea of what the note is about and the kinds of
information and terms you will expect to hear.
On the first recording, listen very carefully. Don’t write anything just yet. Grab
all the information. Once the recording is over, fill in the answers you now
know. If you’re not very sure of the answer write it in pencil and confirm it in
the second recording.
On the second recording, look out for the information you didn’t remember the
first time. Since the answers will be found in chronological order, you will get a
sense of when they will come in the recording. Once again, listen very
carefully and latch onto the answers.
Answers that involve numbers can be tricky, so be careful on those.
Question 6
This is easily the most confusing exercise of the entire paper. You will hear a
handful of speakers talk about a particular topic and you have match the
speaker with their opinion, using alphabets.

First, read the options- the opinions. Understand what each opinion is
and underline the keywords (the keywords in each opinion should be different
so that you can distinguish them from each other). Example:

While listening to the first recording, you need to concentrate very well .Jot
down the number of the speaker right next to the opinion as soon as they finish
speaking. It is easier and quicker to write down the speaker number (as it
goes in order in the recording) next to the opinion rather than find out the right
alphabet and write it next to the speaker.
On the second recording, confirm your answers and clear confusion, again by
numbering the opinion. Once the recording is over, write down the matching
alphabet next to each speaker.
Question 7
This question involves the recording of an interview based on which you need
to answer multiple-choice answers. This is easy because you don’t need to
write anything, just a tick against the answer, leaving you time to listen to the
recording properly. But the catch is that every option given in the question will
be mentioned in the recording, confusing you. You need to very carefully listen
in order to catch the right answer.
Thus, it is important that you read the questions before the recording is played
and underline the keyword.
There’s really not much to say here, other than concentrate and understand
what the interviewee is saying. They might mention all the options in the
question so you need to listen to everything to get what the exact answer is. A
small, seemingly insignificant ‘but’, ‘however’ etc mentioned can be the key to
finding the right answers.

Question 8
This is again, a note-taking exercise, but a much harder one, split into two
parts- both related. The answers will NOT appear in the recording in
chronological order.

Read the questions before the recording plays.

The best way to approach this question is to listen to the meaning of what is
being said rather than just listen! Actually absorb the information and be
genuinely interested in the topic. (This can be used in Question 5 too!) This
way you will want to know the details and there is lesser chance of you
forgetting them. If there are numbers that you need to fill in, quickly jot them
down in the gaps.
Listen very carefully during the first recording and write down the answers you
remember afterwards. But there’s going to be a lot of information that will
confuse you.

Think about the type of word that is required. Is it a noun, verb, adjective or a
number? If a sentence says “In America, the sport was first introduced by people
from ……………..”, then you should expect a noun- place- to fill the gap – e.g.
Europeans, Asians etc.
When the second recording plays clear up the rest. There may still be
answers that you don’t know but you have no option but to guess them. Make
a guess of the answer from what you heard. You need only write one or two
words for each.
 GENERAL TIPS
 Read the questions, underline the keywords. I cannot stress this enough!
 All you need are brief answers, not more than three.
 Part of listening, is to predict the answers. You can almost always guess the
kind of word that is going to be said next. Use this to guess your answers if
you haven’t yet gotten the answer even after the two recording plays. I,
myself, have had to predict and guess certain answers because there would
be that ONE word I couldn’t quite catch. But I ended up being right many
times!
 Notice any question that needs two details to get one mark or two marks,
and make sure you separate the answers clearly.
 CONCENTRATE. Look up ways to increase your concentration and
memory power. One suggestion from me would be to picture what the
speaker is saying. Make a mental model or map of all the information. We all
have some visuals of certain things in our mind, whether physical or
abstract. Put them into use.
 Be attentive, but relaxed. If you panic, you’re just gonna stress and miss
important information.