Listening

Timing

10 min. - 7 min.: answer 1 - 5 of the conversation (3 min)
7 min. - 3:30 min.: answer 6 - 11 of the lecture (3 min 30 sec)
3:30 min. - 0 min.: answer 12 - 17 of the discussion lecture (3 min
30 sec)


You will go through the listening section in sets of 3. Each set contains
the following:

1 conversation: 3-5 minutes between a man and a woman
1 lecture: 4-6 minutes of a professor delivering a speech by him- or
herself
1 discussion lecture: 4-6 minutes of a professor interacting with
students

You will have the following number of questions for each listening:

1 conversation: 5 questions
1 lecture: 6 questions
1 discussion lecture: 6 questions

Thats a total of 17. You will have 10 minutes to complete these 10
questions.

IMP
Read every question and read every single word of each answer
choice carefully before choosing!

TYPES OF QUE:

Main Idea
Detail
Inference
Attitude
Purpose
Listen again

MAIN IDEA QUE

Usually the first question that youll find after the listening and it
has the word mainly in it.

What does the lecture mainly discuss?
What is the main topic of the lecture?



Strategy:

1) Search your notes from the beginning. Identify the first
topic brought up and determine if it was focused on
throughout the notes that you have.
2a) If that topic is the major focus throughout your notes,
then you have the focus of the listening and the main idea.
2b) If that topic is not the major focus throughout your
notes, then you have to continue to scan your notes for a
topic that is.
3) Examine your answer choices and choose an answer that
fits what you have determined to be the main idea.



o Type 1: Direct from the beginning.
(the beginning topic is developed, discussed, or
responded to throughout the listening).

o Type 2: Change from the beginning
(the first topic is not the main idea, it leads to a
second topic, which is the main idea)

o Type 3: Confusing
(this is where there is a development of several
different ideas and you must determine what the
underlying theme or focus is)



Type 1

This is the easiest. The listening will start by introducing the
topic in the first few sentences and then discuss it for the
rest of the lecture. The main idea here is easy: its the topic
described in the beginning of the lecture.

Introduction
Body
Body
Body


Type 2

This is a tricky one. This listening will begin by discussing a
topic and then transition into a new topic. So, if you just
focus on the beginning and think that it represents the topic,
youll be thrown off, feel confused, and pick the wrong main
idea answer. Here's our visual:

Introduction
Body
Body
Body

Type 3

This main idea question comes from an uncommon
listening; you're not going to find one as tough as this very
often. In this kind of listening, there is no definite
description in the beginning. So, you must look at your
overall notes and notice the key concept that is repeated
throughout. These types are tough because wrong answers
can be very appealing (which means attractive), but luckily
for us, these are rare on the TOEFL and you're learning
about them here.

Introduction
Body
Body
Body

The easiest way to identify this is by asking yourself, "what
word or idea is repeated most throughout the beginning,
middle, and end of the lecture?".


WRONG ANS

o too specific
o too general
o or nonsense



DETAILED QUE:

They ask you to identify facts in the reading and often begin with
WH- questions.

EX
What is the major source of meteoric water?
What are the two reasons the woman doesnt feel safe?


Strategy:

1) Read the question to understand what information you
are being asked to find.
2) Identify the key words in the question to search for in
your notes.
3) Start searching your notes for the key words or synonyms
of them.
4) When you find the key words, remind yourself of the
question and scan your notes thinking carefully of what you
heard and determine an idea of the answer in your mind.
This is tough but crucial: you need to phrase a rough answer
in your head before you look at the answer choices.
5) Once you have thought up what you think is a good, rough
answer, check the answer choices and choose the one that
matches your anticipated answer best.


INFERENCE (SOMETIMES LISTEN AGAIN) QUE:

strong clue words:
infer,
imply, or
suggest.

Here are two examples.

o What does the officer imply when he says this:
o What does the professor imply about the
importance of surface tension in water?

STRATEGY

1) Read the question to understand what information you
are being asked to find.
2) Identify the key words in the question to search for in
your notes.
3) Start searching your notes in search of the key words or
synonyms of them.
4) When you find the key word, remind yourself of the
question and read carefully to find the answer for yourself.
Again, make sure that you phrase a possible answer or two
in your head before jumping to the next step and looking
through the answer choices.

If you jump to the answer choices before you've analyzed your
notes and phrased a rough answer by yourself, you're
chances of being tricked by a wrong answer skyrocket up.

5) Once you have identified a rough answer on your own,
check the answer choices and choose the one that matches
your anticipated answer best.
6)If you dont find the answer that you were looking for,
keep asking yourself: what must be true from this
information that my notes are referring to around the key
words from the question.


ATTITUDE & OPINION QUE:

EX:

o What is the professors attitude toward those
who take the existence of groundwater for
granted?

o What is the professors opinion about using
pterosaur ancestors to learn more about
pterosaurs themselves?


Answers will usually fall into one of three categories:
criticism
neutrality
support.


Strategy:


1) Read the question to understand what information you are being
asked to find.
2) Identify the key words in the question to search for in your
notes.
3) Start searching your notes for the key words or synonyms of
them.
4) When you find the key words, remind yourself of the question
and scan your notes for adjectives and other words that indicate
mood or feeling. Are there any words present that point to:
criticism, neutrality, or support?
5) Once you have thought up what you think is a good, rough
answer, check the answer choices and choose the one that matches
your anticipated answer best.



PURPOSE ( SOMETIMES LISTEN AGAIN) QUE


EX

why does the professor mention
why does the professor say



Strategy:

1) Read the question to understand what youre being
asked.
2) Identify the key words.
3) Search for and find those key words or synonyms of them
in your notes.
4) Remember the information you heard around these key
words and understand that the purpose of our key word is to
explain or expand on the information that came before.
5)Look for any words in your notes that will help you
understand the connection between your key words and the
words that came before in your notes: adverbs, questions,
topic shifts, etc.
6) Think of an answer on your own to the best of your
ability.
7) Examine all of your answer choices and choose an answer
choice that reflects your rough idea of the answer.


THE ANS USUALLY FALL IN ONE OF THE 3 CATEGORIES
o Support (it's true, consequently, of course)
o Oppose (in contrast, however, on the other hand)
o Further explain (what does this mean, to clarify, for
example)