LISTENING SKILL

Betti Widianingsih
Listening Comprehension

• Assessment Criteria: ability to understand spoken English

• Administered by audio recording

• Number of Questions: 50

• Administration Time: 35 minutes

Part Types of Questions
A Short conversations between two people
B Longer Conversations
C Several Talks
Part A
Short Conversations between Two People
• Number of questions (including conversations): 30
• Length: 13-14 minutes
• Topics:
 English Used in Colleges or Universities
 Leisure Activities
 Spelling
 Business
 Sports
 Arts
 Weather
 Idioms
 News Report
 Places, etc.
Practice Question

(A) He thought the dress was so chick

(B) He was surprised the dress was not expensive
(C) He would like to know what color dress it was
(D) The dress was not cheap
Recording Script

(woman) I got this dress for only $5.

(man) $5? How did you get it so cheap?
(narrator) What does the man mean?
Key Strategies
Part A

• Look at the answer choices grasp them quickly and make a picture in your mind while anticipating sort of ques-
tions that will probably be asked.
• Once you finish listening to the question, answer it quickly.
• You have about 10 seconds to answer. If there is stil remaining time, do the same as mentioned above.
Part B
Longer Conversations

• Number of questions: 8
• Number of conversations: 2
• Length: 5-6 minutes
• Topics:
 English Used in Colleges or Universities
 Someone’s Experience
 Interesting Facts
 Business
 Trip
 Hobbies, etc.
Practice Questions and Conversation
(A) The haircut is unusually short
(B) This is Bob’s first haircut
(C) Bob doesn’t know who gave him the haircut
(D) After the haircut, Bob’s hair stil touches the floor

(A) It is just he wanted

(B) He enjoys having the latest style
(C) He dislikes it immensely
(D) He thinks it will be cool in the summer

(E) A broken mirror

(F) The hairstylist
(G) The scissors used to cut his hair
(H) Piles of his hair

(I) “You should become a hairstylist.”

(J) “Please put it back on.”
(K) “It’ll grow back.”
(L) “It won’t grow fast enough.”
Practice Questions

(A) The haircut is unusually short

(B) This is Bob’s first haircut
(C) Bob doesn’t know who gave him the haircut
(D) After the haircut, Bob’s hair stil touches the floor

(A) It is just he wanted

(B) He enjoys having the latest style
(C) He dislikes it immensely
(D) He thinks it will be cool in the summer
Practice Questions

(A) A broken mirror

(B) The hairstylist
(C) The scissors used to cut his hair
(D) Piles of his hair

(E) “You should become a hairstylist.”

(F) “Please put it back on.”
(G) “It’ll grow back.”
(H) “It won’t grow fast enough.”
Recording Script
(narrator) Listen as a man and woman discuss a haircut.
(woman) Hi, Bob. Your hair looks nice. It’s a bit shorter than usual, isn’t it?
(man) A bit shorter? I don’t think so. It’s a lot shorter. When I look in the mirror, I don’t even know who is looking
back at me.
(woman) So you got your hair cut, but you didn’t get the haircut that you wanted?
(man) This is not even close to the haircut that I wanted. I asked to have hair trimmed just a little bit, and the
hairstylist really went to town. When I looked down at the floor, there were piles of hair, my hair, on the floor. I
couldn’t believe it!
(woman) Well, what did you say to the hairstylist?
(man) What could I say? The hair was already cut off. I couldn’t exactly say, “Please put it back on,” although
that’s exactly what I did want to say.
(woman) Well, at least your hair’ll grow back soon.
(man) That’s what everyone is saying to me, “It’ll grow back., it’ll grow back. But it won’t grow fast enough to
make me happy.
(woman) Maybe after you get used to it, you’ll like it a bit more.
Key Strategies
Part B
• Look across at the answer choices and identify group of words in the similar context
• Make a picture in your mind of the situations and predict the meaning and questions that will be
asked
• Do not miss information given by the narrator
• Identify WHO (speakers), WHEN/WHERE (setting), and WHAT (topic) throughout the
conversation
Part C
Several Talks

• Number of questions: 12
• Number of talks: 3
• Length: 12-15 minutes
• Topics:
 English Used in Colleges or Universities
 History
 Biography
 Today’s Invention
 Leisure
 Arts
 Announcement, etc.
Practice Questions and Talk
(A) In a car
(B) On a hike
(C) On a tram
(D) In a lecture hall

(A) It means they have big tears

(B) It means they like swim
(C) It means they look like crocodiles
(D) It means they are pretending to be sad

(E) They are sad

(F) They are warming themselves
(G) They are getting rid of salt
(H) They regret their actions

(I) Taking photographs

(J) Getting closer to the crocodiles
(K) Exploring the water’s edge
(L) Getting off the train
Practice Questions

(A) In a car
(B) On a hike
(C) On a tram
(D) In a lecture hall

(A) It means they have big tears

(B) It means they like swim
(C) It means they look like crocodiles
(D) It means they are pretending to be sad
Practice Questions

(A) They are sad

(B) They are warming themselves
(C) They are getting rid of salt
(D) They regret their actions

(E) Taking photographs

(F) Getting closer to the crocodiles
(G) Exploring the water’s edge
(H) Getting off the train
Recording Script
(narrator) Listen to a talk by a tour guide in the Everglades National Park.
(man) Today we’re going to be taking a tram tour through part of the Everglades National Park.
Quite probably we’ll be seeing a number of crocodiles sunning themselves by the side of the water
or poking their heads up through the water. Needless to say, we will not be getting off the tram at
any time until we leave the area because of the danger posed by the crocodiles.
By the way, you’ve probably heard of the expression “crying crocodile tears.” It is common to say
that someone is crying crocodile tears when he or she is pretending to be sad or full of regret.
Crocodiles always appear to have tears in their eyes, but they are not crying because of sadness,
or even pretended sadness. Instead, a crocodile uses its tear ducts to get rid of extra salt from its
body. A crocodile does not sweat the same way that humans do and must get rid of extra salt
through tears. So if you see a crying crocodile, do not think that it’s feeling sad; it is basically
sweating through its eyes.
Look! Over there on the right. There are two large crocodiles on the water’s edge, right next to the
fallen trees. You can get out your cameras and take pictures from here on the tram, but no, you
cannot get off the tram to get any closer.
Key Strategies
Part C
• Look across at the answer choices and identify group of words in the similar context
• Make a picture in your mind of the situations and predict the meaning and questions that will be asked
• Do not miss information given by the narrator
• Identify WHO (speakers), WHEN/WHERE (setting), and WHAT (topic) throughout the talk
Listening Comprehension

Range of Resources