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Listening Test <strong>Hints</strong><br />
LISTEN FOR THE SPEAKER CHANGING HIS/HER MIND<br />
Often the speaker changes his or her mind and makes a correction be<strong>for</strong>e giving the answer that you<br />
need. Alternatively, the speaker may correct someone else.<br />
• Look at the part of the tapescript which answers Question 7 in Listening Test One:<br />
Clerk:<br />
George ... er... L-A-V-I-L-L-I-E-R-S. Good. Now, nationality: French. No,<br />
wait a minute. It's a Swiss passport.<br />
The clerk wants to find out George's nationality. He guesses that George is French, but thinks<br />
twice when he notices George's passport is Swiss. It would be a mistake to write down the first<br />
nationality mentioned, in your hurry to get the right answer.<br />
Listen <strong>for</strong> the possibility of the speaker making corrections to what is said<br />
USE SHORTHAND FOR SPEEDY WRITING<br />
In the Listening Test, you are often required to listen <strong>for</strong> the next answer while writing down the<br />
answer to the previous question. It is one of the measures of effective listening - the examiners want<br />
to find out if you can comprehend what is said while attempting another task at the same time. This<br />
further tests your listening ability in English.<br />
To write down the answers more quickly, write only the first two or three letters of the answer that<br />
you hear. This shorthand approach is effective in a gapfill listening task because some of the answers<br />
may come in quick succession, especially at the beginning of the gapfill passage. (See also Listening<br />
<strong>Hints</strong> 24 and 25.) You can complete the words during the short period of time given to you after the<br />
passage has finished. You are very likely to remember what the letters mean because they are the<br />
first letters of words you have recently heard in context.<br />
• Look at Questions 14 - 21 in Listening Test One:<br />
This method can enable you to return quickly to giving your whole attention to listening <strong>for</strong> the next<br />
answer. However, it does require some practice. Note that you would not try to use this method to<br />
remember numbers, but with word answers you can almost always remember the words again. Then,<br />
all you need to do is give the correct grammatical <strong>for</strong>m of the answers. (See also <strong>IELTS</strong> Test - Basic<br />
Hint 12.)<br />
PRACTICE FOR LISTENING GAPFILLS<br />
Gapfill tasks are usually considered by candidates to be the most difficult of the <strong>IELTS</strong> listening<br />
tasks. Your grammatical knowledge is as important as your listening ability, <strong>for</strong> answers should be<br />
grammatically correct within the given sentences.<br />
The most common type of <strong>IELTS</strong> listening gapfill task requires you to listen to a passage of spoken<br />
English containing in<strong>for</strong>mation concerning a particular topic or event. In the tests in this book<br />
both gapfill listening tasks are news items. It is good practice to listen to the news either on the TV<br />
or radio, and try to complete a chart such as the one on the next page:<br />
23