Module 9. LISTENING. Tips & Practice

🎧 Part 1: Multiple Choice (Extracts 1-6)

The Challenge: Identifying speaker attitude and the "gist" in a short timeframe.

• The Contrast Trap: Journalists often present a common opinion first (the distractor) and then pivot to their actual findings using words like "Yet," "Crucially," or "What we found instead..."

• Vocabulary Focus: Listen for words that denote "change" or "shift" (e.g., vanished, skyrocketed, embraced).

• Tip: Read the three options and cross out the ones that are "too extreme" (words like never, always, impossible) as these are rarely the correct answer in C1.

  
  

📝 Part 2: Sentence Completion (Questions 7-14)

The Challenge: High precision and technical terminology.

• Grammar Alignment: Before listening, check the words surrounding the gap. If the gap is followed by a plural noun, the answer is likely an adjective or a singular possessive noun.

• Concept Knowledge: In the Washington Post video on "Right to Repair," the phrase "Planned Obsolescence"is a cornerstone of the topic. Ensure students know how to spell "obsolescence" correctly.

• Tip: If the answer is a technical term like "e-waste" or "circular economy," write exactly what the reporter says. Do not try to paraphrase here.

  
  

🎙️ Part 3: Long Interview (Questions 15-20)

The Challenge: Following a complex economic and social argument for several minutes.

• Follow the Signposts: Questions follow the order of the audio. In the NYT video on curation, when the speaker shifts from "history" to "digital algorithms," you should be moving from Question 17 to 18.

• Identify the "But": Correct answers in Part 3 are almost always preceded by a concession. (e.g., "While it used to be a niche hobby, it is now actually a billion-dollar industry.")

• Tip: Look for the "Golden Thread"—the central theme of the video. In this case, it is the tension between mass production and individual curation.

  
  

🧩 Part 4: Multiple Matching (Questions 21-30)

The Challenge: Matching abstract speaker motivations with specific industrial details.

• Theme Decoding: In the WSJ "Workwear" report, students must match the spoken details to these abstract categories:

  • Material Resilience (E): Listen for technical parts of the clothing (rivets, heavy-duty stitching, 12oz duck canvas).

  • Socio-economic Heritage (A): Listen for references to the past (mining, construction, the 1880s, working-class roots).

  • Counter-culture Adoption (D): Listen for how it moved to hip-hop, skaters, or streetwear.

• Tip: In the first listening, try to capture the "vibe" or main concern of each speaker. In the second listening, look for the specific vocabulary that confirms that theme.