🎧 Listening
Two or three academic lectures (some with student discussion) and one or two campus conversations. You hear each recording once, may take notes throughout, and see the questions only afterwards.
❓ What you will be asked
- Gist–content — what is the lecture mainly about
- Gist–purpose — why does the student come to the office
- Detail — a specific fact stated
- Function — why does the speaker say a particular phrase (you hear it replayed)
- Attitude — how does the speaker feel about something
- Organisation — how is the lecture structured
- Connecting content — matching, ordering, or a table to complete
- Inference — what is implied but not said
♟️ How to work
- Take notes in a column layout: main idea at the top, then each subtopic with its examples indented. Do not transcribe.
- Listen for the signposts: 'the key point is', 'now, in contrast', 'this is where it gets interesting', 'so to summarise'. These mark answers.
- Note anything the professor repeats, spells out, or writes on the board.
- A change of tone almost always marks importance — or a joke that will become a function question.
- You cannot go back. Answer, commit, and let it go.
⚠️ What loses marks
- Writing too much and hearing too little.
- Panicking at an unknown technical word — it will be explained, and you do not need it.
- Missing the conversation's real purpose because you focused on details.
- Not practising with headphones at the volume the test uses.
✍️ Now practise it
Original material written for this site, with every answer explained.
