DSE Paper 3 Part A –Skills and Reminders

Preparation

1. Read the tasks (Task 1-Task 4)

2. Skim through the tasks and familiarize yourself with the format and
questions in the tasks
3. Circle/ underline key words in the tasks
 Wh-words/ How, or the subjects in the sentences (as they give you
hints about what to look for)
 People involved (so that you know which voice to have to pay attention
to)
4. Predict the part of speech and verb forms for the answers
 Noun/phrase
 Adjective/ adjectival phrase
 Adverb/ adverbial phrase
 Verb/ verb phrase
 Verbs in different tenses
 Verbs in different forms (-ing/ past participle)
 SVO-structured

Skills for completing the listening tasks

1. Use short forms when jotting the notes/ long answers

e.g. natural resource nat res

solar power solar p

2. Develop a set of symbols

 (pros/ advantages);

 (cons/ disadvantages);

× (no)

≈(similar to)

3. Catch noun/ noun phrases when the recording suddenly goes fast or when
you feel like you cannot catch up. Then, try to collocate the noun with a
relevant verb if you cannot catch the original wording.

1
 4. Catch the key ideas when the recording gets clumsy. Jot down key words (as
many as you can!) and compile them into a sensible answer later on.
5. Catch the synonyms of the words to help you catch up. In the recording,
words are sometimes rephrased. Don’t lose track of the recording just
because the words are rephrased.
6. When the words are too difficult, don’t struggle with the spelling or meaning
when the recording is still going on. Jot down what you hear roughly and then
guess the words during the tidying-up time. Use synonyms if you cannot spell
the exact wordings from the recording.
7. Remember it is always better to lose one answer than losing more than one
just because you struggle with the single one.
8. Don’t panic when you hear difficult words that you can’t spell/ when you need
to rephrase what you hear from the recording
 When there is an important point, the speakers sometimes repeat the
idea or there is further explanation following
 You may use a simpler word as an alternative if you really don’t know
the original word

Photos/ Pictures/ maps/ diagrams

Pictures/ Photo captions: conveying messages in the photos (Subject-Noun phrase+

Verb + Object- Noun phrase)

Maps/ diagrams: pay attention to (1) noun phrases and (2) hints and signs for
directions and locations

Blank filling

1. Predict the part of speech for the answers for tasks that require you to
write longer answers
2. Put little notes near the blanks to remind yourself of avoiding grammatical
mistakes
 N  noun/ noun phrase
 V verb/ verb phrases
 Adj Adjective/ adjectival phrase
 Adv Adverb/ adverbial phrase
 Ed/en/ing Verbs in different tenses
 s/es plural noun

2
 3. Mind grammar when filling in a sentence (plural/ singular, tenses) and change
the part of speech when necessary.
e.g. from ‘maintenance’ (in the recording) to ‘maintain’ (in the gap)

Speakers

1. Distinguish speakers’ voices: they give you hints to help you get the correct
answers
2. Identify speakers’ views: like/ dislike/ agree/ disagree/ criticize….

Coming to the end of the listening (Task 4- the most challenging task)

1. Be ready to organize and conceptualise the ideas but not just write down
what you hear from the recording
2. Try to guess the meanings with common sense if you cannot catch the exact
words in the recording
3. Don’t waste time writing full and long sentences for the answers, but use
short phrases and words which can tell the meanings fully.

Tidying-up time

1. Make sure all short forms are changed to full spellings

2. Make sure the answers correspond with the instruction requirements
perfectly
3. Fill in all blanks even when the answers are unsure
4. Make use of short term memory and common sense
5. Make sure handwriting is intelligible enough