LISTENING

FCE
MATURA 01/09
Part 3
1. OVERVIEW

In part 3 of the listening test you hear 5 short clips, each from a different speaker, on the same
topic.

There are 8 options and you have to match the options to the speakers.

Obviously that leaves 3 options that don't match any of the speakers.

The introduction is always the same and you should pay attention to two things:
2. WHAT SKILLS DOES PART 3 TEST?

This part of the exam is about how you understand attitudes and opinions,
plus your ability to work out the overall meaning of what someone is saying.

For example, you might hear 5 people talking about their last holiday, and you
have to decide if their holiday was stressful or fun, expensive or cheap.

That means understanding that a person was happy with his holiday even
though he never used the exact word 'happy'.
Part 4
1. Overview
You hear an interview or conversation (about 3 minutes long) and have to answer 7 multiple
choice questions. By this time, you might be quite tired from concentrating so this will be a
challenge even if you’re normally quite good at this kind of task.

Like in the rest of the listening test, you have to ignore distractors, listen for linking words, and
understand the meaning of what the people are saying.
READ THE QUESTION - CAREFULLY!
Make sure you read the questions carefully because some of the answers might be true without being the answer. A good
example is when the question asks you to find the main reason for something. Example:

What’s the main reason the writer moved to Spain?

a) the weather
b) his girlfriend
c) the food

‘What everyone knows about Spain is that the climate is perfect for writers, and I’m a bit of an amateur chef so
it’s great to be surrounded by good restaurants and fresh ingredients. But despite that, I would have stayed in
England had it not been for my partner. She wanted to be close to her family, whereas it’s quite easy for me to
work from anywhere in the world.’

As you can see, the speaker mentions all three choices - the food, his girlfriend, the food. But only one is the MAIN reason
for his move.
GUESS BEFORE YOU LISTEN

Another good tip is to think what the answer will be before you hear the recording. But while that can be
VERY helpful, some students go too far with it. A lot of my students work in banks, so imagine you’re a
banker and this question comes up:

What is the speaker’s opinion of bankers?

a) They are true heroes; princes among men

b) They are thieves and criminals
c) They are bad people in good suits

Sometimes my students will decide ‘the answer must be A, of course!’ and as a result they don’t listen to
the CD. The correct method is to think, ‘My answer is A, but I wonder what the speaker says?’ That way,
you are alert and attentive.
Practice
Handout

Audio Part 3 Intro, Part 3

Audio Part 4 Intro, Part 4