Listening Part B

Part B of the Listening

Listening Compr
Comprehensi
ehension
on secti
section
on   of the TOEFL
TOEFL testtest consi
consist
stss of two lon
long
g
conversations,  each followed by a number of questions. You will hear the conersations and
the !uestions on a recording" they are not written in your test boo#. You must choose the best
answer to each !uestion from the four choices that are written in your test boo#.

The conersations are often about some aspect of school $how difficult a class is% how to write a
research
research paper%
paper% how to regis
register
ter for a course&
course& or abo
about
ut general
general livin g $renting an apartment%
living
 playing sports% going to the ban#&.
ba n#&. The conersations can also be about t opics currently in the
news in the United States $desalination of the water supply% recycling of used products% damage
from a storm or some other type of natural phenomenon&.
p henomenon&.

 Example

On the recording% you hear'

$narra
$narrato
tor&
r& (ues
(uesti
tions
ons ) thro
throug
ugh
h *. Li
List
sten
en to a co
cone
ners
rsat
atio
ion
n be
betw
twee
een
n tw
two
o pe
peopl
oplee who
who ar
aree
decorating an apartment.

$woman& ' +ey% ,alt. ,alt. -o you thin# you could help me hang these pictures on the wall There
are only
two of them.
$man& ' /ure% 0onica. ,here do you want them to go
$woman& ' 12d li#e the picture of the mountains oer the fireplace% and 12d li#e the picture of my
family oer
the sofa ,hat do you thin#
$man& ' 1 thin# they2ll loo# fine there. +ow about if you hold the pictures while 1 hammer the
nails into the
wall
$woman& ' O#ay. Let2s start with the picture of my family.
family.

(uestions'

). On the recording% you hear'

  $narrator& ,hat are the man and woman discussing

  1n your test boo#% you read'

  $3& Ta
Ta#ing
#ing some pictures.
  $B& +anging some plants.
  $C& Ta#ing
Ta#ing a trip to the mountains.
  $-& Putting some pictures on the wall

4. On the recording% you hear'

 

  $narrator& +ow many pictures are there

  1n your test boo#% you read'

  $3& One.
  $B& Two.
  $C& Three.
  $-& Four.
 
5. On the recording% you sear'

  $narrator& ,here is
is tthe
he picture
picture of the woman2s
woman2s family going

  1n your test boo#% you read'

  $3& 1n the fireplace.

  $B& 3boe the sofa
  $C& +ome with ,alt.
,alt.
  $-& To the top of the mountain.

*. On the recording% you hear'

  $narrator& ,hat is ,alt

,alt probably going to do ne6t

  1n your test boo#% you read'

  $3& /it on the sofa.

  $B& Photograph 0onica2s family.
  $C& +ammer the nails into the wall
  $-& Climb the walls.

 Analysis:
 Analysis:

• The first !uestion as#s what the man and woman are discussing. /ince the woman as#s
the man to help hang these pictures on the wall% the best answer to this !uestion is answer 
$-&% putting some pictures on the wall.

• The second !uestion as#s how many pictures

pictures there are% and the woman clearly
clearly says that
there are two% so the best answer is answer $B&.

• The third !uestion as#s where the family picture is going. The woman says that she
would li#e the family picture oer the sofa% so the best answer to this !uestion is answer 
$B&% aboe the sofa.

• The last !uestion as#s what ,alt is probably going to do. ,alt has suggested that he
should hammer the nails into the wall% so the best answer is answer $C&.
 

STRT!"#!S $%R T&! L#ST!'#'" PRT B (U!ST#%'S

). #f you have the time, preview the answers to the Listening Part B questions .

  ,hile you are loo#ing at the answers% you should try to anticipate the !uestions for each of the
groups of answers.

4. Listen carefully to the first line of the conversation .

  The first
first line of the conersat
conersation
ion often
often contains
contains the main idea%
idea% sub7ect%
sub7ect% or topic of the
conersation% and you will often be as#ed to answer such !uestions.

5. s you listen to the conversation, follow along with the answers in your test boo), and try
to determine the correct answers.

  -etail !uestions are generally answered in order in the conersation% and the
the answers often
often
sound the same as what is said on the recording.

*. *ou should guess even if you are not sure . 8eer leae any answers blan#.

9. Use any remaining time to loo) ahead at the answers to the questions that follow+
 

S)ill  The (uestions

1t is ery helpful to your ability to answer indiidual !uestions in Listening Part B if you can
anticipate what the !uestions will be and listen specifically for the answers to those !uestions.

1n this e6ample% you can be !uite certain that one of the !uestions will be about when something
will happen. /ince you are sure that this is one of the !uestions% you can listen carefully for clues
that will gie you the answer. This e6ample shows that a helpful strategy therefore is to loo# 
 briefly at the answers in the test boo#% before you actually hear the conersations on the
recording% and try to determine the !uestions
! uestions that you will be as#ed to an
answer.
swer.
 EXERCISE
 EXERC ISE 7 ' /tudy the following answers and try to determine what the !uestions will be.
$You should note that perhaps you will only be able to predict part of a !uestion% rather than the
complete !uestion.& 1f you cannot predict the !uestion in a short period of time% then moe on to
the ne6t group of answers. (uestion ) has been answered for you.

). (uestion' What.... .................................................

$3& ,hat the assignment is.

  $B& +ow good the professor is.
  $C& The information in Chapter /i6.
  $-& ,hat !uestions they should as# the professor.

4. (uestion'.............................................................

  $3& /i6 pages.

  $B& /i6 chapters.
  $C& /i6ty pages.
  $-& The si6th chapter.

5. (uestion'............................................................

  $3& ,hether or not they should i the chapters.

  $B& ,hether or not they should answer the !uestions.
  $C& ,hich chapters they should read.
  $-& ,hen the professor gae the assignment.
 

*. (uestion' ...........................................................

  $3& Turn in the assignment.

  $B& /ee the professor.
  $C& :o to class.
  $-& Tal# to a classmate.
classmat e.

9. (uestion' ......................................................

  $3& 3 bees stung him.

  $B& +e saw some bees and hornets.
  $C& +e was stung by a hornet.
  $-& +e too# some eggs from a nest.

;. (uestion' ...................................................

  $3& To liberate
liberat e bees.
  $B& To protect their nests.
  $C& To hatch their eggs.
  $-& To defend the par#.

<. (uestion' ................................................

  $3& 3 hornet2s
hornet 2s nest.
  $B& /ome bee2s eggs.
  $C& 3 par#ed car.
  $-& 3 swarm of bees.

=. (uestion' ................................................

  $3& To stay indoors.

indoo rs.
  $B& To see where the hornet2s
hornet2s nest is
is llocated.
ocated.
  $C& 8ot to wal# in the same
same location as :reg.
  $-& To #eep away from :reg.

>. (uestion' ................................................

  $3& The si?e of the campus.

  $B& The city bus system.
  $C& The length of time for each class.
  $-& The uniersity bus system.

)@. (uestion' ..............................................

 

  $3& The entire campus.

  $B& Part of the campus.
  $C& The campus and the city.
  $-& Only the offAcampus areas.

)). (uestion' .............................................

  $3& 8othing.
  $B& Three dollars.
  $C& 3 few cents.
  $-& Fifty cents.

)4. (uestion' ..............................................

  $3& ed.
  $B& :reen.
  $C& Yellow.
Yellow.
  $-& Blue.

 Answer:

). ,hat
,hat..
....
....
....
...
.

4. +ow
+ow much
muchh
how
ow many
many..
....
..

5. ,hat
,hat is
is un#n
un#now
own.
n...
...
.

*. ,hat
,hat to
to do ...
.....
....
....
..

9. ,hat
,hat ha
happe
ppene
ned.
d...
.....
...

;. ,hat
,hat purp
purpose
ose...
.....
..,hy
,hy..
......
......
..

<. ,hat
,hat thin
thing.
g...
.....
.....
....
....
.....
....
.

=. ,hat
,hat to
to do ...
.....
....
....
..

>. ,hat
,hat is the
the ttop
opic
ic

)@. ,hat area.........

area...........
.. ,here.....
,here.....

)). +ow muchmany

muchmany...
...
 

)4. ,hat color...

color...
 

S)ill - The Topics

Topics

3s you listen to each conersation in Listening Part B% you shoul

shouldd be thin#ing
thin#ing about the topic
$sub7ect& or main idea for each conersation. /ince the first one or two sentences generally gie
the topic% you should be as#ing yourself what the topic is while you are listening carefully to the
first part of the conersation.

 EXERCISE 8' Listen to the first part of each of the conersations% and decide on the topic of 
 EXERCISE
each conersation.

 8ow BE:18 T+E ECO-18: 3T EXERCI SE 8.

 EXERCISE
). ,hat is the topic of Conersation )
4. ,hat is the topic of Conersation 4
5. ,hat is the topic of Conersation 5

 Answer:

). the
the assi
assignm
gnmen
entt for
for clas
classs

4. that
that :re
:reg
g was
was stung
stung by a hor
horne
nett

5. the unier
uniersit
sity
y shut
shuttle
tle bus system
system
 

S)ill . naly/ing order of answers in longer converstion of T%!$L

The answers in Listening Part B are generally found in order in the conersation. This means that
as you listen to the conersation% you should be thin#ing about the answers to the !uestions in the
order that they are listed in the test boo#.
boo #.

 Example

On the recordin! yo" hear:

$narrator& ' (uestions ) and 4. Listen to two students on a uniersity campus.

$man& ' Can you help me 12m lost.
$woman& ' /ure. ,here are you trying to go
$man& ' 1 hae a class in /tan field +all at 5'@@. 1 thought 1 #new where 1 was going% but 1
guess 1 was
  wrong.
$woman& ' You certainly are lost.
lost. /tan field +all is on the other side of the uniersity 12m
heading in that
direction. Come on with me and 12ll show you the way.
$man& ' Than#s. You2re
You2re a lifesaer.
lifesa er.

On the recordin! yo" hear:

$narrator& ). ,hat problem does the

the man hae
  4. ,here is /tanfield +all

1n your test boo#% you read $same time&'

). $3& +e2s sic#.

  $B& #e$
 #e$ss lost 
  $C& +e2s tired.
  $-& +e2s bro#e.

4. $3& -irectly in front of them.

  $B& To the left.
  $C& (uite nearby.
  $-& On the other side o% camp"s

 Analysis:
 Analysis:

,hen you read the answers to the first !uestion% you can anticipate that the first !uestion is about
a man and some type of problem he has. 3s you listen% you hear the man say that he is lost .
Therefore% you can anticipate that the best answer to the first !uestion will be answer $B&.

,hen you read the answers to the second !uestion% you can anticipate that the second !uestion is

going to as# where something is. 1n the conersation% the woman e6plains that  Stan%ield #all is
 

on the other side o% the "ni&ersity . Therefore% as you are listening you can anticipate that the
correct answer to the second !uestion is answer $-&.

!0!R1#S! .' Listen to each complete conersation% and answer the !uestions that follow.

 8ow BE:18 T+E ECO-18: 3T EDEO/E >.

). $3& ,hat the assignment is.

  $B& +ow good the professor is.
  $C& The information in Chapter /i6.
  $-& ,hat !uestions they should as# the professor.

4. $3& /i6 pages.

  $B& /i6 chapters.
  $C& /i6ty pages.
  $-& The si6th chapter.

5. $3& ,hether or not they should read the chapters.

  $B& ,hether or not they should answer the !uestions.
  $C& ,hich chapters they should read.
  $-& ,hen the professor gae the assignment.

*. $3& Turn in the assignment.

  $B& /ee the professor.
  $C& :o to class.
  $-& Tal# to a classmate.
classmat e.

9. $3& 3 bee stung him.

  $B& +e saw some bees and hornets.

  $C& +e was stung by a hornet.
  $-& +e too# some eggs from a nest.

;. $3& To liberate bees.

  $B& To protect their nests.
  $C& To hatch eggs.
  $-& To defend the par#.

<. $3& 3 hornet2s nest.

  $B& /ome bee2s eggs.
  $C& 3 par#ed car.
  $-& 3 swarm of bees.
 

=. $3& To stay indoors.

  $B& To see where the hornet2s
hornet2s nest is
is llocated.
ocated.
  $C& 8ot to wal# in the same
same location as :reg.
  $-& To #eep away from :reg.

>. $3& The si?e of the campus.

  $B& The city bus system.
  $C& The length of time for each class.
  $-& The uniersity bus system.

)@. $3& The entire campus.

  $B& Part of the campus.
  $C& The campus and the city.
  $-& Only the offAcampus areas.

)). $3& 8othing.

  $B& Three dollars.
  $C& 3 few cents.
  $-& Fifty cents.

)4. $3& ed.

  $B& :reen.
  $C& Yellow.
Yellow.
  $-& Blue.

 Answer:

).   A

4.   D

5.   B

*.   D

9.   C 

;.   B

<.   A

=.   C 
 

>.   D

 A
)@. A
)@.

 A
)). A
)).

 C 
)4. C 
)4.