Listening worksheet 3

Video supporting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNdwhLlOv0I

Short conversation skills.

Part A of the TOEFL test consist in a series of short conversations. For each
conversation you will have 4 possible answers

Example from the TOEFL test:

After the dialogue is complete, the narrator states the question that asks what the
man means.

You hear:

(woman): Are there any more

chemistry problems to do?

(man): There are a few.

In the dialogue, the man says that there are a few. This means that they have a
couple of problems left. The last answer is the best answer, so you should choose
the las answer to this question.

a) The problems are done.

b) There is one small problem
to solve.
c) He has not yet started the
problems.
d) They have a couple of
problems left.

In order to completely understand short dialogues you should move to some

language skills that will help you to implement strategies and procedures with the
short dialogues on the TOEFL test.
Skill I: RESTATEMENTS

Often the correct answer to a short dialogue question is an answer that contains a
restatement of the ideas in the last line of the dialogue.

Example from the TOEFL test.

On the recording you hear: In your test book you read:

(woman): Steve, is something the A) He’s not very good looking.

matter? You don’t look very good B) He’s a bit ill.
C) He looks worse than he
(man): Oh, I’m feeling a little sick
feels.
today.
D) He’s feet are a little thick.
(narrator): What does the man
mean?

In this conversation, sick means ill. The best answer to this question is therefore
answer B).

Skill 2: NEGATIVES
Negative expressions are very common in the short dialogues. The common kind
of correct response to a negative statement is a positive statement containing a
word with an opposite meaning.
Example:
Tom is not sad about the results.
Correct answer: Tom is happy about the results
Negative expression: not sad = happy

Skill 3: SUGGESTIONS
Suggestions are common in the short On the recording you hear:
dialogues. For example: (man): I haven’t talked with my
parents in a while.

(woman): Why don’t you call them

now?

(narrator): What does the woman

suggest?
In your test book you read:
A) Calling off his visit.
B) Talking about his parents.
C) Calling his parents in a
while.
D) Phoning his family.
In this example the expression why don’t is an
expression of suggestion, so the woman’s
suggestion is to call them. This means that the
woman suggests phoning his family. The best
answer is therefore answer D.
Some expressions of suggestion are:
Why… not…? Why not…? Let’s…

Skill 4: PASSIVES
It is sometimes difficult to understand who or what is doing the action in a passive
sentence. This problem is often tested in the short dialogues.

On the recording you hear: On the test book, you read:

(man): Is that a new chair? A) She brought the chair with

her.
(woman): Yes, we just bought it last B) The chair was lost for a week.
week. C) The chair was purchased
(narrator): What does the woman recently.
mean? D) She bought the last chair from
the store.

Skill 5: WHO AND WHERE

In this kind of questions, they ask you to draw some kind of conclusion. In this part
of the test you are asked to determine who the speaker is, based on the clues
given in the dialogue.

On the recording you hear: On the test book, you read:

(man): What do you do during your performance? A) An athlete.

B) A member of the audience.
(woman): I play the piano and sing. C) A clerk in a music store.
(narrator): Who is the woman most likely to be? D) A musician.
The clues performance, piano and sing in the conversation tell you that the woman
is probably a musician. Answer D is therefore the correct one.
Skill 6: AGREEMENT
Expressions of agreement are common in the short dialogues.

On the recording you hear: On the test book, you read:

(man): I think that the dinner was A) There were too many spices to
overpriced. the meal.
B) She was the same opinion of the
(woman): Me, too.
meal as the man.
(narrator): What does the woman C) She wants to share the man’s
mean? meal.
D) The price of the meal was great.

The expression Me, too shows agreement with a passive statement, so the woman
means that she has the same opinion as the man. The best answer is therefore
answer B.
Some expressions of agreement are:
So do I, I’ll say, Me, too., You can say that again.

Skills 1 – 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RIKBkohIDj4&list=PLrESDPx4ZNPt46tmWlw_JVL4dCTZ6iXhD

Skills 1 – 6:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=UbrrmZiZPNE&list=PLrESDPx4ZNPt46tmWlw_JVL4dCTZ6iXhD&index=4