1. Overview
The Listening paper is all multiple choice. You hear each recording twice, mark your answers on the question paper as you listen, and at the end you get a few minutes to copy them onto an answer sheet. You never write words, so spelling does not matter. What matters is choosing well, and the wrong options are built to sound right. The skills on this page show you how to spot the difference.
Key Definitions
- Gist: The general meaning of what you hear, such as the speaker's main opinion or reason, rather than one detail.
- Paraphrase: The same idea in different words. The correct option often says the speaker's idea in different words.
- Distractor: A wrong option that is mentioned in the recording, often one the speaker considers and then rejects, or one that answers a different question.
- Prediction: Using the question and options, before you listen, to decide what to listen out for.
- Answer transfer: Copying your answers (ticks and letters) onto the answer sheet, shading one letter for each question, in the time given at the end.
Core Content
What the paper looks like
The paper moves from short recordings to longer ones:
- Very short recordings, one question each, with four pictures (A to D) to choose from. Before you listen, notice what is different between the pictures.
- Short recordings with two questions each, three word options (A to C).
- A longer talk by one speaker, with a set of questions in the order of the talk.
- Several speakers on one topic. You match each speaker to an idea from a list, and the list has extra ideas that nobody says.
- An interview, with a set of questions in the order of the conversation.
Every question is worth the same and wrong answers lose nothing, so never leave a question blank.
The method
- Use the reading time. Read the question and every option. Underline what makes each option different.
- Expect all the options to come up. The recording usually mentions more than one option, so hearing a word from option A does not make A right.
- Listen for the meaning. The right option often says the idea in other words, and wrong options often use words you hear. Never choose an option just because you heard its words.
- Wait for the final decision. Speakers change their minds, correct themselves and reject ideas: "I almost..., but in the end...". The answer is what they finally say, choose or think.
- Use the second playing to check. Tick your best answer the first time, then listen again to confirm it, or to decide between the two options you are left with.
Worked example 1 - pictures
Imagine you hear this (an original example; in the real test you would listen, not read):
"I almost planted tomatoes, but they need more sun than my kitchen window gets. Strawberries looked lovely in the shop, but they were really expensive. In the end I went for herbs, because I cook with them every day."
Question: What does the woman grow in her window box? Pictures: A herbs, B strawberries, C tomatoes, D sunflowers.
Tomatoes are rejected ("almost planted... but") and strawberries were "really expensive". "In the end I went for herbs" is the final decision: A. Option D is a trap: you hear the word sun, but nothing is said about sunflowers.
Worked example 2 - three options
"People assume I joined the chess club to make friends. I have made some, which is nice, and my maths teacher did suggest it once. But honestly, I kept losing in the first round of the school tournament, and that's what got me through the door."
Question: Why did Sam join the chess club?
- A. to meet new people
- B. because his teacher advised him to
- C. to do better in a competition
"People assume..." tells you A is what others think, not his reason. The teacher "did suggest it once", but "But honestly..." then brings in the real reason. "Kept losing in the first round of the school tournament... that's what got me through the door" means C, in different words: kept losing becomes do better, and tournament becomes competition. Answer: C.
Worked example 3 - matching speakers
Ideas (on the real paper the list has two more ideas than there are speakers):
- A. It was harder than I expected.
- B. I went because someone persuaded me.
- C. I'd like to try it again soon.
- D. It cost more than I planned.
Speaker 1: "My cousin kept on at me for weeks, so in the end I went rock climbing just to keep him quiet. It was fine."
Speaker 2: "I'd read it was tough, and it was. But it was cheaper than I'd been told, and I've already booked my next session."
Speaker 1 = B: "kept on at me... just to keep him quiet" means someone persuaded him. Speaker 2 = C: "already booked my next session". Speaker 2 is the trap for A: it was hard, but she had expected that ("I'd read it was tough"), so A does not fit. D is the opposite of what she says.
How listening is marked
Every question scores one mark for the right letter, so the whole paper rewards careful choosing. Your answers must be copied onto the answer sheet, so use the time at the end carefully and check each one goes in the right row.
Exam Focus
- Read every option before the recording starts, and underline the differences.
- Hearing a word is not the same as hearing the answer. Wrong options are often mentioned.
- Listen to the end of the speaker's turn before you decide: the final choice or opinion is what counts.
- Use both playings: answer on the first, confirm on the second.
- Never leave a blank, and transfer your answers carefully.
Common Mistakes
- ❌ Wrong: Choosing the first option you hear mentioned.
- ✓ Right: Wait for the speaker's final decision or opinion.
- ❌ Wrong: Picking an option just because you heard its words.
- ✓ Right: Choose the option that matches what the speaker means.
- ❌ Wrong: Matching a speaker on one shared word.
- ✓ Right: Match on what the speaker means overall.
- ❌ Wrong: Leaving a question blank when unsure.
- ✓ Right: Wrong answers lose nothing, so always choose.
- ❌ Wrong: Running out of time or slipping rows when copying to the answer sheet.
- ✓ Right: Check each answer goes in the right row.
Exam Tips
- In the reading time, underline the difference between the options.
- For picture questions, spot what changes between the pictures before you listen.
- Listen for but, actually, in the end and instead: the answer often comes after them.
- Use the second playing to confirm, not to start from scratch.
- Transfer every answer, one row at a time, and never leave a blank.
Practice task
Read this short recording and answer the question.
"My first thought was a new phone, but mine's only a year old. The shop said they'd fix the screen, but for nearly half the price of a new one. So I've ordered a kit online and I'll try it myself."
What will the woman do about her cracked phone screen? A. buy a new phone B. pay a shop to fix it C. fix it herself
Check yourself: C. The new phone is rejected ("my first thought... but"), and the shop is too expensive ("nearly half the price of a new one"). "So... I'll try it myself" is the final decision. Both distractors are mentioned before the answer.
Related skills
- Reading: inference and attitude - the same "match the meaning, not the words" rule, on the page.