MEETING I

(LISTENING)
PRINCIPAL STRETEGIES in SHORT CONVERSATIONS

A. OBJECTIVES
After studying this material, students are able to:
1. Put more focus on the last line
2. Find out the similarity in meaning (synonym) between the questions and answer
choices.
3. Familiar with the words of similar sounds which may distract or even trick them
when answering.

B. MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
1. INTRODUCTION
In this meeting, we are going to discuss three basic or principal tips when we
are listening to the, they are: a) focus on the last line, b) answer with synonyms,
and c) avoid similar sounds:

1.a. Focus on the last line

In short conversations, it is really important for you to have more focus on the
last line. Last line refers to the utterances spoken by the 2 nd speakers. This is
because the last lines are not only mostly related to the questions but also to the
answers.

Example 1 (File name: EN1-M1-EX1)

Listen to these following short conversation. Complete the blanks as you are
listening to the conversation. Then, underline the key words and pick your best
answer!

Woman : Do ……………. Dean Nicholson’s ……….?

Man : ………… directory …. the ……… way.
Narrator : …. does ……… imply about Dean Nicholson’s ……….?

a. The directory doesn’t list it.

b. It is close to the entrance.
c. He doesn’t know where the office is.
d. The office is not in the building.

Discussion:
 Complete script:

Woman : Do you know where Dean Nicholson’s office is?

Man : There’s a directory in the entrance way.
Narrator : What does the man imply about Dean Nicholson’s office?

➔ Look at the last line. The last speaker says ‘There’s a directory in the entrance
way.’ This indicates that the man doesn’t know the office, but he knows where
people find information about the office. He knows that there is a directory (map)
in the entrance way. He tells the woman about this. Thus, the best answer is C.

Exercise 1.1. (File name EN1-M1-Exercises1.1)

Now listen to these following short conversations. Try to write down and complete the
scripts. Then, underline the key words. After all, pick your best answer for every
question below!

1 Man: a. He won’t be leaving soon.

b. He will do it by his own way.
c. He is leaving now.
Woman: d. He has to go out of his way.

Narrator:

2 Man: a. He left the house without locking

the door.
b. He locked the door.
Woman: c. He was able to open the door.
d. He unsuccessfully tried to enter
the house.

Narrator:

3 Man: a. She’d prefer a different dinner.

b. She especially likes the roast
turkey.
Woman: c. She thinks the dinner sounds
special.
d. She does not like to listen to
turkeys.
Narrator:

4 Woman: a. He cannot help the woman

tonight.
 b. He is sorry he cannot ever help
the woman.
Man: c. He will help the woman doing the
physics.
d. He is going to be busy with the
Narrator: woman’s homework tonight.

5 Man: a. The class was boring.

b. Her eyes hurt.
c. She did not want to watch
Woman: Professor Martin.
d. She thought the lecture was great.

Narrator:

6 Woman: a. They do not have enough credit to

pay the bills.
b. Not all the bills have been paid.
Man: c. He used a credit card paying
some of the bills.
d. What she said on the phone
wasn’t credited.
Narrator:

7 Man: a. She will definitely be back by 4.00.

b. She will give it back by 4.00
c. She will try to return fast.
Woman: d. She will call back quickly.

Narrator:

8 Man: a. Tim was there only for a moment.

b. Tim’ll return in a minute.
c. She has not seen Tim.
Woman: d. Tim was around just a short time
ago.

Narrator:

9 Man: a. They cannot park the car at the

spot.
b. She is happy the spot is reserved.
 c. She does not want to get into the
car.
Woman: d. She doesn’t like the spot the man
chose.

Narrator:

10 Woman: a. The food is not inside the

refrigerator.
b. He’s not sure if the refrigerator
Man: has enough food in.
c. The refrigerator is broken.
d. There’s plenty to eat.

Narrator:

1.b. Answer with Synonyms

After understanding that most answers are provided in the last line, we have
to also understand that answers for the questions should by synonymous. This
means that the answers just the same with the questions, but they are expressed
with synonyms, which are different words with similar meanings.

Example 2 (File name: EN1-M1-EX2):

Listen to these following short conversation. Complete the blanks as you are listening
to the conversation. Then, underline the key words and pick your best answer!

Woman : How’s …………………………., Mike?

Man : So …….., so …..
Narrator : …… … Mike ……?

a. He is not glad with the quality of the research.

b. He lives a long way from a good library.
c. Once he has finished the project, he will be pleased.
d. Until at the moment, he has not had any problems.

Discussion:
Complete script:
Woman : How’s your research project coming, Mike?
Man : So far, so good.
Narrator : What does Mike mean?
 ➔ Look at the last line. The last speaker says ‘So far, so good.’ This means that
Mike has conducted the research for so long and he has not found any difficulty
in doing the research. D is the best answers.
‘so far’ is the synonym of ‘until at the moment
‘so good’ is the synonym of ‘he has not had any problems’

Exercise 1.2. (File name EN1-M1-Exercises1.2)

Now listen to these following short conversations. Try to completely write down the
scripts. Then, underline the key words. After all, pick your best answer for every
question below!

1 Woman: a. The exam was not very

difficult.
b. He thought the exam would
be easier.
Man: c. There were two exams
rather than one.
d. The final exam was harder
than the others.
Narrator:

2 Woman: a. He’s feeling better this day

than yesterday.
b. He’d better not to answer the
question.
Man: c. He is not feeling very good.
d. He is rather ill because of
working.
Narrator:

3 Man: a. The business only lasted a

year.
b. The company was
established a year ago.
Woman: c. It was just established that
he could go into business.
d. Her family is well-
established.
Narrator:

4 Woman: a. The plane arrived on time.

b. He must wait for the plane to
land.
c. The plane landed in the right
Man: spot.
d. He did not see the correct
schedule.
 Narrator:

5 Man: a. She needs a sweatsuit for

running.
b. She will change clothes
quickly and go to swim.
Woman: c. She doesn’t want to get into
the pool.
d. She’d better go running.
Narrator:

6 Man: a. The houses were not

destroyed.
b. The firefighters saved the
homes for last.
Woman: c. Last night, a firefighter
rescued the hillside.
d. The houses on the hillside
were burned.
Narrator:

7 Man: a. The spices are adequate.

b. There is adequate soup.
c. The man should put more
salt and pepper into the
Woman: soup.
d. In her opinion, the soup is too
salty.
Narrator:

8 Woman: a. He paid to get a scholarship.

b. He is a scholar at a college
with low fees.
c. He used his fortune for
Man: paying his fees.
d. He was fortuitous to accept a
grant for his studies.
Narrator:

9 Man: a. This was the last year that it

would generate profit.
b. It profited from its previous
mistakes.
Woman: c. It did not really succeed.
d. It earned much money.

Narrator:
 10 Woman: a. There is not sufficient money
in Chuck’s account.
b. He thinks that Chuck is going
to his house from the bank.
Man: c. He thinks Chuck has the
incorrect kind of bank
account.
d. Chuck’s bank account
Narrator:
contains a lot of money in it.

1.c. Avoid Homophones

Homophones belong to the words with similar sounds. As we know, English words are
mostly pronounced differently as their spelling. Being familiar with the homophonic
words is one requirement for good listening skill.

In TOEFL’s listening session, the answer choices frequently contain homophonic

words. This may distract even confuse the test-takers. Thus, it is important to
recognize and to avoid the homophonic words.

Example 3 (File name: EN1-M1-EX3)

Listen to the conversation and fill the blanks on the script. Then, underlined the words
with similar sound or homophonic both in the script and in the answer choices.

Man : I’d ……… with ………, please.

Woman : Would you like a …… or a …………?
Narrator : … did the … ………?

a. if the man wants a small hug

b. if the man saw a bug
c. how the man dug the hole
d. what size mug the man wants

Discussion:
Complete script:

Man : I’d like coffee with milk, please.

Woman : Would you like a large or a small mug?
Narrator : What did the woman ask?

a. if the man wants a small hug

b. if the man saw a bug
c. how the man dug the hole
d. what size mug the man wants
Just as explained before, always focus on the last line. Look at again in the last line, there is
word ‘mug’ /mʌɡ/. The word has homophonic words in the answer choices: hug /hʌɡ/, bug
/bʌɡ/, dug /dʌɡ/. These homophonic words mostly distract you. When you find the homophonic
words, just eliminate them. Thus, the answer for this question is D.

Exercise 1.3. (File name EN1-M1-Exercises1.3)

Now listen to these following short conversations. Try to completely write down the
scripts. Then, underline the key words in the conversations and the homophonic words
in the answer choices. After all, pick your best answer for every question below!

1 Woman: a. She needs to watch out for a

crash.
b. The lawn becomes too dry.
c. The waiter is carrying a glass
Man: of water.
d. She has to wait for some
cash.
Narrator:

2 Woman: a. A. the sweet girl does not feel

right.
b. The sweater is wrong in size.
c. Feet of the man are not
Man: sweating.
d. The sweater makes the man
seem fat.
Narrator:

3 Man: a. He has been traveling back

and forth to Boston.
b. He has been regularly using
a computer.
Woman: c. He communicates with a
Boston company.
d. He regularly goes to
community around Boston.
Narrator:

4 Woman: a. He could not learn the

lesson.
b. He did not like most of the
lesson.
Man: c. He thought the lesson did not
matter.
d. He learned a massive
number of details.
Narrator:

5 Man: a. Animal die in the first frost.

 b. Frost is able to kill animals.
c. Some animals started the
Woman: first fire.
d. Animals are killed by forest
fires.
Narrator:

6 Man: a. The shoes salesclerk spent

$20 on pears.
b. The shoes cost $20.
c. The shoes could be repaired
Woman: for $20.
d. 20 pairs of shoes are on sale.

Narrator:

7 Man: a. There was a tendency to

require biology lab.
b. Tom went to a biology lab.
c. Tom tended to hate biology
Woman: lab.
d. Attendance wasn’t required
at biology lab.
Narrator:

8 Woman: a. The males must be driven

there by noon.
b. He’s expecting the ice to melt
before noon.
Man: c. The letters ought to be
delivered at 12.00.
d. The meal is going to be
served at noon.
Narrator:

9 Man: a. He had a new bed.

b. There news tells us about a
headstrong man.
c. The newspaper headlines
Woman: described a bad storm.
d. The weather will probably
gets worse later.
Narrator:

10 Woman: a. If she minds shopping for

vegetables.
b. If she could help prepare the
salad.
 Man: c. If she could go shopping for
grocery.
d. If she prefers salad or
cooked vegetable.
Narrator:

C. EXERCISES
Review Exercises (File name EN1-M1-Review Exercise)

This is a review exercise for our discussion in meeting 1. We are going to

review about the last line, synonymous, and homophonic words. Listen carefully
to the short conversations and the questions. Completely write down the
conversation. After that, underline the key synonymous, and homophonic words.
Then, choose your best answer for every question!

1 Woman: a. He needs to drink something to

stop his coughing.
b. A drink seems like a good idea.
c. He wants to stop drinking
Man: coffee.
d. He would like some iced coffee.

Narrator:

2 Woman: a. She would like a place that is

not so loud.
b. She would prefer a sunny day.
c. She cannot walk because
Man: she’s too old.
d. The park is too crowded.

Narrator:

3 Man: a. He should try something

monotonous to get to sleep.
b. He should try to keep the cost
cheap.
Woman: c. He should open an account.
d. He should take a ride an a ship.

Narrator:

4 Woman: a. The changes are believable.

b. What has happened is
incredible to him.
 Man: c. The department is not
changing the requirements.
d. He hasn’t heard anything about
the change.
Narrator:

5 Man: a. The made a line in the sand.

b. The wait has taken close to an
hour.
c. They were stranded in their car.
Woman: d. Most of the people have been
in line for hours.

Narrator:

6 Man: a. The riders are paying for the

train trip.
b. The instructor is selecting
several passages.
Woman: c. The conductor is fair to the
passengers.
d. The stamp collectors is
conducting his business.
Narrator:

7 Man: a. The program will be maintained

to the letter.
b. The new management
program is very weak.
Woman: c. A program to develop new
managers will commence
soon.
d. The manager
Narrator:

8 Woman: a. The firefighter stared at the

attacker.
b. The fire probably began at the
top of the building.
Man: c. The firefighter started to attack
the fire.
d. The fire started to attack the
building.
Narrator:

9 Man: a. He soon will know the truth.

b. He thought that the woman was
aware of what happened.
c. He is sure that it isn’t new.
Woman: d. He assured the woman that he
knew the truth.
 Narrator:

10 Woman: a. His sketches showed a fantasy

world.
b. The catches that he made were
fantastic.
Man: c. The art professor is not one of
his fans.
d. His drawings were amazing.
Narrator:

D. References:
Phillips, Deborah. 2001. Longman Complete Course for the TOEFL Test
(Preparation for the Computer and Paper Test). New York: Longman.

_____________. 2003. Longman Complete Course for the TOEFL Test (the Paper
Test). New York: Longman.

Shanks, Janet., Kaplan, Inc. 2004. TOEFL Paper and Pencil (3rd Edition). New York:
Kaplan.