Listening Section
Directions: The Listening section measures your ability tounderstand conversations and lectures in English. In this sample, you will readone conversation and one lecture and answer questions after each conversationor lecture. The questions typically ask about the main idea and supportingdetails. Some questions ask about a speaker’s purpose or attitude. Answer thequestions based on what is stated or implied by the speakers. Most questionsare worth one point. If a question is worth more than one point, it will havespecial directions that indicate how many points you can receive.
· In an actual test, you will be able to takenotes while you listen and use your notes to help you answer thequestions. Your notes will not bescored.
CONVERSATIONTRANSCRIPT
(Narrator) Listen to a conversationbetween a student and her basketball coach and then answer the questions.
(Male coach) Hi, Elizabeth.
(Female student) Hey, Coach. I justthought I’d stop by to see what I missed while I was gone.
(Male coach) Well, we’ve been workingreal hard on our plan for the next game . . . I’ve asked Susan to go over itwith you before practice this afternoon, so you’ll know what we’re doing.
(Female student) Okay.
(Male coach) By the way, how did yourbrother’s wedding go?
(Female student) Oh, it was beautiful.And the whole family was there. I saw aunts and uncles and cousins I hadn’tseen in years.
(Male coach) So it was worth the trip.
(Female student) Oh definitely. I’msorry I had to miss practice, though. I feel bad about that.
(Male coach) Family’s very important.
(Female student) Yep. Okay, I guessI’ll see you this afternoon at practice, then.
(Male coach) Just a minute. There are acouple of other things I need to tell you.
(Female student) Oh, okay.
(Male coach) Uh . . . First,everybody’s getting a new team jacket.
(Female student) Wow. How did thathappen?
(Male coach) A woman who played hereabout 20, 25 years ago came through town a few weeks ago and saw a game, andsaid she wanted to do something for the team, so . . .
(Female student) So she’s buying us newjackets?
(Male coach) Yep.
(Female student) Wow, that’s reallynice of her.
(Male coach) Yes, it is. It’s greatthat former players still care so much about our school and our basketballprogram . . . Anyway you need to fill out an order form. I’ll give it to younow, and you can bring it back this afternoon. I’ve got the forms from theother players, so as soon as I get yours we can order. Maybe we’ll have thejackets by the next game.
(Female student) OK.
(Male coach) Great. And the next thingis, you know Mary’s transferring to another college next week, so we’ll needsomeone to take over her role as captain for the second half of the season. Andthe other players unanimously picked you to take over as captain when Maryleaves.
(Female student) Wow. I saw everybodythis morning, and nobody said a word.
(Male coach) They wanted me to tellyou. So, do you accept?
(Female student) Of course! But Susan’sa much better player than I am. I’m really surprised they didn’t pick her.
(Male coach) They think you’re theright one. You’ll have to ask them their thoughts.
(Female student) Okay . . . I guess oneof the first things I’ll have to do as captain is make sure we get a thank-youcard out to the lady who’s buying us the jackets.
(Male coach) Good idea. I have heraddress here somewhere.
(Female student) And I’ll make sure thewhole team signs it.
(Male coach) Good. That’s all the newsthere is. I think that’s it for now. Oh, let me get you that order form.
1.Whatare the speakers mainly discussing?
a. How the woman should prepare for the next game
b. The woman’s responsibilities as team captain
c. Things that happened while the woman was away
d. The style of the new team uniforms
2.Whois buying new jackets for the team?
a. The coach
b. The captain of the team
c. A former player
d. A group of basketball fans
3. There are two answers for the next question.Mark two answers.
Why is the woman surprised to learn thatshe has been chosen as the new team
captain?
a. She is not the best player on the team.
b. Her teammates did not tell her about thedecision.
c. She does not have many friends on the team.
d. She has missed a lot of practices.
4. Read part of the conversation again. Then answer the question.
(Femalestudent) I’m sorry I had to miss practice, though. I feel bad about that.
(Malecoach) Family’s very important.
What does the man mean when he says: “Family’s very important.”
a. He hopes the woman’s family is doing well.
b. He would like to meet the woman’s family.
c. The woman should spend more time with herfamily.
d. The woman had a good reason for missing practice.
5. Whydoes the coach say: “Good. That’s allthe news there is. I think that’s it for
now.”
a. He wants to know if the woman understood hispoint.
b. He wants the woman to act immediately.
c. He is preparing to change the topic.
d. He is ready to end the conversation.
LECTURETRANSCRIPT
(Narrator) Listen to part of a lecturein a literature class.
(Male professor) Today I’d like tointroduce you to a novel that some critics consider the finest detective novelever written. It was also the first. We’re talking about The Moonstone byWilkie Collins. Now, there are other detective stories that preceded TheMoonstone historically—Um, notably the work of Poe . . . Edgar Allen Poe’sstories, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and . . . “The PurloinedLetter.” Now these were short stories that featured a detective . . . uh,probably the first to do that. But The Moonstone, which follows them byabout twenty years—it was published in 1868—this is the first full-length detectivenovel ever written.
Now,in The Moonstone—if you read it as . . . uh, come to it as acontemporary reader—what’s interesting is that most of the features you find inalmost any detective novel are in fact already present. Uh, its hard at thisjuncture to read this novel and realize that no one had ever done that before,because it all seems so strikingly familiar. It’s, it’s really a wonderfulnovel and I recommend it, even just as a fun book to read, if you’ve never readit. Um, so in The Moonstone, as I said, Collins did much to establishthe conventions of the detective genre. I’m not gonna go into the plot atlength, but, you know, the basic set-up is . . . there’s this diamond of great. . . of great value, a country house, the diamond mysteriously disappears inthe middle of the night, uh, the local police are brought in, in an attempt tosolve the crime, and they mess it up completely, and then the true hero of the bookarrives. That’s Sergeant Cuff.
Now,Cuff, this extraordinarily important character . . . well, let me try to giveyou a sense of who Sergeant Cuff is, by first describing the regular police.And this is the dynamic that you’re going to see throughout the history of thedetective novel, where you have the regular cops—who are well-meaning, butofficious and bumblingly inept—and they are countered by a figure who’seccentric, analytical, brilliant, and . . . and able to solve the crime. So,first the regular police get called in to solve the mystery—Um, in this case,detective, uh, Superintendent Seegrave. When Superintendent Seegrave comes in,he orders his minions around, they bumble, and they actually make a mess of theinvestigation, which you’ll see repeated—um, you’ll see this pattern repeated,particularly in the Sherlock Holmes stories of a few years later where, uh,Inspector Lestrade, this well-meaning idiot, is always countered, uh, bySherlock Holmes, who’s a genius.
So,now Cuff arrives. Cuff is the man who’s coming to solve the mystery, and again hehas a lot of the characteristics that future detectives throughout the historyof this genre will have. He’s eccentric. He has a hobby that he’s obsessiveabout—in this . . . in his case, it’s the love of roses. He’s a fanatic aboutthe breeding of roses; and here think of Nero Wolfe and his orchids, SherlockHolmes and his violin, a lot of those later classic detective heroes have thiskind of outside interest that they . . . they go to as a kind of antidote tothe evil and misery they encounter in their daily lives. At one point, Cuffsays he likes his roses because they offer solace, uh, an escape, from theworld of crime he typically operates in.
Now,these detective heroes . . . they have this characteristic of being smart,incredibly smart, but of not appearing to be smart. And most importantly, froma kind of existential point of view, these detectives see things that otherpeople do not see. And that’s why the detective is such an important figure, Ithink, in our modern imagination. In the case of The Moonstone—I don’twant to say too much here and spoil it for you—but the clue that’s key to . . .the solving of the crime is a smeared bit of paint in a doorway. Of course, theregular police have missed this paint smear or made some sort of unwarranted assumptionabout it. Cuff sees this smear of paint—this paint, the place where the paintis smeared—and realizes that from this one smear of paint you can actuallydeduce the whole situation . . . the whole world. And that’s what the hero in adetective novel like this . . . brings to it that the other charactersdon’t—it’s this ability to, uh, see meaning where others see no meaning and tobring order . . . to where it seems there is no order.
6.Whatis the lecture mainly about?
a. A comparison of two types of detective novels
b. Ways in which detective novels have changedover time
c. The Moonstone asa model for later detective novels
d. Flaws that can be found in the plot of TheMoonstone
7.Inwhat way is The Moonstone different from earlier works featuring adetective?
a. In its unusual ending
b. In its unique characters
c. In its focus on a serious crime
d. In its greater length
8.Accordingto the professor, what do roses in The Moonstone represent?
a. A key clue that leads to the solving of the mystery
b. A relief and comfort to the detective
c. Romance between the main characters
d. Brilliant ideas that occur to the detective
9.Whydoes the professor mention a smeared bit of paint in a doorway in The
Moonstone?
a. To describe a mistake that Sergeant Cuff has made
b. To show how realistically the author describes the crime scene
c. To exemplify a pattern repeated in many other detective stories
d. To illustrate the superior techniques used by the police
10.What can be inferred about theprofessor when he says this: “Uh, it’s hard at this
juncture to read this novel and realizethat no one had ever done that before,
because it all seems so strikinglyfamiliar.”
a. He is impressed by the novel’s originality.
b. He is concerned that students may find the novel difficult to read.
c. He is bored by the novel’s descriptions of ordinary events.
d. He is eager to write a book about a less familiar subject.
11.What does the professor imply whenhe says this: “. . . well, let me try togive you
a sense of who Sergeant Cuff is, byfirst describing the regular police.”
a. Sergeant Cuff is unlike other characters in The Moonstone.
b. The author’s description of Sergeant Cuff is very realistic.
c. Sergeant Cuff learned to solve crimes by observing the regular police.
d. Differences between Sergeant Cuffand Sherlock Holmes are hard to describe.
Keyto Listening section:
1. c
2. c
3. a, b
4. d
5. d
6. c
7. d
8. b
9. c
10. a
11. a
