SKILL 6: LISTEN FOR WHO AND WHAT WITH MULTIPLE NOUNS

Some conversations name more than one noun or more than one person, and it is easy to get confused. Be sure to listen carefully.

(Man) Do you know who is in the band now?

(Woman) Yes, I heard that Mara replaced Robert.

(Question) What does the woman say about the band?

Possible answers:

(A) Robert became a new member of the band.

(B) Robert took Mara’s place in the band.

(C) Mara didn’t have a place in the band.

(D) Mara took Robert’s place in the band.

The correct answer is ''D''. “Mara replaced Robert” means that Robert is out and Mara is in, so the Answer (D) has that same meaning. 

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SKILL 7: LISTEN FOR NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Sometimes you will hear a negative expression in a conversation. Often the correct answer will contain an opposite word.

Example:

(Man) How did you get to your grandmother’s house in Maine in only five hours?

(Woman) Well, we didn’t exactly drive slowly.

(Question) What does the woman say about the trip?

In your test book, you read:

(A) She drove rather quickly.

(B) She couldn’t have driven more slowly.

(C) She wanted to drive slowly to Maine.

(D) She didn’t drive to Maine.

As we can see in this conversation, the woman didn’t drive slowly. The correct answer is A, has the word quickly, which is the opposite of slowly. Therefore, it has the same meaning as not slowly.

Watch out for these kinds of negative expressions:

Regular negative with not or ’nt:

       That isn’t the right key. -> That’s the wrong key.

Other negative words: nobody, none, nothing, never

     Nobody arrived on time. -> Everybody was late.

     Edward never works hard. ->Edward is lazy.

Negative prefixes: un-, in-, dis-

    Tom felt unhappy. -> Tom felt sad.

    He was impolite.  -> He was rude.

    The workers disconnected the phone. -> They took it apart.

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SKILL 8: LISTEN FOR DOUBLE NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Some sentences have two negative expressions that together make a positive idea. For example:

    (Man) I can’t believe the news that I heard about the concert.

    (Woman) Well, it isn’t impossible for the concert to take place.

     (Question) What does the woman say about the concert?

In your test book, you read:

(A) There’s no possibility that the concert will happen.

(B) The concert will definitely not happen.

(C) The concert might happen.

(D) The concert can’t happen.

The woman says it’s not impossible, so she means it is possible. “The concert might happen” has the same meaning as “The concert is possible.”, therefore this is the correct answer. (C)

Watch out for these kinds of double negatives:

A negative word and a word with a negative prefix:

    He is not unlike his father. -> He is like his father.

    She is never unable to talk. -> She is always able to talk.

Two negative verbs:

    It isn’t snowing, so they aren’t going to the mountains. -> If it were snowing, they would go to the mountains.

Neither or not either:

    Sue didn’t like the movie, and neither did Mark. -> They both did not like the movie.

Remember that some kinds of double negatives are not considered grammatical in English. Don’t say sentences like these:

We don’t never go the the movies.

Nobody doesn’t want to pay high taxes.

I didn’t do no homework yesterday.

Instead, say:

We don’t ever go to the movies.

Nobody wants to pay high taxes.

I didn’t do any homework yesterday.

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SKILL9: LISTEN FOR ''ALMOST NEGATIVE'' EXPRESSIONS

There are several “almost negative” expressions in English — words like rarely or seldom. These words have meanings of “almost not,” “almost none,” or “almost never.” They don’t mean “completely not.” For example, if someone says:

I barely finished the test in time.

It means that he did finish in time, but with not much time left over. Here are some almost negative expressions:

Expressions	Meaning	Examples
hardly, barely, scarcely, only	almost none	There’s hardly any food left. We have only a little time.
rarely, seldom, only	almost never	He rarely drives to work. I’ve only been there once.

Here’s an example of a conversation with an almost negative expression:

(Woman) Were you able to pay the electric bill?

(Man) I had barely enough money.

(Question) What does the man imply?

In your test book, you read:

(A) He had plenty of money for the bill.

(B) He did not have enough money for the bill.

(C) He paid the bill but has no money left.

(D) He was unable to pay the bill.

The man’s answer says he had barely enough money, so we know that he could pay the bill, but he had no money or only a tiny bit of money left afterward. Therefore, (C) is the best answer.

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SKILL 10: LISTEN FOR NEGATIVES WITH COMPARATIVES

Negatives can be used with comparatives in short dialogues.  A sentence with a negative and a comparative has a superlative, or very strong meaning.

Example:

Woman: What do you think of the new student in math class?

Man: No one is more intelligent than she is.

(Narrator) : What does the man say about the new student?

Possible answers:

    (A)   She is not very smart.

    (B)   He is smarter than she is.

    (C)   Other students are smarter than she is.

    (D)  She is the smartest student in the class.

As we can see, the man responds with the negative NO and the comparative More intelligent, and this combination has a superlative meaning, the smartest. Answer D is the correct answer. 

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SKILL11: LISTEN FOR EXPRESSIONS OF AGREEMENT

We should become familiar with expressions of agreement, because there are short dialogues that usually contain those kind of expressions. These are expressions that show agreement with a positive statement (one that does not have not or ’nt in it):

• So do I. So did I. So can I. etc.

• I do too. I did too. I can too. etc.

• Me too. (This sounds more informal.)

For example:

(Woman) I think that lecture was really boring.

(Man) So do I! It was so dull!

When we agree with a negative statement (one that uses not or ’nt), we can say:

• Neither do I. Neither did I. Neither can I. etc.

• I don’t either. I didn’t either. I can’t either. etc.

• Me either. (This sounds very informal.)

For example:

(Woman) I don’t think that homework was difficult.

(Man) Neither do I. It was pretty easy.

On the recording you hear: 

(Man): I think that the hypothesis is indefensible.

(Woman): So do I.

Narrator: What does the woman mean?

This are the possible answers: 

    A. She is unsureabout the hypothesis.

    B.The hippopotamus is behind the fence.

    C. She thinks that the hypothesis can be defended.

    D. She agrees with the man.

As you see in the conversation, there is an expression that shows agreement ''So do I'', so the woman means that she agrees with the man. therefore the correct answer is D

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SKILL 12: LISTEN FOR EXPRESSIONS OF UNCERTAINTY AND SUGGESTION

Sometimes the second speaker shows uncertainty about what the first speaker said. Here are some expressions that might be used.

• I’m not so sure about that.

• As far as I know. As far as I can tell. (This implies that I may not know everything, so maybe I’m wrong.)

• …. isn’t it? ….didn’t he? ….won’t they?

For example:

(Woman) Didn’t the teacher say our test was next Monday?

(Man) I’m not so sure about that.

Expressions of uncertainty and suggestion are very common in short conversations. Look at the following example:

(Man) Do you know anything about the final examn physics?

(Woman) It's going to be rather difficult, isn't it?

Narrator: what does the woman mean?

possible answers:

 A. The exam is not going to be too difficult.

B. She is positive that it's going to be hard.

C. She thinks that it might be hard.

D.She has no idea about the exam.

The correct answer to this questions is letter C, because  the words Thinks and might express uncertainty. 

Here are some examples of suggestions: to agree with a suggestion, a speaker might use these expressions:

• Good idea! That’s an idea.

• Sounds good to me.

• Why not! (In this case, it’s not really a question.)

• By all means.

• Why didn’t I think of that? (Again, it’s not really a question.)

• That’s worth a try.

• Thanks, I’ll give it a try.

For example:

(Woman) Why don’t we go to Starbucks?

(Man) Why not!

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