TOEFL LISTENING STRATEGIES: SHORT DIALOGUES

Short dialogues questions are basically a two-lined dialogue between two speakers followed by a multiple choice question.

• TRUE

• FALSE

How do you answer short dialogues?

• Focus on the second line of the conversation.

• Note that the correct answer is probably a restatement of a key word or an idea in the second line of the dialogue.

• Note that the structure of the sentence and expressions are mostly tested in this kind of questions.

What other strategies can you do to answer short dialogues?

• Note that questions usually progress from easy to difficult.

• Read the four answer choices carefully and choose the best answer to the question.

• Try to look for synonyms or even the exact same words of the dialogue among the answer choices. (only if you don't understand the complete dialogue.)

• Put in your mind that you only have 12 seconds between every two questions.

Strategy 1: Focus on the last line.

What does it mean?

• The dialogue is a conversation between two people.

• The answer to a short-dialogue question is mostly in the second line of the conversation (but not always!)

Strategy 2: Choose answers with synonyms.

Woman: Why is Barbra feeling so happy?

Man: She just started working in a real estate agency.

Question: What does the man say about Barbra?

• She always liked her work in real estate.

• She began a new job.

• She just bought some real estate.

• She bought a real estate agency.

Strategy 3: Avoid similar sounds

Man: why couldn't Mark come today?

Woman: He was searching for a new apartment.

Question: What does the woman say about Mark?

• He was in the department office.

• He was looking for a place to live.

• He was working on his research project.

• He had an appointment at church.

Strategy 4: Draw conclusions about WHO, WHAT, WHERE.

Woman: Can you tell me what assignments I missed when I was absent from your class?

Man: You missed one homework assignment and a quiz.

Question: Who is the man?

• a newspaper editor

• a police officer

• a teacher

• a student

Strategy 5: Listen for "who" and "what" in passive.

Man: Did Sally go to the back this morning?

Woman: Yes, she did. She got a new checking account.

Question: What does the woman imply?

• Sally wrote several checks.

• Sally wanted to check up to the bank.

• A new checking account was open.

• Sally checked on the balance in her account.

Strategy 6: Listen for "who" and "what" in multiple nouns.

Man: Do you know who is in the band now?

Woman: I heard that Mara replaced Robert in the band.

Question: What does the woman say about the band?

• Robert became a new member of the band.

• Robert took Mara's place in the band.

• Mara didn't have a place in the band.

• Mara took Robert's place in the band.

Strategy 7: Listen for negative expressions.

Man: How did they get to their grandmother's house in Maine in only 5 hours?

Woman: They didn't drive slowly on the trip to Maine.

Question: What does the woman say about the trip?

• They drove rather quickly.

• They couldn't have driven more slowly.

• They wanted to travel slowly to Maine.

• They didn't drive to Maine.