Part B: Listening Comprehension

1. STATEMENTS

Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear several short statements. These statements will be spoken ONLY ONCE, and you will not find them written on the paper; so you must listen carefully. When you hear a statement, read the answer choices and decide which one is closest in meaning to the statement you have heard. Then write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding¹ space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

1. I used to watch a lot of TV, but now I can't stand it. Too many commercials made me sick. They are everywhere in every program and every channel.

2. The flight was due at 7:30 but it was delayed one and a half hours, so I have to put off our meeting until 10:00.

3. As to this agreement, no questions come to my mind right now, but I'd like to read it through again before signing it.

4. To the chairperson's surprise, better than half of the committee was absent, which accounted for her decision to call off the meeting this morning.

5. Grocery stores and supermarkets in the inner² city and the suburbs³ may sometimes be run by the same company, but there are often differences in prices for the same product.

6. Getting their children into college used to be the goal of millions of Americans. Nowadays, with the increasing costs of higher education, it has become an even bigger challenge.

7. Because of the unfavorable economic situation, many liberal⁴ arts graduates will have difficulty in finding⁵ employment⁶ unless they are willing to accept work outside their major interests.

8. Good business negotiators ask a lot of questions to check understanding and they often restate what other persons have said.

9. To avoid misunderstanding and legal problems in the future, spoken promises are usually not enough for such an important business transaction⁷.

10. I really appreciate what you said and I believe you have a lot more to say on that topic. Let's explore the subject over lunch one of these days.