In the C1 Advanced multiple-choice listening tasks you hear short extracts and a longer interview, and you choose between options that all mention something the speaker says. The skill being tested is recognising a paraphrase of the speaker’s meaning while the recording moves on.
The stem tells you what to listen for — a reason, a feeling, a point of disagreement. Reading four options first fills your head with words that the distractors will then echo.
‘How does she feel about…’, ‘What does he say was the main difficulty…’. One underlined word keeps you on the right question when the speaker covers three topics in twenty seconds.
Distractors are built from things the speaker actually says. The question is not what was said but what answers the stem, so hearing a word from option B proves nothing.
‘I did enjoy it, up to a point’ and ‘I enjoyed it’ answer different questions. The small words after a claim — though, admittedly, at least at first — usually carry the answer.
Mark your answer the first time through, even if you are unsure. The second listening is for confirming and for the one or two you genuinely missed, not for starting again.
If you realise you have lost one, let it go and pick up the next stem. Chasing costs you two more answers, which is the commonest way candidates lose marks in this paper.
There is no penalty for a wrong answer and no time to return. Put something down for every question before the next extract starts.
Fifteen minutes of a radio interview a day, with you summarising the speaker’s attitude in one sentence afterwards, builds exactly the skill the task assesses.
Not thisChoosing the option that contains a word you definitely heard.
ThisChoosing the option that answers the stem.
Every option contains something you heard. Word-matching is what the distractors are designed to catch.
Not thisAnswering ‘what does she say about the course’ with what her colleague said about it.
ThisChecking whose opinion the stem asks for.
In interviews two voices give views. The stem always names the speaker, and skipping that word is an easy mark lost.
Not thisDeciding the answer from the first sentence of the extract.
ThisWaiting for the speaker to finish the point.
Speakers commonly state a view and then qualify or reverse it. The answer is usually where they land, not where they start.
Not thisLeaving an answer blank to come back to it.
ThisMarking your best guess immediately.
There is no return. A blank scores nothing; a guess between two options scores half the time.
Not thisReading the next question while the current extract is still playing.
ThisFinishing one question, then moving on in the pause provided.
Dividing attention loses both answers. The pauses are timed to make the reading possible without overlapping.
Not thisTranslating in your head as you listen.
ThisListening for the gist of the claim and its qualifier.
Translation is far slower than speech. It guarantees you fall behind and miss the qualification that carries the answer.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
2Complete the sentence.
3Complete the sentence.
6Complete the sentence.
7You realise you have missed the answer to question three. What do you do?
One good answer
Nothing about question three until the recording is over. Mark a guess, move your eyes to question four immediately, and stay with the speaker. Candidates who go back lose the next two answers as well, which turns one lost mark into three.
9Complete the sentence.
10Complete the sentence.
13Complete the sentence.
15Complete the sentence.
16What exactly should you do in the pause before an extract?
One good answer
Read the stems, not the options. Underline the focus word in each — feel, main reason, disagree — and put a one-word prediction beside it if you can. Then look up and listen from the first word, because the answer to question one often comes within the opening seconds.
17Complete the sentence.
20Complete the sentence.
22Complete the sentence.
26Complete the sentence.
28Complete the sentence.
29A speaker changes her mind during the extract. Which part gives the answer?
One good answer
Usually where she ends up, not where she began. Listen for the pivot — ‘though’, ‘in the end’, ‘having said that’, ‘looking back’ — and treat everything before it as the position she is moving away from. If the stem asks what she thought at the time, the opposite applies, which is why the stem must be read carefully.
31Complete the sentence.
33Complete the sentence.
35Complete the sentence.
37Complete the sentence.
39Name four attitude words worth knowing for this task and what each signals.
One good answer
Sceptical: doubts the claim. Dismissive: will not even consider it. Ambivalent: sees both sides and cannot decide. Resigned: accepts something unwelcome without fighting it. Options in this task are frequently written with words like these, so not knowing them costs the mark even when the extract was fully understood.
Note
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Almost always because you are matching words rather than meaning, or answering a stem you have half read. Try this: cover the options, listen, and write your own answer to the stem. Then look at the options. If you start scoring well that way, the problem is the distractors, not your listening.
One or two words beside a stem, no more. Full notes pull your attention away from the speaker, and in this task there is nothing to write down: the answer is a choice, not a record.
You will hear a range of them, so practise with a range. A month of listening to speakers from different countries is worth more than any exercise, and it removes the shock of an unfamiliar voice on the day.
Natural, unhurried speed, with the features of real speech: hesitation, self-correction, incomplete sentences. Practising with scripted material only is why candidates find the real thing faster than expected.
Always. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, and by the time you reach the end you will have eliminated at least one option on most questions, which makes a guess a genuine chance rather than a lottery.