Skip to content
Pick TwoActivity

C2 Proficiency listening multiple matching practice

C2Listening & Speaking40 questionsUpdated

In the C2 Proficiency multiple matching task you hear several short monologues on a shared theme and match each speaker to an option twice over, usually once for a reason or purpose and once for an attitude or opinion. The options are abstract, the overlap between speakers is deliberate, and the task is decided by paraphrase rather than by vocabulary.

What this task tests

  • Matching abstract options to concrete speech, in both directions.
  • Distinguishing speakers who share a topic but differ in attitude.
  • Answering two different questions about the same monologue.
  • Holding five short texts in mind without confusing them.
  • Recognising paraphrase of abstract nouns such as resentment, relief, vindication.
  • Resisting options that match a phrase rather than the speaker’s point.
  • Identifying purpose: why the speaker is telling this story now.
  • Hearing what a speaker regrets, expected, or has changed their mind about.
  • Using the second listening to resolve the two hardest speakers.
  • Working with a closed set, where placing one option constrains the rest.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Read both option lists before the first speaker

    You are answering two questions per speaker, so you need both lists in your head. Skim each list and reduce every option to a single word you can hold while listening.

  2. Step 2:

    Answer the easier question first

    For most candidates the reason question is easier than the attitude one. Mark what you are sure of on the first listening and leave the second column deliberately incomplete.

  3. Step 3:

    Take one-word notes as each speaker talks

    Write two or three words per speaker: bitter, cost, sister. Notes beat memory over five monologues, and they let you compare speakers afterwards without replaying them in your head.

  4. Step 4:

    Paraphrase each option in advance

    An option such as a sense of vindication is easier to hear if you have already translated it into I was right all along. Do the translation in the preparation time, not while the audio runs.

  5. Step 5:

    Watch for the speaker who matches two options

    Overlap is designed in. Where a speaker seems to fit two options, ask which one their whole turn is about and which is only mentioned in passing.

  6. Step 6:

    Use the closed set

    There are more options than speakers, but each option is used at most once per question. Placing a certain speaker removes that option from everyone else, which frequently settles the pair you were unsure about.

  7. Step 7:

    Keep the two columns physically separate

    Mark reason answers on one side and attitude answers on the other and never write in the wrong column. Transposed columns are a real and entirely avoidable way to lose several marks at once.

  8. Step 8:

    Guess in the transfer time, never during the audio

    Leave the doubtful item blank while listening so it does not distract you, then fill every blank with the best remaining option once the recording ends.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisChoosing an option because the speaker used one of its words.

    ThisChoosing the option that captures what the speaker was doing.

    Options are written in abstract vocabulary precisely so that a literal match is a warning sign rather than evidence.

  • Not thisMatching two speakers to the same option in the same question.

    ThisUsing each option at most once per question.

    Duplicating an option means at least two items are wrong, and the duplication itself is a signal that one of them should be reconsidered.

  • Not thisDeciding a speaker’s attitude from their first sentence.

    ThisWaiting for the whole turn, which often reverses.

    Monologues at C2 typically begin with the expected reaction and end with the real one.

  • Not thisConfusing what a speaker regrets with what they resent.

    ThisReading the options carefully enough to distinguish near-synonyms.

    Abstract options are graded finely. Regret, resentment, resignation and relief can all follow the same events.

  • Not thisLeaving items blank at the end of the recording.

    ThisFilling every blank from the remaining options.

    In a closed set, an unused option is information. A guess informed by elimination is frequently right and a blank never is.

  • Not thisWriting detailed notes and missing the following sentence.

    ThisWriting one or two words per speaker.

    Note-taking that competes with listening costs more than it saves in a task this short.

Language this task keeps reusing

a sense of vindication
the feeling of having been proved right
resentment
lasting anger at unfair treatment
resignation
acceptance of something unwelcome that cannot be changed
relief
the feeling when an expected bad outcome does not occur
misgivings
doubts felt before acting
an ulterior motive
a hidden reason for an action
out of loyalty
because of an obligation to a person or group
on a whim
for no considered reason
to prove a point
in order to demonstrate that one was right
under duress
because of pressure or threat
grudging admiration
respect given unwillingly
self-deprecating
playing down one’s own achievements
nostalgia
fond longing for the past
disillusionment
loss of belief in something once admired
apprehension
anxiety about something coming
indifference
lack of interest or concern

Practice: listening multiple matching

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.

Speaker 1 says: 'Everyone told me it would fail. It ran for nine years.' Her dominant feeling is

2Complete the sentence.

She took the job out ofto a colleague rather than for the money.
Speaker 2 says: 'I still do not know why I said yes. I had nothing to gain.' His reason was

4Complete the sentence.

He admits to having had seriousfrom the very first meeting.
Decide whether each statement about multiple matching is true.
  • Each speaker is matched to an option twice, for two different questions.
  • There are more options than speakers.
  • One option may be used for two speakers in the same question.
3 to go

6Complete the sentence.

There is a note of grudgingin the way he describes his rival.
Speaker 3 says: 'I gave it up. I was not going to be told how to teach by someone who had never taught.' Her feeling is

8Complete the sentence.

She says she agreed only under, which explains her tone throughout.

9Explain why an option written as 'a growing sense of disillusionment' is unlikely to be matched by a speaker who uses the word disillusioned.

10Complete the sentence.

He did it, he says, on a, having read about it that morning.

Keep going

30 more questions on this page

Leave your email and the rest of the set opens straight away — on this page and every other exam page on the site. We read every address by hand and write back with practice suited to what you are preparing for. No list, no drip sequence.

One email, once. We never sell it or pass it on.

Note

Pick Two Activity is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Cambridge University Press & Assessment, the British Council, IDP, ETS, Duolingo or any other exam board. Exam names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to describe the exam you are preparing for. Every question on this page is original practice written by us: we do not provide, copy or reproduce official exam papers.

Frequently asked questions

How many speakers are there?

A small number of short monologues on one theme, each answered twice. Check the instruction on the paper, and use the preparation time to read both option lists rather than counting.

Can one option answer both questions for the same speaker?

The two questions have separate option lists, so the question does not arise. What matters is that within one list an option is used at most once.

Should I answer both questions on the first listening?

No. Take the question you find easier on the first listening and leave the other for the second. Trying to do both at once is why candidates hear neither.

What if two speakers seem to fit the same option?

One of them fits it better, and the closed set guarantees only one can have it. Look at which speaker’s whole turn is about that idea rather than which one mentions it more loudly.

Is it worth taking notes?

Yes, but only a word or two per speaker. Long notes compete with listening, and in a task built on five short monologues the cost of missing a sentence is high.