TOEIC Listening Part 1 shows you a photograph and reads four statements about it aloud, once. Only one describes what is actually in the picture; the other three use a real word from the scene in a false way. This page trains the two habits that decide the answer: describing the photo yourself before the audio starts, and rejecting a statement the moment one element of it fails.
In the seconds while the directions run, name the people, the action and the location in English: two workers, unloading, a van. You are then comparing sound to a prediction instead of building meaning from nothing.
The verb fails most often. If the photo shows a man holding a ladder and you hear climbing, the statement is dead however true the rest of it sounds.
Mark each option as you hear it: cross for definitely wrong, tick for possible. Four fast rejections beat one slow decision, and you will often be left with a single option before the last statement finishes.
With an empty room, a general statement such as the chairs are unoccupied is usually the answer. Statements naming people you cannot see are wrong even if the setting fits.
If two options survive, choose and move on. The next photograph starts immediately, and a second spent regretting this one costs you the preparation time for the next.
Zero, one, two or a group. A statement about *the men* is dead the moment you have registered one person, and that single check kills a distractor in each of several photographs.
Office, store, street, dock, kitchen. Once you have decided *warehouse*, words such as pallet, forklift and carton become expected rather than surprising, and you decode them faster.
*Is being repaired* requires someone repairing. In a photograph with no person visible, continuous passives are almost always the distractor.
Mark the number you are on with a finger while you look at the photograph. Losing your row on the sheet costs more points in Part 1 than any vocabulary gap.
Not thisThe man is riding on a whiteboard.
ThisThe man is writing on a whiteboard.
Riding and writing are near-homophones for many candidates. Part 1 builds distractors on exactly this pair, so check the action against the picture rather than against the sound.
Not thisThe documents are being filed. (in a photo of a full filing cabinet with nobody near it)
ThisThe documents have been filed.
The present continuous passive needs an agent doing it now. With no person in the photo, only the finished-state form is true.
Not thisShe is wearing a coat. (in a photo of a coat over her arm)
ThisShe is carrying a coat.
Wear means it is on the body; carry means it is in the hands or over the arm. Putting on is a third meaning again.
Not thisThe chairs are occupying.
ThisThe chairs are occupied.
Occupy is transitive. For a state you describe the chairs with the past participle, not an -ing form with nothing after it.
Not thisThe men are working on a roof. (in a photo of one worker)
ThisA man is working on a roof.
Plural subjects are a cheap distractor. Counting the people first makes this an automatic rejection rather than a judgement call.
Not thisShe is trying on a jacket. (in a photo of a woman looking at a jacket on a rail)
ThisShe is examining a jacket.
Try on means putting the garment on your body in a shop. Looking at, holding and trying on are three different actions the test keeps apart.
Not thisThe vehicles are parking.
ThisThe vehicles are parked.
Parking describes the manoeuvre in progress, with a driver at the wheel. A row of stationary cars is a finished state.
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.
1Complete with the present continuous of *unload*.
3Complete with one preposition.
6Complete with the present perfect passive of *stock*.
7A photograph shows a receptionist handing a visitor a badge across a counter. Write one sentence describing the main action in the present continuous.
One good answer
A receptionist is handing a badge to a visitor at the front counter.
9Complete with the present continuous passive of *load*.
11Complete with one preposition.
13Complete with a three-word preposition meaning *above and touching*.
15Complete with the -ing form of *kneel*.
17A photograph shows an empty hotel lobby with luggage carts lined up by the wall. Write one sentence that would be safe to choose as the correct statement, and say why.
One good answer
Luggage carts are lined up along the wall. It is safe because it describes only objects that are visible, and it names no person doing anything.
18Complete with a two-word phrase meaning *opposite*.
21Complete with the -ing form of *browse*.
23Complete with the present perfect passive of *park*.
25Complete with one noun meaning *a wheeled frame for moving goods*.
27Complete with the present perfect passive of *place*.
29Complete with one word: a high-visibility ___ vest.
31Complete with the -ing form of *hand*.
32A photograph shows an empty warehouse aisle with cartons stacked on both sides. Write one statement that would be correct and one that would be a typical distractor.
One good answer
Correct: Cartons are stacked along both sides of the aisle. Distractor: A worker is loading cartons onto a cart — it names a person who is not in the photograph.
34Complete with the past participle of *dock*.
36Complete with one compound noun meaning *the bar you hold on stairs*.
38Explain in one or two sentences why counting the people in the photograph before the audio starts is worth the time it takes.
One good answer
The number of people decides whether a statement with a plural subject can be true at all. It is a check you can make in under a second and it removes at least one option in many items.
Note
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No. You need the verb and the object of each one. If either contradicts the photograph, reject the statement and stop listening to the rest of it.
Because that is how the distractors are built. A word from the scene appears inside a false statement, which is why familiarity alone is not evidence.
At the photograph. Keep your pencil on the answer sheet, but your eyes on the image, so that each statement lands on something you can check.
A few seconds only. That is enough to name the people, the action and the setting, which is exactly what the preparation is for — anything longer is not available to you.
No. The present perfect passive, such as *have been stacked*, is often the correct answer for a photo of objects. It is the present continuous passive that needs a visible agent.
Yes, because it is the cheapest section to improve. The language is a small, closed set of workplace actions and prepositions, and two hours of focused practice usually shows up in the score.