Skill II Connecting Information
5. Type V: Organization Question
Ø What is organization question: in understanding organization questions you may be asked about the overall organization of the listening passage, or you may be asked about therelationship between two portions of the listening passage.
Ø How to recognize this question:
How is the information in the lecture organized?
How does the professor clarify the points he makes about Mexico?
Ø 4 structures of IBT listening passage:
l Simple structure
l Paratactic structure
l Compare structure
l Contrast structure
Ø Cracking Table QUESTIONS:
l Counterpart: paratactic details and symbolic characteristics
l True or False: mentioned or not
l Sort order: process and procedure
Ø Example 1: compound words
Choose the right form of each compound noun.
Closed formHyphenated formOpen form
Ski+book
Six+pack
History+book
Text+book
P: Let’s look at a few things about English. What is a compound word?
S: Two chemicals mixed together?
P: Very funny, but no.
S: Two words mixed together.
P: Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. A compound word is made up of two or more words that express a single idea. There are different ways that compound nouns can be formed. We are going to concentrate here on the noun plus noun form. Can you come up with any examples?
S: Doghouse, dog plus house. Cupcake, cup and cake.
P: Excellent. There are three different ways to form this type of compound noun: there is the closed form, in which the words come together as one, such as firefly…keyboard…notebook.
S: Textbook, fireplace.
P: Great. And there is the hyphenated form…ski-boot, daughter-in-law, sin-pack…The last form of compound nouns is the open form, such as post office … history book…mineral water. Just exactly how and why these three exist is not clear, but it seems likely that the process will begin with two words, become hyphenated after a time, and then eventually end up as just one word. Language is a living thing and always changing.
6. Type VI: Inference Question
Ø What is inference question: you usually have to reach a conclusion based on factspresented in the listening passage.
Ø How to recognize this question:
What can be inferred about …? ETS
What does the professor imply about …? ETS
What will the students do in the summer?
Why does the professor mention the Golden Gate Bridge?
Ø Tips:
l Opinions: in my opinion, as far as I’m concerned, personally, pay attention, from my point of view
l Ending paragraph
l In most cases the answer you choose will use vocabulary not found in the listening passage.
Ø Example 1: compound words
Why does the lecturer say this?
A To tell students that tattooing is not scary.
B To suggest students not to get a tattoo.
C To warn students to be aware of risks.
D To tell students that she was joking.
M: can you tell me about parking on campus? I’ve just gotten a car, and I’m going to be parking on campus. I’m so glad I don’t have to be riding my bicycle to class anymore.
W: parking is kind of difficult on campus because there just aren’t enough spaces for all the people who want to park. You do know that if you’re going to park on campus, you’ll need a parking sticker?
M: a parking sticker? What kind of parking sticker?
W: well, if you’re only going to park on campus once in a while, you can get a daily sticker each day that you park. But if you’re going to be parking on campus often, the n you should really get a permanent sticker.
M: I have classes almost every day of the week, so I know what I’ve got to do.