Question Type: Lecture/Conversation and Questions

Examples and explanations of the Lecture/Conversation and Questions question type

What is being tested?

To answer these questions, you will need to listen to a recording of a short lecture or conversation between two people and then answer the related questions (which are written, not recorded). These texts cover a broad range of fields, mostly from the academic world, and the questions test your ability to understand the information you have heard. The questions deal with the primary and secondary ideas expressed in the lectures and conversations, with details that appear in them, with conclusions that arise from them, and so forth.

Instructions

At the beginning of Lecture/Conversation and Questions sections, you will be given instructions similar to the following:

You will hear a recording that is about 30, 60 or 90 seconds in length, followed by one or two questions about what you heard in the recording. For each question, choose the most appropriate answer based on the recording.
Please put your headphones on. Click ▶ to start the recording.

What should you pay attention to?

There is no limit on the number of times you can listen to each recording. At the same time, the time allotted to each section includes the time needed to listen to all of the texts and answer all of the questions. There is not enough time to return to all of the texts in their entirety.
In some of the recordings you will hear only one person speaking and in some of them you will hear two people - a man and a woman - speaking.
An accompanying illustration appears on the left side of the monitor. It is intended to provide general background for the listening text - for example, to reflect the gender of the speaker or speakers. The illustration does not contain information that will help you answer the questions.
Above the illustration there is a context sentence that provides basic information about the recording, such as the topic of the lecturer or the identity of the people having the conversation.
You can keep track of how much time has elapsed since the recording started and how much time is left by looking at the progress bar under the illustration.
The questions appear on the right side of the monitor. If you want to conceal them while you listen to the recording, click on the Hide button. When you want to see the questions, click on the Show button.
When you enter the classroom, you will receive one sheet of scrap paper. You may use the scrap paper you are given to make notes to yourself while you are listening to the recordings. At the end of the test, you must hand in the scrap paper to the proctors.

We recommend that you wear earphones while listening to the recordings that appear below.

Examples:

Recording 1 - Short

Two students, Amir and Tali, meet at the science laboratory.

Question 1

Amir and Tali are meeting at the laboratory because they have to -
(1) compare methods of analyzing data
(2) meet with Professor Cohen
(3) put their equipment away
(4) do their experiment again

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 2 - Short

Anna and George are talking about a lecture they heard about Steiner schools.

Question 1

George tells Anna that -
(1) Steiner schools are still very popular today
(2) the first Waldorf school was in a cigarette factory
(3) the first Waldorf school was opened long before the first Steiner school
(4) Waldorf schools and Steiner schools are different names for the same thing

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 3 - Short

Listen to part of a lecture about the United States Constitution.

Question 1

The lecture mainly discusses the __________ the U.S. Constitution.
(1) creation of
(2) rights mentioned in
(3) structure and purpose of
(4) original seven articles in

The correct answer is 3.

Recording 4 - Medium

Listen to part of a lecture on jackals.

Question 1

The main purpose of the lecture is to -
(1) describe where most jackals are found
(2) show that jackals and people can live together
(3) explain why jackals may be in danger
(4) provide basic information about jackals

The correct answer is 4.

Question 2

What does “jackals are omnivores” mean?
(1) They eat both meat and vegetation.
(2) They look like dogs, foxes and wolves.
(3) They defend their territory.
(4) They live in pairs.

The correct answer is 1.

Recording 5 - Medium

Listen to part of a lecture on the ideas of Jean Piaget.

Question 1

The lecture mainly discusses -
(1) Piaget’s views on ways to develop a child’s intellect
(2) why new experiences can be hard for children
(3) Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in children
(4) why some children are more intelligent than others

The correct answer is 3.

Question 2

Piaget suggested that intellectual development -
(1) is not fully understood
(2) continues even in old age
(3) relies mainly on assimilation
(4) occurs in stages

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 6 - Medium

Listen to part of a lecture about Fordite.

Question 1

Which of the following is not true of Fordite?
(1) It is easy to cut.
(2) It is colorful.
(3) It is used to make jewelry.
(4) It is a natural material.

The correct answer is 4.

Question 2

Why is it hard to find Fordite today?
(1) There is more agate available than there used to be.
(2) The way cars are painted today is different than in the past.
(3) More jewelry is now made from Fordite.
(4) The Ford automobile company stopped allowing workers to sell the material.

The correct answer is 2.

Recording 7 - Long

Two friends, Dan and Gali, are discussing a trip to America.

Question 1

What makes New Haven pizza unusual?
(1) It is baked in an oven.
(2) The tomato sauce is the most important ingredient.
(3) It has been made the same way since the early 1900s.
(4) There is no cheese on it.

The correct answer is 2.

Question 2

What is Gali’s opinion of New Haven pizza?
(1) It is delicious but not worth waiting in line for.
(2) It is not as good as the pizza in New York.
(3) It was the best pizza she ate during her vacation.
(4) It tasted more like Italian pizza than anything she had eaten before.

The correct answer is 3.

Recording 8 - Long

Listen to a museum guide and a visitor talk about an exhibit.

Question 1

The guide is mainly discussing -
(1) household items made in Warsaw, Poland
(2) how Norblin and Company made its silver products
(3) the company that made the candlesticks
(4) who owned the candlesticks

The correct answer is 3.

Question 2

According to the guide, Norblin and Company made items out of silver plate rather than sterling silver because -
(1) silver plate is stronger than sterling silver
(2) silver plate was in style at that time
(3) it was hard to get sterling silver at that time
(4) middle-class customers could not afford sterling silver items

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 9 - Long

Listen to part of a lecture on The Canterbury Tales.

Question 1

What is true about The Canterbury Tales?
(1) It features people from many different backgrounds.
(2) The stories in it are all written in the same style.
(3) It is the only work that Chaucer ever wrote.
(4) Chaucer wrote it after his pilgrimage to Canterbury.

The correct answer is 1.

Question 2

Why was Chaucer’s book different from other books of his time?
(1) It was written in a new literary genre.
(2) Chaucer used scholarly language to write it.
(3) It was written in Middle English.
(4) Most of the book focuses on secular themes.

The correct answer is 3.

Examples and explanations of the Lecture/Conversation and Questions question type

What is being tested?

Instructions

At the beginning of Lecture/Conversation and Questions sections, you will be given instructions similar to the following:

You will hear a recording that is about 30, 60 or 90 seconds in length, followed by one or two questions about what you heard in the recording. For each question, choose the most appropriate answer based on the recording.
Please put your headphones on. Click ▶ to start the recording.

What should you pay attention to?

There is no limit on the number of times you can listen to each recording. At the same time, the time allotted to each section includes the time needed to listen to all of the texts and answer all of the questions. There is not enough time to return to all of the texts in their entirety.
In some of the recordings you will hear only one person speaking and in some of them you will hear two people - a man and a woman - speaking.
An accompanying illustration appears on the left side of the monitor. It is intended to provide general background for the listening text - for example, to reflect the gender of the speaker or speakers. The illustration does not contain information that will help you answer the questions.
Above the illustration there is a context sentence that provides basic information about the recording, such as the topic of the lecturer or the identity of the people having the conversation.
You can keep track of how much time has elapsed since the recording started and how much time is left by looking at the progress bar under the illustration.
The questions appear on the right side of the monitor. If you want to conceal them while you listen to the recording, click on the Hide button. When you want to see the questions, click on the Show button.
When you enter the classroom, you will receive one sheet of scrap paper. You may use the scrap paper you are given to make notes to yourself while you are listening to the recordings. At the end of the test, you must hand in the scrap paper to the proctors.

We recommend that you wear earphones while listening to the recordings that appear below.

Examples:

Recording 1 - Short

Two students, Amir and Tali, meet at the science laboratory.

Question 1

Amir and Tali are meeting at the laboratory because they have to -
(1) compare methods of analyzing data
(2) meet with Professor Cohen
(3) put their equipment away
(4) do their experiment again

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 2 - Short

Anna and George are talking about a lecture they heard about Steiner schools.

Question 1

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 3 - Short

Listen to part of a lecture about the United States Constitution.

Question 1

The lecture mainly discusses the __________ the U.S. Constitution.
(1) creation of
(2) rights mentioned in
(3) structure and purpose of
(4) original seven articles in

The correct answer is 3.

Recording 4 - Medium

Listen to part of a lecture on jackals.

Question 1

The correct answer is 4.

Question 2

What does “jackals are omnivores” mean?
(1) They eat both meat and vegetation.
(2) They look like dogs, foxes and wolves.
(3) They defend their territory.
(4) They live in pairs.

The correct answer is 1.

Recording 5 - Medium

Listen to part of a lecture on the ideas of Jean Piaget.

Question 1

The correct answer is 3.

Question 2

Piaget suggested that intellectual development -
(1) is not fully understood
(2) continues even in old age
(3) relies mainly on assimilation
(4) occurs in stages

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 6 - Medium

Listen to part of a lecture about Fordite.

Question 1

Which of the following is not true of Fordite?
(1) It is easy to cut.
(2) It is colorful.
(3) It is used to make jewelry.
(4) It is a natural material.

The correct answer is 4.

Question 2

The correct answer is 2.

Recording 7 - Long

Two friends, Dan and Gali, are discussing a trip to America.

Question 1

The correct answer is 2.

Question 2

The correct answer is 3.

Recording 8 - Long

Listen to a museum guide and a visitor talk about an exhibit.

Question 1

The correct answer is 3.

Question 2

The correct answer is 4.

Recording 9 - Long

Listen to part of a lecture on The Canterbury Tales.

Question 1

The correct answer is 1.

Question 2

The correct answer is 3.