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Watch out for traps
Trap Number One –
unexpected turn
You might hear speaker starting to say one thing and then, suddenly, continuing to
something completely different. This is a trap, so make sure you don’t fall for it. The
rule here is “Last word counts”. For example, if the speaker says “I want to
visit that
gallery on Monday. No, wait, I’ve just remembered that it is closed on Monday, so I
will go on Wednesday.”, and the question is “when” – the correct answer here is
Wednesday, and Monday is a trap.
Trap Number Two – generalizations
You might hear speaker first gives a list
of things and then says them all in one word.
For example: “Well, I like to swim, hike, and camp – to be involved in outdoor
activities.” If the question is “What kind of activities…” the correct answer is
“outdoor” and not “swimming”, “hiking” or “camping”.
Trap Number Three –
explicit answer choices
Explicit answers choices can be (and mostly will be) traps. The following example
demonstrates what I mean:
The tape says: “This course is a must for all first year students, excluding foreign
students”.
The Question is “
All the first year students have to take this course”,
The
Answer should be F(alse), because there is an exception – foreign students.
All the explicit answers that mean “no exceptions” are suspicious to us and call for
more attention.
