7.2. The Jump to Band 6
Swap the Band 5 habits that lose whole groups of marks.
The short version
The gap at this level is method, not vocabulary.
Use every preview pause on what is coming.
Leave a missed answer immediately.
Write something in every box.
Seven marks, all of them habits
The marks between these two bands are almost never a vocabulary problem. They go to sitting through the pause, freezing after a miss, spelling by ear, dropping an s, and leaving boxes empty.
Each one is fixable in a week
Below, the Band 5 habit sits beside the Band 6 habit that replaces it.
Seven habits, side by side
Waits for the recording to start. Reads the questions for the first time while the speaker is already talking.
Uses the pause to read every gap. Decides what kind of answer fits: a name, a number, a day, a plural noun, a price.
Keeps listening for the answer that has gone. Misses the next three while chasing it.
Leaves the box, moves the eye to the next question, and guesses the missed one at the end.
Writes the first figure the speaker says and stops listening.
Listens for the figure that is attached to the words in the question. The first figure is often the other one.
Writes the name the way it sounds.
Writes the letters as they are spelled out, one by one, and checks the count.
Writes towel when the speaker said towels, or the other way round.
Reads the words around the gap. A ____ wants a singular; two ____ wants a plural.
Leaves a box empty rather than write something that might be wrong.
Writes a guess in every box. A blank is zero; a guess is sometimes a mark.
Never rereads the answers, so a swapped digit or a missing letter stays in.
Rereads every answer in the checking time: digits, names and plurals.
The same miss, two results
Misses the answer to question 3. Keeps listening for it. The speaker gives the answers to 4, 5 and 6 while the candidate is still waiting. Four boxes empty.
Misses the answer to question 3. Leaves it and looks at question 4 straight away. Catches 4, 5 and 6. One box guessed at the end.
What to do in the pause before each part
- 1Read the heading and the instructions
The word limit is there. So is the topic, which tells you who is talking and why.
- 2Name what each gap needs
For each box, decide what kind of thing goes in it: name, number, day, place, plural. This takes seconds and it is what you will listen for.
- 3Highlight the word before and after each gap
Those are the words the speaker is most likely to say close to the answer, or to paraphrase.
- 4Find your first question
Put your cursor on it before the speaker starts. When it is answered, move to the next one at once.
Quiz time2 questions
The number that belongs to the gap
Play the booking call once. The form has the gap Full fee: £ ____ with the limit ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER.
Part 1: kayak hire booking
0:00 / 0:00
In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
What do you write in the gap?
Careless typing
The recording gave these answers: 2 Kowal, 3 07700 900 261, 4 pontoon. The three lines below are what a candidate typed. Only one line has been typed wrongly.
Which sentence contains the error?
Recap
Predict in the pause rather than reading during the talk.
Never chase an answer the speaker has passed.
Fill every box before the part ends.
Next: how the thirty minutes runs on the day.