2.4. The Pauses in the Recording
Find the pauses in the recording and know exactly what to do in each one.
The short version
The four recordings are not played back to back.
About 30 seconds to read each group of questions. It varies a little.
About 30 seconds to check after each part.
Part 4 gives you all ten questions at once.
The recording controls the clock
You cannot pause, rewind, or take longer over a hard question. What you get instead are built in pauses, and they are all the planning time there is.
How Parts 1 to 3 are shaped
- 30 sec · Preview the first group
Read the questions you are about to hear and decide what each gap needs.
- 150 sec · The recording plays
Answer as you listen. There is no second chance.
- 30 sec · Preview the second group
The recording stops and points you at the next set of questions.
- 150 sec · The recording continues
The same speakers carry on from where they left off.
- 30 sec · Check what you wrote
Fill any blanks with a guess before the next part starts.
Total: 390 sec
Preview time belongs to what is coming
Part 4 is the exception to the shape above. It gives you all ten questions in one preview and then plays straight through, with no pause in the middle. Whichever part you are in, use each pause on the questions you are about to hear.
Tips
- Decide the kind of answer, not the answer
In the pause, work out that question 12 wants a price and question 14 wants a day. You are narrowing what to listen for.
- Do not spend a preview pause looking backwards
You already had a checking pause at the end of the last part. Using this one on old answers means walking into the next part blind.
- Use the checking pause to fill blanks
About thirty seconds is not enough to think hard, but it is enough to put a guess in every empty box.
Quiz time2 questions
Two questions on using the pauses.
The pause before a part
Choose the best use of the time.
The recording tells you to look at questions 11 to 16. What now?
Part 4
Choose what is different about Part 4.
How are the questions given to you in Part 4?
Recap
The recording builds in short pauses, and they are your only planning time.
Preview time belongs to the questions you are about to hear.
Part 4 previews all ten questions at once.
Next: how to use that preview time well, by predicting the kind of answer.