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Hello, hello, hello! It’s ABC English Levels and Valentine speaking. Welcome to our new audio lesson! Today, we’re finishing the FCE Listening Part, and I’ll focus on the FCE Listening Part 4. As usual, you’ll learn the structure of this part, some tips to feel more confident, and we’ll practise a little. Let’s start?
What’s the FCE Listening Part 4?
In the FCE Listening part 4, you listen to an interview or a conversation. There’re seven questions that you have to answer by choosing one of the options A, B or C. You will hear the recording twice.
What does the FCE Listening Part 4 test?
This part tests your ability to understand main ideas, details, speaker’s opinions and attitudes as well as specific information.
How is the FCE Listening Part 4 marked?
You’re given one mark for each correct answer.
Strategy and tips
Before listening, they give you the instructions and then about a minute to read the questions and the options. The instructions are printed on your exam sheet.
- Start reading and listening to the instructions with all your attention as you kill two birds with one stone. First, you understand the subject of a conversation which helps to make you think in the right direction. And second, you get immediately involved in the process of listening.
- Make good use of the pause before the recording starts. Read quickly but carefully (yes, it’s possible if you drill all the time to do like this) and again, underline key words.
- Take into consideration that it is a conversation. So, important words might be both in the interviewer’s questions and interviewee’s answers. That is to say, if there’s a question about feelings, focus on what a person explains concerning feelings, not his actions, for example.
- You might hear all the key words mentioned in the questions and answers. Be careful! You must understand up to what degree each idea in the answer refers to the question. I mean, try to get which one is the main and which is a secondary.
Example
Let’s practice now. This example is based on the real FCE Listening Part 4. Of course, I’m not going to make you listen to all seven questions. We’ll do only one. So, listen to the instructions.
You will hear an interview with a musician talking about her career. Choose the best answer A, B or C to the question below.
The question is: How did her interest in music begin?
The options are:
A She went to one of her father’s concerts.
B She was given lessons by an orchestra violinist.
C She watched musicians practising.
Now, listen carefully
Interviewer: We’re very pleased to welcome the violinist Ketty Blake. Thank you for coming, Ketty. Well, first of all, how did your interest in music begin?
Ketty: My father was a violinist in an orchestra, and from an early age I would go with him when they were rehearsing for concerts. I would sit with the violinists and listen. I learned a lot, and everyone was very kind to me. I actually composed my first piece of music for the violin when I was six years old. My father treasured it!
Analyze
Well, let’s analyze. The musician mentions directly ‘orchestra’, ‘violinist’, ‘concerts‘ which are the key words from options A and B. Now, let’s try to understand if they really reflect the ideas of these options.
Option B says that she was given a lesson by an orchestra violinist. Although she says she learnt a lot, it doesn’t mean she was given lessons. It means that she learned a lot by being together with the musicians.
Option A suggests that Ketty went to one of her father’s concerts. But it’s not true as she remembers going with him when they were rehearsing, or preparing, for concerts. Therefore, this logically leads us to the right answer which is option C: She watched the musicians practising.
All right, it was the last audio lesson on the FCE Listening Paper prepared by ABC English Levels and Valentine. I hope now you get the idea of how to do the FCE Listening test better. Remember my tips, practise a lot, ask us questions and get more information about our skype and eLive courses on our website abc-englishlevels.com. And remember to share this audio lesson with your friends if you think they might need it.
Thank you for being with us. It was ABC English Levels and your Valentine. Cheers!
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