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UNIT 1
LISTENING
PART ONE
Skill A: UNDERSTANDING MAIN IDEAS
For this skill, you are required to practice and perform the skill of understanding the overall topic or basic idea of a lecture or a conversation.
• To achieve this goal, you need to understand the speaker’s general purpose in giving a lecture or having a conversation. To practice this skill you have to answer the questions like:
1. - What is the topic of the lecture?
2. - What is the conversation/talk mainly about?
3. - What is the lecture/discussion mainly about?
4. - What is the teacher/lecturer/woman/man talking about?
5. - Why does the man talk to the woman?
6. - Why does the woman go to see his/her professor?
7. - What aspect of _(overall topic)_ does the professor mainly discuss?
8. - What are the people mainly discussing?
9. - What does the woman need from the _______?
• You also have to eliminate incorrect answer choices, and
• You have to identify a statement that is not mentioned in the listening passage
Tip 1: Key word(s) or phrase(s)
Very often, in the lecture or conversation, you can identify the main ideas of the lecture or conversation by listening to the key word(s) or phrase(s) that are repeated through out the talk. In this process, you are also required to distinguish between details and minor idea (supporting ideas or satellites) from main idea (central idea). Sometimes, the speaker’s question in the talk can help to give a clue of his/her general purpose.
Let’s listen to the following extracts of conversation to identify the main idea of the conversation.
1. Listen and choose the correct answer for each question.
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
a. Tomorrow’s weather
b. Playing football in the rain
c. Lucky football team
d. Falling in the rain
Tape script:
On listening to the conversation, you have to take notes of the key words/phrases of the talk (Make sure that you don’t write down all the words you can hear such as a/the/is/are or other grammatical words that do not provide the key information about the content). In the conversation you can hear a number of key words/phrases that are related to the general topic of football, and this can be represented in the following web-like diagram.
You can identify play football as the main idea thanks to the question “Do you have something planed for tomorrow?” whereas the other key words serve as the supporting ideas that help to develop the main idea play football. Therefore, although you heard such words/phrases about “tomorrow weather” (a), “lucky football” ©, “falling in the rain” (d), each of these are not the central idea that covers all the other supporting ideas mentioned in a, c or d.
One working tip to treat some key words/phrases as supporting ideas or minor details is to put questions like:
- Did you hear the related words to “tomorrow weather”?
If the answer is Yes, then you have to put this question to yourself:
- Does the talk is only about “tomorrow weather”?
It is obvious that the talk is not only about the weather tomorrow (a) or about other details in © and (d). On the other hand, you can see that “playing football in the rain” can cover all the other things mentioned in (a), © and (d).
The tip can be summarized as follows:
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
a. Tomorrow’s weather (You actually heard this but it is only minor detail)
b. Playing football in the rain (You actually hear this and it is related to and cover the other details mentioned in (a), © and (d)
c. Lucky football team (You actually heard this but it is only minor detail)
d. Falling in the rain (You actually heard this but it is only minor detail)
Now let’s practice the skill of identifying the main idea/topic using another tip.
Tip 2: Introductory statement of the topic of lecture
When you listen to a lecture, it is important to identify the topic/main idea that the lecturer or speaker is going to talk about. Very often, this main idea/topic is mentioned in the introduction of lecture.
Here are some example introductory statements:
- This lecture is going to introduce you to …
- I would like to concentrate today on …
- OK class, today we’re talking about …
- Today, I want to look at …
- Well, today, we’re finally going to talk about …
- Today we will specifically discuss…
- Today, we’ll be discussing …
- Let’s talk a little more about …
- Now, let me tell you a little bit about …
Words & Expressions:
cavemen (n): người nguyên thủy
distract (v): làm mất tập trung
2. What is the teacher talking about?
a. How cavemen hunted
b. What food cavemen ate
c. The weapons of cavemen
d. Distracting big animals
• If you have difficulty in listening for the first time, you can use the tape script below to facilitate the analysis.
Tape script:
You can use this to practice the skill for identifying the main ideas
Class, we’re going to talk about how cavemen used to hunt for food. Most people think that cavemen threw stones or spears by themselves. However, scientists have found that cavemen hunted in groups. In fact, cavemen were very smart. Many of them were trained to hunt for big animals. Some would stand in front of the animals and distract them, while other people in the group attacked from the side or the back. The cavemen were very good hunters.
The first sentence in the extract of lecture “Class, we’re going to talk about how cavemen used to hunt for food” may help you to identify the topic of lecture that the speaker is delivering. The following sentences function to provide information about the details or facts to support or develop the main idea.
Let’s look at the following branching diagram in your notes.
If you fail to catch the first sentence which is the introductory statement of the topic, you can go on taking notes and make use of your notes to identify the main idea by crossing out the other options. The process of making decision to cross out the other options to arrive at the best choice will be like this. As for option (b), although you actually heard the word “food”, the speaker did not mention “what food cavemen ate”. Also, you actually heard “throw stones/spears by themselves” but this was not considered as the hunting method of cavemen because the next sentence begins with the contrasting transition word “however” to negate the previous idea about how cavemen hunted “throw stones/spears by themselves”, and introduces a new fact that “cavemen hunted in groups”. The detail “Distracting big animals” is also mentioned in the talk, but this should be understood as the supporting idea along with “threw stones/spears by themselves”, “hunt in groups” to develop the main idea “how cavemen hunted”. The tip can be summarized as follows.
2. What is the teacher talking about?
a. How cavemen hunted (main idea)
b. What food cavemen ate (not mentioned in the talk)
c. The weapons of cavemen (you actually heard this but it is minor detail)
d. Distracting big animals (you actually heard this but it is minor detail)
Now let’s come to another tip for identifying main idea. Sometimes there is no question for the listener to focus on the speaker’s purpose or discourse markers or transitional expressions such as those mentioned in… In this case, you can apply the tip what supports what? or what develops what? as in the following extract.
• If you have difficulty in listening for the first time, you can use the tape script below to facilitate the analysis.
Tape script:
Parchment ['pA:t∫mənt] bản viết trên giấy da
(You may not need to understand the exact meaning or the Vietnamese translation of the word “parchment” and you can just understand that parchment is a kind of object or X. If you need to understand the meaning of parchment, the structure A is called B (-->B is A) can help you understand that parchment is a rough and hard paper)
In this extract, the word “parchment” was used at the beginning sentence, the third sentence and the last sentence. What is mentioned in the second sentence is to describe the parchment. The third sentence and the fourth sentence are to explain why the color of the parchment turns yellow. The last sentence functions as a concluding remark about the use of parchment today.
Your notes may go like this.
In this extract, you can see that such detail as rough paper, not really paper, dried skin of sheep/goat, not used today, leather is used as musical instrument function to describe and develop the idea or concept “parchment”.
The tip can be summarized as follows.
3. What is the talk mainly about?
a. Musical instruments (you actually heard this but it is minor detail)
b. Paper color (you actually heard this but it is minor detail)
c. Sheep and goats (you actually heard this but it is minor detail)
d. Parchment (main idea to be developed with other minor details)
Tip: Identifying main idea from interpreting the speaker’s question to find out his/her general purpose or goal.
Sometimes, the main idea of the conversation can be figured out by focusing on the speaker’s question to understand his/her purpose in communication. To make sure that your choice is correct, the other options should be crossed out because they are not mentioned in the passage or because they are wrong or contradict with the facts in the talk.
• If you have difficulty in listening for the first time, you can use the tape script below to facilitate the analysis.
Let’s consider the following extract of conversation.
Tape script:
In the conversation the man actually asked the woman if she had seen Jack. The conversation went on with the exchange about why the man asked her and Jack’s breaking the promise to help the man move to another house. Nothing was mentioned about the man making the woman look for Jack, or asking her to help him move, or breaking the promise with her.
With this kind of conversation, you note-taking may go like this.
M see J?
W no
M J promise to help move house
W J does a lot
M 3 time break promise
W show up soon
M can’t move
The tip can be summarized as follows.
(The abbreviated form M & W help you to keep track of the speaker’s turn and then you will not be confused with who is speaking).
4. Why does the man talk to the woman?
a. To make her look for Jack (not mentioned)
b. To ask her to help him move (not mentioned)
c. To ask if she knows where Jack is (why he asked/what he wanted)
d. To break the promise with her (wrong information – Jack break promise)
Now practice the skill of identifying the main idea/topic of the lecture you are going to hear. Please remember the point that the topic is usually stated in the beginning sentence or in the sentence after the leading one. Try to figure out what supports/develops what. The supporting ideas are minor details and the thing to be supported or developed or talked about is the main idea. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage.
5. What is the talk mainly about?
a. The inventions of man
b. Types of wheels
c. The early days of man
d. The importance of wheels
Now practice the skill of identifying the main idea/topic of the conversation you are going to hear. Please remember that some words or ideas are just mentioned to talk about or give more details about some other words or ideas which are the main idea of the conversation. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage.
6. Why does the woman talk to the man?
a. To ask him if he likes pizza
b. To ask him about dinner
c. To tell the man about Italian food
d. To get the man to buy dinner
Now practice the skill of identifying the main idea/topic of the lecture you are going to hear. Please remember that some words or ideas are just mentioned to talk about or give more details about some other words or ideas which are the main idea of the conversation. You actually hear these words or ideas but each of them alone cannot cover the other ideas to function as the main idea or topic of lecture. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage.
7. What is the talk mainly about?
a. Exercising for health
b. Eating healthy foods
c. Becoming healthy
d. Caring for our body
Now practice the skill of identifying the main idea/topic of the conversation you are going to hear. Please remember that speaker’s purpose is also the main idea of the conversation which is usually mentioned in his/her question. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage of a typical conversation.
W
M
8. Why does the woman talk to the man?
a. To ask him to look for Mr. Adams
b. To tell him what subjects she has chosen
c. To ask if he has chosen all his subjects
d. To get a booklet from the man
Now practice the skill of identifying the main idea/topic of the lecture you are going to hear. Please remember that, in some cases, the first sentences are just used to introduce a general topic and giving definition of a term. The main idea to be discussed is usually stated with an emphasis by using some emphatic expressions. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage.
9. What is the speaker mainly talking about?
a. The instinct of carnivorous animals
b. The foods of carnivorous animals
c. The homes of wild animals
d. The safety of feeding carnivorous animals
Answer Key:
LISTENING
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. C
5. D
6. B
7. C
8. C
9. A
PART TWO
Skill B: UNDERSTANDING DETAILS AND FACTS
For this skill, you are required to practice and perform the skill of understanding the details and facts of a lecture or a conversation.
• To achieve this goal, you need to take notes of major points and important details of a lecture or conversation. To practice this skill you have to answer the questions like:
1. (According to the professor/man/woman), what is _________?
2. (According to the professor/man/woman), why/who/how/where/how many _________?
3. What does the (professor/man/woman/students say about _________?
• You also have to listen for signal expressions that identify details, such as the following:
For example, the season is, on the other hand, I would say, etc.
• You also have to eliminate incorrect answer choices, and
• You have to identify a statement that is not mentioned
Now practice the skill of identifying the detail or fact of the conversation you are going to hear. Please remember that some choices should be eliminated and some statements are not mentioned. You actually hear some words in the conversation but they are mentioned in an incorrect statement or they are given in a sentence about an idea that is not mentioned. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage of a typical conversation.
(As for question 1, you are required to apply the skills for identifying the main idea/topic of conversation that have been introduced in the previous section)
Listen and answer the questions
1. What is the man’s problem?
a. His neighbor is too quiet.
b. He wants the woman to move upstairs.
c. His neighbor is too loud at night.
d. He wants to become a resident assistant.
2. What is the role of resident assistants?
a. They clean up the dorm rooms.
b. They make sure everyone is comfortable in the dorm.
c. They help students in the dorm with their students.
d. They turn up the music in the room.
3. What will the man probably do?
a. He will apply for an RA position.
b. He will talk to the RA.
c. He will tell the man to be quiet.
d. He will not sleep in his room.
Dorm (dormitory) (n) ký túc xá
Assistant (n) trợ lý
Resident (n) người cư ngụ, cư dân
Answer Key:
Part 2
1. C
2. B
3. B
Now practice the skill of identifying the detail or fact of the lecture you are going to hear. Please remember that some ideas are just minor details used to describe or develop the main idea. Some choices should be eliminated and some statements are not mentioned. You actually hear some words in the conversation but they are mentioned in an incorrect statement or they are given in a sentence about an idea that is not mentioned. Be sure to take notes while listening to the passage of a typical conversation.
(As for question 1, you are required to apply the skills for identify the main idea/topic of conversation that have been introduced in the previous section)
Listen and answer the questions.
1. What is the talk mainly about?
a. Supermarkets in Germany
b. Barcodes in microchip scanners
c. Technology in supermarkets
d. Scanners in cashier counters
2. What is RFID?
a. It is the name of the bars on the codes.
b. It is a new technology overtaking barcodes.
c. It is the name of a supermarket in Germany.
d. It is the way barcode scanners read microchips.
3. According to the lecture, how do barcodes work?
a. The cashiers type in the barcodes information in the computer.
b. The RFID detects the barcodes.
c. The barcode displays the total price.
d. The barcode is scanned into the computer.
Keep track of: nắm được, thấy/hiểu được
Overtake: vượt qua, qua mặt
Scan: quét
Detect: phát hiện
Answer Key:
Part 3
1. C
2. B
3. D
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