FCE - Listening Exam

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Listening Exam Advice

What to expect: 

The listening exam takes about 40 minutes and has four parts. There are 30 questions in total and you need to be able to understand a variety of spoken media. That means that you might hear conversations between friends, an extract from the news, part of a radio programme, or something else.

Part one of the exam has eight questions with three possible answers, A, B, or C. Each question is unrelated to the others and you’ll hear different short extracts.

Part two is a sentence completion activity. There are ten questions with gaps for you to fill while you listen to one, long recording. You’ll need to write one to three words to fill each gap. The recording could be an interview, a conversation between two people or just one person talking.

In part three, you’ll hear five short recordings by five different speakers on a similar theme or topic, e.g. hobbies or travel. There are a set of eight statements and you’ll have to match each speaker to a statement.

Part four is a multiple-choice section again, like part one. Unlike part one, the questions in part four are about a single recording, often an interview. This means you need to find answers in a longer recording.

 How to Prepare for your FCE Listening Exam

Most importantly: listen, listen and listen some more!

Of course, you should practice the listening exam, so that you understand the structure of the questions and learn which areas you need to improve on. You can use practice papers,  have a look online; there are lots you can work through.

When you’ve finished your practice listening test, check your answers and listen again. Can you see why the answers are correct? Try to work out why the correct answer is the right one – this will help you to understand the exam better.

Regional accents

It’s also important to listen to a range of different accents. During the FCE exam, you might hear some speakers with American or Australian accents. You will also hear a range of regional British accents. Some British accents can be very strong and harder to understand than others.

If you do hear a difficult accent in the exam, try not to panic; you’ll hear the recording twice and you’ll understand more the second time.

What to do during Your FCE Listening Test

Firstly, the exam paper you’re given is your exam paper. This means that you can (and should) write on it!

Underline key words in the questions. This will help you to focus on what you’re trying to hear.

Why does Alice enjoy teaching?

In this question, you could underline the key words why, enjoy and teaching.

When you’re listening to the exam recordings, try not to make notes. If you make notes, you’re not paying attention to what you’re hearing.

When you’re listening to the exam recordings, try not to make notes. If you make notes, you’re not paying attention to what you’re hearing.

Elimination is also a good tactic. When you’re listening to a multiple-choice question in parts one or four, you can try to eliminate one of the answers on your first listen.

When you’re listening to the exam recordings, try not to make notes. If you make notes, you’re not paying attention to what you’re hearing.

Elimination is also a good tactic. 

 When you’re listening to a multiple-choice question in parts one or four, you can try to eliminate one of the answers on your first listen.

For example, 

 

I ended up having to leave university, which was a shame as I liked the people there, but I wasn’t very good at exams…

I ended up having to leave university, which was a shame as I liked the people there, but I wasn’t very good at exams…

Why did Sophie have to leave university?

A. She was bullied.

B. She failed her exams.

C. She was offered her dream job.

You heard that Sophie wasn’t very good at exams so option B – “she failed her exams” – is a possibility. But you also heard that she liked the people there. This suggests that option A – “she was bullied” – is incorrect.

So, you can eliminate option A and concentrate on listening for the information for just B and C on your next listen.

In part two of the listening exam, you’ll need to listen and fill in the missing words.

 While reading, think about what kind of word is needed in the gap: do you need a noun, a verb, an adjective, or something else? Do you need one word, or more than one?

This geographical feature can be found in _____ and mountains.

You know that you need to listen for a noun. Doing this in the exam makes you better prepared to find the information you need.

Let's Practice: 

 PART ONE - MULTIPLE CHOICE: (Unit 10) Page 138 Exercise 2 

You can practice at home, the audio is in the "listening icon"and the answers are in the "hotspot"

ANSWERS: 

1. A
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. A
8. C

Part two 

Sentence Completion: Unit 6 page 82 

Remember that the sentences follow the order of the recording. The answer will be a word or phrase from the recording, so listen carefully. You must not make any changes at all to it.

In question 1 in Ex 4, is the answer ‘border’ or ‘borders’?

Answers to ex 4 p82

1. borders
2. pictures
3. sea monsters
4. flat
5. globe
6. oceans
7. fantasy
8. town
9. explorers
10. information

Part 3 - multiple matching

Unit 8 page 110 exercise 4

Exam tip: Remember that you hear each part of the listening test twice so that you don't have to worry about getting all the answers first time. Relax and listen the first time, establish the topic and the speakers and get any answers that you can. The second time you can confirm your original ideas and get any answers you still need. 

Answers to ex 4 p110

1. c
2. h
3. a
4. f
5. e

Part 4 - Multiple choice for a long text

Unit 5 p68 exercise 4

Exam tip: Don't guess the answer before you have heard the recording! But do try to predict possible answers. Establish exactly what the question means and listen for the right thing. 

Answers ex 4 P68

1. c (answer to ex 3)
2. b
3. c
4. a
5. a
6. b
7. c