The rule goes down first
The clerk gives the rule. It's short, confident and easy to remember, which is the trouble. Write it on one line, high on the page, with room to branch underneath.
CELPIP GymListening courseLesson 3 · Listening Part 3, listening for information
Every rule has an "unless"
In Part 3 someone explains how a thing works, and the marks are in the exceptions. Write down only the rule and you'll pick the answer that was true until the next sentence. Four moves catch what comes after it.
6 minutes to read
1
Note the condition, not just the rule
The rule comes first and sounds like the answer. Write it, and leave room under it. Every "unless", "except", "as long as" and "only if" is a fork: draw one and put the condition on it. An expert's answer splits the same way, with "in small trials" or "only in older buildings". Scroll to watch one rule come apart.
Why it scores. Several similar options are described in turn, and the wrong answers are versions of the rule with a condition missing. The forks on your pad show which.
Beats the rule without its condition
Unless: draw a fork
"Unless it's got a motor." One rule is now two. Don't rub out the first branch, because it's still true for most of the shelf. A second path has opened beside it.
A condition can have its own condition
The deposit applies in only one case, and there's a way out of even that, all in one sentence. Fork again for each. A long sentence full of ifs is where the questions come from.
Walk her down the tree
Now the caller gives her own facts: a motor, joined in March, a neighbour who'll sign. Follow her branch by branch. Only one route is hers, and it ends somewhere the first rule never mentioned.
Answer from the end of her branch
The question is spoken, and you see only the four answers. Each wrong one sits on a branch that isn't hers, or answers a different question. The end of her route answers this one.
The clerk Anything on our shelves goes out for a week, no charge.
The clerk Unless it's got a motor. Those are three days.
The clerk And if you joined less than a year ago, there's a fifty-dollar deposit on anything with a motor, unless a member of at least a year signs for you.
The caller It's a pressure washer, and I joined in March. But my neighbour's been with you for years. She'll sign.
The rule: any tool, a week, free
No motor: stays a week
unlessMotor: three days
A year or more: no deposit
ifUnder a year: $50 deposit
Nobody signs: she pays it
unlessA member signs: no deposit
How will the caller avoid paying the deposit?
- AShe has been a member for over a yearA branch that isn't hers
- BShe'll choose a tool without a motorAnother branch
- CHer neighbour will sign for the loanThe end of her route
- DShe'll bring the tool back within three daysThe length, not the deposit
2
Pin each fact to the asker's own need
Early on, the person asking says what they have and what they're after. Write that at the top in a few words. Then, as options go by, don't note each one as a fact: mark it against that line. In an interview, the need is the host's question, and each finding either answers it or doesn't.
Why it scores. These questions ask what suits this person, or what's true in their case. Facts already held up against the need answer that at a glance.
Wins the "which one suits her" questions
On her pad: son, nine, may quit by Christmas. Tight budget.
MonthlySchool yearRent to own
Can stop by Christmas
any time
locked to June
30 days' notice
Under $30 a month
$35
$25
$28
Repairs included
extra
yes
yes
"Rent to own" sounds like the biggest commitment. Against her needs, it's the only one with three ticks.
3
The option that gets turned down
When someone says no, write what they refused, cross it, and put the reason beside it. A caller turns down a plan. A host offers a neat conclusion and the expert won't have it: listen for "not quite" and "I wouldn't go that far". Those crossed-out lines are the answers that will sound right later.
Why it scores. This part likes one person offering a conclusion and the other rejecting it. The rejected version comes back as a choice, and your cross tells you so.
Beats the rejected-conclusion trap
The host
So the quieter the office, the more people get done?
The researcher
Not quite. In total silence, small sounds got more distracting. Steady background sound worked best.
- AQuieter offices get more work doneThe conclusion she turned down
- BSteady sound worked better than silenceWhat she said instead
4
The last instruction is a question
Keep the bottom of your pad clear for the close. As a call winds up, the next step goes by fast and friendly: what to bring, by when, who to ask. In an interview, it's what the research does next, or what the expert tells listeners to do. Don't put the pencil down at the goodbye.
Why it scores. "What will she do next" is a question this part asks, and it's answered in the last few lines, just when notes tend to stop.
Wins the "what happens next" questions
Great, you're all set. So bring your card and the signed form, come before six on Friday, and ask for Tam at the back counter. Have a good one!
- Card and signed form
- Before six, Friday
- Ask for Tam, back counter
What will the caller need to bring with her?
The clock, spent well
30 seconds a questionAbout 8 secondsHear the question, and catch whose case it's about.
About 12 secondsWalk that person's branch on your pad to its end.
The last 10Choose what's at the end of the branch, and click.
Quick hacks for Part 3
Smaller than a move, and just as easy to forget on the day.
- ScreenIt comes in two kinds
Someone asking how a service works, or an interview with an expert. The line before the recording tells you which, so you know whether to listen for rules or for findings.
- PadGive every option a letter
Similar options go by one after another. Call them A, B and C down the margin as they come, and hang each detail on its letter.
- Words"It depends" means two answers are coming
Write both cases, each with its condition. So do "in practice" and "on paper": one rule, two outcomes.
- If it slipsMissed the condition? Keep the fork
Draw the branch even when you didn't catch what's on it. An empty fork still tells you the plain rule isn't the whole answer.
Take this into the test
- 1Rule on top, then a fork at every unless.
- 2Mark each option against what this person needs.
- 3Cross what's turned down, and keep writing through the goodbye.