NEC FOUND 06 23-24

Gap-filling listening (Session 1)

Listening practice

Table of Contents

I. Overview................................................................................................2

1. What is it?....................................................................................................2

2. How to approach the task.............................................................................2

3. How to practice?...........................................................................................2

II. Practice................................................................................................ 3
Exercise 1: (CPE)........................................................................................................ 3
Exercise 2: (CPE)........................................................................................................ 4
Exercise 3: (Authentic)............................................................................................... 4
Exercise 4: (Authentic)............................................................................................... 5

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I. Overview

1. What is it?
 This task tests candidates’ ability to listen for specific words or phrases and
produce written answers in response to the sentences.
 Candidates listen to a monologue of an informative nature, aimed at a non-
specialist audience. The questions in this part take the form of incomplete
sentences. The candidates show their understanding of what they have heard by
completing gaps in these sentences. Answers are short, generally in the form of
single words or noun groups. They must be spelled correctly and must fit into the
grammatical structure of the sentence. The questions follow the order of the
information in the text and candidates write down the words that are heard on the
recording.

2. How to approach the task

 Tasks such as gap-filling exercises which focus on retrieving facts from an
informative text will prepare students for this part.
 Candidates need to get into the habit of reading what is before and after the gap in
the sentence so that they do not attempt to repeat information, which is already in
the sentence, and to check that what they have written fits into the grammatical
structure of the sentence.
 Candidates should be discouraged from attempting to write long or complicated
answers.
 Remind students that they should write the actual word or words they
hear.
 Remind students that they should write their answers clearly when they copy them
onto the answer sheet.

3. How to practice?
1. Increase exposure to news listening
One major problem upon doing this kind of exercise is unfamiliarity with the real-life speech
patterns, which are a world of difference compared to listening audio from books like IELTS, CAE, CPE in
terms of speed, accents, etc. This feature requires all NEC students to acquaint themselves with a range of
speech patterns in order to fulfill the tasks effectively, which can only be realised by day-by-day exposure
to divergent sources of news listening for a fixed amount of time.
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2. Go step by step
This approach means that it is not advisable to jump straight into difficult news listening exercises
since this will easily shock students and strike fear into their heart whenever they attempt to do these
assignments. To prevent their efforts from going down the drain, test-takers should instead go for some
easy news listening exercises in the first place. Once guaranteeing a solid consolidation of listening skills,
they can try to do some a little more difficult tasks and then increase the difficulty levels of the exercises.
For example, should one be a beginner, he or she can start off by listening to BBC Learning English and then
CNN Student News and finally, BBC or CNN.
3. Focus on one topic
One of the biggest obstacles in news listening is the wide range of vocabulary. In an endeavor to
enrich vocabulary efficiently, students should acquire new advanced words in accordance with specific
topics instead of expanding vocabulary in a disorganized way. For instance, NEC participants can allocate a
certain amount of time (usually one week) to a particular topic and listen to a bunch of news bulletins
related to this topic. The range of topics is considerable but students should take more heed of topical and
latest issues such as environment, technology, large-scale and epoch-making events around the world,
which are what the Ministry of Education and Training always aim at in NEC.

II. Practice

Exercise 1: (CPE)
You will hear a radio presenter called Simone Poole discussing the origin of the superstitions surrounding
Friday 13.
 The word which describes people suffering from (1) A GENUINE PHOBIA about Friday 13th comes from
the Greek language.
 When they go about numbering their floors, many hotels choose to (2) SKIP 13/THIRTEEN altogether
due to its association with misfortune.
 The Society of the Irish Motor Industry brought in a (3) NEW SYSTEM – REGISTRATION PLATE SYSTEM
 NEW REGISTRATION SYSTEM in 2013 in order to accommodate people’s superstitions, fearing sales
of new cars would otherwise fall.
 There are considerable (4) SAVINGS to be enjoyed by homebuyers prepared to purchase a house
numbered 13.
 In Norse mythology, the (5) illogical fear – GOD OF MYSTERY/CHAOS – 13TH GUEST  GOD OF
MISCHIEF is said to have created mayhem on arriving unexpectedly at the Valhalla banquet.

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 References to both the number thirteen and the day Friday in religious texts tend to have (6) NEGATIVE
CONNOTATIONS.
 Lawson's book is about the negative effect on (7) 1997 – THE MARKETS that is experienced when a
corrupt banker exploits the superstitions surrounding Friday 13".
 In certain parts of Southern Europe, Tuesday 13" is the date on the calendar most connected with (8)
MISFORTUNE
 The perception of the number 13 in Ancient Egypt differed from the negative one we tend to have
today because the 13th (9) STAGE OF LIFE was thought to represent a superior form of existence.

Exercise 2: (CPE)
You will hear a radio presenter called Giles Franklyn discussing a weather phenomenon known as a fogbow.
 Fogbows only seem totally white (1) FROM A DISTANCE. if not properly examined, and that is why the
term white rainbow is misleading,
 A fogbow is actually made up of a number of very (2) WEAK COLOURS such as the subtle red visible on
its outer edge and the blue on its inner.
 There is a clear connection between (3) THE DROPLETS’ SIZE  (WATER) DROPLET SIZE/ THE
DIMENSIONS OF THE WATER DROPLETS and the strength of the colours that form in a bow.
 Good bows can regularly be seen by people travelling in-flight on airplanes when they are (4) FLYING –
LOOKING DOWN – LOOKING DOWNWARDS – FLYING ABOVE CLOUDS and cloud formations are below.
 (5) WHITE LIGHT which enters the water droplet undergoes dispersion and refraction, producing the
range of different colours of a rainbow,
 A rainbow is formed when each of the seven waves of light gets reflected in a (6) DROPLET – SLIGHTLY
DIFFERENT DIRECTION, thus creating the familiar arc of the bow.
 When light is diffracted by fog, the arc of the bow formed is (7) WEAKER – BROADER AND PALER than
that of an ordinary rainbow.
 Giles is not surprised that the photographer captured the image of the fogbow because fogbows are
frequently evident in (8) MOUNTAINOUS - … AND HIDDEN - MOUNTAINOUS AND HILLY terrain.
 Fogbows are most likely to occur in places where there are (9) STARK TEMPERATURE CONTRASTS -
ARTIC WATER, such as on elevated land or over Arctic waters.

Exercise 3: (Authentic)
Listen to a piece of news about the people’s employment prospects in the modern era
and fill in the missing information with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS

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 America has lost more than 7 million (1) FACTORY JOBS since the late 1970s, and yet the amount of
Stull the U.S. produces is at an all-time high.
 Michael Hicks, an economist, says (2) AUTOMATION is responsible for the loss of these jobs.
 Indiana has been in the (3) CROSSHAIRS of this recently because of the Carrier plant and now the
interviewer wants to know how Professor Hicks fathoms President-elect Trump's representation that
hundreds of jobs were saved.
 As the plant probably goes through an automation period, we just don't know how many of the workers
that are there now are going to be able to fit into the new, highly (4) TECHNICAL AUTOMATED FACTORY
of 2020.
 The interviewer asks Professor Hicks whether he believes people that talk about our (5) OUTSOURCING
haven't accounted for the powerful impact of automation in industry
 Professor Hicks thinks that there is a real disconnect between what they talk about, which is jobs
floating overseas to Mexico and China and Vietnam, and the reality, which is that automation and (6)
TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENT have really accounted for the vast majority of job losses in Indiana
nationwide.
 (7) STATISTICAL CONTROL – DIGITIZATION of a production process is going to make things quicker and
more efficient so we don't need as many autoworkers as we did a generation and a half ago.
 There are certain new jobs being created, but they are harder to see. Between the time that
manufacturing peaked in 1977 and today, we're down about 7 and a half million manufacturing jobs,
but we're up about 9 and a half million (8) LOGISTICS JOBS
 It's difficult to ask a 56-year-old guy who hasn't been around middle school math since the early '70s to
jump into a training program at our community technical college or with our (9) WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT board and get retooled for a technology job or to work in a health care setting.
 2015 is a year of (10) RECORD AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION in the United States.

Exercise 4: (Authentic)
Listen to a piece of news about the thaw in the North – South Korea relationship and
fill in the missing information with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
 Thousands of reporters around the world come to South Korea, sitting in a(n)
(1) ________________ just to witness a historic and emotional summit never seen before.
 Weeks ago, the whole region seemed to be under the (2) _______________________ but now the
picture looks completely different.

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 Surrounded by bodyguards, Kim Jong-un emerged from the northern side of DMZ and then strode
alone toward the (3) _______________________ that marks the border.
 There are certain ceremonies and symbolism acts taking place such as a
(4) _______________________ ,which is a shared Korean cultural trait.
 As a grim joke, Kim Jong-un promises South Korean leader that he won't interrupt his sleep anymore
with (5) _______________________
 Ultimately, the two leaders reach a (6) _______________________ , sign and celebrate it with a
handshake and a hug.
 The two leaders declare that by the end of the year they will reach a (7) _______________________
bringing a formal end to the Korean war. They will denuclearize the Korean peninsula and (8)
_______________________ .
 The location for the summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un turned out to be (9)
_______________________ in part because Kim Jong-un’s airplanes are so old and have limited range.
 Holding a summit between the USA and North Korea in the Koreas is undesirable because one or the
other would look (10)_______________________

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