Test 2 will cover units 9-15 in the “Contemporary College English” book 2. The test will have two sections, but the dictation section will be somewhat different this time.
Section 1 will be as before. Students will listen to me read a passage and then answer questions about it (multiple choice, fill in the blanks, or true / false questions could all be on the exam). I will allow students one minute to review the questions about the passage before I read it and two minutes to answer the questions once I have finished reading. Section 1 will test the student’s ability to focus on key words and phrases, take accurate notes, and then answer questions.
Section 1 will be worth 75% of the test grade.

Section 2 will be dictation. I will read a short passage with 100 content words, once only, and students will fill in the blanks in a number of sentences. This is basically like the original dictation section, but students will not concentrate on writing entire sentences, only certain content words, which they will write in the blanks. Students will have five minutes to go back and make sure the words they wrote make sense. Section 2 will test the student’s ability to listen carefully and write down the content words. Section 2 will be worth 25% of the test grade.

The time and date for Test 2 for all classes is during normal class time for your class in week 17.

How to Study

Listen to the MP3s for the book, reading the questions before listening.

The questions from the second book are more challenging than book one. First, the answers to questions don’t appear in order in the passage. This means you have to take good notes using content words. Second, the key words don’t always help you because sometimes the key words in the questions use a “synonym” in the passage. That means that another word is used that means the same thing. Third, there are more questions that require you to make a judgment or inference based on what you hear. In other words, you won’t actually hear the answer. I will not put any questions on Test 2 which require students to guess what the answer might be. All questions will have only one possible best answer. Fourth, the fill in the blanks questions are more like the dictation section, which most of you find more difficult than the other questions, because you have to fill in longer blanks with phrases and sentences at times. For all of the above reasons, Test 2 is more difficult than test one.

Of course, if students need help, they should contact me.
I am available during office hours and will do what I can to help everyone prepare.