Multiple Choice (Listening): Choose Single Answer

Multiple Choice (Listening): Choose Single Answer

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Part 3: Listening

Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Made Easy

  • Type of recording: audio or video, part of a lecture
  • Length of audio/video: around 30–60 seconds
  • Number of correct answer: 1
  • Number of these tasks: 2 - 3
  • Total Listening Time: 20 - 23 minutes

Multiple Choice (Single Answer) tests your ability to understand the main ideas, detailed information, purpose, organisation, inference, and/or attitude, etc. of a short academic lecture or conversation

  • You will see instructions, an audio status box and a multiple-choice question with four answer options.
  • Read the question and answer options, listen to the recording (audio only or video), then choose the response you believe is correct.
  • Only your listening skills are tested.
  • The timer shows how much time is left for all the listening tasks in the test.
  • In the audio status box, the status counts down from seven seconds to zero.
  • Read the question.
  • Then read the options. The recording will play. While listening, or afterwards, click on one option that best relates to the question. You can change your answer by simply clicking on another one.
  • Click ‘Next’ to go to the next question after you have checked your answer.
  • PTE Academic - Candidate Name
  • Time Remaining 00:15:05
  • 6 of 16 (17563.22)

Watch the video and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.

The speaker explains that _____

  • exposure to certain chemicals and foods can cause tears.
  • psychic tears can help to protect our eyes.
  • psychic tears produce large quantities of liquid.
  • chemicals and proteins in each type of tear vary slightly.
Next

Multiple Choice (Single Answer) Tests Only One Skill

  • Listening
    up to 2 points
  • Identifying the gist, topic, theme or main ideas
  • Identifying supporting points or examples
  • Identifying specific details
  • Identifying the speaker’s purpose, style or tone
  • Making inferences from the information heard.
  • Evaluating the quality and usefulness of texts
  • Inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words
  • Understanding explicit and implicit information
  • Classifying and categorising information
  • Listening for the overall organisation of information

Top Strategies for Success in Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

  • Before The Test

Understanding meaning

In Multiple-choice, choose single answer tasks, your understanding of vocabulary will often be tested. However, truly understanding a word’s meaning can often involve two steps.

Understanding its denotation

This is what will appear in the dictionary. For example, the denotation of plain is ‘simple or basic in character’.

 

Understanding a word’s connotation

This is the idea or feeling that most people will get from the word. For example, the connotation of plain is ‘uninteresting and boring’.

When learning new words, make sure to look beyond the first definition. Find the word used in example sentences and look at its synonyms to get a better understanding of how it might be used. If in doubt, ask a proficient speaker.

  • Practice Tips
    Follow To Succeed

Find examples of lectures on topics you are interested in online. Listen to short sections of these lectures and identify the main points, along with any supporting details.

Practise note-taking with the lectures you have found.

  • Take a short section of the lecture (around 1 minute) and take notes on the speaker’s main ideas. Write down key words and use your own abbreviations or symbols. Then, stop the lecture and try writing a sentence summarising what you heard.
  • Repeat this with another part of the lecture. However, this time, take notes on the speaker’s intention or purpose.

• Pay attention to words which a speaker uses to communicate an attitude or tone. Make sure you are clear about what feeling or opinion the speaker is trying to show

  • Language focus

Find some transcripts of online audios or videos (some university lectures have them).

  • Go through them and identify the main points, any examples or evidence referred to and any opposing arguments. Highlight the signal words that indicate them (e.g. We need to focus on… , The issue here is… , What we’ve discovered is… , For instance, To illustrate, On the contrary, etc.). Then listen for them in the audio or video.
  • Highlight any unfamiliar words in the transcript and guess their meaning from the words around them. Check your guess in a dictionary.

Create lists of words with their synonyms to expand your vocabulary. A thesaurus will help you to find new words with the same or similar meanings. When you learn a new word, record an example of how it’s used in context

  • During The Test

BEFORE LISTENING

Get your pen and erasable booklet ready.
Read the question carefully. It will tell you what type of information to listen for. If it says, ‘What does the speaker infer about … ’, you will know to listen for something that isn’t stated directly in the recording.

Skim the options very quickly. Just identify key words if you can – that’s all you’ll have time for.

WHILE LISTENING

Listen carefully to the recording, keeping in mind the purpose for listening that you identified from the question.
• Take notes as you listen using your erasable booklet and pen. Use abbreviations, symbols and arrows.
• Listen for the main and supporting ideas, not the minor details.
• Don’t try to write everything you hear. You will miss important information if you try to write everything word-for-word.
Listen for meaning and the flow of ideas.
Don’t worry if you miss or don’t know individual words – keep listening.
Keep your eyes on the options. Be careful, because most options will include some information from what you hear, but only one is correct.
Keep listening until the end. Sometimes speakers change what they have said or add extra information.

FINALLY

Refer to your notes again to check that the option you’ve chosen is correct.

AFTER LISTENING

Read the question and the options again.
• Eliminate any option that seems wrong (e.g. it has incorrect information, or information not given). Then choose from the other options.
• Aim to be clear about all the options. Think about why the ones you didn’t choose are incorrect, as well as why your chosen option is correct.
You may need to re-read the options and your notes several times.
• If you don’t know, then guess. Unlike with Multiple-choice, choose multiple answers tasks, you won’t lose a point for guessing!
• Keep an eye on the timer and don’t spend too long on one listening item.

Remember, What To Do What Not To Do In Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

  • You should only write notes.
  • You should not write too much. You may miss important information.
  • You should guess, if you don’t know the answer
  • You should not leave this task unanswered, even if you aren’t sure of the correct option.
  • You should make your decision based on the information you hear.
  • You should not make a decision based on the length or order of options, or because one seems different.
  • You should listen carefully before deciding which option to choose.
  • You should not decide based on your own knowledge. Everything you need to know is in the recording.
  • You should listen for meaning, not individual words.
  • You should not simply match words with those you heard. Often the incorrect (as well as correct) options use the same words as in the audio or video.
  • You should focus on the overall meaning.
  • You should not be distracted by unfamiliar words.
  • You should check all of the options.
  • You should not make a final choice before checking all other options. Sometimes an option can seem correct because the information is very similar to the recording, but another option may be better.
  • You should keep an eye on the timer.
  • You should not spend too much time on one task

Practice Now With Your Trainer

Practise Multiple Choice (Single Answer) 2 here, if you want to try Multiple-choice, choose single answer without a time limit. Think about the strategies mentioned above. Then follow the task instructions.

  • PTE Academic - Candidate Name
  • Time Remaining 00:14:00
  • 7 of 16 (20563.22)

Listen to the recording and answer the multiple-choice question by selecting the correct response. Only one response is correct.

Which sentence best summarises the recording?

  • Cybercrime is an important and growing issue for many companies.
  • Companies need to choose the right technicians for their IT security.
  • Companies must give people the technical skills to reduce cybercrime.
  • Making staff follow simple rules can reduce the problem of cybercrime.
Next

Reflecting on your practice

1. Use the checklist below to decide what you did well and what you need to practise more. Set aside time to work on each area that you want to improve.

  • I read the question first and could identify what kind of information to listen for.
  • I identified synonyms and paraphrasing rather than matching words.
  • If I had time, I tried to find key words in the options before listening.
  • I found relevant information from the recording/in my notes to support my chosen response.
  • I could take notes of the main ideas and supporting details.
  • If I really didn’t know the answer, I made the best possible guess.
  • I used abbreviations and symbols in my notes to help write the ideas quickly.
  • I checked my answer against my notes/memory before moving on.
  • I eliminated incorrect options, and understood why they were incorrect.

2. Check the answers given below. Were your answers correct? Try to think about how you could improve.

1. Incorrect: The speaker only mentions that onions can make us cry. She states tears contain chemicals, not that chemical cause tears.

2. Incorrect: She says reflex tears do this.

3. Incorrect: She says that basal tears do this.

4. Correct: She says each type ‘contain subtly different proteins, oils, chemicals …’

Common Mistakes Problems Errors In Multiple Choice (Single Answer)

Points To Remember Listening Tasks

There are always some quick things you can do to get ready to listen, even if you don’t have much time to prepare. Read the listening task questions carefully, and look at anything else that might help you, such as any answer options.

Listening items (apart from Summarize spoken text) are not timed individually. You will have between 20 to 23 minutes for all the listening items (excluding Summarizing Spoken Text). Make sure you practice managing your time effectively across all the tasks, to give yourself sufficient time to complete them

Quick Tips Strategies For Better Score!

For listening multiple-choice questions, the main part of the question tells you what to listen for. Being aware of the focus of the question will help guide your listening.

For example, it will tell you whether you are listening for the main idea: What was the main cause of the company's collapse?

Or listening for some supporting information or details: What aspect of past transport policy does the speaker mention?

Or listening for an inference drawn by the speaker: What does the speaker suggest that the factory may have to do?

Or listening for the speaker's purpose: Why does the speaker talk about the fall in car ownership?

In the five seconds before the recording begins, quickly read the question and answer options to make sure you understand the topic.

For example, in this sample, the question shows that the speaker will talk about the future, and the options show you they all include the word 'media'. So you are listening to hear what the speaker thinks will happen to the media in the future.

Single Answer is judged on your ability to. Your response is scored as either correct or incorrect. No credit is given for no response or an incorrect response.

Notes
• This question type affects the scoring of only listening.
• Your speaking and writing skills are not tested with this question type, and your reading skills are only used to read the instructions, prompt, and response options.
• For more information download the Score Guide.