TOEFL COMPLETE COURSE (LISTENING) Skill 7: LISTEN FOR NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

TOEFL COMPLETE COURSE

(LISTENING)

Skill 7: LISTEN FOR NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Negative expressions are very common in the short dialogues, and the most common kind of correct response to a negative statement is a positive statement containing a word with an opposite meaning.

Example

On the recording, you hear:

man	How did they get to their grandmother? House in Maine in only five hours?
women	They didn’t drive slowly on the trip to Maine.
narrator	What does the woman say about the trip?

In your test book or on the computer screen, you read:

A.    They drove rather quickly.

B.     They couldn’t have driven more slowly.

C.     They wanted to travel slowly to Maine.

D.    They didn’t drive to Maine.

The correct answer is answer (A). if they didn’t drive slowly to Maine, this means that they drove rather quickly. Notice that the correct answer uses quickly, the opposite of slowly. The answers that use slowly are not correct.

The following chart outlines the types of negative expressions that you should be careful of:

 

TOEFL EXERCISE 7: In this exercise, Listen carefully to each short dialogue and question on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question. You should be particularly careful of negative expression.

1	A.       She is very busy. B.       She has lots of free time. C.       It is not necessary to take out the trash. D.       She will do it if she has time.	6	A.       The service satisfied her. B.       The food was worse than the service. C.       She thought the service was bad. D.       Neither the food nor the service was satisfying.
2	A.       The interview is very important. B.       He is worried about the interview. C.       What he’s wearing to the interview is important. D.       He is not concerned about the interview.	7	A.      He told his kids to leave. B.      He seriously wanted the woman to go. C.      He was joking when he told the woman to leave. D.      He left with the woman.
3	A.       He has almost all the notes. B.       His attendance was perfect. C.       He went to all the lectures but one. D.       He missed more than one psychology class.	8	A.      The project will take all their effort. B.      They have no other work to do. C.      It’s impossible to finish. D.      They aren’t even close to finishing the project.
4	A.       They passed the library at 06.00. B.       The library opens at 6:00 in the summer. C.       The library closes at 06.00. D.       You can’t check out more than six books in the summer.	9	A.      She doesn’t mind an hour more. B.      She’d rather stay more than an hour. C.      It’s better to stay than go. D.      She prefers to leave.
5	A.       Water the plants once a day. B.       Give the plants no more water. C.       Water the plants often while the man is gone. D.       Give the plants a limited amount of water.	10	A.      The service at the hotel wasn’t too good. B.      This hotel gave excellent service. C.      The service at the hotel could have been improved. D.      This hotel’s service was the same as the service at other hotels.

 

ANSWER KEY

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
A	D	B	C	D	C	B	A	D	B

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