2. PART 4. SHORT TALKS
This part of the TOEIC test consists of ten short
talks. Each short talk has three questions, and
there are four answer choices for each question.
The short talks are all given by a single speaker,
either a man or a woman. They are longer than
the conversations you hear in Part 3, so
concentration is vital in this section.
3. topics
The talks cover a variety of different types, such as:
business talks,
recorded announcements,
advertisements,
public announcements,
news bulletins,
weather forecasts,
and traffic reports.
4. QUICK CHECK
• How many short talks are there in this part of the
TOEIC test?
• How many speakers are there in each short talk?
• How many questions are there in each short talk?
• How many answer choices are there for each
question?
• How are these talks different from the
conversations in part 3?
5. KEY SKILLS- Listening for main ideas
-In part 4, you need to show that you can
understand the main ideas in the short talks you
listen to. Questions that test your ability to
understand main ideas in a short talk may ask about
the speaker, the topic, the audience, the location,
and the purpose of the talk.
• Common questions include Who is the speaker?
What is the message mainly about? Who is the
audience for this talk? Where is this
announcement being made? What is the purpose
of this talk?
6. • As you listen, ask yourself: Who is the
speaker? What is the speaker talking about?
Who is the speaker talking to? Where is this
taking place? What is the aim of the talk?
• Don’t worry about words you miss. You do not
need to understand every single word in a
short talk in order to understand the main
ideas.
7. Listening for Details
Listening for details is also an important
skill that is tested in Part 4. You need to show
that you can identify and understand important
points in the short talks you listen to. Questions
that test your ability to understand details in a
short talk may ask about numbers, dates, times
reasons, requests, people, places, problems,
suggestions, plans, and sequences.
8. • Look for Wh- questions (e.g., questions beginning
with What, When, Why, How, etc.).
• Before you listen, make sure you know what
information you need to listen for.
• Listen to the statement at the beginning of each
short talk. This tells you what kind of short talk
you will hear (an advertisement, an
announcement, etc.).
• As you listen, identify ant key words or phrases
related to the information you need.
• Focus on the information you need to answer
each question.
9. Making Inferences
You also need to show that you can
understand things that are not directly stated in the
short talks you hear. Questions that test your ability
to make inferences in a short talk may ask about
the speaker’s attitude, or ask to make deductions
based on what you hear.
• Look for questions such as What does the speaker
imply about..? Which of these statements is
probably true? How does the woman probably
feel about..?
10. • As you listen, think about the speaker’s
attitude and notice the stress and intonation.
The way a word or phrase is spoken can tell
you a lot about the speaker’s mood.
• Try also to think “behind” the words and draw
conclusions from what you hear.
• Always listen to the whole conversation before
making any inferences.
