Lesson 7. Dialogues Involving Contradictions, Assumptions, and Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LESSON 7: DIALOGUES INVOLVING CONTRADICTIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND QUESTIONS



Sample Items (Continued)

You will hear:*

F1: All of the students voted for the proposal to expand the Student Council.

M1: Well, most of them did, anyway.

M2: What does the man mean?

You will read:

What does the man mean?

(A) All of the students voted.

(B) Some of the students opposed the proposal.

(C) The proposal was defeated.

(D) The Student Council voted.

The correct answer is (B). The man says that most of the students voted for the proposal,

contradicting the idea that all of them did. Therefore, some of the students must have opposed the

proposal.

In some dialogues, such as the third Sample Item, the second speaker does not completely contradict what

the first speaker says but rather limits the first speaker’s idea.



ASSUMPTIONS

These are the beliefs that one speaker has until he or she receives information from a second speaker. You

will generally hear dialogues involving assumptions near the end of Part A. These questions are considered

difficult, but once you understand how they work and practice answering them, you should find them no

more difficult than any other type of question. In this type of dialogue, the first speaker makes a statement.

The second speaker is surprised because the first statement contradicts what he or she believes to be true.

The second speaker’s response often begins with the word “Oh” and ends with the phrase “. . . after all.”

The answer to assumption questions is the reverse of what the second speaker thinks, and, so, what is

“true” according to the first speaker is not the correct choice.

Sample Item

You will hear:*

F1: No, Judy’s not here right now. She’s at her economics class.

M1: Oh, so she decided to take that course after all.

M2: What had the man assumed about Judy?

You will read:

What had the man assumed about Judy?

(A) She wouldn’t take the course.

(B) She had already completed that course.

(C) She was busy studying economics.

(D) She wouldn’t find economics difficult.

The correct answer is (A). The man is surprised that Judy is in economics class because he

thought that she had decided not to take the course. Therefore, he had obviously assumed that Judy

was not going to take the course before he spoke to the woman.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



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M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



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SECTION 1: LISTENING



QUESTIONS

The second speaker in a dialogue sometimes asks about what the first speaker says. The third speaker then

asks what the second speaker wanted to know.

Sample Item

You will hear:*

F1: Professor Petrakis said that Mark Twain was his favorite writer.

M1: When did he say that?

M2: What does the man want to know?

You will read:

What does the man want to know?

(A) When Mark Twain lived

(B) What the professor said about Mark Twain

(C) When the professor made his remark

(D) What books Mark Twain wrote

The correct answer is (C). The man asks when Professor Petrakis called Mark Twain his favorite

author.

Two question phrases that may give you trouble are:

What . . . for? and How come . . .? Both mean Why . . . ?



EXERCISE 7

Focus: Answering questions about dialogues involving contradictions, assumptions, and questions

Directions: Listen to the following dialogues.

Now start the listening program.

1. What does the man say about Ginny?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



She

She

She

She



3. What does the woman want to know?



is definitely coming to dinner.

likes fish more than chicken.

may invite them to dinner.

doesn’t mind eating chicken.



(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



2. What had the man assumed about Mona?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



4. What does the man mean?



She had already moved.

She hadn’t found a new apartment yet.

She’d already made an appointment.

She was no longer planning to move.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



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What the man’s name is

Who told the man to see the dean

Where the dean’s office is

Who the dean is



(A) He wants to take part in the election.

(B) He’s not interested in being president.

(C) He wants to get more facts from the

president.

(D) He’ll have to run to get to class on

time.



M2 = second male voice



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M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



LESSON 7: DIALOGUES INVOLVING CONTRADICTIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND QUESTIONS

5. What had the man assumed about Carol?



11. What does the woman ask the man?



(A) She didn’t need to do any research for

this paper.

(B) She wasn’t going to word process the

paper.

(C) She hadn’t completed all the research.

(D) She had finished the final draft a long

time ago.



(A) Where the meeting will be held

(B) When the meeting will start

(C) Where the recreation center will be

built

(D) What has been proposed

12. What had the woman assumed?

(A) Joy did not want to study abroad.

(B) The overseas program had been

canceled.

(C) Joy was already living overseas.

(D) Joy would study overseas this year.



6. What does the woman imply about Bert?

(A) He doesn’t really like horseback riding.

(B) He rides horses whenever possible.

(C) He doesn’t talk about riding very

much.

(D) He loves to watch people ride horses.



13. What does the woman ask the man?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



7. What does the woman want to know?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



When her travel agent called

What time her flight will leave

How far she will be flying

If her flight has been canceled



14. What does the man mean?

(A) All of Ted’s answers were incorrect.

(B) Most of the problems were done

correctly.

(C) Ted doesn’t have to solve the

problems.

(D) Ted has had a few good jobs.



8. What had the woman assumed about Cliff?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



He

He

He

He



was working full-time.

was eating in the cafeteria.

couldn’t make a decision.

didn’t want a job.



15. What does the man ask the woman?



9. What does the woman want to know?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



If the party was at Rusty’s house

What time the party ended

If the man enjoyed the party

Who attended the party



(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



When they returned

Who went hiking

Where they hiked

How long their hike was



How she got to the grocery store

Why she went to the grocery store

How much she paid for groceries

What street the grocery store is on



10. What does the man mean?

(A) He thinks the clothes at that store are

expensive.

(B) He doesn’t think the clothes at that

store are very nice.

(C) He thinks the woman is being

unreasonable.

(D) He’s never been to the store on Collins

Street.



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LESSON 8

Answering Questions about Plans,

Topics, and Problems

QUESTIONS ABOUT PLANS

These questions follow dialogues in which two speakers discuss what one or both of them are going to do

in the future.

Sample Item

You will hear:*

F2: Are you going to go to Boston with Michael this summer?

M1: Wish I could, but if I want to graduate next year, I’ve got to stay here and take a couple classes.

M2: What does the man plan to do this summer?

You will read:

What does the man plan to do this summer?

(A) Graduate

(B) Attend classes

(C) Visit Michael

(D) Go to Boston

The correct answer is (B). The man indicates that he must stay where he is and take classes to

graduate next year.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



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M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



LESSON 8: ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT PLANS, TOPICS, AND PROBLEMS



QUESTIONS ABOUT TOPICS

The third speaker asks what the other two speakers are talking about. The topic is not usually mentioned

directly in the dialogue; it must be inferred from a general understanding of the dialogue. The topic can be

a person, a thing, or an activity.

Sample Item

You will hear:*

F1: Have you seen this letter from the bursar’s office?

F2: Oh, no! Not another increase! If you ask me, we’re already spending too much to go to school

here.

M2: What are these speakers talking about?

You will read:

What are these speakers talking about?

(A) Higher tuition costs

(B) A poor grade

(C) Higher postage rates

(D) A letter from a relative

The correct answer is (A). That the letter comes from the bursar’s office (the financial office of a

university) and that the second woman is upset about an increase and believes they are spending

too much to go to school makes it clear that they are talking about a tuition increase.



QUESTIONS ABOUT PROBLEMS

These questions follow dialogues in which the speakers are discussing some trouble one or both of them

are having. The third speaker asks what the problem is.

Sample Item

You will hear:*

M2: Gordon, what happened to your window?

M1: When I was painting the window last week, I hit it with the ladder.

F1: What problem does Gordon probably have?

You will read:

What problem does Gordon probably have?

(A) His house needs painting.

(B) He broke his ladder.

(C) He spilled some paint.

(D) His window is broken.

The correct answer is (D). Gordon, the second speaker, says that he hit the window with the

ladder when he was painting the house. The logical result—a broken window.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



55



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



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