{listening} Blank filling

In this type of question, you are asked to collect information from a listening passage and write it down to complete a phrase or sentence. Remember:

• you usually only need to write a word or two
• do not worry too much about small slips in grammar and spelling
• the incomplete sentences or phrases on the question paper can give you a good idedxa of what the passage is going to be about
• you can often predict to some extent what will go into the blank space

The listening passage often does not contain exactly the same wording as the sentences on the question paper.

Often blank filling questions ask you for details like names, addresses, telephone numbers and dates. Make sure you know the sounds for the letters in the English alphabet and can hear the diffrence between numbers like thirteen and thirty, fourteen and forty.

Most questions in the listening test will not ask you to write more than a few words or a phrase. It is important not to write too much. If you do, you will not be able to concentrate on listening.

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source: Successful Listening for First Certificate by Shelagh Rixon, OUP, 1993