70 LISTENING

Jorge Enrique Topete Beas

I@IONATIC LANGUAGE
SKILL I6: LISTEN FORTWO- AND THREE-PARTVERBS
Two- and three-part verbs appear in some questions in the short dialogues. These verbs
are expressions that include a verb and one or more particles (such as za, oa, or at), the
parti- cle changes the meaning of the verb. Questions involving two- and three-part verbs
can be difficult for students because the addition of the particle changes the meaning of
the verb in an idiomatic way.

Example from the Paper and Computer TOEFL ® Tests

On the recording, you hear:

(man)What time does the meeting start?
(woman)Didn’t you hear that i/ was called off b'f the director?
(narrator) What does the woman say about the meeting?

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

The director called a meeting.
The director phoned her about the meeting.
The director called the meeting to order.
The director canceled the meeting.

In this question, the two-part verb called off has a different meaning from the verb call,
which means phone. The two-part verb call of/means cancel, so the best answer is answer (D).

NOTE: A list of common two- and three-parc verbs and exercises using
these verbs appear in Appendix B. You may want to study these two-
and three-part verbs before you try the following exercises.

EXERCISE 16: In this exercise, underline the two- or three-part verb in each short dia-
logue. Then read the quesuon and choose the best answer to that question. Remember
that the best answer is one that is related to the meaning of the two- or three-part verb and
might not seem to be related to the meaning of the verb without the particle.

1. (man) Did you have your history exam (A) She would like to put it out of her mind.
today? (B) The professor canceled it.
(woman) No, the professor put it off for (C) It was moved to another location.
another week. (D) It was delayed.
(narrator) What does the roman say about
the exam?

2. (woman) Do me have any more soap? (A) He will run to the store.
(man) We’re run out of it. Someone (B) He needs soap to wash himself after
will have to go to the store. running.
(narrator) What does the man mean ? (C) There is no more soap.
(D) They have a store of soap at home.
 SHORT DIALOGUES (Paper and Computer) 71

3. (man) I need to take the i:written test to (A)

Reapply for his driver’s license. Sweep

renew mydriver’s license. (B) around the lawn.
(woman Then, you’ll have tu Auth u/ (C) Learn the laws for the first time.
) Review the information that will be on
on the laws. (D) the test.
(narrator Cha/ does the man need to do?

TOEFL EXERCISE 16: In this exercise, listen carefully to each short dialogue and ques-
tion on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question. You should be par-
ticularly careful of two- and three-part verbs.

I"'JOW BEGIN THE RECORDING AT TOEFL EXERCISE I D.

1. (A) Phone their neighbors 6. (A) She gets along with lots of people.
(B) Call to their neighbors over the Jr ss
fence her.
(C) Help the neighbors move in
(C) She gets rid of people she doesn’t
(D) Visit their neighbors want to spend time with.
2. (A) The course is becoming more (D) She tries to get ahead of everyone
interesting. else.
(B) The course used to be more 7. (A) He must try to find the children.
interesting. (B) It is necessary for him to clean up
(C) The course is about the same as it after the children.
was. (C) The children need to be watched.
(D) He’s not as bored in the class as the D He s going to see at t e ch ldren
woman. have done.
3. (A) Her headache is getting worse. 8. (A) They are going on strike.
(B) She felt better this morning than (B) They are lying down on the job.
now. (C) They are being released from their
(C) She seems to be feeling better now. obs
gisj stt ey are rei cgat t e
anot er headache now. factory.
4. (A) The man should stop breaking his
9.
(A) He is betting that the football team
cigarettes in half.
will win.
(B) The man should decrease the
( ) He reall ants to s cceed
nu ber of t s oke s t s not so i cu t to p ay on t e
(C) The man should cut the ends off (D) The client made the lawyer
his cigarettes. unhappy about the case.
(D) The man should stop smoking
completely.
5. (A) The client presented his case to the
lawyer.
(B) The client was upset about the
lawyer s re lection.
(C) The client was annoyed because
the lawyer returned the suitcase.
 football team.
(D) He pulled a muscle while playing
football.
10. (A) She’s unsure why she tolerates the
man.
(B) She doesn’t know where she put
, her keys.
(C) She is actually the one who
put the keys in the car.
(D) She can’t understand why the
man did what he did.
 72 LISTENING
ALBAN ANTONIO ROBLES BARRADAS

SKILL 17: LISTEN FOR IDIOI*IS

Idioms appear in some questions in the short dialogues. Idioms are special expressions in a
language that all speakers of the language know; these special expressions describe one sit-
uation in life but are applied to many different areas of life. Idiom questions can be diffi-
cult for students because they seem to be describing one situation when they are really
describing a different situation.

Example from the Paper and Computer TOEFL® Tests On the recording, you hear:
(man)Tom is a full-time student and is holding doum a full-time job.
(woman)He’s really burning the candle at both ends.
(narrator) What does the woman say about Tom?

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

He’s lighting a candle.
He’s holding the candle at the top and the bottom.
He’s doing too much.
He’s working as a firefighter.

In this question, the idiom burning the candle at both ends has nothing to do with candles and
nothing to do with burning or fires, so answers (A), (B), and (D) are not correct. Instead,
this idiom is an expression that is used in a situation when someone is trying to do more
than he or she really can do; after all, a candle usually only burns at one end, so a candle
that burns at two ends is doing too much. Therefore, the best answer to the question above is
answer (C).

NOTE: A list of common idioms and exercises using these idioms appear
in Appendix C. You may want to study these idioms before you try the
following exercises.

EXERCISE 17: In this exercise, underline the idiom in each short dialogue. Then, read
the question and choose the best answer to that question. Remember that the best answer
is one that might not seem to be related to the idiom in the last line.
1. (man) I have to take advanced biology (A) The man should try a piece of cake.
from Professor Stanton next (B) The man should worry about the course.
semester. (C) The man shouldn’t take part in the
(woman Don’t worry about it. It’s a piece course.
)
of cake. (D) The course is easy.
(narrator) What does the woman mean?

2. (woman) Thanks for changing the oil (A) It will take him a whole day to do the job.
and putting air in the tires. (B) This is a regular part of his job.
(man) It’s all in a day’s monk. (C) He can do the work at the end of the day.
(narrator) Tal does the man mean? (D) He’s too busy today to do the work.
74 LISTENING

3. (man) What was it like whtfe the (A) The president dropped his pen.
president was giving his speech? (B) The audience was very quiet.
(woman) You could hear apin drop. (C) The speech contained several puns.
(narrator) What does the woman mean? (D) The president discussed dropping a
bomb.

TOEFL EXERCISE 17: In this exercise, listen carefully to each short dialogue and ques-
tion on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question. You should be par-
ticularly careful of idioms.

NOW BEGIN THE RECORDING AT TOEFL EXERCISE 17.

1. (A) The man’s never late. 6. (A) She’ll do it immediately.

(B) It’s good that the man was fifteen (B) lt is not possible to do it.
minutes late. (C) The man should have told her
(C) It’s never good to be late for class. sooner.
(D) It’s good that the man went to class, (D) She would have done it if the man
had asked.
2. (A) The woman’s work is allin her 7. (A) Abbie used a feather in his art
head. project.
(B) The woman has to do two (B) He was knocked down.
experiments rather than one. C He as rea l sur sed
(C) It s a ood idea to ork to ether (D) Abbie’s father knocked on the
(D) 1 he biology experiment concerns door.
two-headed animals.
8. (A) They are taking a boat trip
3. (A) She has no time towork now. together.
(B) She doesn’t want to work on the (B) The six chapters are all about the
report either. boat.
( ) It s best to et t ove with no ( ) Ever one has to do the sa e th n
the ere s no to present t e era e an i e e s on t
e report now. boat.
4. (A) She’s very lucky to get the last 9. (A) She is taller than the others.
book. (B) She put her science project on top
(B) She’ssorryshecan’t getthebook of the others.
today (C) She has areallygood head on
her
(C) She always has good luck with shoulders.
books. (D) She’s the best of them all.
(D) She just wanted to look at the book.
›0. (A) The man needs to improve his
5. (A) The man doesn’t like eating in penmanship.
restaurants. (B) The man doesn’t really need to
(B) She doesn’t really like that apply for the scholarship.
restaurant. (C) The man needs to fill out the
(C) Each of them has his own application with dots and crosses.
restaurant. (D) The man needs to pay attention to
(D) Everyone has different tastes. every detail.
 SHORT DIALOGUES (Paper and Computer) 73
T,J3EFL EXERCISE (Skills 1€›-17): In this exercise, listen carefully to each short dialogue
and question on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question.

NOW BEGIN THE RECORDING AT TOEFL EXERCISE (SKILLS I 6—17).

1. (A) She gets lots of take-out dinners.

6. (A) The man might start a fire in the
(B) She and her roommate alternate park.
cooking responsibilities.
(B) The man parked his car near the
(C) Her roommate cooks more often
fire.
than she does.
(C) The man’s thinking of doing
(D) Her roommate does the cooking
something dangerous.
while she does other chores.
(D) The man’s playing a game in the
2. (A) He resembles his father. park.
(B) He has a chipped tooth.
7. (A) The machines do not act very well.
(C) He lives one block from his father.
(B) The machines don’t really bother
(D) He and his father were playing a
her.
game with blocks.
(C) She would like them to stop the
3. (A) She’s going somewhere else. noise.
(B) She does not like football. (D) She wishes the machines would
(C) She has a lot of work to do. cut the wood.
(D) She is getting sick.
8. (A) Fred has a dog that barks a lot.
4. (A) He put his foot where he should (B) Fred has hidden the money in a
not have. tree.
(B) He put the food that the teacher (C) Fred has backed into a tree.
gave him into his mouth. (D) Fred has made a mistake.
(C) He said something embarrassing.
9. (A) She will give him any help he
(D) He told the teacher that his foot
needs.
was hurt.
(B) He has to give away what he doesn’t
5. (A) She’d like the man to delay his trip. need.
(B) She prefers that the man leave a (C) He should not give up.
few minutes earlier than he (D) He should give back what he
planned. borrowed.
(C) She wants to know if the man will
10. (A) She’d rather go swimming than do
stay in the market for only a few the homework.
minutes.
(B) The chemistry homework is really
(D) She’d like to talk to the man for a
difficult.
few minutes.
(C) She's doing the homework by the
swimming pool.
(D) The stream is drying up.

TOEFL REVIEW EXERCISE (Skills 1—17): In this exercise, listen carefully to each short
dialogue and question on the recording, and then choose the best answer to the question.

NOW BEGIN THE RECORDING AT TOEFL REVIEW EXERCISE (SKILLS I — 17).

1. (A) There’s no more wood inside. 2. (A) She worked late at a conference.
(B) The wood in the fireplace should (B) Her meeting was canceled.
be put outside. (C) She called a conference at work.
(C) There’s a fire outside. (D) She was late to a conference.
(D) He needs to bring some wood
outside.
74 LISTENING

3. (A) In a hospital 8. (A) Information about the problem is

(B) At a police station unavailable.
(C) At the beach (B) No one has been informed.
(D) In a locker room (C) Everybody knows what is going on.
4. (A) There was too much room on the (D) Nobody is aware that the problem
is serious.
dance floor.
(B) He enjoyed the room where they 9. (A) He did not sleep well.
went dancing. (B) He never woke up this morning.
(C) The dance floor was too crowded. (C) The alarm failed to go off.
(D) The club needed more rooms for (D) He needed a loud alarm to wake
dancing. up.
5. (A)
He could not understand the fax 10. (A) The pilot made an emergency
machine. landing.
(B)
(C)
He wrote the letter that was sent. (B) The pilot was forced to leave the
The fax machine was easy for him plane in a hurry.
(D) to use. (C) The pilot fielded questions about
He was not very good with figures. the forced landing.
6. (A) The woman hit her head on a nail. (D) The plane was damaged when it
(B) The woman hit his new car. landed forcefully.
(C) The woman was exactly right.
(D) The woman bought the new car.
7. He would like the woman to help
him find his paper.
( He wants the woman to put the
paper away.
A) He needs the woman to review the
paper
(B)
(C)
(D) He would like the woman to write
the paper for him.