MEETING V

(LISTENING)

CONTRARY MEANINGS

A. OBJECTIVES

After studying this material, students are able to:

1. understand various expressions of wishes

2. understand various expressions of untrue conditions

B. MATERIAL DESCRIPTION

In this meeting, we are going to learn about contrary

meanings. There are two topics in this meeting, they are
‘wishes’ and ‘conditional sentences’.

1. Wishes

In short conversations, you will sometimes listen to

the expressions of wishes. When you have these
conversations, you must always remember that wishes
mean the opposite of the truth. Therefore, if the wish is in
positive statement, the truth is negative and vice versa.
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 To clearly understand, look at this following table:

Details Examples Meaning

- I wish I could - I cannot buy

 An affirmative
buy the ticket the ticket
(positive) wish
for the concert. concert.
means
negative in
- She forgets
reality. - I wish she did
the
 A negative not forget the
assignment.
wish means assignment.
positive in
reality.
- I wish John - John is not the
 When a wish
were the winner.
is expressed
winner. - We don’t
in simple past,
- I wish we arrive on time
the reality
arrived on
means in
time.
simple
- She was not in
present.
- I wish she had Los Angeles.
been in Los - My kids saw
 When a wish
Angeles. the accident.
is expressed
- I wish my kids
in past
had not seen
perfect, the
the accident.
reality means
in simple past.

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 Example 1: (File name EN1-M5-EX1)

Now, listen to the following conversation. Complete

the blanks as you are listening to it. Underline the key
words indicating wishes, then pick your best answer.

Man : How do …………… you …… on the

………….. that …… had ……….?

Woman : ……… wish I …… take ……. ………..

Narrator : ………. the woman ………?

a. She’s going to take the test over again.

b. She thinks she did a good job on the exam.
c. She has not yet taken the literature exam.
d. She’s unhappy with how she did.

Discussion:

Script:

Man : “How do you think you did on the literature

exam that you had this morning?”

Woman : “I really wish I could take it over again.”

Narrator : “What does the woman imply?”

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  Listen carefully again to the 2nd speaker. The woman
says “I really wish I could take it over again”. The
word “wish” clearly shows a wish. And after the verb
‘wish’ the clause says “I could take it over again”. This
clause is in simple past. This means the reality or the
action is in the present time. And it is also an
affirmative or a positive clause of wish. This means
that reality is in contrary to the wish. In short, the
reality is in negative form and in the present time ‘I
cannot take the test over again’. The real meaning
indicates D is the best answer.

Exercise 5.1 (File name: EN1-M5-Exercises5.1)

1 Man: a. Not many people want

Do you think we’ll be
able to get tickets for
to get the tickets for the
the concert?
concert.
Woman:
I wish there weren’t so b. In front of them, the line
many people in line in
front of us? is too long.

Narrator: c. There are not very

What does the many people in front of
woman mean?
them.
d. The line is too short.

2 Woman: a. He wanted the woman

to gain a ticket.
b. The woman talked
Man:
about the ticket to him.

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 c. The woman told him
nothing about the ticket.
Narrator:
d. He was glad to figure
out about the ticket.

3 Man: a. She likes working so

much.
b. Next week, she’s
Woman:
working too many
hours.

Narrator: c. Next week, she does

not own enough hours.
d. Next week, she is not
working too many hours
next week.

4 Man: a. She doesn’t like the

changes that the
department made.
Woman:
b. She likes the new
requirements.

Narrator: c. The department

changed nothing on the
requirements.
d. She changed her
apartment just before
graduation.

5 Woman: a. He is not afraid to go.

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 b. He is not willing to
spend the money.
Man:
c. He is going to the
theater.
Narrator: d. He doesn’t have
enough money.

6 Woman: a. He had a bet with Harry.

b. He has not heard
anything about Harry.
Man:
c. Harry studied hard for
the exam.

Narrator: d. Harry did not prepare

enough for the test.

7 Man: a. She is good at math,

but she’s taking the
algebra course anyway.
Woman:
b. She has a good course
schedule in this

Narrator: semester.
c. She doesn’t have to
take the algebra course.
d. The algebra she is
taking is not her favorite
course.

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 8 Woman: a. His apartment is too
expensive.
b. He could find a cheap
Man:
apartment.
c. The apartment is cheap

Narrator: because of its location.

d. He doesn’t like the
location of the
apartment.

9 Woman: a. He arrived early at the

auditorium.
b. He prefers sitting at the
Man:
back.
c. He was not early

Narrator: enough to get a seat at

the front.
d. He got one of the best
seats in the auditorium.

10 Woman: a. For him Sociology is

less important than
football this weekend.
Man:
b. He’d like to perform his
social skills at the

Narrator: game.

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 c. He wishes he could
work on his sociology
term paper.
d. He cannot attend the
game because of his
school assignment.

2. Conditional Sentences

Just like the previous topic on ‘wish’, conditional

sentence also means the opposite of real condition.
Before we are discussing further, let’s go back again to
the concept of ‘conditional sentence’. And from the aspect
of tenses, we need to go back one tense when expressing
conditional. When we talk about present, the conditional
sentence must use simple past, and when we talk about
past time, the conditional must be expressed using past
perfect.

Details Examples:

- If I were at  I am not at
- When a
office, I would home, I won’t
conditional
help you. help you.
sentence is in
positive, the
reality is in
negative.
- I couldn’t
track him if I

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 - When a didn’t use my  I can track
conditional GPS. him, I use my
sentence is GPS.
negative, the
reality is
positive.
- She was  She is not
- Simple past
served first if served first,
conditional
she came she does not
sentence refers
earlier. come earlier.
to simple
present reality.

 You didn’t
- Past perfect
inform me, I
- If you had
conditional
didn’t
informed me, I
sentence refers
prepare the
would have
to past reality.
folders.
prepared the
folders.

A conditional sentence may also be expressed by

omitting the conditional conjunction ‘if’. If you want omit it,
you must place the auxiliary in the beginning of the
sentence.

If + S + V = Auxiliary + S + V

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 Look at the following examples:

Using ‘if’ Without ‘if’

- Were I at office, I would

- If I were at office, I would
help you.
help you.
- I couldn’t pay the bills did
- I couldn’t pay the bills if I
I not have the credit
didn’t have the credit
card.
card.
- She was served first did
- She was served first if
she come earlier.
she came earlier.
- Had you told me, I would
- If you had told me, I
have known what to do.
would have known what
to do.

Example 2 (File name: EN1-M5-EX12)

Now, listen to the conversation. Complete the

blanks as you are listening to it. Underline the key words
indicating conditional, then pick your best answer.

Woman : “I ……have ………………time ……… the piano

……………… for the ……... I ……… I ………at
all.”

Man : “……. I …….. you, I …………. dwell on it

………….”

Narrator : “…….. does ……… suggest

………………?”
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 a. Find a new place to live
b. Spend some time practicing
c. Go to another concert
d. Forget about the concert

Woman : I should have spent more time practicing

the piano to get ready for the concert. I
don’t think I played well at all.

Man : If I were you, I wouldn’t dwell on it another

minute.

Narrator : What does the man suggest the woman

do?

Discussion:
Script:

 The 2nd speaker responds by saying ‘If I were you, I

wouldn’t dwell on it another minute’. The ‘if’ indicates
the conditional and ‘I were you’ indicates simple past.
This means that the reality is in negative statement
and in simple present ‘I am not you’. The main clause
‘I wouldn’t dwell on it another minute’ means that the
2nd speaker will not think much later about it. Thus,
the best answer for this is D.

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 Exercise 5.2 (File name: EN1-M5-Exercises5.2)

1 Woman: a. He already knew about

the meeting when the
woman called.
Man:
b. The woman didn’t have
to call him.

Narrator: c. The woman called to

inform him know the
meeting.
d. He’s not pleased the
woman calling him.

2 Man: a. The police should not

stop the man so often.
b. The man rode a bit
Woman:
slowly.
c. The police do not

Narrator: frequently stop the

man.
d. The man often drives
too fast.

3 Man: a. She asks if the man

would be nice enough
to come working in her
Woman:
place on Friday.
b. It’s so sad that they
have to work on Friday.

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 Narrator: c. She’s very pleased they
must not work on
Friday.
d. It’d be nice if they were
able to finish their work
on Friday.

4 Woman: a. The letter did not need

more postage.
b. The letter arrived last
Man:
week.
c. She did not put enough

Narrator: number of postages on

the letter.
d. She did not put any
postage on the letter.

5 Woman: a. Dogs do not need much

attention.
b. He doesn’t pay
Man:
attention to dogs.
c. He wishes he had a

Narrator: dog.
d. He owns a dog.

6 Man: a. They knew preparing

for the exam would take
much time.

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 Woman: b. When they knew about
the exam, they began
to prepare themselves.
Narrator:
c. They prepared nothing
for the exam.
d. They knew they had to
be prepared for the test.

7 Woman: a. The restaurant is rather

inexpensive.
b. It costs so much for him
Man:
to go.
c. He joins them to go to

Narrator: the restaurant.

d. He is unworried about
the cost of the
restaurant.

8 Woman: a. Joe could get out of the

way.
b. Joe jumped out of the
Man:
way because of the
oncoming car.

Narrator: c. Because Joe didn’t see

the car coming, he
wasn’t able get out of
the way.

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 d. When Joe saw the car
getting close, he tried to
avoid the way.

9 Woman: a. The woman was not

really there.
b. The woman would
Man:
leave soon.
c. The woman wanted to

Narrator: be there.
d. The woman did not
come.

10 Man: a. Kathy won the first prize

for her hard work on the
art project.
Woman:
b. Kathy worked so hard
that she knew first prize

Narrator: belonged to hers.

c. Kathy did not work as
hard as possible
because she did not
know what the reward
was.
d. Kathy wasn’t able to
have put more effort
into the project to win
the prize.

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C. EXERCISES

Review Exercises: (File name EN1-M5-Review Exercise)

This is a review exercise. Listen carefully to the short
conversations and the questions. Complete the conversation
in the blanks. Carefully listen to the conversation, so you well
understand the ‘wish’ and the ‘conditional’. Then, choose your
best answer and be careful with the passive statement.

1 Man: a. She enjoyed the film.

b. She thinks the movie was
really violent.
Woman:
c. She prefers a more
violent movie.

Narrator: d. She enjoys violent films.

2 Woman: a. He didn’t remember to

close the windows.
b. He left the windows open.
Man:
c. The rain entered the
house.

Narrator: d. The rain did not get it.

3 Man: a. Her parents are coming

in the ceremonies.
b. She does not graduate
Woman:
this year.
c. Her family cannot come
to graduation.

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 Narrator: d. It is a possibility that her
family will come.

4 Woman: a. He is going to take his

vacation next week.
b. He will be present at the
Man:
conference.
c. He won’t skip his

Narrator: vacation.
d. He’s going to miss the
conference.

5 Woman: a. He must head to the lab.

b. He doesn’t take
chemistry class.
Man:
c. He isn’t having chemistry
lab this afternoon.

Narrator: d. He enjoys his chemistry

lab.

6 Man: a. They were out of gas

because they didn’t stop
at the gas station.
Woman:
b. They weren’t out of gas
even though they didn’t

Narrator: stop at the service

station,

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 c. They still ran out of gas
although they filled up the
tank.
d. They filled up the fuel
tank at the last service
station.

7 Woman: a. He is required for a few

more courses.
b. His schedule is not really
Man:
heavy.
c. He will register for many

Narrator: courses next coming

semester.
d. He in more courses than
he is really willing to.

8 Man: a. She’s been lost on the

bus.
b. She doesn’t know how to
Woman:
get to her office.
c. She never takes the bus

Narrator: to work.
d. She mostly takes the bus.

9 Man: a. She didn’t visit the store.

b. She had no eggs at the
store.
Woman:

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 c. She bought some eggs at
the store.
Narrator:
d. He can borrow some
eggs.

10 Man: a. Teresa did exactly what

the doctor told her.
b. Teresa didn’t follow the
Woman:
doctor’s order.
c. The doctor didn’t

Narrator: prescribe the medicine.

d. Teresa is feeling a lot
better.

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D. REFERENCES

Phillips, Deborah. 2001. Longman Complete Course for the

TOEFL Test (Preparation for the Computer and Paper
Test). New York: Longman.

_____________. 2003. Longman Complete Course for the

TOEFL Test (the Paper Test). New York: Longman.

Pyle, Michael A., Page Mary Ellen Munos. 1995. TOEFL

Preparation Guide (5th Ed). Foster City: IDG Books
Worldwide.

Rogers, Bruce. 1999. TOEFL PRACTICE TESTS (2ND Ed).

Princeton: Peterson’s Guide.

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