(1) Adjust mental state

The so-called mental state refers to a person’s mood. The quality of our mood will directly affect the effectiveness of our work and study. You can also see that in sports competitions, due to the ups and downs of mental state, the performance of the contestants will fluctuate greatly. In the same way, whether the mental state is normal or not is also crucial for students taking the listening test. Any psychological imbalance will cause you to be in a hurry, your scoring rate will be reduced, and you may not be able to use the content you usually master; on the contrary, maintaining a good attitude will make you even more powerful and perform at your best level.

There are two types of psychological deviations during the exam. One is being too relaxed, having difficulty concentrating, always thinking of other things, and being unable to grasp the key words of the listening content; the other is being too nervous, with the heartbeat speeding up, My palms are sweaty and I feel dizzy. Students who appear in the former situation should strengthen their training, find a classroom similar to the exam environment, imitate the real examination scene, and gradually enter the state; students who appear in the latter situation may underestimate their own abilities, and have countless thoughts in their minds. A kind of fear. This requires starting from oneself, strengthening listening training at ordinary times, being targeted, and making up for weaknesses. So as to be full of confidence and maintain psychological stability. Memorize the instructions before the test, and then read the options and make relevant predictions while the recording of the instructions is playing. At this time, the nervousness will naturally be eliminated. In addition, to go with the flow, we mean don’t be afraid of missing some non-key parts, such as prepositions, conjunctions, articles, etc. In short, don’t think about a word you haven’t heard or an unfamiliar word, otherwise, you will miss it. Listen to more. About mental preparation. At the beginning, we proposed that students must follow one rule when practicing listening and taking formal exams, which is to relax but tense the auditory system. Only by relaxing can you perform your listening normally (or even at a super level).

While listening, be sure to concentrate and don’t think randomly. During daily training, students should pay attention to strengthening the coordination and communication between the brain and the auditory system. We will explain practical skills at the beginning of every future test.

We hope that students can master them and apply them to the test questions.

(2) Pay attention to identifying near-sounds

Like words and phrases with homophones and near-sounds, there are many words in the English language that have very similar pronunciations. When they are read out, they can easily cause interference to the examinee and cause you to make unnecessary associations. In addition, in the options set for the questions asked, there are usually words that are close to the pronunciation in the listening materials, which interfere with the pronunciation or meaning of the original sentence. For example:

Original text: W: I've got to buy a new car.

M: Really?

Q: What does the woman mean?

Options: A) She purchased a car recently.

B) She knew the car was in the lot.

C) She always forgets to clean her car .

D) She really needs a new car.

It can be seen that the knee in item B) is a near-sound interference to the new in the original text, and the forget in item C) It is a near-sound interference to have

got to.

Therefore, when encountering such questions, candidates are required to be careful and not to make an immediate choice as soon as they see the distractor, thereby falling into the question trap.

In addition, pay attention to pronunciation and intonation. Chinese candidates are not familiar with sentences in English that use intonation and mood to convey meaning, making it difficult to understand the speaker's true intention, resulting in loss of points. Therefore, candidates should study this item and strengthen training. Using a declarative sentence as a form of expression and using a rising intonation at the end of the sentence indicates the speaker's doubts, disagreement or incomplete agreement with the other person's point of view.

The sentence structure is in the form of a statement, but a falling or low rising tone is used at the end of the sentence to express the speaker's indifference or optimistic attitude and not to express doubt.

Exclamatory sentences end with a rising tone to express doubt. A rising intonation at the end of a question expresses doubt, while a falling intonation does not. For example, Is he honest? Use falling intonation to indicate that the speaker thinks he is honest. Students should also understand the phenomenon of continuous and weak reading.

(3) Keep necessary records

It is important to cultivate memory. There are two forms of recording, one is to record by brain, the other is to record by hand. Human brain power is limited by time. Beyond a certain time, information will weaken or even disappear. Therefore, training in writing skills is of great benefit. When listening to longer information, you should memorize and understand it in your head and take notes at the same time. Only in this way can you understand and judge effectively. If the key content is not remembered, the judgment made will be unfounded and the accuracy will be greatly reduced.

In the CET-4 exam, both listening parts require candidates to have the ability to record effective information quickly and accurately.

In Section A, there are questions about time and quantity estimation. When doing this type of question, candidates should write down the relevant numbers and make simple calculations. Otherwise, once the temporary information in your mind fades away after listening, you may not be able to get the correct answer, or you may be confused and make mistakes.

For example:

W: I only have ten dollars, is it enough for three tickets?

M: Well, you can buy three $ 2 tickets and three $ 3 tickets, whichever you

like.

W: I'll like the cheaper seats, please.

Q: How much money will the woman have after she buys the tickets?

When answering this question, it is best to write down a few numbers: 10, 3, 2, 3, which respectively represent 10 yuan. If you buy 3 tickets, you will have 2 yuan. One ticket and 3 yuan a ticket. When you hear that the ticket buyer wants the cheaper ticket, you can immediately conclude that she has four yuan left.

In section B, a short article is read continuously, and recording key information is particularly important at this time. Only if you accurately write down the relevant information can you successfully complete the following questions.

How to remember? What to remember? We talk about shorthand and abbreviation; remember key points and key words. No matter how simple it is, as long as you can understand it and it can serve you in solving the problem, it is enough. The key points to remember include the central idea, main characters, main plot, relevant places, time, numbers (must be accurate), etc.

(4) Quickly browse the options

Candidates should remember that an effective method for all listening tests is to quickly browse the options and refine the information points, and then find out the differences between the options. point of contact. When the recorder is about to start reading the Directions, this is the best time to read the options. You should make full use of this time, read the options quickly, and predict the content so that you are well aware of it. Through reading, the following information should be clarified:

a) The main characters, places, etc. involved in the question. If it is a scene-based test question, you should quickly think of the vocabulary related to the scene and listen to the relevant information with full concentration.

b) Generally, the design of the four options will be more or less related to the recording content, so as to cause interference. At this time, you have to compare the connection points between them, make bold guesses, get an impression in advance, and then combine it with the listening materials to quickly find the answer.

This technique is based on the candidate's strong reading ability. When candidates have this ability, they can quickly glance at the content of the options set in the question in a short period of time before playing the recording to grasp the main idea.

In this way, you will pay attention to the information provided in the listening materials in a targeted and purposeful manner. In this way, we can quickly find effective words and sentences and make correct judgments.

For example: Options: A) The doctor is busy tomorrow.

B) The doctor won't see her tomorrow.

C) The doctor is busy all day today.

D)The doctor will see her today.

When you read these four options, you will think that this is about the doctor’s activity schedule content. At this time, you need to focus on the doctor's schedule. Please read the original text:

W: When can the doctor see me?

M: He won't be free until tomorrow.

Q: What does the man mean?

The answer is obvious when you hear that the doctor won't be available until tomorrow. Items A), B), and D) are inconsistent with the meaning expressed in the original text. Only C) is appropriate. It can also be seen from this point that the improvement of listening skills has a lot to do with your reading ability. Therefore, you need to strengthen reading training in order to quickly understand the meaning of the options.

(5) Master the logic of cause and effect

In the questions of the Level 4 listening test, the relationship between cause and result or the cause and the cause has a large proportion. Increasing understanding of the problem will be of great benefit to improving listening.

First of all, you must master some words that reflect reasons, such as because, as, due to, on account of, in that, so...that, such...that, now that, thanks to, owe to, result in , give rise to etc. It is important to become familiar with how these words or phrases are expressed.

In addition, the order of expression and tense can also reflect the causal relationship.

For example: M: I was very sorry to hear about Bill's being fired. I know he

was sick a lot and that he usually got to work late.

W: Oh, it wasn't that. Bill made a big error in accounting. Even though it wasn't really his fault, his boss was very angry.

Q: Why did Bill lose his job?

The reason why Bill was fired was because he made a big error in accounting. Usually the reasons are mostly present participle list, past participle list results or trends, of course there are a few exceptions.

Sometimes, the correct answer to this kind of causal logic question is a transformation of relevant information, or an explanatory language. In this way, candidates should not choose the answer directly in the hope that it will be exactly the same as the word or sentence they heard. Such questions will not appear.

Therefore, when answering questions, do not use the reproduction of the original text as the criterion for selection. Instead, you should understand, transform, and find the correct choices that are related to the original text as a whole.

Answer. This requires candidates to not only listen to the surface words and sentences during the listening process, but also use their brains to explore the meaning of the sentences and make effective inductions. This is to avoid understanding the words in the original text but not being able to choose the correct answer. Candidates should pay close attention to this.

(6) Pay attention to relevant currencies

In the listening materials, many are designed around content related to foreign currencies. Therefore, it is also important to be familiar with the currency names of some major countries. Common currency names can give you an idea of ??the country or region in which the conversation is taking place, and also provide information for identifying the speaker. Here are some common currency names:

Dollar United States Dollar

Franc French Franc

Lira Italian Lira

Mark German Mark

Peso Mexican Peso

Pound British Pound

Rouble Russian Ruble

Yen Japanese Yen

Some other currency names , candidates only need to understand.

In addition, candidates should also know that in the U.S. dollar system, there are units such as dime (a dime), nickle (a nickel), cent (a cent) and the relationships between them. No more examples.

When talking about currency, you have to talk about banks, so you also need to understand the vocabulary related to the banking system. A bank is an institution responsible for currency circulation. Its main businesses include: deposit, remittance, exchange, foreign currency, exchange rate, credit card, traveler's check ( travelling check, heritage entrustment, and some banks also operate financial markets and stock exchanges. When settling with a credit card, the bank will deduct it.

(7) Be familiar with commonly used place names

The CET-4 exam often involves some place names. In Chinese, we find place names easy to grasp because we are usually well-informed. In fact, place names in English also have a similar feeling. Like Paris (Paris), Washington (Washington), etc., you can immediately tell where it is when you hear it.

In listening materials (especially Section B), when you hear an unfamiliar place name, don’t panic first. If it has little to do with the topic, you can drop it. If the topic is related to a place name, you can make inferences from the relevant information.

The following are some famous cities: London, Edinburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio, Seattle ), Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Ottawa, Canberra, Geneva ), Rome, Sydney, Vatican city.

Apart from the simple test format, familiarity with commonly used place names is also helpful for improving reading ability.

For example: W: Where did you go on your vacation?

M: I spent a week in Toronto.

Q: In which country did the man spend his holiday?

Among the four options, you will find the country Canada. The prerequisite for answering this question correctly is that you know that Toronto is a port city in Canada.

However, there are too many place names in the world, and your goal is just to master some common ones.

Even so, this is a arduous work that requires students to work hard to accumulate. This is the necessary preparation for you to successfully pass CET-4 and lay the foundation for passing the CET-6 exam.

(8) Pay attention to conditional clauses

Many of the dialogues in Level 4 questions, especially in Section A, express suggestions, ideas, results and trends through conditional sentences. Therefore, it is crucial to correctly understand and grasp the true intention of the speaker. There are two types of conditional sentences, one is the real conditional sentence and the other is the subjunctive conditional sentence. The meaning expressed by the real conditional sentence is direct and obvious, generally indicating that it is possible to realize it; the virtual conditional sentence is indirect and implicit. Adequate caution should be exercised towards the latter. The following two examples can be used as illustrations:

M: If I go to the store, will you make dinner for us tonight?

W: Bring back enough food.

Q：What will the woman do if the man shops?

A) The woman will cook.

B) He won't buy enough.

C) He'll get in a bad mood.

D) He will make dinner

You should choose A)

Another example: W: Did you see film last night?

M：I wouldn't have gone to see it if I'd known it was boring.

Q：Where was the man last night?

A) In a bar. B) In a cinema. C) At a lecture. D) Unreasonable.

B) should be chosen in the conditional sentence. If is mostly used as a guide, pay attention to the expression characteristics of this sentence pattern.

They often use omitted forms, such as if possible, if any, if not, if so, if necessary, if needed, etc. When listening to omitted conditional sentences, you should mainly grasp the basic content of the main clause. , because conditional sentences are not easy to mishear. As long as you grasp the basic content of the main clause, you can answer the question correctly. In addition, in addition to if, conjunctions that express conditions include as long as, so long as, suppose, supposing, let’s say, etc.

(9) Judgment and Comparison Sentence Patterns

There are two basic forms of comparison, equality comparison and unequal comparison. The basic sentence pattern of equality comparison is: subject predicate as adjective or adverb primal as the object being compared. Please look at the comparison of the following sentence: Walking fast uses up as many calories as running slowly. The object being compared is running slowly. But please note that sometimes the sentence that appears is only an equal comparison in form, but it is not equal in meaning. Compare. Like almost, nearly, and practically usually mean that it's not quite there yet, it's too late to wait. The basic sentence pattern of unequal comparison is: subject, predicate, comparative than, the object being compared. In addition, the superlative meaning can be expressed in the comparative form. Such as the following sentence: No other student studies as hard as peter. Therefore, Peter should study the hardest.

Among the CET-4 listening test questions, there are not many contents that directly involve comparison questions.

But we still list it as a skill here, firstly, because it will be reflected in the short article, and secondly, because it will lay the foundation for Level 6. Therefore, I hope candidates will also pay attention to it. Regarding comparative sentence patterns, firstly, we must grasp the object of comparison, and secondly, master common comparative sentence patterns.

The following are some common comparative sentence patterns: as ... as ..., the same as, comparative than, prefer ... to ..., would rather ... than, etc.

In terms of comparison objects, pay attention to the reference of that and one; in addition, there are also omissions of sentence components.

Here is an example:

W: I think I'll wear my red dress to the party tonight.

M: Can't you wear your blue one? I like it much better.

Q：How does the man feel about the woman's red dress?

A) He hates it.

B ) He likes it better than the blue dress.

C) He doesn't know which dress she means.

D) He doesn't like it as well as the blue one .

D) should be selected.

Question type analysis

The length of listening long conversations (Long Conversations) is generally between 6 and 20 sentences, and the number of words is between 120 and 250 words. There may be 2-5 questions for each long conversation. Compared with short dialogues, long dialogues involve more in-depth content, and the character's attitude, tone, and emotional changes are more complex. Generally, you cannot simply rely on a certain keyword (candidates please note here) to judge the meaning of the entire dialogue. A short conversation involving one person and one sentence only involves a "point", while a long conversation involves a "face". Answers in short conversations tend to be “obvious,” while longer conversations sometimes rely more on inference and judgement. Despite this, a long dialogue must have a central topic. The central topic is the cohesion point of this "face". Both parties in the dialogue develop topics around this center. For a long dialogue, the key to making the right choice is to grasp the dialogue. The central idea (mainpoint).

Because there are many dialogues, long dialogue scenes are particularly important. Accurately judging the dialogue situation is very helpful in grasping the central idea of ??the dialogue. The scene mentioned here refers to the comprehensive concept of characters, identities or occupations, issues discussed, time, place, etc. Clear scenes will create an atmosphere in the candidates' minds, making it easier to grasp the development context of the dialogue and making the development of the dialogue plot more logical.

Learning related categories

Learning related categories is often the focus of long conversations. The content can be roughly divided into four categories: academic affairs scenes, course selection scenes, make-up course scenes and thesis scenes.

1) Academic Affairs Scene

Scene characters: Academic staff such as teachers (tutors) or superintendents explain to students the arrangement of some school courses.

The scene involves content: semester plan, course adjustment information, examination arrangements, course introduction, etc.

Problem-solving ideas: Academic staff always describe the details of each matter in detail. The time, location, and reasons for postponement or change of plans are often the focus of the examination.

Frequently asked questions and answers

Q: Who is the speaker?

A: teacher, professor, instructor,

Q ： When does the talk take place?

A： at the beginning (in the middle, at the end of the semester)

Q： Where does the talk take place?

A: classroom, lecture hall

Q: What is the topic?

A: changes in the schedule

Commonly used vocabulary and phrases : midterm, finals, count for 50 of your score, class discussion, seminar, workshop, take attendance, elementary, intermediate, advanced, etc.

(2) Course selection scene

Scene characters: teachers and students or students discussing course selection topics

Scene content: whether students are qualified to choose courses A certain course, what the teacher said about it, the difficulty of the course, the advantages and disadvantages of taking a certain course.

Problem-solving ideas: Students feel that the course is too difficult and the load is too heavy.

Commonly used words and phrases: required, compulsory, elective, selective, optional, course, description, catalog, bulletin, prerequisite course (preparatory course), preliminary course (preparatory course), such a heavy load , excellent reputation, drop a course (retreat course), etc.

(3) Make-up lesson scene

Scene characters: Make-up lessons between classmates.

Content involved in the scene: Usually a student is late or absent from class for some reason, and then finds another classmate to make up the class afterwards, so professional content is bound to be involved.

Problem-solving ideas: Most of the students who are late or absent from class are boys, and those who help him make up classes are usually girls. Boys often ask stupid and ridiculous questions during tutoring, and girls will clarify them one by one. At the end, boys often lament that they are sorry not to take this class.

Frequently asked questions and answers:

Q: Why was the man late for class?

A: He overslept(was sick, had some trouble with his car, had to go to see the doctor, dentist, had an emergency)

Q: What confused the man

A: The content of professional courses.

Q: What does the man promise to do at last?

A: He will not be late again (oversleep again)

Commonly used words and phrases : fill sb. in (to represent someone temporarily), You've really lost me there (you really made me confused), make sense, miss a pretty important class, clarify the misunderstanding, check the notes, etc.

(4) Paper scene

Scene characters: Professors and students, or discussions between students.

Content involved in the scenario: discussing matters related to thesis writing, such as: thesis title, searching for information, etc.

Problem-solving ideas: The topic of the paper is difficult to determine and the information is too difficult to find (the topic is too biased and the information cannot be found; the topic is too big and there are too many information to be checked and it is too complicated).

Commonly used words and phrases: explore the topic, published resources, bibliography/reference, intellectual dishonesty, plagiarism, get an early start, gather materials, etc.

Life-related topics are also common points of examination

Life-related topics

Including sports scenes, entertainment scenes, rental scenes, etc.

(1) Sports scene

Scene characters: classmates, friends or family members go out for an outing together.

Content involved in the scene: often some popular sports, such as cycling, rock climbing, skiing.

Problem-solving ideas: The purpose is not to compete, but to keep fit and make friends. Some sports, such as cycling, often exist in the form of teams, clubs or associations.

Commonly used words and phrases: ski, boots, pole, outdoors, get in great shape, ensure the safety, first aid (first aid), check the trails, physical education, belts, patience, mental discipline, expert riders, starting line, relay station, etc.

(2) Entertainment scene

Scene characters: classmates, friends or family members.

Content involved in the scene: including outings, participating in sports, listening to concerts, talking about plans to play, etc.

Problem-solving ideas: Generally speaking, when it comes to entertainment, common projects include: go on a picnic, hiking trip, camping trip, go to a concert, see a movie, play the ball, ski, traveling, etc.

Common words and phrases: enjoy, good day, take a break, relax, reserve a court (reserve a court), a night-out, take your mind off your test, fair weather, etc.

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(3) Rental scene

Scene characters: landlord, tenants

Scene content: getting along with the landlord and even bargaining. The evaluation of a house, including price and location, is often involved in the process of renting a house.

Problem-solving ideas: Students generally tend to look for houses with low prices, so the conditions of the houses are generally poor and there are often some problems; due to the shortage of houses, the process of finding and renting a house is often not easy .

Commonly used words and phrases: roommate, dormitory, deposit, live on, off campus, utilities, heating costs, temporary accommodation, landlord, apartment, sublet, dishwasher, messy, a leaky faucet (leaky faucet) ), tenant, afford, etc.

(Note: Work-related topics need to be prepared in advance)

Work-related topics

(1) Application (interview) scenario

Frequent figures: hiring staff and applicants.

Content involved in the scenario: attitude and evaluation of a certain job, conditions for applying for the job, how to go through relevant procedures, wages, working environment, working hours, etc.

Problem-solving ideas: Applicants should introduce their own situation, such as educational background, specialties, etc. The employing personnel should generally introduce the nature of the work, salary, and commuting time.

Commonly used words and phrases: teaching assistant, research assistant, lab assistant, administrative assistant, waiter, waitress, nanny/babysitter, dishwashing, formalities, application procedure, reference, salary, wage, demand physical endurance, precareer training (pre-job training), permanent employment, stipend, bonus, part-time job, etc.

Exam-taking skills

In summary, to listen to a long conversation well, you must do the following Five points:

(1) By pre-reading option information, you can quickly grasp their internal connections, thereby predicting the basic content of the dialogue materials you listen to, and extract the center of the conversation from the internal connections between each question. ideas to better understand the details of each detection point. The following two points deserve special attention: a. Pay attention to repeated words. These words usually give you some clues and will also help you recall the names you have heard in the questions; b. Pay attention to the differences in each option. Pay attention to some Different names, places, and different verbs. These differences will help you determine which ones are key in this question.

(2) Eliminate obviously wrong options. Eliminating obviously wrong options in a timely manner will help improve the accuracy rate.

(3) Grasp the rhythm of doing the questions. The rhythm of answering questions is much more important in listening than in other parts. The time interval for each question is the same, which implies the rhythm of answering questions. Make sure that the rhythm of answering questions is consistent with the rhythm of asking questions. Once the rhythm of answering questions falls behind, you will be in a hurry and the chance of making mistakes will greatly increase.

(4) Improve short-term memory ability, learn to memorize with brain and pen at the same time, and memorize while listening.

(5) Be familiar with various fixed question forms and predict possible questions based on the development of the conversation.