
1. To listen for specific details and general ideas as a listening focus;
2. To improve listening comprehension through specific exercises.

With comprehension, listening for specific details is very different from listening for general ideas. When it comes to listening, specifics and generalities are closely interrelated, as parts are to the whole. Therefore, it is of great importance for you to have both the ability to pick up specific details and the capacity to grasp main ideas.
● Now, for practice, let’s listen to a short dialogue.
W: How was business today?
M: I sold 15 percent of my fruit over the Internet.
Here’s the first specific question:
Q: How much of his fruit did he sell today?
a. 50 percent.
b. 15 percent.
c. 10 percent.
d. 5 percent.
The correct answer is b, which you must pick up as a detail from the dialogue.
Here’s another specific question:
Q: How was the fruit sold today?
a. By credit card.
b. By kilogram.
c. On sale.
d. Online.
The correct answer is d, which you must pick up as a detail from the dialogue.
Now let’s try to answer the following general question:
Q: What are they talking about?
a. Going online.
b. Sales promotions.
c. Starting a new business.
d. Today’s fruit sales.
From the general idea of the dialogue, you will conclude that the correct answer is d.
Now let’s practice some more.
Directions: Listen to the following five mini-dialogues, and, having decided whether each of the questions below is specific or general, select the best answer from among the four choices given.


A. News Item One
Directions: Listen to the following news item and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
dire | a. 可怕的 |
accelerate | vt. 加速 |
call sth. into question | 对某事提出质疑 |
journal | n. 杂志 |
Antarctica | 南极洲 |
potential | n. 潜力 |
predict | vt. 预测 |
milliliter | n. 毫升 |
literally | ad. 不夸张地 |
order of magnitude | 数量级 |
B. News Item Two
Directions: Listen to the following news item and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
splash | vt. 挥洒 |
as far apart as | 两者差别很大 |
Iceland | 冰岛(欧洲岛国) |
economic output | 经济产量 |
council | n. 理事会 |
Qatar | 卡塔尔(西南亚国家) |
WTTC | abbr. 世界旅游业理事会 (= the World Travel & Tourism Council) |

A. Conversation One
Directions: Listen to the following long conversation and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
B. Conversation Two
Directions: Listen to the following long conversation and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.

A. Passage One
Directions: Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
B. Passage Two
Directions: Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.