1. Recognizing some confusing vowels and consonants;

2. Understanding two news items and doing all the exercises;

3. Understanding two conversations and doing all the exercises;

4. Understanding two passages and doing all the exercises.

A. You will hear one word read aloud from each group. Select the appropriate choice, paying attention to the pronunciation of the different vowels.

1) a.seat     b.sit     c.set     d.sat

2) a.bus   b.base   c.boss   d.bath

3) a.fair    b.fear    c.fire    d.four

4) a.look    b.lock    c.luck    d.lark

5) a.will    b.wheel    c.well    d.while

6) a.sought    b.short    c.shirt    d.shout

7) a.prince    b.prize    c.plays    d.please

8) a.film    b.firm    c.form    d.farm

9) a.bath    b.bathe    c.birth    d.booth

10) a.peer    b.poor     c.pear    d.pie

B. You will hear ten sentences. Each sentence contains two words which sound similar. Listen carefully and choose the word you hear. 

1) Hi, Mary. I’d like you to meet (Jones, James), my roommate. 

2) Do you see the white (horse, house) near the tree?

3) Can you tell me where your (pain, pen) is?

4) We are all waiting for the (boss, bus).

5) I enjoy (working, walking) in the garden.

6) Pass me the (soup, soap) please.

7) Jack’s father (owns, earns) a lot of money.

8) He told me to (look, lock) it up before I left.

9) Have you got the (meal, mail) ready?

10) Go and pick up the (books, box).

A. Listen to the following ten groups of words and choose the word in each group which contains the same consonant as the first word. 

1) breathe     a.worth  b.thin  c.though  d.youth

2) miss     a.his  b.lose  c.rose  d.loose

3) pleasure     a.baggage  b.garage  c.bridge  d.judge

4) wish     a.match  b.chair  c.machine  d.check

5) game     a.jam  b.age  c.geography  d.guide

6) cover     a.five  b.photo  c.laugh  d.leave

7) who     a.what  b.while  c.whole  d.why

8) peace     a.quality  b.check  c.catch  d.cease 

9) thing     a.single  b.loan  c.coin  d.find

10) worth     a.another  b.month  c.this  d.worthy

B. You will hear fifteen sentences. Each sentence contains two words which sound similar. Listen carefully and choose the word you hear. 

1) He began to lose (faith, face) after the incident.

2) See the (clouds, crowds) over there?

3) It’s a (right, light) apartment at the top of the building.

4) Betty took away the (sheet, seat) and cleaned it.

5) He has made a (fast, vast) amount of money.

6) When do you want to (try, dry) it again?

7) Tell me if you can (write, ride) well.

8) I don’t want to (collect, correct) the papers until tomorrow.

9) He’s excited because he’s received a lot of (carts, cards).

10) I didn’t know Bill was a (sick, thick) man until I met him.

11) Lilly is painting and her sister is (washing, watching).

12) Is your (class, glass) large?

13) Excuse me, may I speak to (Miss, Ms.) Green?

14) Thank you very much for the (lift, gift).

15) I don’t know him but he looks (healthy, wealthy).

A. News Item One

●  Listen to the following news item and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.

1) What is announced by Harvard President?

a. Women may not have the aptitude for science and mathematics that men have.

b. A plan has been made to improve conditions for scientists.

c. They will improve the conditions of the university.

d. A plan has been made to improve conditions for female scientists.

2) How much would the plan cost?

a. Fifteen million dollars. 

b. Five million dollars.

c. Fifty million dollars. 

d. Fifty-five million dollars.

      * Script:

      Harvard President Lawrence Summers announced a plan today to improve conditions for female scientists at the university. Summers said Harvard would spend fifty million dollars over the next ten years to implement the recommendations of two committees that had been studying the issue since February. Summers has been under fire since he made remarks suggesting that women may not have the aptitude for science and mathematics that men have.

B. News Item Two

●  Listen to the following news item and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.

3) How long has the protest lasted according to the news?

a. One month. 

b. Two months.  

c. Three months.  

d. Four months. 

4) What is the purpose of the fund endorsed by the Thai cabinet?

a. To build another dam. 

b. To compensate villagers who are made landless by dam construction.      

c. To make the farmers and villagers give up the protest.     

d. To return land to the farmers and villagers. 

5) What was the farmers and villagers’ attitude toward the measures passed by the government?

a. They added some more demands to the measures. 

b. They partially accepted the measures. 

c. They accepted the measures because what they demanded had been met.   

d. They were not satisfied with them because the measures didn’t solve some very important problems. 

      * Script:

      More than 10,000 Thai farmers and villagers say they will continue their three-month-old protest in front of the government house in the capital Bangkok until their demands are met. The Thai cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a number of measures including a fund to compensate villagers made landless by dam constructions. But the protesters, who are mostly the poor from northeast Thailand said the measures passed by the government failed to solve several important problems, including land ownership disputes.

●  Listen to the following long conversation and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.

1) Where does this conversation most likely take place?

a. At a park.  

b. At a school.

c. At a party.  

d. At a business meeting.

2) What is the young man’s name?

a. Roland.  

b. Romeo.

c. Richard.  

d. Raymond.

3) Where does the young woman study?

a. On North Campus. 

b. On South Campus.

c. On East Campus.  

d. On West Campus.

4) What does the young man study?

a. Accounting.  

b. Computer science. 

c. Marketing.  

d. Management.

5) What cannot be inferred from the dialogue?

a. The young man and the young woman are schoolmates. 

b. The young man and the young woman met for the first time.

c. The young woman is better at remembering names than the young man.

d. The young woman is having a class in the morning.

* Script:

Richard: Are you a new student here? 

Angela: Yes. How about you? 

Richard: Me, too. Oh, by the way, my name’s Richard…  Richard Fleming. 

Angela: Hi, Richard. I’m Angela… Angela Gates. 

Richard: Sorry. I didn’t catch your first name.  

Angela: It’s Angela. Nice to meet you.  

Richard: Same here. So, what do you study? 

Angela: Accounting. 

Richard: Really! Where? 

Angela: North Campus. 

Richard: I’m studying Marketing on South Campus. 

Angela: Hey, I’m afraid I have to go. My class begins at eight.

Richard: See you. 

A. Passage One

●  Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given. 

1) Who was the man coming in?

a. The telephone connector.

b. His first customer.

c. His uncle.     

d. One from New York who wanted to buy a house.

2) Which of the following is NOT true?

a. He had a very nice office and some new furniture.

b. He just graduated from a college when he got the money.

c. He was very busy with his business when he had a visitor.

d. His telephone hadn’t been put into workable condition.

      * Script:

      Soon after Dave left college, one of his uncles, who was rich and had no children of his own, died and left Dave a lot of money, so he decided to set up his own real estate agency.

      He found a nice office, bought some new furniture and moved in. He had only been there for a few hours when he heard someone coming towards the door of his office.

      “It’s my first customer!” he thought. He quickly picked up the telephone and pretended to be very busy answering an important call from someone in New York who wanted to buy a big and expensive house in the country. The man knocked at the door while this was going on, came in and waited politely for the agent to finish his conversation. Then he said to him, “I’m from the Telephone Company, and I was sent here to connect your telephone.”

B. Passage Two

●  Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given. 

1) What will people traditionally do on April Fool’s Day?

a. Play harmful jokes on others. 

b. Buy gifts.

c. Get the day off. 

d. Play harmless jokes on others.

2) When was New Year’s Day originally celebrated in France?

a. On 1 April. 

b. Between 25 March and 1 April.

c. On 1 January. 

d. In the 16th Century.

3) Who do Americans play small tricks on?

a. Strangers with paper fish on the back.  

b. Strangers appear after midday.

c. Friends who discover the paper fish.

d. Friends as well as strangers.

     * Script:

      Be careful on 1 April! When your classmates say, “Your shoe’s untied!” it may not be true. And if you find your alarm clock is set back an hour, this may be a joke too. April Fool’s Day is a traditional occasion when people play harmless jokes on others and then yell “April Fool!” It is a “for-fun-only” day, so people don’t buy gifts or get the day off work or school.

      This day of jokes is thought to have started in France in the 16th century. At that time, New Year’s Day was celebrated between 25 March and 1 April. When New Year’s Day changed to 1 January in the mid-1560s, some people continued to celebrate it on 1 April. Others played tricks on them and called them April fools.

      Each country celebrates April Fool’s Day differently. In France, it is called “April Fish.” The French fool their friends by sticking paper fish to their friends’ backs. When someone discovers this trick, they yell. In England, it is bad luck to play an April Fool’s joke on someone after midday. Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike.