Types of questions in the Listening section

1. Gist-Content or Gist-Purpose. Gist questions focus on basic comprehension. 

These questions ask for the main topic or idea of a lecture or conversation.

a. There will always be either a Gist-Content or a Gist-Purpose question for each lecture or conversation, and it will always be the first question asked.

b. Two examples of these types of questions are: 

What is the speaker mainly discussing? and What is the main purpose of the conversation?

2. Detail. Detail questions also focus on basic comprehension. 

These questions ask about specific facts that are explicitly stated in the conversation or lecture.

a. You will only be asked about key details and concepts. You will not need to memorize unimportant or small details, like a specific date of an event.

b. Two examples of these types of questions are:

 According to the professor, what is the problem with X? and What is X?

3. Function. This type of question focuses on pragmatic understanding. 

Function questions ask about a particular statement’s intended purpose. Since the statement might have different meanings depending on the situation, you need to consider the statement within the context of the lecture or conversation.

a. Some of these questions will replay an excerpt from the conversation or lecture. The excerpt from the conversation or lecture will not be written— you will only hear it.

b. Two examples of these types of questions are: 

Why does the student say this? (replay) and What does the man mean when he says this? (replay)

4. Attitude. This type of question also focuses on pragmatic understanding. 

Attitude questions ask you to identify a speaker’s feelings or opinions about something, based on what they say or their tone of voice.

a. Some of these questions will replay an excerpt from the conversation or lecture. The excerpt from the conversation or lecture will not be written— you will only hear it.

b. Two examples of these types of questions are: 

What is the professor’s attitude toward X? and What does the woman mean when she says this? (replay)

5. Organization. This type of question focuses on connecting information from a lecture or a conversation. 

Organization questions are usually asked about the lectures. Some ask about how the content of the lecture is organized, while others ask about the relationship between two parts of the lecture.

a. The questions often focus on the examples provided by the professor in the lecture.

b. Two examples of these types of questions are: 

Why does the professor mention X? and How is the discussion organized?

6. Connecting Content. This type of question also focuses on connecting information from the conversation or in the lecture. 

Connecting Content questions ask you to make connections between different sentences or ideas in a lecture or conversation.

a. You may be asked to identify steps in a process, recognize cause/effect relationships, classify items into categories, or make a prediction. Or you may be asked to organize the ideas you heard in a different way from the way they were presented in the lecture or conversation

b. Sometimes, Connecting Content questions involve completing a table or a chart. For example, you made need to drag and drop (that is, move) response options into the correct order, or select “yes” or “no” about some topics listed in a table or grid.

c. Two examples of these types of questions are: 

What can be inferred about X? and What is the likely outcome of doing X before Y?

Example of the table or chart

7. Inference. This type of question also focuses on connecting information from the conversation or in the lecture. 

Inference questions ask you to understand what a speaker means when the meaning was not explicitly stated. For these questions, you need to figure out the meaning from the facts you hear in the conversation or lecture.

a. Some of these questions will replay an excerpt from the conversation or lecture. The excerpt from the conversation or lecture will not be written— you will only hear it.

b. Two examples of these types of questions are: 

What does the professor imply when she says this? (replay) and What will the student probably do next?

NOTE: Aside from the tables and charts, most questions include four options (choices) and will have one correct answer. However, sometimes you will see four options and will be asked to choose two correct answers, and sometimes you will see five options and will be asked to choose three correct answers. In these cases, the question will state that you should choose two or three answers.