The
As for Part 2
questions require candidates to
select between 2 or 3 possible
answers, e.g., true/false;
yes/no; three-option multiple-
choice; which speaker said
what, etc.
• Marking
Candidates write their answers on a separate answer sheet, which is marked according to a detailed mark scheme and then scanned by computer.
Each question carries one mark. The total score is adjusted to give a mark out of 40.
For security reasons, more than one version of the Paper 4 Listening Test is made available at each session. As with all other FCE papers, rigorous checks are built into the question paper production process to ensure all versions of the test are of comparable content and difficulty. In addition, for Paper 4, the marks are adjusted to ensure that there is no advantage or disadvantage to candidates taking one particular version.
All texts and tasks were representative of what can be expected in future versions of the Paper. In Part 4, three-way matching tasks as outlined in the FCE Specifications may appear in future versions.
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• Candidate performance
Candidates performed very well on all versions of the Paper, with no particular task type proving significantly more difficult than any other.
Part 1
Candidate performance on this part was generally very good on all versions. Some questions presented more difficulty than others, although there was again nothing to suggest that questions with particular test focuses generally present greater difficulty than questions with other test focuses.
In Test A, the most challenging questions were 3 and 8. For 3, some candidates chose C
rather than B. However, the man's comment to the woman at the end that he would be
‘putting everything down on your records’ pointed firmly to him being the shop manager and not another store detective; the woman was probably a store detective and some candidates may have chosen this option through not paying enough attention to the question, which asked them who she was talking to and not who she was. For 8, a number of candidates chose A or B rather than C. The speaker concludes by emphasising that, with regard to the problem of packaging that has been thrown away, the issue is not ‘whether to do something now about this but what to do’ - the speaker is therefore saying that action is definitely required. No comparison is made and no particular product praised during the piece, making both A and B incorrect.
Part 2
Candidates performed very well on this part.
In Test A, the most challenging question was 10, where many candidates were unable to produce ‘door handles’, even with some allowance made for minor misspellings of ‘handle’.
No other questions presented particular difficulty.
Part 3
Candidates found this part of the Paper quite challenging in Test A.
In Test A, candidates encountered some difficulties in each question. For 19, many chose E
rather than B. The speaker says that ‘the days drag on a bit’ and that he wishes that he ‘had more to occupy me’, which points firmly to B. He has to keep ‘filling up the shelves with new supplies’ but this is because of his manager, not demanding customers, and some candidates may also have chosen E because he mentions the word ‘demanding’, although this is in the context of him wanting more demanding things to do and not in connection with customers. For 20, a number of candidates chose F rather than C. The speaker says that she and other members of staff ‘have a laugh sometimes’ and that without them the job would be ‘quite a struggle’, pointing firmly at C. The speaker does refer to money, saying that some of the others are only doing the job for money and that she is saving up for something, but she does not say that the pay is better than she had expected. For 21, many candidates chose B rather than D. The speaker says that he does ‘all sorts of jobs’ in the shop, making D correct. He also says that there is ‘never a dull moment’, which rules out B, which candidates may have chosen because he says that ‘he might get a bit bored’ if he was doing the job full-time, but he isn't. For 22, many candidates chose E rather than A. The speaker says that working in a shop ‘you're there to help out with whatever the customer wants’, which equates with A. She does refer to the fact that ‘people might want to know where a product has been moved to or what's on special offer’, but she clearly regards this as her duty and does not express a criticism of customers as too demanding. For 23, a great
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