I can't teach you how to listen. Sorry. I'm good but I'm not that good. And I
cannot teach you every word that you might need for the B2 First listening
exam. But I can teach you some strategies that might help you help yourself. And boy
oh boy that is fantastic. My name is Toby, this is SMASH English and
here is everything you need to know about part one of the B2 first listening exam.
So what do you need to do? You will listen to eight extracts and you must answer a multiple
choice question about each extract by choosing A, B or C. And you will listen to each extract twice.
Yeah. And uh that's it! Bye! No! Wait! There is more. Let's look at some sample questions and see
what part one of the B2 first listening exam is trying to get us to do. That way we can try and
do it really really well. Yeah? Yeah. let's go you hear two people talking about a reality TV show
Before you hear the audio extract a speaker will read the context to you but they will not read
the question or the possible answers. Ah. Oh yeah also you will not have time to read the question
and the options before the recording is played. Ah yeah I'm sorry about that. For this question the
context is "you hear two people talking about a reality TV show" and this is really useful
information because now you know that you need to listen to two people and you know they're going to
be talking about a reality TV show so immediately in your head you start brainstorming vocabulary
and things related to reality TV. Great. So the question is "What is the man's attitude to love
Factory?" This should help us guide our focus while we listen. Also it means that we know we're
going to be listening to a man and a woman... yeah... and we should be focusing on the man's
attitude and not the woman's attitude, right? Yeah that that's obvious. We have three possible
options. Now notice how all of these options are structured similarly and Cambridge have done this
on purpose to make our lives easier. Isn't that great? Thanks Cambridge! I love you! You will
notice that all of these options are quite similar so pay attention to the differences. Remember that
Cambridge are incredibly kind and they will let you listen to the audio recording twice and this
is because listening is hard. Reading is easier. And here is why. When you read and you don't
understand something you can go back and check. However when you're listening you can't do that
and so sometimes you will be listening, you will stop understanding, you will focus on the thing
that you don't understand, and then suddenly you will realize "oh my gosh I'm completely
lost! Where am I!? What am I listening to!? Why am I still alive!?" and that is a terrible
thing because, seriously, if you get lost in a listening there is no way to go back again.
So when you listen to a listening for the first time don't focus on every detail. Don't focus
on every word because there will definitely be things that you don't understand and if
you focus on what you don't understand then you will not understand anything.
Instead try to understand the general idea, the general perspectives, the general context,
the general attitudes of the speakers. Think about "what are the speakers trying to achieve?" "What
are the speakers trying to do?" This way you will build a mental map in your head that will
help you locate the important information in your second listen. Right. Do we understand?
I hope we understand. Maybe you focused on a word that you didn't understand just then and then got
lost and thought "Oh my God" but don't worry because YouTube has a rewind function so go
back and watch it again if that happened to you. So let us try and do this question together. We
will listen for the first time now. You hear two people talking about a reality TV show.
There's always a new craze and a new scandal and I don't understand why you're into it.
Yeah I get it okay but hear me out this one is actually entertaining not to mention the fact
that it's totally hilarious. Really? Even the name love Factory... it seems so fake
and over the top and... That's kind of the point though it's meant to be like a guilty
pleasure you can't help but lose yourself in the drama... Yeah but I don't know. I don't
know if I can handle all the cringe-worthy moments and the cheesy dialogue. Trust me
it's so worth it and there are actually some interesting dynamics between the contestants
like how they form alliances and deal with their relationships it's psychological Toby. Alright,
I'll give it a shot but don't judge me if I end up getting addicted. Oh my God why would
I judge you?! I love this stuff! Trust me you'll be binge watching all weekend!
Phwoar! That was great! That was the best listening I've ever heard so Cambridge if you
want to pay someone to make listenings for you then please! Because I really need the support
right now! Now we have a mental map in our head of the audio maybe you think you know the answer and
if you do think that then good for you! You could be a genius! But don't stop listening! It's really
important that you listen for the second time. So what should you be doing when you're listening for
the second time? Don't worry because I'm about to tell you. Number one: answer the question...
Number two: challenge yourself. Don't only look for evidence in support of your answer but also
look for evidence against your answer. Seriously this is really really important because candidates
will sometimes think they have found the answer and so they will stop listening and that's dumb...
that's really really dumb. So please don't do that. So let's play the recording again
and step into the mind of a candidate. Let's see what the successful candidate thinks while
they are doing the exercise. Okay that sounds exciting! I've always wanted to be inside the
head of a successful candidate! Every year there's a new show and a new fad and a new craze and a new
Scandal and I don't understand why you're into it. Yeah I get it okay but hear me out this one
is actually entertaining not to mention the fact that it's totally hilarious. Really? Even the name
"Love Factory"... It seems so fake and over the top and... Already I think the answer is A. He
doesn't understand why the woman is into it this suggests he is not interested so for now my answer
is A. Let's continue listening to try and find evidence in support of or against this answer.
That's kind of the point though. It's meant to be like a guilty pleasure you can't help but lose
yourself in the drama. Yeah but I don't know. I don't know if I can handle all the cringe-worthy
moments and the cheesy dialogue. Trust me it's so worth it and there are actually some interesting
dynamics between the contestants like how they form alliances and deal with their relationships
it's psychological Toby. Now I am building evidence against A. The man says "I don't know"
so my answer is moving from A to C. This does not yet mean A is impossible so let's keep listening.
All right I'll give it a shot but don't judge me if I end up getting addicted! Oh my God why
would I judge you? I love this stuff! Trust me you'll be binge watching all weekend.
And now finally it seems our answer is B. The man says he will "give it a shot" and
the woman makes a prediction about the future with "you'll be binge watching all weekend".
Marvellous! Now let's look at another question. You hear a pop star talking about his new single.
Now this question is trying to trick you so I would like you to do two things. Instead
of only focusing on what the correct answer is I would like you to think about what some candidates
might get confused with. Ask yourself "how are these questions trying to mislead me?" because
honestly Cambridge can be devious little fellows and sometimes they will try to convince you to
pick the wrong answer because, really, they are terrible! Cambridge I didn't mean that! I
love you! I want to make listening materials for you! Please give me a job! I'm desperate! Please!
You hear a pop star talking about his new single.
Hey guys I'm so excited to share my latest single with you all. It's been
an amazing journey creating this track and I'm thrilled with how it's turned
out. I've been experimenting with different sounds and styles lately and I think you're
really going to love what we've come up with. I wanted to challenge myself and I feel like
this single represents a fresh start for me as an artist. I hope you all enjoy listening to
it as much as I enjoyed making it. Thank you for your support and the keep rocking! Yeah!
The answer is A. We know that because he says "I've been experimenting with different sounds
and styles lately" and "and also I feel like this single represents a fresh start for me as
an artist". But what about the other options? How are they trying to trick us? Well look at B. Some
candidates may confuse the words "latest" and "lately" with "late" suggesting that this means
the single took a long time to produce. "I'm so excited to share my latest single with you all ",
"I've been experimenting with different sounds and styles lately". And what about C? The speaker says
"I wanted to challenge myself and" and this could mean that there was some struggle involved maybe
so why is the answer not C? A "struggle" is negative. A struggle is not enjoyable.
The speaker says "it's been an amazing journey creating this track",
"I hope you all enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it". Secondly here
"I wanted to challenge myself and" does not mean to do something with great difficulty
instead in this context it suggests the speaker is trying something new. And with that we are
finished. Those are all the tips and tricks that you need to know to deal with part one of the B2
First listening exam! If you like this video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe if you
haven't already, leave a comment down below! My name is Toby and this was SMASH English....