CAE CAE Listening 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: How long does the CAE Listening paper approximately last?
- 20 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 40 minutes (Correct answer)
- 60 minutes
Correct answer: 40 minutes
The CAE Listening paper takes approximately 40 minutes, including reading time, listening time, and transferring answers to the answer sheet.
Question 2: What does 'attitude' mean in the context of CAE Listening questions?
- The speed at which someone speaks
- The speaker's feelings or opinions about a subject (Correct answer)
- The grammatical tense a speaker uses
- The formal or informal register of the recording
Correct answer: The speaker's feelings or opinions about a subject
Attitude questions ask candidates to identify how the speaker feels — whether they are enthusiastic, sceptical, disappointed, amused, etc.
Question 3: A speaker says 'I suppose it could work, but I'm not entirely convinced.' What attitude does this suggest?
- Strong enthusiasm
- Complete rejection
- Cautious scepticism (Correct answer)
- Neutral indifference
Correct answer: Cautious scepticism
Hedging phrases like 'I suppose' and 'not entirely convinced' signal doubt and scepticism rather than strong support or outright rejection.
Question 4: In CAE Listening Part 2, answers must fit grammatically into a sentence. A candidate hears 'the event was held in a sports complex.' Which answer fits the gap 'the event took place in a ___'?
- held sports
- sports complex (Correct answer)
- complex sporting
- event location
Correct answer: sports complex
The phrase 'sports complex' heard in the recording fills the gap naturally and grammatically, demonstrating that answers are often paraphrases of the audio.
Question 5: What should a CAE candidate do if they miss an answer during the first listening?
- Stop listening to catch up and guess the missed answer
- Continue listening and attempt the answer on the second listening (Correct answer)
- Leave a blank and move to the next question immediately
- Signal to the examiner that they need the recording replayed
Correct answer: Continue listening and attempt the answer on the second listening
Stopping to think about a missed answer risks missing further content; candidates should move forward and use the second listening to recover missed information.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes the purpose of the preparation time given before each recording in CAE Listening?
- To allow candidates to check their spelling
- To read questions and predict the kind of information needed (Correct answer)
- To allow late candidates to enter the room
- To give candidates time to rest between parts
Correct answer: To read questions and predict the kind of information needed
Preparation time should be used to read the questions, understand the context, and predict vocabulary or information likely to appear in the recording.
CAE CAE Listening 3
How long does the CAE Listening paper approximately last?