SESSION 1

Skills & Techniques to Master the Listening Paper of VSTEP. 3-5

1. WARM-UP
1. Have you ever been to the airport?
2. Have you ever heard the
instructions there?
3. When listening to an instruction/
announcement, which do you think
we should focus on: nouns, verbs,
adjectives or adverbs?
2. SAMPLE LISTENING PAPER
PART 1-Questions 1-8 (Track 1)
Directions: In this part, you will hear EIGHT short announcements or instructions. There is one
question for each announcement or instruction. For each question, choose the right answer
A, B, C or D. Then, on the answer sheet, find the number of the question and fill in the space
that corresponds to the letter of the answer that you have chosen.
1. How many languages are taught at Hanoi International Language School?
A. 1 B. 2
C. 3 D. 4
2. What is the boarding time of Flight VN178?
A. 3.30 B. 3.45
C. 4.15 D. 4.45
3. What will be happening in Lecture Hall 4 next Monday?
A. An art shop B. An exhibition
C. A history lesson D. A talk about history of art
4. Where does the woman live?
A. Opposite the cinema B. Next to Anna Boutique
C. On Floor 1 of C5 building D. On Floor 3 of C5 building
5. What is the woman doing?

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 A. Introducing the sports centre
B. Selling equipment to the new members
C. Explaining the rules in the centre
D. Answering members’ questions
6. What time do the banks open in winter?
A. 8.00 a.m. B. 8.30 a.m.
C. 9.00 a.m. D. 9.30 a.m.
7. What is the woman talking about?
A. How to change the topic of a term paper
B. When and where to hand in a term paper
C. How to write a term paper
D. The list of topics for a term paper
8. How is the weather today?
A. Cool all day B. Rainy in the early morning
C. Windy at noon D. Sunny during the day
PART 2-Questions 9-20 (Track 2)
In this part, you will hear THREE conversations. The conversations will not be repeated. There
are four questions for each conversation. For each question, choose the correct answer A, B,
C or D.
Questions 9 to 12. Listen to the discussion between two exchange students Martha and Peter.
9. How has the man mainly learnt Japanese?
A. By listening B. By speaking
C. By writing Kanji D. By reading aloud
10. Why did the woman travel to Spain?
A. To reach her goal B. To learn Japanese
C. To meet her pen friends D. To practice her Spanish
11. According to the woman, why do young people learn language more quickly?
A. They have friends at university.
B. Their brains are fresher.

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 C. They do not have much concern other than study.
D. They find languages easier than the elder.
12. What is the conversation mainly about?
A. Learning English B. Learning languages
C. Learning French D. Age and learning
Questions 13 to 16. Listen to the conversation between Emma, the tourist and Felipe, a local
person from Ecuador.
13. What does the man say about the Galapagos Islands?
A. They are unattractive.
B. They are a must-visit place for tourists.
C. They are more popular with foreigners than locals.
D. There are a lot of famous hotels and food there.
14. Why are the costs in Galapagos Islands so high?
A. To improve their service quality
B. To protect the environment
C. To attract international tourists
D. To solve local economic problems
15. Which place can be compared to the Galapagos in terms of scenery?
A. The Amazon region
B. The lowlands
C. South Ecuador
D. Ecuadorean countryside
16. What do the speakers mean by mentioning “more rights”?
A. Islanders should have more freedom to do business.
B. Ecuadoreans should visit the island with more ease.
C. Tourists should be given more freedom on the island.
D. Visitors should be encouraged to visit the island.

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Questions 17 to 20. Listen to the conversation between Todd and Katia.
17. What is the topic of the conversation?
A. Ways to get an internship
B. Methods of studying at university
C. Contrasts between working and studying
D. Skills needed in working environment
18. What does the girl say about presenting skills?
A. She wanted more practice with them.
B. She was not aware of their importance before working.
C. She didn’t know how to do them in Spanish.
D. She taught them to herself at university.
19. What does the girl think about making mistakes in the working world?
A. It’s frequent and natural.
B. It’s undesirable but normal.
C. It’s worrying and unacceptable.
D. It’s annoying but totally avoidable.
20. What advice does the girl have for those about going to start working?
A. Prepare themselves for unexpected situations
B. Relax and have some fun
C. Make good transition from university to work
D. Make their best effort and follow their passion

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PART 3-Questions 21-35 (Track 3)
In this part, you will hear THREE talks or lectures. The talks or lectures will not be repeated.
There are five questions for each talk or lecture. For each question, choose the right answer
A, B, C or D.
Questions 21 to 25. Listen to a presentation about summer job searching.
21. What factor deserves initial consideration when a summer job search is launched?
A. Sort of jobs within the field
B. Flexible working hours
C. Employees’ hobbies
D. Commitment to the job
22. Why does the speaker mention photography?
A. To highlight the importance of hobbies in job searching
B. To illuminate a job search process
C. To prove the role of local area in job searching
D. To suggest looking for a job on the internet
23. What principle does a person necessarily stick to when looking for the second job?
A. Value the second job over the current one
B. Ask for the current employer’s permission
C. Make all the contact out of company time
D. Have interviews scheduled during official working hours
24. What behavior will place a candidate at a great advantage in an interview?
A. Showing up on time
B. Having a great outfit
C. Stressing the achievements with the current company
D. Emphasizing the working experiences
25. What is of greatest importance for a successful attempt at the job search?
A. Asking for references from the current company
B. Referring to what have been achieved in the current job
C. Getting the track record of the current job
D. Talking to somebody in the current company for advice

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Questions 26 to 30. Listen to a talk about recycling carbon.
26. Which process is mainly discussed in the talk?
A. Producing carbon through photosynthesis
B. Returning carbon to the atmosphere through decomposition
C. Recycling carbon into the soil through soil breathing
D. Maintaining the availability of environmental factors
27. What happens during decomposition?
A. Natural elements directly come into the soil when they fall on the ground.
B. Natural nutrients are produced in death leaves and trees.
C. Organic matter is absorbed into the soil through some natural processes.
D. Organic elements are mineralized to CO2.
28. What does “soil respiration” refer to?
A. The cycle of minimalizing CO2 in the soil
B. The stage of decomposing organic matter
C. The circle when CO2 is recycled
D. The process when CO2 gets out of the soil
29. What does the speaker say about the cycle of carbon?
A. It helps remain carbon in litter for a long time.
B. It finishes when CO2 comes out of the soil to the air.
C. It is the result of soil respiration.
D. It creates the amount of carbon in the living biomass.
30. What does the example of tropical rainforest and the Arctic Tundra illustrate?
A. The balance between photosynthesis and decomposition rate
B. The importance of litter and organic matter in the production of carbon
C. The effect of environmental factors on photosynthesis and decomposition rate
D. The way how the nutrient availability stores carbon within the soil

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Questions 31 to 35. Listen to a lecture about poor comprehenders.
31. What is the talk mainly about?
A. The difficulties poor comprehenders encounter
B. The definition of poor comprehender
C. The reading process of a poor comprehender
D. The causes and effects of poor comprehension
32. What can be inferred about poor comprehenders’ level of understanding?
A. They are better at decoding than reading a text fluently.
B. They are not good at decoding and understanding a text.
C. They struggle to reveal what they have read.
D. They often have general understanding of the text.
33. What is the speaker’s opinion about exploring poor comprehenders?
A. It is challenging in a regular classroom context.
B. It is best to work with one child at a time.
C. It requires children to make some questions about the text.
D. It is done by asking children to talk about the text in pairs.
34. What does the speaker say about poor comprehenders at primary school age?
A. They make up the majority of primary students.
B. They perform badly in subjects that require higher cognitive levels.
C. Oral tasks are more difficult for them to achieve than reading ones.
D. They have greater receptive skills than productive ones.
35. What is meant about poor comprehenders’ ability to look over their comprehension?
A. They actually know reasons for their poor comprehension.
B. They can monitor their comprehension only occasionally.
C. They change their monitoring process when their comprehension has broken down.
D. Controlling comprehension is beyond their ability.

This is the end of the listening paper.

Now you have 07 MINUTES to transfer your answers to your answer