MỘT SỐ ĐIỀU CẦN NẮM VỮNG KHI LÀM BÀI PART 1 (PHOTOGRAPH DESCRIPTIONS) ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN LỚP LISTENING LEVEL 2, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DUY TÂN (Ms Uyen)
Photographs of people consist of photographs describing one person and photographs describing more than one person. In the former, the correct answer must describe the action, appearance, state, or location of the person in the photograph. In the latter, the correct answer must describe the action, general state, or location of the people in the photograph, or the action, appearance of each person. You have to select the statement that best describes the photograph.
Statement Structures
In Part 1, correct answer choices may have one of the five structures below:
Structure 1 Subject + is/are + V-ing + object: The person is doing something.
Structure 2 Subject + is/are + V-ing + prepositional phrase of place: The person is doing something somewhere.
Structure 3 Subject + is/are + prepositional phrase of place: The person is at somewhere.
Structure 4 Subject + is/are + being + past participle: The object is being acted on (by the person).
- Even though the focus of the photograph is a person, the subject of a correct answer choice may be an object used with the present continuous passive (be + being + past participle). This means that the person’s action is emphasized. You, therefore, should pay attention to the object acted on.
Structure 5 Subject + is/are + past participle + adverb: The person is doing something somewhere.
- The verb in this structure is in the passive form; however, it does not have a passive meaning. This structure has a similar meaning to Structure 2.
Test-Taking Strategies
1. The correct answer choice should describe the person’s outstanding action, appearance, state, or location.
2. The most important element in all statements describing photographs is the verb itself. You may hear certain new verbs. You, thus, should practice listening to and learn typical verbs.
3. You should also carefully observe the person’s appearance and clothes. After identifying the verbs in the statements, you must listen to the remaining details. Sometimes, the correct statement describes the clothes he/she is wearing or the accessories he/she is bringing.
4. You must distinguish between “action” and “state”. Take the verbs wear and put on as examples: wear is used to describe the “state" of having clothes on, while put on refers to the "action” of getting dressed.
5. Sometimes, the name of an object is not specifically stated but a general term is used instead. For example, the person in the photograph is playing the guitar or piano; the correct answer choice may use a musical instrument - the general term of guitar and piano. You should familiarize yourself with some other general terms such as tools, equipment, vehicles, fruits, etc.
6. You should not interpret. Just carefully look at the photograph and decide which of the statements best describes what you can see in the photograph.
7. You must also observe the things around the person. Sometimes, the main focus of the photograph is the person, but the correct answer choice may concentrate on the objects or scenes.
8. In the actual test, all the photographs are in black and white. Therefore, nearly all of the statements which mention colors will be incorrect answers.
9. You must observe the general action/state of the people in the photograph. Listen to not only the verbs but also the prepositional phrases of place.
10. Sometimes, you must also pay attention to the appearance or action of an outstanding individual in the group.
11. The correct answer choice generally describes what the people in the photograph are doing together, or what a focused person in the photograph is doing.
12. you must make sure that the subject and verb in the answer choice best describe what you can see in the photograph.
13. You must be very cautious because incorrect answers may sometimes be those that mention the most outstanding object in the photograph.