Dalam mengerjakan soal-soal listening, terdapat beberapa skill dasar
yang perlu dilatih untuk bisa memahami beraneka ragam dan jenis soal
TOEFL ITP. Penguasaan skill tentunya akan sangat membantu peserta dalam
mengerjakan soal-soal listening dalam tes TOEFL ITP. Dengan menguasai
skill berikut, soal akan menjadi terlihat lebih mudah, dan skor TOEFL
akan meningkat. Pada section A, test taker akan mendengar sebuah
percakapan pendek yang melibatkan dua orang. Setelah percakapan akan
diikuti pertanyaan. Berikut adalah 5 skill lanjutan (sebelumnya) yang perlu diperhatikan dalam
mempersiapkan diri sebelum mengikuti tes TOEFL.
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| TOEFL ITP: 5 Skill #2 untuk mengerjakan Listening Part A (Conversation) |
Skill 6: Listen for Who and What with multiple nouns
Terkadang, dalam soal listening akan terdengar dua object yang menjadi kata kunci. Beberapa test taker biasanya akan kebingungan dalam menjawab soal sepeerti ini. Untuk menjawab jenis soal ini, test taker sebaiknya mengenali jenis soal ini untuk melatih ketelitian dalam mengerjakan soal TOEFL ITP yang sesungguhnya. Bentuk soal yang menggambarkan keadaan seperti ini dapat dilihat seperti contoh berikut,
On the recording, you hear:
man: Do you know who is in the band now?
woman: I heard that Mara replaced in the band.
Narrator: What does the woman say about the band?
In your test book, you read:
a. Robert became a new member of the band
b. Robert took Mara's place in the band
c. Mara didn't have a place in the band
d. Mara took Robert's place in the band
Jawaban yang paling benar dari soal diatas adalah D
Seperti biasa, kata kunci dari percakapan diatas terdapat pada second speaker "Mara replaced in the band". Pernyataan tersebut dapat dinyatakan dengan kata lan sebagai Mara took Robert's place in the band.
Skill 7: Listen for negative expressions
Pernyataan ekspresi negatif sering muncul dalam test TOEFL. Soal jenis ini digunakan untuk menjebak test taker agar salah dalam menjawab. Perhatikan tipe ekspresi-ekspresi negative lain seperti dibawah ini,
Ekspresi: not
Contoh: Tom is not sad about the result (Tom is happy about the result)
Ekspresi: nobody, none, nothing, never
Contoh: Nobody arrived on time (Everyone is late), Sally never works hard (Sally is lazy)
Ekspresi: negative prefixes (un-, in-, dis-)
Contoh: The patient was insane (The patient was crazy)
Agar tidak terjebak dalam menjawab soal jenis ini, perhatikanlah bentuk soal berikut,
On the recording, you hear:
man: How did they get to their grandmother's house in Maine in only five hours?
woman: They didn't drive slowly on the trip to Maine.
Narrator: What does the woman say about the trip?
In your test book, you read:
a. They drove rather quickly
b. They couldn't have driven more slowly
c. They wanted to travel slowly to Marine
d, They didn't drive to Maine
Jawaban yang paling tepat untuk soal diatas adalah A
Kata kuncinya terdapat pada didn't drive slowly yang dinyatakan dalam bentuk lain menjadi They drove rather quickly.
Skill 8: Listen for double negative expression
Untuk terhindar dari jebakan double negative expression, kenali bentuk ekspresi-ekspresi double negative berikut,
Ekspresi: Negative words (not, no, none) and negative prefix (in-, un-, dis-)
Contoh: He didn't like the unclean office. (He liked clean office)
Ekspresi: Two negative verbs
Contoh: It isn't snowing, so they aren't going to the mountains. (They would go if it were snowing.)
Ekspresi: Neither or not ... either
Contoh: Sue didn't like the movie and neither did Mark (Both Sue and Mark didn't like movie)
Kenali lebih jauh bentuk ekspresi double negative dalam soal berikut,
On the recording, you hear:
man: I can't believe the news that I heard about the concert.
woman: Well, it isn't impossible for the concert to take place
Narrator: What does the woman say about the concert?
In your test book, you read:
a. There's no possibility that the concert will take place
b. The concert will definitely not take place
c. The concert might take place
d. The concert can't take place
Jawaban yang paling tepat untuk soal diatas adalah C
Kata kuncinya terletak pada second speaker yaitu "isn't impossible" yang mengisyaratkan bahwa The concert might take place
Skill 9: Listen for almost negative expression
Kalimat hampir negative juga sering menjebak test taker. Kenali bentuk eksprei- ekspres hampir negatif berikut,
Almost none: Hardly, barely, scarcely, only
Contoh: There is hardly any food in the refrigerator. (Hanya terdapat sangat sedikit makanan di refrigerator)
Almost never: Rarely, seldom
Contoh: He rarely drives to work. (Ia sangat jarang menyetir untuk bekerja).
Cermati lebih jauh bentuk kalimat hampir negatif dalam soal berikut,
On the recording, you hear:
woman: Were you able to pay the electric bill?
man: I had barely enough money.
narrator: What does the man imply?
In your test book, you read,
a. He had plenty of money for the bill
b. He didn't have enough money for the bill
c. He paid the bill but has no money left
d. He was unable to pay the bill'
Jawaban yang paling tepat dari jeins soal diatas adalah C
Kata kunci terletak pada "barely enough money" yang memiliki arti sama dengan "has no money left"
Skill 10: Listen for negatives with comparatives
Pernyataan dengan negatives with comparatives memiliki arti superlative (very strong meaning). Kenali bentuk comparative with negatives berikut,
Comparative: more
contoh: No one is more beautiful than she is. (She is the most beautiful.)
Comparative: -er
contoh: He couldn't happier. (He is extremely happy.)
Perhatikan contoh soal berikut,
On the recording, you hear:
woman: What do you think of the new student in match class?
man: No one is more intelligent than she is.
Narrator: What does the man say about the new student?
In your test book, you read:
a. She is not very smart
b. He is smarter than she is
c. Other student are smarter than she is
d. She is the smartest student in the class
Jawaban yang paling tepat untuk soal diatas adalah D
"No one is more intelligent than she is" dapat diartikan bahwa She is the smartest student in the class.
