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Part 3 — Short Conversations

What this part tests

Part 3 tests your ability to understand a recorded conversation between two or three speakers and then answer questions about it. Each conversation is followed by three questions, each with four answer choices (A–D) printed in the test booklet.

The test has 13 conversations, giving 39 questions in total.

Conversations are typically between colleagues, a customer and an employee, or two professionals — always in a business or professional context. They cover topics like scheduling, logistics, workplace problems, plans, and requests.

What the questions look like

A conversation might be between a manager and an employee discussing a project deadline. The questions might ask:

What problem does the man mention? What does the woman suggest doing? What will the man most likely do next?

All three questions refer to the same conversation.

Core strategies

1. Pre-read all three questions before the conversation begins.

This is the single highest-value habit in Part 3. You have a few seconds after the previous item ends — use them to read all three questions (not the answer choices, just the questions). Knowing what to listen for converts passive listening into active searching.

If question 1 asks "Where does this conversation take place?", you know to listen for location clues — background sounds, references to a building or room. If question 2 asks "What does the woman ask the man to do?", you know to track the woman's requests specifically.

2. Read questions in the order they appear in the conversation.

The questions almost always follow the conversation chronologically. Question 1 relates to something said early, question 2 to the middle, and question 3 often relates to the end — especially "What will the speaker probably do next?" questions. Use this structure to stay oriented.

3. Listen for the setup in the first exchange.

The conversation's who, where, and what are almost always established in the first two or three lines. Pay close attention to the opening. If you miss the setup, the rest becomes much harder to follow.

4. Graphic prompts require extra preparation.

Some questions in Part 3 include a graphic — a schedule, a floor plan, a price list, a menu, or a chart — and ask "Look at the graphic. Which [item] does the speaker mention?" For these questions, study the graphic and its labels before the audio starts. You need to know what the options are before you can match what you hear.

5. Stay ahead — read the next set while answering the current one.

After you answer the third question for a conversation, immediately start reading the three questions for the next conversation. There is usually a brief pause between items. Every bit of pre-reading you do is time recovered.

Most common traps

  • The distractor that uses exact words from the audio. Wrong answers often contain a word or phrase you just heard, attached to an incorrect claim. If you hear "The deadline is Thursday" and one answer says "Thursday is a company holiday," that answer is baiting you with a familiar word. The correct answer may paraphrase rather than repeat.
  • Surface-level vs. actual purpose. A question asking "Why is the man calling?" may have an obvious-sounding answer that matches the surface topic but misses the actual reason. A man might call about a delivery but his actual purpose is to cancel an order. Focus on the underlying intent.
  • "Next action" questions. Questions asking what someone will do next or probably do are answered at the very end of the conversation. Do not answer based on what happened during the conversation — wait for the final exchange or stated plan.
  • Speaker confusion with three-person conversations. Some Part 3 conversations have three speakers. Questions may specify the woman, the first man, or the second man. Keep track of who is who from the first line.

Vocabulary to focus on

  • Scheduling: available, book, cancel, confirm, reschedule, slot
  • Problems: behind schedule, budget overrun, delay, shortage, technical issue
  • Requests: arrange, coordinate, follow up, look into, take care of
  • Workplace roles: receptionist, supervisor, technician, representative, contractor
  • Logistics: delivery, inventory, shipment, supplier, warehouse