VSTEP Listening Part 2 Tips: Longer Conversations
Quick answer: VSTEP Listening Part 2 has 3 conversations with 4 questions each (12 in total). The questions follow the order of the conversation, so read all four in advance, note which speaker each question is about, and listen closely for their opinions, reasons and final decision.
What Part 2 looks like
Each recording is a conversation between two (sometimes three) people at school, at work or in daily life: planning an event, discussing a group project, complaining to customer service… Questions usually ask about the purpose of the call, the problem, each speaker's opinion and what they will do next.
Strategy
- Read all four questions in the time given. They follow the conversation, so question 1 is usually near the start and question 4 near the end.
- Mark who is being asked about: "What does the woman suggest?" is completely different from "What does the man think?". Write W or M next to each question.
- Track changing opinions: speakers often propose something, get pushback and change their mind. The answer is the final decision.
- Don't get stuck: if you miss one, pick an answer and move straight on so you don't lose the whole set.
Language signals to listen for
| Function | Typical phrases |
|---|---|
| Suggesting | Why don't we…, How about…, I suggest… |
| Objecting | I'm not sure about that, The problem is…, But… |
| Agreeing / deciding | That makes sense, Let's go with…, OK, I'll… |
| Giving reasons | because, since, the thing is… |
Attitude and inference questions
Questions like "How does the man feel about the new schedule?" depend on tone and evaluative words (frustrated, relieved, doubtful). Pay attention to adjectives and adverbs of feeling and to rising or falling intonation.
Practice
- After each conversation, listen again with the transcript and underline the sentence with each answer — you will see that answers are almost always paraphrased.
- Summarise each conversation in two sentences: who talked to whom, about what, and how it ended.