Woman: Betty took the wrong bus and missed the meeting.
Man: I know. She showed up when it was over.
Q. Narrator: What do the speakers mean?
A. Betty is coming to the meeting.
B. Betty did not go to the meeting.
C. Betty might not come to the meeting.
D. Betty is on the bus.
The answer is B, “Betty did not go to the meeting.” The sentence is in the past
tense.
Man: Did Chuck call before or after the class?
Woman: He called during the class.
Q. Narrator: What did the woman say?
A. He did not call.
B. He called while the class was going on.
C. He called before the class.
D. He called after the class.
The answer is B, “He called while the class was going on,” because while means
the same as during.
Passive Voice
A sentence can be constructed either in the active or passive voice. In an active
sentence, the subject performs the action. In a passive sentence, the subject re-
ceives the action. To create a passive sentence from an active sentence, the order
of the active sentence is reversed. For the Listening section, you must be able to
understand active versus passive voice so you can identify who performs the ac-
tion and who receives the action.
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Samples
Woman: Where is David? I thought he was going to be here.
Man: He was chosen to lead the committee, and it is meeting tonight.

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Sample
Woman: Do you know anything about the three students who are making
the video display?
Man: An excellent photographer, Gary Smith will carry the weight.
Woman: You don’t know the others?
Q. Narrator: What does the man imply about the video producers?
A. One person will make it successful.
B. The group is made up of great photographers.
C. There is no hope for the video display.
D. Gary will load the equipment.
The answer is A, “One person will make it successful,” because the appositive,
“an excellent photographer,” refers to Gary.
Modals
Modal auxiliaries are generally used to indicate something that is potential or un-
certain. The modals are: will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, and
must.
Sample
Woman: Are you planning to go on the trip?
Man: I may be able to.
Q. Narrator: What does the man mean?
A. He is not sure whether he will go on the trip.
B. He will definitely go on the trip.
C. He will definitely not go on the trip.
D. He plans to go on the trip.
The answer is A, “He is not sure whether he will go on the trip,” because the word
may means the answer is unknown.
42
Part III: Detailed Review of Items Tested
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The boy would’ve survived if the man had called the ambulance.
This means the man did not call the ambulance and the boy did not survive.
Notice the difference, however, when the verb is in the same tense as the context.
This is called a real condition because the clauses don’t have the opposite meaning.
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Listening
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If the bus arrives soon, we’ll be on time for our meeting.
The bus still might arrive soon, and if it does, we’ll be on time for our meeting.
If the man calls the ambulance, the boy can survive.
The man might call the ambulance, and the boy might survive.
Wish
The verb wish can convey the same concept as an unreal condition. It conveys a
different concept from that of hope. Just like in the unreal conditional sentences
you read above, the tense of the other verb in the sentence will be one step further
in the past.
We wish the bus had arrived on time.
This means the bus did not arrive on time.
She wishes the man had called the ambulance.
This means the man did not call the ambulance.
Comparisons and Comparatives
Comparisons indicate degrees of difference or similarity.
Equal Comparisons
An equal comparison indicates that the two nouns or noun phrases in a sentence
are (or are not) exactly the same.
This car is as old as that one.
This sentence means that the age of the two cars is equal.
This car is not as old as that one.
This sentence means that this car is newer than the other one.
In a negative equal comparison, you can substitute the word so for as without al-