Paper 1: 37 questions, each played twice
Paper 1 (components 11/12/13) is 37 multiple-choice/matching questions of rising difficulty, ending in a "choose two statements from five" (Q35-37), always the hardest. Each recording plays twice: playing 1 for gist (topic, speaker, situation), playing 2 for detail (numbers, names, who said what, negation). Answer sheet: one letter for Q1-34, two for Q35-37 — the wrong number forfeits the mark.
Distractors reuse a real heard word
Listening distractors are rarely invented words — the trap option usually contains a word genuinely spoken, but attached to a different person (a friend, not the speaker), a different time frame (once true, or hoped for), or an item cancelled later in the sentence (mais je n'en ai jamais besoin). Answering from one familiar word therefore fails. The defence: listen to the end of the sentence — check who, when, and negation.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Matching a heard word to the wrong person
The digest names this the primary Listening trap in every sitting: a statement is true of one interviewee's friend or brother — not the person the question asks about — and candidates misattribute it because the word sounds familiar. Example: a talk "with Bastien and his brother", not their parents. Fix: ask "who does the recording say this about?", not "did I hear it?"
Listening section, cross-checked across s22/w22/s23/w23 — the primary distractor trap: a familiar word attributed to the wrong person.
Missing a "ne...pas" buried mid-sentence
Candidates repeatedly fail to catch ne...pas or another negative buried mid-sentence, and pick the option that would be true if it were positive. Digest example: ce n'est pas parce qu'il a peur — missing the negative gives the opposite meaning. Fix: listen for ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien, ne...plus, sans, often placed mid-sentence.
s22 Listening 11 Q23, 12 Q25, 13 Q20/Q34 — a negative embedded in the sentence missed and the positive read chosen.
One unknown everyday word sinks a question
A single unfamiliar everyday-object word can derail an otherwise-understood question. The digest names, sitting after sitting: laverie, chauffage, aire de jeux, poubelle, brouillard. The lesson is breadth: household objects, weather, food and camping items matter as much as headline topic words — one unknown noun can sink a whole option.
s22 & w22 Listening (components 11-13) — a single unfamiliar everyday-object word repeatedly cited as why a question was missed.
Missing a change of time frame in one extract
One extract can hold two time frames, and the answer depends on which applies. Candidates miss the shift: je les adorais / maintenant ils m'ennuient (used to love / now annoy); déjà escaladé (already climbed) vs mon ambition est d'escalader (a future ambition). Fix: pin down when each fact applies — now, before, or hoped-for — before choosing.
s22 Listening 11 Q19 & 13 Q37; w22 Listening 11 Q37 — two time frames in one extract, the wrong one chosen.
Stopping before a later clause cancels it
A distractor is often set up by an early clause, then ruled out by a later one in the same sentence, so stopping at the first familiar clause traps you. The digest's example: an item is named, then cancelled by mais je n'en ai jamais besoin. Fix: never commit on the first half — the deciding word (a mais, a negative) often comes at the end.
w22 Listening 11 Q36 — an earlier-mentioned item ruled out by a later clause ("mais je n'en ai jamais besoin").
Shading one letter where Q35-37 need two
Q35-37 (the final "choose two statements" exercise) need two shaded letters; Q1-34 need one. Shading only one on Q35-37 — or two anywhere in Q1-34 — forfeits the mark even when the listening was right. The reports repeat this every sitting. Fix: on the last exercise, deliberately check you have shaded exactly two letters per question.
Procedural note repeated verbatim every sitting (s22/w22/s23/w23) — shade one letter for Q1-34, two for Q35-37.
Hearing a word = that option is right
A widespread misconception: recognising a word from an option proves it is correct. In fact examiners attach real, correctly-heard vocabulary to the wrong person or time, or cancel it with a later negative. Recognising a word is only step one — confirm who it applies to and when, and check for a nearby negative. This trap works at every level of the paper.
Listening section — the "distractors that echo a heard word" pattern is named the primary trap in every sitting reviewed (s22/w22/s23/w23).
Two playings, two jobs: gist then detail
Give the two playings different jobs. Playing 1 = gist: speaker(s), topic, how many viewpoints — don't write yet. Playing 2 = detail: numbers, dates, names, and who each opinion belongs to and when. Catching everything on the first listen only causes panic.
Before shading, check who, when, negation
Before shading, re-test the option against what you heard, not the first familiar word: who — is it attributed to the person asked about? when — does the time frame match? negation — a ne...pas or sans that reverses it? Shade only once all three check out.
Read the question and options first
Read the question and every option before each recording, so you know what kind of information you need — a number, a reason, a time, an opinion. Going in "cold" makes you decode the question and catch the answer at once; knowing you want a time lets you lock onto it.
Paper 1 Listening (components 11, 12 or 13) is 37 multiple-choice/matching questions, each recording played twice, rising in length and difficulty from short exchanges to a final "choose two correct statements" exercise (Q35-37). No writing is required — every answer is a shaded letter.
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