Part 4 signposts: a lecture on newspapers going online
You can use a lecturer's signpost phrases to know which part of the notes you are in, and find your place again if you lose it.
Part 4 of Listening is a talk or a lecture by one speaker. Nobody interrupts to ask questions, and you hear it once.
Most lecturers tell you where they are going: first, turning to, the main reason, to sum up. Those phrases are called signposts. They tell you which part of the notes you have reached. The lecture here is about what happened to newspapers when their readers moved online.
Warm-up
What comes next?
A lecturer has been talking about the history of television news. Then she says this.
Read thisRight. Turning to the way news is paid for...
What is she about to do?
How it works
Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
How newspapers changed online
Publishing
•Print papers: one 31 a day
•Online: stories updated all day; newsrooms work in shifts
Money
•Biggest loss of income: 32 adverts
•Main reason for paywalls: online 33 earned far less than print
Readers
•Many arrive at one article from a link, then leave
•Now more important than ever: the 34
Reading for next week: the chapter on 35 newspapers
Part 4 is the last part of the test, numbered 31 to 40. The headings in the notes follow the order of the talk.
The method
- 1Read the headings first
In the time before the recording, read the notes. The headings are the sections of the talk, in order.
- 2Listen for the plan
Many lecturers list their points at the start. Match each point to a heading, so you know what is coming.
- 3Follow the signposts
First, turning to and that brings me to tell you the speaker has reached the next heading.
- 4Wait for the main point
The main reason and but often come just before an answer. An idea the speaker mentions and then rejects is usually a wrong answer.
- 5Lost? Jump to the next heading
If you hear a signpost for the next section, leave the gap you missed and go on. Come back and guess it at the end.
Signposts and what they tell you
First, To begin with, I'll start with. You are at the first heading, or the first line under a heading.
Turning to, Moving on to, That brings me to. A new heading starts here.
The main reason, The biggest change, What mattered most. An answer is close, so listen to the end of the sentence.
But, In fact, Actually. The speaker corrects an idea. The answer usually comes after the change.
To sum up, So, overall, For next week. The main points again, and sometimes a last detail that a final question asks about.
Question 31: publishing
Play the first clip once and fill gap 31. Then read how I did it.
Clip 1: the plan, and publishing
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In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
Print papers: one a day
Write no more than 1 word.
Watch me do one
Gap 31 is under Publishing: Print papers: one ______ a day. I need a noun, something a paper has once a day.
She starts with her plan: publishing, money, readers. Those are the three headings in my notes, in the same order.
Then First, publishing. I am in the right section, so I listen for one and a day.
A daily paper worked to one deadline a day. One word, a noun, and it fits the line. I write deadline.
The rest of that clip is detail the notes already give. I let it go and look ahead to gap 32, under Money.
Practice with Elita6 questions
The lecture continues, one clip per section. Play each one only once, the way the test plays it.
Question 32: the biggest loss
Listen for the signpost that starts the Money section, then fill gap 32.
Clip 2: money
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In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
Biggest loss of income: adverts
Write no more than 1 word.
Question 33: the main reason
Fill gap 33. She mentions two reasons, and only one of them is the main one.
Clip 3: paywalls
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In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
Main reason for paywalls: online earned far less than print
Write no more than 1 word.
Lost your place?
You were still waiting for the answer to gap 33 when the lecturer said this.
Read thisThat brings me to my third point: readers.
What should you do now?
Question 34: readers
Now the third section. Fill gap 34.
Clip 4: readers
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In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
Now more important than ever: the
Write no more than 1 word.
Question 35: next week
The last clip starts with a signpost for the end. Fill gap 35.
Clip 5: the summary
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In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
Reading for next week: the chapter on newspapers
Write no more than 1 word.
A different lecture: the plan
This clip is the start of another lecture, on radio. Listen for the plan and number the parts as he gives them.
Clip 6: a lecture on radio
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In the exam you hear this once. Here you may play it again after you have tried.
What will the lecturer talk about second?
Words to keep
A signpost that starts a new topic. Turning to money, newspapers had two kinds of income.
A signpost for the next point in the speaker's plan. That brings me to my third point: readers.
Introduces the most important cause, often after a less important one. The main reason for paywalls was advertising.
The time by which a piece of work must be finished. A daily paper worked to one deadline a day.
Small adverts for jobs, homes and things for sale. Classified adverts moved to websites that charged little or nothing.
A system that makes readers pay to see articles online. The paper's paywall lets you read three articles a month free.
A signpost that starts a short summary, usually at the end. To sum up, moving online changed three things about news.
Before you go
Before the recording, read the headings in the notes. They are the sections of the talk.
Listen for the plan at the start. It gives you the order of the headings.
Hear turning to or that brings me to as a move to the next heading, and move with it.
When a speaker says you might expect and then but, the answer comes after the but.
Next: Pronunciation comes next: word stress, chunking and clear endings, practised on Part 1 questions about the news you follow.