今天我们先来看看听力部分第一节短对话的概况：第一节短对话总共有5个小题，考查考生理解主旨要义、获取事实性的具体信息、作出简单的判断和推理以及理解说话者的意图和态度的能力。要求考生根据所听到的5段简短对话，从每题所给的3个选项中选出最佳选项。每段录音材料仅读一遍。常见短对话有以下题型：
1.有关读数的题目
(1)对数字的敏感程度，即多位数，分数，小数，百分数的正确读法。例如：576,328,490读作five hundred and seventy-six million three hundred and twenty-eight thousand four hundred and ninety；1/3读作one third，2/5读作two fifths，78%读作seventy-eight percent。
(2)对时间的正确读法。例如：5:45读作five forty-five或a quarter to six；7:30读作seventy thirty或half past seven。
(3)对日期的正确读法。例如：1909年9月9日读作September the ninth，nineteen o nine；2001年1月22日读作January the twenty-second, the year two thousand one。
(4)对电话号码的正确读法。例如：63579088读作six three five seven nine o/zero double eight。
(5)对航班号，街道，房间号，金额等的正确读法。例如：Flight 806读作Flight eight o six。
2.在听懂数字的基础上，进行一些简单运算的能力。例如：
W：Here's a twenty-dollar note, give me two tickets for tomorrow's concert, please.
M：Sure. Two tickets and here's $7.40 change.
Q：How much does one ticket cost?
A.$5.40 B.$6.30
C.$6.40 D.$12.60
这道题目的关键在于听到的四个数字：twenty, two, 7.40和one。对话的双方谈论的是两张票和找回的钱，而题目问的是一张票的价钱。除了要听懂听清以外，还要快速地进行计算。
此外，掌握常用的特殊疑问词，有助于迅速地找出题目的关键词，并作出正确的判断：What time…, When…, How long…, How much…, How many…, How far…, How often…, How soon…
在这类题目中，往往不能直接听到对话中出现关键的地名。必须根据对话情节来推断事件发生的地点。做这类题目的时候需要：
1.熟悉一些与常考地点相关的词。例如：
饭店，旅馆：waiter, tip, check, menu, soup, salad, check in/out, book, room, reception, order, drink, steak, beef, cafeteria, cream, hamburger, beer, etc.
邮局，银行：post office, stamp, mail, package, postage,postcard, letter, parcel, bank, cash, account, savings, check,etc.
法院，医院：court, judge, crime, criminal, lawyer, sentence,admit, doctor, patient, operation, medicine, temperature,headache, dentist, symptom, treatment, cure, blood, etc.
加油站，商店：fill it up, check the oil, change,expensive,cheap, petrol, price, fashion, suit, afford, etc.
学校：campus, teacher, exam, mark, homework, subject, etc.
车站，飞机场，海关：stop, ticket, subway,plane customs, visa, platform, flight, etc.
2.把对话中人物的身份和关系作为判断基础，然后再与对话情节结合起来。
3.注意一些介词和地点名词的组合，以及一些表示方位的词。例如:
W: These tomatoes are dry. You must have watered them a lot.
M: Yes, I did. They ought to be ripe enough to pick by next weekend when we have our picnic.
Q: Where did this conversation most probably take place?
A. In a kitchen
B. In an orchard
C. At a picnic
4.熟悉这类题目常见的发问句型。
例如：Where did the conversation take place?
与地点型题一样，职业与身份型题也是往往不能直接从对话了解对话双方的职业，身份，国籍与双方之间的关系。必须根据对话中的关键词，对话的内容，对话发生的地点，对话双方的语气来作推断。这类题目经常碰到的有：teacher and student,doctor and patient,shop assistant and customer,mother and son,driver and passenger,boss and secretary等。每一个行业有它的特点：每一个人在不同的场合有不同的角色，说不同的话。如：
M: Could you have Jane Smith come in for an interview?
W: Sure, I will call her up immediately, sir.
Q: What is the probably relationship between the two speakers?
A. Interviewer and interviewee
B. Teacher and student
C. Boss and secretary
其中男士对女士提出要求，让她叫Jane Smith来进行面试，而女士说会这样做的，男士是要求的口吻，女士是应允的口气，又和面试有关，所以我们选C项。再比如：
W: Can you make me a counter four feet high and three feet wide?
M: Sure. How many shelves do you need?
Q: What most probably is the man’s occupation?
A. A shoe maker
B. A carpenter
C. A tailor
显然，A正确答案。
这类题型有两种常见的形式：一种是对于一方提出的问题或谈到的看法，另一方出于礼貌或谦虚等因素，不直接了当的回答，而是采取婉转的方式表达自己的想法；另一种是双方对话后有第三者提出问题。这些问题一般很难从对话中直接找出答案，要看它的内涵是什么，要经过判断分析和逻辑推理后，才能做出正确的选择。这就要求在听懂对话内容的基础上，根据字里行间，上下文，语气，语境，句子结构等多种因素来判断和理解当事人的意向，态度，以及对话发生的地点，原因等。这类问题常见的提问方式有：
What does the man/woman imply?
What does the man/woman think about…?
What are the man and woman talking about/discussing?
What’s the man's .woman’s attitude/opinion…?
What do we learn from…?
What can be concluded about the man/woman?
What conclusion can be drawn from the conversation?
例如：
W: I think it’s high time we turned our attention to the danger of drunk driving now.
M: I can’t agree with you. You see, countless innocent people are killed by the drunk drivers each year.
Q: What does the woman mean?
A: Most people killed in traffic accidents are heavy drinkers.
B: She does not agree with the man..
C: Drunk drivers are not guilty.
例如：
M: Would you mind if I open the window? We need some fresh air.
W: We also need to keep it quiet in here.
Q: What does the woman mean?
A.The air is fresh.
B. It’s hot inside.
C. It’s noisy outside.
因为对话中女士说：We also need to keep it quiet in here.说明女士不同意开窗。因为外面太吵，所以我们选择C项。
相同的意思在对话中和选项中分别用不同话语结构的句子加以表达，就是同意重述。这类题目在其内容上会包含前面提到的内容，如时间题，推理题等，但这类题目通常需要熟悉一种意思的不同表达法及其常用的各种句型。熟悉和掌握这种题即是从一个更直接的角度去解题。
例如：
W: Did you see last night’s film on Channel 8?
M: Well, I meant to see it, but a friend of mine came to see me. We had a nice long talk about our school days.
Q: What did the man do last night? ( B )
A .He watched television with his friend.
B .He stayed at home talking with his friend.
C .He went to see s film with his friend.
这类考题主要有Which of the statements is true或not true?/What can we conclude/infer from this conversation?在做Which of the following statements is true? 这类题目时往往每一个信息是一点点出来的。当第一个人讲完时，有的选项正确与否就可以判断了，等第二个人讲完时，应该能判断出这道题的答案。而做What can we conclude/infer from the conversation?的题目时，往往需要全局观念。如：
W: Does Ben really want the scholarship he’s applied for?
M: No one wants the scholarship more than Ben.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
A .Ben really wants the scholarship.
B .No one wants the scholarship.
C .Ben is not interested in the scholarship.
从对话第二句中可知其意应是“没有人再比Ben更想要这份奖学金了。”所以选项为A。
对话的单独解题的技巧在阐述题型时，已经有了说明。
那么，该如何提高准确率呢？下面将介绍一些有效的方法：
1.掌握常用词汇，平时要注重词汇的积累，并要善于抓住关键词。
2.从语气，语调，语音等方面进行判断。
3.学会记录重要信息，尤其是数字。
4.学会运用猜测的方法，根据上下文猜出。
对于PETS二级听力长对话，考生应始终牢记：不要奢望将其内容一字不落地完全听懂并且记住。因为即使在日常生活中用母语对话，这也几乎是不可能的，同时也是不必要的。在日常生活中，我们只要掌握自己关心的信息，而在听力考试中，我们则要抓住关键的命题点。以下分听前预测和听时抓“点”两个步骤详解听力长对话的应试策略。
听前预测
听前预测对于听力长对话非常重要。放音间隔的时间应尽可能留作预测之用。若想有效使用这短短几十秒的放音间隔时间，需把握以下两个原则：
1. 先纵后横
所谓“先纵”，就是首先通读每篇后的3-4个小题，找出关键词，前后联系，预测全篇大致主题。
所谓“后横”，就是在仍有时间的情况下，通看各题选项，看看是否存在生词，总结长句的核心意思，以此预测考点和可能的答案。
两步预测都要注意随时做出标注，划出关键词或简写长句的大意，因为单凭记忆在"高压"的听力考试中是万万靠不住的。
例：
A) She is thirsty for promotion.
B) She wants a much higher salary.
C) She is tired of her present work.
首先通过promotion, salary和work可得出本对话的大致主题是有关职业，再联系两次出现的wants,想到或许与求职有关，并顺理成章地想到可能会谈到离职的原因、新职位的性质以及薪酬等等。这就是上面所说的"先纵"。
此后我们可对选项中较长的词语做标注，如下划线所示。通过听录音我们发现本题答案的对应信息在原文中是"I'm fed up with my job.", 正是"tired of"的同义置换。这就是上面所说的"后横"。
可见，事先标注关键信息，可让我们在听时将注意力集中到更小的"点",起到事半功倍的效果。
2. 分清主次
与生活中的情形相似，双方对话的时候常有主次之分，如：一方询问，另一方作答时，关键信息多出现在作答一方，考点自然也就多出于此。分清对话双方的主次对于我们预测考点出现的位置很重要，方法也简单易行。
例：
22.
A) It was about a little animal.
B) It took her six years to write.
C) It was adapted from a fairy tale.
D) It was about a little girl and her pet.
23.
A) She knows how to write best-selling novels.
B) She can earn a lot of money by writing for adults.
C) She is able to win enough support from publishers.
D) She can make a living by doing what she likes.
24.
A) The characters.
B) The readers.
C) Her ideas.
D) Her life experiences.
25.
A) She doesn't really know where they originated.
B) She mainly drew on stories of ancient saints.
C) They popped out of her child-hood dreams.
D) They grew out of her long hours of thinking.
通看下划线部分不难发现，几乎所有的选项都与女性会话者有关,可料想此对话中男性会话者多提出问题，女性多做答复，听时当然主要听女性会话者所说的内容。
听时抓“点”
有了充分的听前预测，听时的主要任务就是抓住考点，且掌握如下两个原则：
1. 考点均匀分布，易出现在话轮转换处
首先，长对话后设的3-4个小题一般均匀地分布在对话的每个回合，极少出现某一个回合包含两个考点的情况。这样，我们在一个对话回合中找到一个考点后，剩余的部分就可不做详听，让紧张的神经稍做放松，有利于将精力集中于下面的考点。
其次，考点的位置多是话轮转换的时候。具体的说，就是对话一方某段发言的开头和结尾部分，这也完全符合西方人的思维习惯，即在发言伊始多是开门见山，而在发言结尾处又总括强调。
例：
M: Hi, Miss Rowling, how old were you when you started to write? And what was your first book?
W: I wrote my first story when I was about six. It was about a small animal, a rabbit, I mean, and I've been writing ever since. (22题考点)
M: Why did you choose to be an author?
W: If someone asked me how to achieve happiness, step one would be finding out what you love doing most and step two would be finding someone to pay you to do this. I consider myself very lucky indeed to be able to support myself by writing. (23题考点)
M: Do you have any plans to write books for adults?
W: My first two novels were for adults. I suppose I might write another one, but I never really imagine a target audience when I'm writing. The ideas come first, so it really depends on the ideas that grasp me next. (24题考点)
M: Where did the ideas for the Harry Potter books come from?
W: I've no idea where the ideas came from. And I hope I'll never find out. (25题考点) It would spoil my excitement if it turned out I just have a funny wrinkle on the surface of my brain, which makes me think about the invisible train platform.
2. 重复率较高的词或短语多成为考点
对话的主要内容理所当然会得到说话人的强调，而一个非常重要且明显的强调方式就是重复，故重复的词语往往能够揭示对话的主题。
如问：What is the news coverage mainly about?
而原文中多次出现rebel forces, conflict, war等与"叛乱"相关的词语，也可判断本题答案为A) The latest developments of an armed rebellion in Karnak.
