DET Listening Practice

Chunking + Signal Words

How to use this practice

  1. Listen to each audio without pausing — just like the real DET
  2. Write your answers as you listen
  3. Complete all 3 exercises
  4. Enter your name and click Send for feedback
1

Listening Passage

Listen to the passage and fill in the 5 missing words. Play the audio only once or twice — no pausing.

Marco had been working at the international company for six months. His English had improved (1), but he still struggled with meetings. The problem was not vocabulary. It was speed.

(2) he was ready to speak, someone else had already answered.

His manager, Sarah, noticed that Marco rarely contributed to (3). She assumed he was shy or uninterested.

(4), that was not true at all. Marco had plenty of ideas. His (5) was always to participate. But the words came out too slowly.

Listen for signal words — they tell you what kind of information is coming next.

2

Dictation

Listen to each sentence and write exactly what you hear. Spelling counts.

Sentence 1:

Sentence 2:

Pay attention to word endings like -ly, -tion, -able — these are common DET spelling traps.

3

Chunking Practice

Every English sentence has two chunks: WHO (the subject) and WHAT (what they do). Find both chunks in each sentence below.

His manager, Sarah, noticed that Marco rarely contributed to discussions.

The woman who had been practicing for months eventually saw her hard work pay off.

Hint: The WHO chunk can be long — look for where the main verb starts.

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