TOEIC Booster / Not all questions are questions
Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz Special to The Daily Yomiuri
In the last Booster column (March 30), we looked at the TOEFL test. This week, we turn to the TOEIC test. In particular, we will look at Question-Response questions from the listening part of the test. In particular, we will focus on questions that appear to be questions but are actually something else altogether.
In the Question-Response part of the TOEIC, test-takers hear a question or short statement. This question or statement is followed by three possible responses. Test-takers must choose the best response.
Let's look at a sample Question-Response item.
Example 1
You hear on the tape recording:
What style of chairs did you order?
(A) My hairstyle is new.
(B) I ordered fries on the side.
(C) We thought straight-backs would go well with the table.
The correct response to Example 1 is (C). Straight-back chairs are a style of chair, usually wooden with a rather high, straight back.
Example 1 is the most common type of Question-Response item on the TOEIC test, asking a direct question and offering a specific response to that question.
However, such direct question-response pairs are not the only type on the TOEIC test. An additional, less common type, sets up a different exchange altogether. Indeed, its "question" is not a question at all, even though it may appear to be one. Let's look at an example.
Example 2
Why don't you take this seat, with the view?
(A) I'm in seat 4-A.
(B) Because I have too many.
(C) Oh, that's nice of you to offer.
The correct response in Example 2, is (C). The first speaker offers the seat with the better view, and the person who responds thanks that speaker for the offer.
In other words, this Question-Response question is really not asking a question. Instead, it is putting forth an offer or a suggestion.
This suggestion is, of course, only implied. The speaker does not say directly, "I suggest that you take the seat with a view." However, this is the speaker's actual meaning.
The point is that grammar alone does not guide the communicative purpose of our utterances. If we look at the sentence just from a grammatical point of view, of course, it is a question: Why don't you take this seat? But meaning is shaped not only by structure. It is guided by other factors such as context and intonation.
In the case of the given example, of course, we cannot know the intonation, since we cannot hear it. However, for the purposes of this article, let us trust that the statement actually presents a suggestion. Also, recall that on the TOEIC test, you would hear this sentence, and not read it, so you would also hear its intonation. In addition, even from the minimal context given in Example 2, if you read between the lines, you may be able to see that this question does not truly pose a question.
Statements like these on the TOEIC test are quite tricky. Their question-wording may catch some test-takers off guard. And test-takers who take this question-wording too literally--that is, they think that question-wording must indicate a question--are at a disadvantage in answering these test questions correctly. Because they are expecting a question, they will naturally listen for a response to the question, and this mentality will undermine their odds of choosing the correct response.
In Example 2, for example, a test-taker who literally accepts the question, Why don't you take this seat?, will be much more attracted to answer options (A) and (B). Option A seems to explain why the speaker is in the seat that she's in. Option B offers the very attractive word because, which commonly pairs with questions that ask why. These test-takers may not be completely open to option (C), in which the speaker gives thanks for the offer.
In other words, test-takers who recognize that this question-response item has no actual question are in a much better position to listen openly to the communication that is being exchanged. With these thoughts in mind, let us turn now to another example.
Example 3
Could you open that window?
(A) Yes, I could.
(B) Good idea, it's awful stuffy in here.
(C) They installed most of the windows on Wednesday last week.
Again bearing in mind the impact of intonation on meaning here, can you find the most likely response to the speaker's question? And in fact, can you see where the question is not really a question at all, but a request? So that, barring the unexpected and highly cynical intonation that could possibly justify response (A), the correct response to Example 3 is (B). The first speaker is actually asking the listener to open the window.
In the Question-Response part of the TOEIC test, most questions actually ask a question that, in return, inspires a response. However, the test does occasionally put forth questions whose function is not to elicit a response, but to pose an offer, an invitation, a request, or some other such function. This function should be clear to test-takers not only because of the words, but also the context, however limited it may be, and because of the speaker's intonation.
Test-takers who are aware of these factors have a higher chance of understanding the actual communication that is taking place between the speakers. Likewise, those test-takers have a much higher chance of choosing the most reasonable response to the first speaker's statement, knowing that it may not, after all, even be asking a question.
The next Booster column will feature the TOEFL test. If you have questions or comments about the TOEIC test, or about this column, please e-mail Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz at dy-edu@yomiuri.com.
Stafford-Yilmaz is a former TOEIC test-question writer. She has taught TOEIC courses in Japan and in the United States. She is also the author of several English textbooks.
(Apr. 20, 2007)