TOEFL Listening: Listen to an Announcement
A spoken announcement carrying functional information — a change of room, a deadline, a procedure, a closure. The language is straightforward and the questions turn on details and conditions, which makes it the most note-dependent of the short task types.
Note only four things
- What is happening or changing.
- When — dates, times, deadlines.
- Who it applies to, and who it does not.
- The exception — unless, except, apart from. This is very often the question.
Four short notes cover an announcement. Anything more is transcription, and the item will have moved on.
The trap
Announcements frequently contain a superseded detail: the original time, then the new one. The question asks what applies now, and the option matching the first thing you heard is there for the candidate who wrote it down and stopped listening.
Numbers are the other reliable trap — room numbers, dates and amounts that sound alike. Thirteen and thirty are distinguished by which syllable is stressed.
Listen to an Announcement — FAQs
2 questions
Short — functional information rather than extended speech.
No. What, when, who and the exception is enough and is all there is time for.
More listening question types
Sources
Written from the test board's own published material and checked on 1 October 2026.