3.2 Listening Tarea 2: Radio News, Ads & Programme Extracts

Quick Focus: Listening Tarea 2 has six short radio extracts (items 7–12), such as news headlines, programme clips, advertisements and event announcements. Each is 40–60 words long and played twice. You answer one question with three written options for each extract. The official skill tested is getting the general idea of brief radio news or clips spoken slowly and clearly.

What the Official Specification Says

The official instructions read: Usted va a escuchar seis anuncios o fragmentos de un programa de radio. Public-address announcements in stations and answering-machine messages belong to Tarea 4, not Tarea 2.

How the recording is paced

According to the model exam transcript:

1. The narrator says Ahora tiene 10 segundos para leer la pregunta 7, and you get 10 seconds to read that question and its options.
2. The extract plays, followed by a 15-second pause.
3. The extract is repeated; then Conteste a la pregunta número 7 and a 5-second pause.
4. After item 12: Complete ahora la Hoja de respuestas, with 30 seconds.

Because you get only 10 seconds per question, read the stem first, then the options quickly, and underline the key difference between them.

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Typical Radio Texts

Model exam examples:

• A dance-school ad (salsa, merengue, tango…) says the teacher runs courses Monday to Saturday in the afternoon and evening. The key is the option about the timetable.
• A news item says a tourist office received 6,000 visitors this year, expects 8,000 next year because ten more offices will open in Spain, and currently has 20 specialized staff. Questions like this test whether you connect each number to the right fact.

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What "General Idea" Means Here

Tarea 2 questions are usually about the main purpose or main fact of the extract:

• What is being advertised or offered?
• What is new or has changed?
• Who is it for? When does it happen?

Distractors tend to:

1. Swap numbers or times. In the tourism item, "20 offices" or "8,000 staff" mix up the real figures.
2. Swap the time frame. Something that will happen (el año que viene espera…) is presented as already done, or the reverse.
3. Overgeneralize. Todos los días when the ad says de lunes a sábado, or solo por la mañana when it says tarde y noche.
4. Use a word from the extract in a false statement. Hearing individuales does not mean the courses are only individual when the ad says individuales o en grupo.

Numbers you must hear accurately

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Method for Each Extract

1. 10 seconds of reading: read the question and underline the words that differ between the three options (numbers, days, people, verbs of time).
2. First listening: identify the type of extract (ad, news, event) and its main message.
3. 15-second pause: eliminate the option that clearly contradicts what you heard.
4. Second listening: check the detail that separates the last two options, whether a number, a time expression or a restriction (solo, excepto, a partir de).
5. Mark and move on: there is no penalty for guessing.

Vocabulary for Radio Texts

• Ads: oferta, descuento, gratis, inscripción, plazas limitadas, de lunes a viernes, horario de tarde, llame al…, visite nuestra web.
• News: ayer, este año, el año que viene, se espera, se abrirá, ha recibido, más de, menos de.
• Events: estreno, concierto, exposición, festival, rebajas, a partir del día…, hasta el….
• Weather: lloverá, hará sol, subirán / bajarán las temperaturas, en el norte / en la costa.

Practice Routine at Home

Radio extracts are short, so you can practise this task every day:

1. Find a short Spanish radio news item or advert (public radio news summaries work well) and play it once without a transcript.
2. Write one sentence in Spanish with the main message (Anuncian un curso de baile por las tardes).
3. Play it again and note every number, day and time you hear.
4. Write three options for a question about it yourself: one correct, one with a swapped number and one with a swapped time frame. Writing distractors trains you to spot them.

Doing this with ten extracts a week builds the speed you need for the 10-second reading windows.