Think about these questions, or answer them aloud.
With two speakers, every view belongs to the other person. With three, you have to track who said what and who is agreeing with whom, and the answer often changes from one decision to the next. Two students may outvote the third on the topic, and then the tutor may side with that third student on the method.
In the B2 course you learnt the basic language of agreement and disagreement. At C1 the challenge is reference: speakers rarely repeat an idea in full. They point back to it:
To answer correctly, you need to know whose idea is being referred to at each moment. Names help enormously: speakers in a group use each other's names far more often than two people do, because they need to show who they are talking to.
| Move | What you hear | What to note |
|---|---|---|
| Siding with someone | I'm with Aisha on this one; I'd go along with what Kofi said; Exactly what Ben said | Draw a line between the two names |
| Against both others | I don't think either of you…; Neither of those options really works | A third position is coming |
| Partial agreement with one | Kofi's right about the timing, but not the budget | Split the point: + timing, − budget |
| Referring back | As Ben was saying earlier…; Going back to Aisha's idea… | Find the earlier note and link it |
| Joining in | Can I just come in here?; If I could jump in… | A new voice, often with a new objection |
| Counting votes | That's two against one; I'm outnumbered; I'll go with the majority | The decision is made, whatever the third person thinks |
| Giving way | Fine, I'll let it go; I can live with that; I won't fight you on it | The speaker accepts but may not agree |
| Proposing a compromise | What if we did a bit of both?; Here's a thought…; How about a middle ground? | Often the final answer |
Match each remark from a three-person discussion to what the speaker is doing. There is one description you do not need.
| Decision | Aisha | Ben | Kofi | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Which place? | coastal town (proposes) | mountain village | town: “I'm with Aisha” | Town, two against one |
| What focus? | housing: “Ben's got a point” | not just visitor numbers (raises the problem) | agrees: “I'd go along with that” | Housing, all three agree |
| Compare with the village? | against: “Kofi's right” | for (proposes) | against: no data | No comparison; Ben gives way |
| Who does what? | introduction and conclusion | interviews (Kofi's suggestion) | housing figures (Aisha's suggestion) | Agreed |
Alliances change with the topic. Aisha and Kofi outvote Ben on the place, but Aisha then agrees with Ben about the focus. A question such as Who supports Ben's suggestion? has a different answer for each decision.
Names tell you who is being challenged. Sorry, Ben, I'm with Aisha contains both the person Kofi disagrees with and the person Kofi agrees with.
Giving way is not agreeing. Two against one and I'll let it go show that Ben accepts the decision, but never says the town is the better choice. If a question asks what Ben thinks, the village is still Ben's preference; if it asks what the group decides, the answer is the town.
Who suggests a task is not always who does it. Kofi suggests that Ben does the interviews, and Aisha suggests that Kofi does the figures. Questions on roles often test exactly this.
Listen to Marta, Jun and their tutor, Dr Hughes. Who first suggests each idea? You may use any person more than once.
Choose the correct answer. Think about who agrees with whom, and whether the group's decision matches each person's view.
Choose the best answer to each question. The real test asks three questions per conversation; there are five here for extra practice.
What is each person's final position on Planwell? There are two positions you do not need.
Save words to review them later with flashcards.
“The tutor sided with Marta on the choice of participants.”
“Jun was outnumbered two to one, so Jun accepted the testing room.”
“Ben was outvoted on the choice of case study.”
“After a long discussion, Ben finally gave way.”
“I'd go along with that, as long as we finish on time.”
“A three-month trial isn't ideal, but I can live with it.”
“Running the two systems side by side was a sensible middle ground.”
“Can I just come in here before we decide?”
“After the demo, Hiro was completely sold on the new software.”
“If the trial goes well, they will roll the software out to every branch.”
“After twenty minutes the group reached a consensus on the topic.”
