Part 2ListeningSection 2 of 8

2.2Rules for writing your answers

Word limits

Instruction	What it allows
ONE WORD ONLY	One word. No number.
NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS	One or two words. No number.
NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER	Up to two words, and a number may be added.
NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER	Up to three words, and a number may be added.

A hyphenated word such as well-known counts as one word.
A figure such as 240 counts as a number, not a word.
A, an and the all count as words. Leave them out when you are close to the limit.

Numbers, dates and money

Long numbers are said digit by digit: 050 447 2913 is said as zero five zero, four four seven, two nine one three.
Double and triple mean a repeated digit. Double four is 44. Triple eight is 888.
Dates may be written in any clear form: 12 March, March 12 and 12/3 are all accepted.
Do not repeat a word that is already printed. If the form says AED and you hear two hundred and forty dirhams, write 240.

Spelling traps

When a speaker spells something out letter by letter, that is always because the word is the answer. These are the letter pairs that cost Arabic speakers the most marks.

Pair	How to tell them apart
B / P	B has voice in it. P is a puff of air with no voice.
G / J	G is said gee. J is said jay.
E / I	E is said ee. I is said eye.
V / F	V buzzes on the lip. F does not.
S / X	X is said eks, with a k sound inside it.
M / N	Very close on a phone line. M closes the lips, N does not.
A / R	A is said ay. R is said ar.