Why are phrasal verbs important for Listening Part 2?

Natural speech is full of phrasal verbs, and they often carry the key meaning. Missing one can mean missing the answer.

How do I prepare for the speed of Part 2?

Build automatic recognition of common everyday vocabulary so you do not have to translate in your head while the audio keeps moving.

Listening Part 2: Daily Life Conversation

Listening Part 2: Daily Life Conversation is part of the Listening section of the CELPIP General test. You get 5 questions and 4 minutes. It is scored by the number of correct answers.

Questions: 5
Time: 4 minutes
Prompts here: 25 published

The three-move conversation

1
Fix the relationship in the first few lines
Colleagues, neighbours, family — it decides what the rest of the exchange means.
2
Follow what each speaker wants
Daily-life conversations are usually two people wanting slightly different things.
3
Listen for the turn where the plan changes
That sentence is where most of the questions are set.

The answer is usually in the sentence after the disagreement.

The resolution carries the detail, not the objection.

Learn the high-frequency everyday vocabulary, idioms and phrasal verbs that fill the daily-life conversation of CELPIP Listening Part 2.

Part 2 is a natural conversation about an everyday topic. Phrasal verbs and idioms appear constantly here, so recognising them quickly is essential to keeping up.

Listening · Part 2

Planning a Weekend Hike

One of 25 published prompts · free, no account

You will hear the recording once. Listen carefully, then answer the questions.

Instructions

The audio plays once.
Choose the best answer for each question.

Audio transcript

In the real test you hear this once and cannot replay it.

Maya: Hey Devin, are we still on for a hike this weekend? Devin: For sure. I was looking at a couple of options. There's the ridge trail up near Canmore, but it's about a three-hour drive each way. Maya: That's a lot of driving for one day. What else is there? Devin: Well, there's Grassi Lakes, which is closer — maybe forty minutes from my place. It's shorter too, only about four kilometres round trip. Maya: Four kilometres sounds perfect. My knee's still a bit sore from soccer, so I don't want anything too steep. Devin: Grassi Lakes it is, then. It's mostly gentle, with just one rocky section near the top. Maya: Great. Should we go Saturday or Sunday? Devin: The forecast says Saturday's going to rain most of the morning, but Sunday's supposed to be sunny and about eighteen degrees. Maya: Sunday then. I'd rather not slip on wet rocks. What time were you thinking? Devin: If we leave around eight, we'll beat the crowds and the parking lot won't be full yet. Maya: Eight works. Do you want to drive, or should I? Devin: I'll drive — I just got new tires, and my car has more trunk space for our packs. Can you pick up some snacks though? Maya: Sure. I'll grab trail mix and a couple of sandwiches. Oh, and I'll bring my water filter in case we run out. Devin: Good thinking. Bring a warm layer too — it gets breezy at the lookout even when it's sunny. Maya: Will do. Should we invite Priya? Devin: I asked her already, but she's got a family thing on Sunday. Maybe next time. Maya: No worries. So, Sunday at eight, you're driving, I'm on snacks. I'm excited! Devin: Me too. See you then.

Questions & answer key5 questions

Listening is scored by the number of correct answers. The audio plays once, so the skill being tested is holding detail while the next sentence arrives.

1What are the two friends mainly doing in this conversation?
1. ADeciding how to treat Maya's sore knee
2. BComparing which car is safer to drive in the rain
3. COrganizing a family gathering for Sunday
4. ✓Making arrangements for a weekend hike
Answer
D
The whole chat settles the trail, the day, the driver, and what to bring for a hike ('are we still on for a hike this weekend?'). The car-safety choice twists Devin's 'new tires' and the rain into a debate that never happens. The sore-knee choice uses a real detail, but it only explains her trail preference, not the topic. The 'family gathering' choice borrows Priya's 'family thing on Sunday' — a reason she can't join, not what they are planning.
2Which trail do they decide on, and why?
1. AThe ridge trail near Canmore, because it is only forty minutes away
2. ✓Grassi Lakes, because it is closer and shorter
3. CThe ridge trail near Canmore, because the views are better
4. DGrassi Lakes, because it has no steep or rocky parts
Answer
B
Devin calls Grassi Lakes 'closer — maybe forty minutes' and 'shorter too, only about four kilometres,' and they agree on it. The 'views are better' choice picks the rejected Canmore trail and invents views (never mentioned; it was rejected for the three-hour drive). The claim that Grassi Lakes has 'no steep or rocky parts' contradicts 'just one rocky section near the top.' The 'only forty minutes away' choice swaps the facts: that distance belongs to Grassi Lakes, not the Canmore trail.
3Which day will they go hiking, and why?
1. ASunday, because the parking lot is closed on Saturday
2. ✓Sunday, because Saturday's forecast calls for rain
3. CSaturday, because Maya wants to avoid the weekend crowds
4. DSaturday, because Sunday is supposed to be sunny
Answer
B
Devin says 'Saturday's going to rain most of the morning, but Sunday's supposed to be sunny,' and Maya replies 'Sunday then.' Going Saturday because Sunday is sunny flips the days — the sunshine is a reason to pick Sunday, not to avoid it. A closed parking lot on Saturday is invented; parking comes up only as a reason to leave early ('the parking lot won't be full yet'). Choosing Saturday to avoid the crowds misuses the 'beat the crowds' line, which is about arriving early on Sunday.
4What has Maya agreed to bring?
1. ✓Snacks, a water filter, and a warm layer
2. BA warm layer and the packs for both of them
3. CThe water filter and the packs, but no snacks
4. DOnly the sandwiches, while Devin brings everything else
Answer
A
Maya takes the snacks ('trail mix and a couple of sandwiches'), volunteers 'my water filter,' and agrees 'Will do' when Devin says 'Bring a warm layer too.' Bringing the filter and the packs but no snacks gets it backwards: the snacks are hers ('Can you pick up some snacks though?'), while the packs ride in Devin's car, which has 'more trunk space for our packs.' That same line also rules out her carrying the packs for both of them, and 'only the sandwiches' understates what she agrees to bring.
5Why will Priya most likely not join them?
1. ✓She already has a family commitment on Sunday
2. BShe was never invited to come along
3. CShe dislikes hiking on rainy days
4. DShe has a soccer game that weekend
Answer
A
Devin says 'I asked her already, but she's got a family thing on Sunday. Maybe next time,' which implies she would have come if she were free. The 'never invited' choice is contradicted directly — he did ask her. The 'rainy days' choice invents a rain dislike that is never stated. The 'soccer game' choice misapplies soccer, which is tied to Maya's sore knee, not to Priya.

Three mistakes that cost points heremost common first

1Answering with what the first speaker proposed rather than what they agreed.
2Losing track of which speaker said which thing.
3Hearing a suggestion as a decision.

Now do it yourself and find out where you land

You can check right and wrong on this page. What a page cannot do is tell you which question types you keep losing, under real timing.

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Questions people ask

Why are phrasal verbs important for Listening Part 2?: Natural speech is full of phrasal verbs, and they often carry the key meaning. Missing one can mean missing the answer.
How do I prepare for the speed of Part 2?: Build automatic recognition of common everyday vocabulary so you do not have to translate in your head while the audio keeps moving.

The other 24 Daily Conversation prompts1 free

·A Proposed Urban Farm
·Rethinking a Final Project
·Choosing a Birthday Gift for a Coworker
·Getting Ready for the Long Weekend
·Planning a Workplace Day Trip
·Trying a New Soup Recipe
·Choosing Where to Camp Next Weekend
·Getting a Fishing Licence
·A New Weekend Schedule at Work
·Signing Up for a Charity Bike Ride
·Choosing a Birthday Present
·Hiring New Employees
·A Delayed Project
·Purchasing Furniture
·Going Fishing
·Weekend Shift Problems
·Landscaping the House
·Arranging a Carpool to Work
·Comparing Plans for the Long Weekend
·Daily Life Conversation: Starting a Morning Running Routine
·Deciding Where to Go on Vacation
·Choosing the Book Club's Next Read
·Planning a Small Backyard Garden
·Planning the Neighbourhood Potluck

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