TOEIC Listening Part 3 and 4: Three Questions, One Conversation
A toeic listening and reading practice test only becomes useful when you can hold three printed questions through one conversation. This guide sets the reading order for the seconds before the audio starts, a two-letter turn log, the shape of intent and graphic items, four Part 4 talk structures, and a twelve-item drill with a marking sheet.
On this page
The recording does not wait while you read three printed questions. Most candidates finish the first stem, hear the opening line, then hold a place in the text instead of tracking the speakers. Format facts come from ETS's handbook and official TOEIC samples, read 2 November 2026.
What Parts 3 and 4 Actually Ask You to Do
Part 3 is 13 conversations with three questions each, 39 items; Part 4 is 10 talks with three questions each, 30 items. That is 69 of the Listening section's 100 questions in about 45 minutes, each played once.
| Part | Sets | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Part 3 | 13 conversations | 39 |
| Part 4 | 10 talks | 30 |
Questions and options are printed, so nothing forces an answer while the first speaker talks. What the format forces is holding three questions at once.
Reading Three Questions in the Seconds the Test Gives You
Order the reading by arrival time, not by item number.
- Skim all three stems for the question word and the verb.
- Read properly the stem answered first, usually the topic, settled in the opening lines.
- Re-read the intent item, and decide which line you are waiting for.
- Leave the last stem, a detail or next action, for the middle of the audio.
The intent item decides the set: a detail item is answered by a word you hear anyway, an intent item by a line that sounds ordinary unless you are listening for it. Of two candidates hearing Actually, we've had that price since March., one hears a correction.
Tracking Two Speakers: Names, Roles and Turns
Take the role before the name. One person wants something, one can grant or refuse it, and the role tells you who will say the useful line.
Write two letters in the margin, one dot per turn, a line when the subject changes; check the closing turns for who acts next.
- Who will contact the supplier? Whoever was given the task last.
- What does the woman ask the man to do? Her longest turn.
A third voice enters to confirm or redirect, so give it its own letter.
The Intent Questions and How They Are Built
Sample sets use a few stems: What does the man imply about the company?, Why does the woman say, "I can't believe it"?, What does the speaker suggest?
The right option names the function of the quoted line, a refusal or a proposal. Distractors repeat a word from the line, borrow a detail elsewhere, or attach a reaction to the wrong speaker. Ask what the line does to the other person: stops them, redirects them, gives permission. We could try the other supplier judges the current supplier; it does not place an order.
Graph, Chart and Table Questions in Part 3
Some sets add a printed graphic and an item opening with Look at the graphic. The graphic is never the whole answer: the audio supplies a constraint, and one row satisfies all of it. Listen for the constraint only; a screen size above the price the man mentions is the standard distractor.
Part 4 Talks: The Four Recurring Structures
One voice means no turn log, so the discipline moves to structure. Talks repeat four shapes.
- A change announcement: what changed, why, what listeners do now.
- A telephone message: caller, reason, action required, contact detail.
- An invitation: what is offered, when, how to reply.
- A procedural briefing: the order of steps, who handles which part.
Each carries purpose or place, one detail, one next action, which is why What are listeners asked to do? is the stem to pre-load. A speaker saying we speaks for a company; you addresses the listeners, and that shift answers the job item.
A Twelve-Item Speaker-Turn Drill With an Answer Key
Constructed for this page, not from a live test. Cover the key, then play the lines once.
L1 Dana: The stands are still in customs. L2 Marcus: The fair opens Thursday. L3 Dana: The forwarder releases them tomorrow. L4 Marcus: Who is collecting them? L5 Dana: You are, if the van is free. L6 Marcus: The van is taken until noon. L7 Dana: Then I'll hire a second van. L8 Marcus: Ask for the long-wheelbase one. L9 Dana: And we need someone to build them. L10 Marcus: I can send two of my team. L11 Dana: I'll confirm the van by five. L12 Marcus: I'll tell the team to expect it.
| Item | Answer | Line |
|---|---|---|
1. What is the problem? | A late shipment | L1 |
2. Where are the stands? | In customs | L1 |
3. When does the fair open? | Thursday | L2 |
4. Who will collect them? | Marcus | L5 |
5. Why is the van unavailable? | Taken until noon | L6 |
6. What will Dana do? | Hire a second van | L7 |
7. Which van does Marcus want? | Long-wheelbase | L8 |
8. What still needs arranging? | Building the stands | L9 |
9. Who will build them? | Two of his team | L10 |
10. What will Dana do by five? | Confirm the van | L11 |
11. What will Marcus do? | Tell his team | L12 |
12. Who gives the last commitment? | Marcus | L12 |
Mark answer and line separately: a right answer on the wrong line was guessed.
The Same Lines, Read Two Ways
The question-first reader has read the stems before L1; the audio-first reader starts at L2.
| Item | Question-first | Audio-first, and why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A late shipment | A customs delay, one word off |
| 4 | Marcus | Dana, because she asks |
| 5 | Taken until noon | No driver, from a refusal |
| 7 | Long-wheelbase | Any free van |
| 9 | Two of his team | Dana's team |
| 10 | Confirm the van | Email the booking |
| 11 | Tell his team | Build the stands |
| 12 | Marcus | Dana, who speaks first |
Audio-first readers answer with the loudest noun; question-first readers answer with the turn that commits.
Turning a toeic listening and reading practice test into a diagnostic
Count three things instead of scoring.
- Items where you knew the answer but lost the speaker: turn-log failures.
- Items decided by an intent line: a reading-order failure, not a listening one.
- Graphic items: the printed table answered, the spoken constraint skipped.
Log one line per set: the stem you read first, the turn where the thread broke. Rerun it after a week; on the same audio your vocabulary has not changed, your order has. AI conversation practice, scored against exam task types, covers what a recording cannot.
Frequently asked questions
How should I practise TOEIC Listening Part 3 at home?
Take one set rather than a whole section, read the three stems first, write the speaker log before checking answers, and mark each item with the line that settles it.
How many questions are in TOEIC Listening Parts 3 and 4?
Sixty-nine: 39 in Part 3 across 13 conversations, and 30 in Part 4 across 10 talks, three questions each. The other 31 items sit in Parts 1 and 2.