1/ Signposting words

For Listening Section 4, you will hear a talk by a student or an expert on an academic subject. Speakers often use signposting words to move from one topic to another, or to help connect their ideas.

1.1 Listen to six short extracts from different Listening Section 4 talks. Complete the extracts below.

1 OK, ………………………. the late 19th century, when a great deal of changes were taking place.

2 Now, ………………………., I wanted to give you some background information.

3 So, ………………………. some possible reasons for this.

4 ………………………., I’d like to talk about some future projects.

5 So, ………………………. did we reach?

6 I’ll ………………………. what this machine can do.

1.2 Match the extracts 1-6 in 1.1 to uses A-C below.

A to start off a topic

B to change to a new topic

C to finish off a topic

1.3 Here are some words you might hear in a talk. Match words 1-8 to their synonyms A-H.

6 disadvantages