IB Diploma Programme Language B – Paper 2: listening and reading comprehension Revision Notes

For full explanations and longer worked examples, use the Paper 2 study guide. These notes condense it for the final weeks.

They cover Paper 2 (receptive skills) in IB Diploma Programme Language B at SL and HL, aligned to the assessment model in the IB Language B subject brief. They follow the IB Language B subject brief for first assessment 2020, which remains the examined course until the new syllabus is first assessed in May 2029, so they apply to the 2026, 2027 and 2028 sessions. Model texts are in English and original; apply each method to texts in your target language.

Test yourself with the Paper 2 practice questions. Course links: Language B hub · printable checklist · assessment revision notes.

Facts from the brief

Item	What the brief states
Paper name	Paper 2 (receptive skills)
Structure	Separate sections for listening and reading
Listening	25 marks, 25% of the final grade
Reading	40 marks, 25% of the final grade
Paper 2 total	50% of the final grade
SL vs HL	Outlines identical; “the nature of the assessment” differs
HL expectation	Understand a wider range of language, and more complex language
Texts in the course	Written, audio, visual and audio-visual, across five themes

Not in the brief: section timings, number of texts, question formats. Get these from your teacher and your school’s specimen and past papers.

Themes for the model texts in this unit: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization. Reading lenses from the brief’s conceptual understandings: context, audience, purpose, meaning, variation.

Method in steps: any reading question

1. Circle the question word (who, why, how many). It fixes the answer type.
2. Underline the key words. Note the marks.
3. List two or three synonyms for the key words.
4. Scan for the synonyms or the idea.
5. Read the full sentence and the next one.
6. Answer only what is asked, as briefly as the marks allow.

Method in steps: each format

Format	Steps
Short answer	Find the detail; give the fact, not the paragraph
True/false + justification	Decide; quote the shortest words that prove it
Multiple choice	Find the line; reject each wrong option with a reason
Word that means…	Same word class and form; test it in the sentence
Reference word	Look back; check agreement; substitute and reread
Sentence completion / matching	Fit the meaning and the grammar
Own-words explanation	Find the line; restate the idea with new vocabulary
Inference	Quote → literal meaning → implied meaning

Method in steps: listening

• Before: read all questions; predict answer types (number, place, reason, feeling).
• During: notes and symbols, not sentences. Keep going if you miss one.
• Traps: self-corrections, two numbers, options mentioned then rejected.
• After: fill gaps from notes; check spelling and agreement in the target language.

Must-know distinctions

• Gist vs detail. Gist is what a text is broadly about. Most questions ask for detail: a time, a reason, a person’s view.
• Synonym vs paraphrase. A synonym swaps one word (begin / start). A paraphrase restates a whole idea (she could not afford it / it was beyond her budget).
• Literal vs inferred. Literal: what the words say. Inferred: what they imply. An inference must still rest on quoted words.
• Inference vs invention. If you cannot point to the supporting words, it is invention.
• Justify vs explain. Justify wants evidence (usually a quotation). Explain wants a reason in your own words.
• Writer vs quoted speaker. A view inside quotation marks belongs to the speaker, not the writer.
• Plan vs result (listening). We hoped, we thought, at first often introduce what did not happen.

Signal words to know in your target language

Function	English examples	Why it matters
Contrast	but, however, although	The answer usually follows the contrast
Correction	actually, in fact, sorry, rather	The first detail is often the distractor
Time and change	still, no longer, by then, finally	Shows what changed and when
Attitude	only, even, supposedly, sadly	Carries tone for inference questions
Cause	because, so, as a result	Answers why questions

Build the same table in your target language, theme by theme.

Timing formula

minutes per mark = (time allowed - checking time) / marks

Example: a practice set of 40 marks in 50 minutes, keeping 5 to check: 45 / 40 = 1.125 minutes per mark, so a 4-mark question gets 4.5 minutes. Use your teacher’s real timings for your level.

Worked reminder: one paragraph, four skills

Original text written for Marlbridge (human ingenuity / social organization):

When our school replaced paper timetables with an app, most teachers welcomed it. Mr Varga did not. He kept printing his own copy and pinning it to the classroom door. “An app is fine until the battery dies,” he said. By November, after two power cuts, three other teachers had quietly asked him for copies of their own.

• Locate: How many power cuts were there? → “after two power cuts” → two.
• Reference: it in “welcomed it” → the app (the change to an app).
• Paraphrase: Mr Varga’s reason → he did not trust a device that needs power.
• Infer: “quietly” → the teachers did not want to admit openly that he had been right.

The five lenses as questions

The brief names five conceptual understandings. Turn each into a question you ask before answering anything about a text.

Lens	Question to ask	What it helps you answer
Context	Where and when does this appear?	Why a detail matters; what a reference points to
Audience	Who is it written for?	Register, formality, why things are explained or left out
Purpose	What does the writer want to achieve?	Attitude and inference questions
Meaning	What is said, and what is implied?	Literal vs inferred questions
Variation	How would this change in another text type or culture?	Comparing two texts on one theme

Worked reminder: listening for the real answer

Original transcript written for Marlbridge (experiences):

GUIDE: The museum opens at nine – well, at half past nine on Sundays – and the boat leaves from the north pier. People often go to the south pier by mistake, so do check the sign.

• When does the museum open on a Sunday? Nine is said first, then corrected. Half past nine.
• Where does the boat leave from? South is mentioned only as a mistake. The north pier.
• Why does the guide mention the sign? Paraphrase: people often go to the wrong pier.

The pattern: a first detail, a signal word (well, by mistake), then the detail you need. Collect the target-language equivalents of these signals and listen for them.

Before a timed practice: checklist

• I know the time allowed at my level for each section.
• I have read every question before the text or recording.
• I have predicted answer types for the listening questions.
• I have a minutes-per-mark figure and five minutes to check.
• I will answer in the target language form the question needs.

Quick self-test

Questions 3–8 use the Mr Varga paragraph above.

1. How many marks does the Paper 2 listening section carry, and what weighting?
2. What does the brief say is the same, and what differs, between SL and HL assessment?
3. Find the word in the paragraph that means “attaching”.
4. What does “his” in “his own copy” refer to?
5. True or false: Mr Varga refused to use paper timetables. Justify with a quotation.
6. Explain in your own words why Mr Varga kept a paper copy.
7. What does “By November” tell you about how opinions changed?
8. Which word class and form must a synonym for “welcomed” have?
9. A speaker says: “The coach leaves at ten – sorry, quarter past ten.” What time does it leave?
10. You have 45 minutes for 30 marks and keep 5 minutes to check. How long should a 3-mark question take?
11. Which lens from the brief helps you most with a question about a writer’s aim?
12. What is the difference between justify and explain?

Answers

1. 25 marks; 25% of the final grade.
2. The assessment outlines are identical; the nature of the assessment differs.
3. pinning.
4. Mr Varga.
5. False. “He kept printing his own copy”.
6. He thought the app would stop working if the device lost power.
7. Opinions changed slowly: only after months, and after the power cuts, did other teachers come round to his view.
8. A verb in the past tense (for example greeted, accepted).
9. Quarter past ten (10:15). “Sorry” signals the correction.
10. (45 − 5) / 30 = 1.33 minutes per mark, so 4 minutes for 3 marks.
11. Purpose.
12. Justify asks for evidence, usually a quotation; explain asks for a reason in your own words.

Where marks are usually lost

• Answering with a nearby but different detail, because it shares a keyword with the question.
• Quoting a whole paragraph for a justification, so the proof is buried or includes a wrong detail.
• Giving a synonym in the wrong form: refusal for refused, a plural for a singular.
• Leaving out agreement or spelling in target-language answers, so the word no longer matches.
• Treating a quoted speaker’s view as the writer’s view.
• Stating a literal fact when the question asks what a phrase suggests.
• Writing the first number heard before the speaker corrects it.
• Copying the text for an “in your own words” question.
• Losing time on one hard question and rushing the last text.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Language B, first assessment 2020 (2018). The Paper 2 facts above come from its assessment model.