To answer questions about some of the dialogs in Part A, it is necessary to understand if the second speaker agrees or disagrees with the first speaker’s ideas or proposals.
There are many ways to express agreement and disagreement:
Agreement
| So do I. Me too. Neither do I.* I don’t either.* Who wouldn’t? Isn’t he/she/it though! (Didn’t he/wasn’t she/hasn’t it though!) I’ll second that. | I’ll say! You can say that again. Is/Has/Was it ever! You bet! I couldn’t agree with you more. I feel the same way you do about it. |
*These two expressions show agreement with a negative statement:
I don’t really like my schedule this term.
I don’t either. OR Neither do I.
Disagreement
| I don’t think so. That’s not what I think. That’s not the way I see it. Not really. I can’t say I agree. I couldn’t agree with you less. | I’m afraid I don’t agree. Probably not. Not necessarily. I’m afraid not. I’m not so sure. |
The lists above are not the definitive lists of expressions of agreement and disagreement. There are, of course, other expressions that show agreement and disagreement.
∇ Sample Items
You will hear:
M1: Howard certainly is a talented journalist.
F1: Isn’t he though!
M2: What does the woman mean?
You will read:
(A) She doesn’t know if Howard is a journalist.
(B) She agrees that Howard is talented.
(C) She read Howard’s journal.
(D) She doesn’t think Howard is talented.
Although the woman’s reply seems negative in form, it actually signals agreement. Therefore, the best answer is (B).
You will hear:
F1: I thought Cheryl’s photographs were the best at the exhibit.
M1: I didn’t really see it that way.
M2: What does the man mean?
You will read:
(A) He thought Cheryl’s photos were the best.
(B) He didn’t look at Cheryl’s photos.
(C) He thought other photos were better than Cheryl’s.
(D) He didn’t go to the exhibit.
The man’s response, “I didn’t really see it that way;’ means that he disagreed with the woman’s opinion that Cheryl’s photographs were the best. The best answer is therefore (C).