TOEIC Listening Part 2 (Question-Response): how to pick the useful reply, recognise indirect answers and respond to statements

In TOEIC Listening Part 2 (Question-Response), you hear a question or statement and three spoken replies, and you choose the one a colleague would find useful. First catch what the speaker needs: a person, a time, a place, a decision or a reaction. Accept replies that meet that need indirectly, and reject replies that only echo the question. This guide suits candidates at intermediate (B1) level or above.

Who this is for

TOEIC candidates who understand most Part 2 items but still pick the option that “sounds right”.
Learners who lose points when the correct reply does not start with yes or no.
Professionals who want the same skill at work: answering colleagues and clients clearly, even when the answer is no.
Too early: if you have not yet looked at how the TOEIC tests are built, start with the study plan and baseline guide.
Too easy: if Part 2 is already your strongest part, move on to Part 3, where you follow a whole conversation.

Open the sample pages

Word cards

Personal · saying no

When did you last need to say no to a request at work or in your studies? How did you say it?

Useful: ‘I said something like…’ · ‘I didn’t want to sound…, so…’ · ‘Looking back, I should have…’

Personal · an unclear answer

Have you ever misunderstood a reply because it was too indirect? What happened?

Useful: ‘I thought it meant…, but actually…’ · ‘It turned out that…’ · ‘Since then, I always check…’

Big idea · clarity and politeness

Aiko says the really rude thing is leaving someone to guess. Is being clear a kind of politeness?

Useful: ‘In a way, yes, because…’ · ‘Not always. Sometimes…’ · ‘I see it differently:…’

Example exchange

Who can authorise a new access card?

Leila at the security desk handles those requests.

Who asks for a person. The reply names the responsible person rather than repeating access card.

Language pattern

1
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
A client asked, “______ the samples by Friday?”
Show answer and explanation
Can you deliver
A request with can puts can before the subject and uses the base verb: Can you deliver…?
2
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
A new coordinator replied, “Our van ______ this week.”
Show answer and explanation
is being serviced
The van does not do the work; someone services it. The present continuous passive is is being + past participle.
3
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
“When someone asks, ‘______ sign this form?’
Show answer and explanation
Who can
Who asks about a person and is the subject here, so the modal follows directly: Who can sign…?
4
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
When someone says, ‘I haven’t received the access code ______,’ they are not really giving news.
Show answer and explanation
yet
Yet goes at the end of a negative present perfect sentence for something expected that has not happened.
5
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
They are asking for help, and the best reply is an offer: ‘I ______ it now.’
Show answer and explanation
can resend
Can + base verb makes a direct offer of help: I can resend it.
6
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
______ I send the samples by courier instead?
Show answer and explanation
Shall
Shall I + base verb offers to do something and asks if the listener wants it.
7
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
When team members receive an indirect reply themselves, they are encouraged to check it: “______ them on Monday?”
Show answer and explanation
So we should expect
A checking question can keep statement order with rising intonation: So we should expect…? The modal takes the base verb.

More practice

Hear the purpose first

Who can authorise a new access card?

Leila at the security desk handles those requests.

Who asks for a person. The reply names the responsible person rather than repeating access card.

Listening routine

Listen for the requested information: person, place, time or method.
Keep the main question in mind; do not choose a reply just because a word sounds similar.
A useful response can paraphrase the question.

Hear the purpose first

Can you deliver the posters this morning?

The van is being serviced until noon, but I can bring them at two.

The service prevents a morning delivery. The alternative time answers the request without starting with no.

Listening routine

Ask what the reply lets you conclude in this situation.
A reason, limitation or alternative can answer a yes/no question indirectly.
Reject a reply that mentions the same topic but does not resolve the request.

Hear the purpose first

I haven’t received the room-access code yet.

I can resend the confirmation message now.

The statement signals a problem. An offer to resend the message addresses that problem directly.

Listening routine

Not every prompt is a question: it may report news, flag a problem or offer help.
Respond to the speaker’s purpose: acknowledge, offer a next step, accept or decline.
A natural reply need not repeat the speaker’s key words.

Choose a useful response

1
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
B
Where asks for a location. Only B gives a place; A gives a time and C adds an instruction.
2
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
C
When asks for a time. C supplies it; room and person do not answer the question.
3
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
A
Who asks for a person. Nadia has the shift; the other choices respond to similar words or a different question.

Choose a useful response

1
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
B
B explains that the space is occupied, so it is not currently available. The other replies do not address availability.
2
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
C
C commits to checking after the 11 o’clock meeting, which addresses the before-lunch request. The other replies do not say whether the task can be done.
3
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
A
A supplies an existing unused copy, so another copy is unnecessary. B and C are related in topic only.

Choose a useful response

1
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
C
C offers a relevant next step for the lighting problem; A and B do not help with it.
2
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
A
A accepts the offer and gives a useful instruction. Hand refers to help here, not handwriting.
3
Listen and choose the most useful response.
Show answer and explanation
B
B acknowledges positive news and its practical consequence. The other replies match a word but not the message.

Yes, no, and everything in between

In a bright community centre, Maya holds a clipboard while Owen, in a green apron, answers her question.

Yes, no, and everything in between

At the regional office of a mid-sized logistics company, team leader Aiko Tanaka keeps a list she calls “answers that aren’t answers”. It started after a small disaster last winter. A client asked, “Can you deliver the samples by Friday?” A new coordinator replied, “Our van is being serviced this week.” The client heard a reason and assumed the problem was being solved. The coordinator meant no. The samples arrived the following Tuesday, and the client was not pleased.

Aiko says that indirect replies like this are completely normal. “When someone asks, ‘Who can sign this form?’ a useful answer is often not a name but ‘Hassan handles those requests.’ When someone says, ‘I haven’t received the access code yet,’ they are not really giving news. They are asking for help, and the best reply is an offer: ‘I can resend it now.’” Good listeners, she argues, respond to what the speaker needs, not to the exact words.

The difficulty is that indirect replies only work when both people share the same background. A colleague who knows the van is always serviced on Thursdays understands at once that Friday is impossible. A client in another city has no way of knowing that. In Aiko’s team, which includes staff from four countries, what sounds polite to one person can sound unclear to another.

Her solution is not to ban indirect answers. Instead, she asks the team to add one short sentence that makes the meaning recoverable: a clear alternative or a check. “Our van is being serviced this week, so we can’t deliver on Friday. Shall I send the samples by courier instead?” The first half is still polite; the second half removes any doubt. When team members receive an indirect reply themselves, they are encouraged to check it: “So we should expect them on Monday?”

Not everyone likes the new rule. Diego Ferreira, one of the senior coordinators, feels it can make people sound cold. “For some of our clients, a direct no in the first sentence is almost rude,” he says. “A client who has worked with us for ten years doesn’t need everything spelled out. Sometimes the relationship matters more than the sentence.” He also worries that constant checking questions can suggest that you don’t trust the other person.

Aiko takes the point, but she has numbers on her side. In the six months since the team started adding a clear next step, complaints about missed deadlines have fallen by almost half. “Politeness isn’t about avoiding the word no,” she says. “It’s about making sure the other person knows what to do next. What’s really rude is leaving someone to guess.”

Questions, replies and offers in the article

1
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
A client asked, “______ the samples by Friday?”
Show answer and explanation
Can you deliver
A request with can puts can before the subject and uses the base verb: Can you deliver…?
2
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
A new coordinator replied, “Our van ______ this week.”
Show answer and explanation
is being serviced
The van does not do the work; someone services it. The present continuous passive is is being + past participle.
3
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
“When someone asks, ‘______ sign this form?’
Show answer and explanation
Who can
Who asks about a person and is the subject here, so the modal follows directly: Who can sign…?
4
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
When someone says, ‘I haven’t received the access code ______,’ they are not really giving news.
Show answer and explanation
yet
Yet goes at the end of a negative present perfect sentence for something expected that has not happened.
5
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
They are asking for help, and the best reply is an offer: ‘I ______ it now.’
Show answer and explanation
can resend
Can + base verb makes a direct offer of help: I can resend it.
6
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
______ I send the samples by courier instead?
Show answer and explanation
Shall
Shall I + base verb offers to do something and asks if the listener wants it.
7
Choose the words that complete the sentence from the text.
When team members receive an indirect reply themselves, they are encouraged to check it: “______ them on Monday?”
Show answer and explanation
So we should expect
A checking question can keep statement order with rising intonation: So we should expect…? The modal takes the base verb.

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How Part 2 works

Each of the 25 items is a short question or statement followed by three replies, A, B and C. Nothing is printed in the test book except an instruction to mark your answer, and each item is played once. Prompts include questions, requests, offers and plain statements.

Listen for the question focus

The opening words decide what counts as an answer: miss “When” and every option can sound possible. If your language puts question words later, train your ear on the first two words. In the recording, “Who” asks for a person, and the reply names one without repeating “access card”: useful replies often paraphrase.

Who: a person, team or role (“The front desk handles that.”)
When: a time, day or condition (“Right after the board meeting.”)
Where: a place (“In the top drawer.”)
How: a method (“By courier.”); Why: a reason, often without “because”.

Question Who can authorise a new access card?

Reply Leila at the security desk handles those requests.

Indirect answers without yes or no

Many correct replies answer a yes/no question without yes or no, so ask what the reply lets you conclude. Below, a van being serviced until noon rules out a morning delivery, and “I can bring them at two” offers an alternative. Other indirect forms:

A referral: “Do you know the Wi-Fi password?” → “Ask Daniel at reception.”
A question back: “Can you send me the file?” → “Which version?”

Question Can you deliver the posters this morning?

Reply The van is being serviced until noon, but I can bring them at two.

Will the posters arrive this morning?

Statements and offers: answer the purpose

A statement may report a problem, share news or offer help; reply to its purpose. “I haven’t received the room-access code yet” is really a request, so “I can resend the confirmation message now” fits.

Problem, then next step: “The lights in room 4 aren’t working.” → “I’ll call maintenance.”
News, then its result: “The client approved the design.” → “Great, so we can start printing.”
Offer, then accept or decline: “Shall I book a taxi?” → “Thanks, but I’ve already ordered one.”

Traps in the wrong replies

Watch for these traps:

Sound-alikes such as “copy” and “coffee”: a sound match is a warning, not evidence.
Same topic, no answer: “Has the printer been fixed?” → “I need forty copies.”
Wrong focus: a time for a “Where” question.
Yes or no to an information question: “Where is the invoice?” → “Yes, it is.”
Negative questions: “Haven’t you sent the invoice yet?” → “No, I’ll do it after lunch” means not sent.

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Grammar behind the replies

At Part 2 speed, these forms need to be automatic:

Can + subject + base verb: “Can you deliver the samples by Friday?”, not “Do you can deliver…?”
Present continuous passive: “Our van is being serviced this week,” so it is unavailable now.
Who as the subject takes no do: “Who can sign this form?”
Present perfect with yet for something expected: “I haven’t received the access code yet.”
Offers and checks: “Shall I call the client?” and, with rising intonation, “So we should expect them on Tuesday?”

When you are the one replying

Indirect replies are often polite, but they can fail. A client asks, “Can you deliver the samples by Friday?” A coordinator, meaning no, answers, “Our van is being serviced this week.” The client assumes the problem is being solved and waits until Tuesday. One more sentence fixes it: “So Friday isn’t possible, but I can send them by courier on Monday. Would that work?” Discuss with a partner or teacher:

Have you ever misunderstood a reply that was too indirect? Try “I thought it meant…, but actually…”
Is being clear a kind of politeness? Try “In a way, yes, because…” or “I see it differently:…”

A 15-minute Part 2 routine

Do this daily with any Part 2 practice set:

Play ten items once each and answer without the transcript.
As each prompt ends, name its focus to yourself.
Check the transcript and label each miss: wrong focus, sound-alike, same topic or missed indirect answer.
Then reply to three prompts yourself, once directly and once indirectly.

What comes next

Part 3 applies the same skill to whole conversations: who agreed to do what, and when? Part 4 talks then add changed details to track.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are in TOEIC Listening Part 2?

Twenty-five, each a question or statement with three replies, played once and not printed in the test book.

Why is the right Part 2 answer often not yes or no?

Real colleagues rarely answer that way. A reason, an alternative or a referral can answer a yes/no question; choose the reply that says what happens next.

Can “I don’t know” be correct in Part 2?

Yes, if it still helps: “I’m not sure, but Kim will know” tells the speaker where to go next.

Keep exploring

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TOEIC Listening Part 2 (Question-Response): how to pick the useful reply, recognise indirect answers and respond to statements

Who this is for

Open the sample pages

Word cards

Example exchange

Language pattern

More practice

Hear the purpose first

Hear the purpose first

Hear the purpose first

Choose a useful response

Choose a useful response

Choose a useful response

Yes, no, and everything in between

Questions, replies and offers in the article

How Part 2 works

Listen for the question focus

Indirect answers without yes or no

Statements and offers: answer the purpose

Traps in the wrong replies

Grammar behind the replies

When you are the one replying

A 15-minute Part 2 routine

What comes next

Frequently asked questions

Keep exploring

What comes next?

Keep practising with Flai

Learn with a live teacher