Lesson 19 of 41 in the Test Ninjas TOEFL course: Listen to an Announcement, Listening. In Listen to an Announcement, many questions ask what listeners should do, what they shouldn’t do, or what happens if they don’t.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Lesson at a glance
Detail
This lesson
Module
Listen to an Announcement (Listening)
English focus
Obligation, advice and no obligation (must, need to, are asked to, you'll want to, don't have to, don't bother); conditions, steps and consequences (if, unless, once, after, or, and then)
Task skill
What listeners are told to do; consequences
Time
About 55 minutes
Access
Included in the TOEFL plan
What this lesson teaches
In Listen to an Announcement, many questions ask what listeners should do, what they shouldn’t do, or what happens if they don’t. This lesson teaches the English that carries those instructions.
First, how strong each one is: must, need to and are asked to are rules, you’ll want to is advice, don’t have to is a free choice, and please don’t is a ban.
Then the clauses that limit or explain an instruction: if, unless and once say who and when, or… says what happens if you don’t, and “and then…” carries that chain to its end.
Last, you’ll use both to answer action, consequence, why-mention and main-purpose questions after hearing an announcement once.
By the end of the lesson, you can
Sort instructions by strength: required (must, have to, need to, are required to, are asked to, make sure, or a plain command), advised (should, you’ll want to, you might want to, it’s a good idea to), not required (don’t have to, don’t need to, there’s no need to, don’t bother + ‑ing) and not allowed (must not, please don’t, aren’t allowed to).
Follow conditions and steps (if, unless, as long as, once, after, before, until) and consequences (or, otherwise, so, and then), and use the present or present perfect, not will, after once, after and before when they refer to the future.
In Listen to an Announcement, answer what listeners should or shouldn’t do, what they should do after a given step, and what can happen if a rule is broken. Also say why the speaker tells a story or gives a warning, and what the announcement’s main purpose is.
What’s inside
Around the 3 teaching cycles below, the lesson opens with a quick check and closes with applied practice, a Check and a debrief. How every course lesson is built.
Teaching cycles in lesson 19
Cycle
Focus
What it teaches
Drills
Cycle 1
English
How strong is it? Must, need to, are asked to, don't have to
7
Cycle 2
English
If, unless, once: conditions, steps and consequences
7
Cycle 3
Task skill
What to do, and what happens if you don't
7
Word bank
The 10 words and phrases this lesson teaches. They come from the real course questions you practice on in the Apply step, so you meet each one again in context.
volunteer noun
a person who works without being paid
Sofia has been a volunteer at the city library for two years.
Goes with:
a volunteer at the food bank; volunteer for a job
Word family:
volunteer (verb): offer to do something without being asked or paid; voluntary (adjective); volunteering (noun)
sketch verb
to draw quickly and roughly; also, to plan in outline
Before the meeting, Amara sketched out a rough schedule for the conference.
Goes with:
sketch an idea; sketch out a schedule
Word family:
sketch (noun): a quick drawing or outline; sketchy (adjective): rough, without details; sketchbook (noun)
wave down phrasal verb
to wave your hand to make someone stop
Diego stood at the corner and waved down a taxi.
Goes with:
wave down a taxi; wave down a staff member
Word family:
wave (verb / noun); wave someone over (phrasal verb): signal someone to come to you
approve verb
to officially say that something is acceptable
Your advisor has to approve your course list before you can register.
Goes with:
approve a request; get approval from
Word family:
approval (noun); approved (adjective); disapprove (verb): think something is wrong
go ahead phrasal verb
to start doing something; used to give permission
The room’s free now, so go ahead and set up your laptop.
Goes with:
go ahead and + verb; give someone the go-ahead
Word family:
go-ahead (noun): permission to start, as in get the go-ahead; Go ahead. (reply): yes, you may
coordinates noun (plural)
numbers or letters that show an exact position on a map or grid
The hiking app shows the exact coordinates of each campsite.
Goes with:
map coordinates; GPS coordinates
Word family:
coordinate (verb): organize people or activities so they work together; coordinator (noun); coordination (noun)
praise verb / noun
to say that someone did something well
The coach praised the team for staying calm in the final minutes.
Goes with:
praise someone for something; high praise
Word family:
praise (noun): words that say something is good; praiseworthy (adjective)
stress verb
to give special importance to something
Our tutor stressed the need to cite every source.
Goes with:
stress the need to…; stress that…
Word family:
stress (noun): pressure or worry; stressful (adjective); stress (noun): emphasis, or the strong syllable in a word
look over phrasal verb
to check something quickly
Please look over your notes before the quiz.
Goes with:
look over your notes; look it over
Word family:
look through (phrasal verb): read or check quickly; overlook (verb): fail to notice, a different meaning
fill in phrasal verb
to add color or information to empty spaces
Once the outline is dry, fill it in with blue paint.
Goes with:
fill in a shape with color; fill in a form
Word family:
fill out (phrasal verb): complete a form, common in US English; a synonym of fill in only for forms; fill-in (noun): a substitute
The takeaway: Match each action to its strength and its condition, and follow every “or” and “and then” to the end.
In the full course
What to do: actions, obligations and conditions is part of the full TOEFL course
Unlock all 41 lessons with the TOEFL plan, or try one of the free lessons first.
✓All 3 teaching cycles of this lesson, with 21 drills and feedback on every answer
✓The 10-word bank, each word with a recall drill
✓A walk-through, guided practice and a Check on Listen to an Announcement