Lesson 20 of 41 in the Test Ninjas TOEFL course: Listen to an Announcement, Listening. In Listen to an Announcement, you hear the audio once, and the numbers go by fast: a room, a time, a price, a new day.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Lesson at a glance
Detail
This lesson
Module
Listen to an Announcement (Listening)
English focus
Hearing numbers, clock times and quantities (-teen versus -ty, a quarter to, ten to five, up to, at least, three or four); sequences, limits and changes (by, until, after, from … until, instead of, rather than, moved to, moved up, pushed back)
Task skill
Taking notes while listening once; working out a detail from numbers
Time
About 55 minutes
Access
Included in the TOEFL plan
What this lesson teaches
In Listen to an Announcement, you hear the audio once, and the numbers go by fast: a room, a time, a price, a new day. This lesson teaches the English that carries them.
First, numbers and times: ‑teen versus ‑ty, a quarter to versus a quarter past, and quantity words such as up to and at least.
Then changes and limits: which words mark the old plan and which mark the new one, and how by and until use the same clock time in different ways.
Last, you’ll keep quick notes in a fixed frame while you listen, and use them to answer audience, action and why-mention questions, and to work out a detail from a number.
By the end of the lesson, you can
Hear and write numbers, clock times and quantities correctly the first time. Tell ‑teen from ‑ty, to from past, and up to from at least.
Tell the old arrangement from the new one (instead of, rather than, moved to, moved up, pushed back, from … to), and read limits exactly: by is a deadline, until is a continuing period, and after eleven means later than eleven.
In Listen to an Announcement, keep WHO / WHAT / WHEN / DO / DON’T / WHY notes while the audio plays once. Use them to answer audience, action and why-mention questions, and to work out a detail by comparing a new case with the rule’s number.
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 20
Cycle
Focus
What it teaches
Drills
Cycle 1
English
Numbers and times you hear once
7
Cycle 2
English
Changes and limits: instead of, moved to, by, until
7
Cycle 3
Task skill
Notes while listening once
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.
concern noun
a worry or question about something
If you have any concerns about your schedule, the advising office can help.
Goes with:
raise a concern; if you have any concerns
Word family:
concern (verb): to worry someone, or to be about something; concerned (adjective): worried; concerning (preposition): about
railing noun
a bar along stairs or a balcony that you hold on to
Don’t lean too far over the railing on the rooftop terrace.
Goes with:
hold on to the railing; lean on the railing
Word family:
rail (noun): a bar, or the track a train runs on; handrail (noun): a railing you hold for support
keep going phrase
to continue doing something
If you get stuck on one question, keep going and come back to it later.
Goes with:
keep going until…; keep trying
Word family:
keep + ‑ing = continue: keep trying, keep working; keep on going (a little stronger)
call over phrasal verb
to ask someone to come to where you are
When Amara finished her sketch, she called the tutor over to take a look.
Goes with:
call someone over to look at something
Word family:
call someone over (the object can go in the middle, and a pronoun must); call out: to shout; call back: to phone again
instructor noun
a person who teaches a skill or practical subject
Our lab instructor showed us how to label each sample.
The Saturday workshop is intended for students who have never used the 3D printer.
Goes with:
be intended for + a group; be intended to + verb
Word family:
intend (verb): to plan or mean to do something; intention (noun); intentional (adjective)
take part in verb phrase
to join in an activity with other people
About forty students took part in the campus clean-up.
Goes with:
take part in a workshop / a study / a debate
Word family:
participate in (more formal); participant (noun); participation (noun)
at the bottom of prepositional phrase
at the lowest part of something
Your seat number is printed at the bottom of the ticket.
Goes with:
at the bottom of the page / the stairs / the list
Word family:
at the top of; at the foot of (stairs, a hill, a page); bottom (adjective): the bottom shelf
emergency noun / adjective
a sudden, dangerous situation that needs action right away
Keep the emergency exits clear at all times.
Goes with:
in an emergency; an emergency exit; an emergency contact
Word family:
emergencies (plural); in an emergency (phrase); emergency exit, emergency contact (used before another noun)
The takeaway: Write numbers as digits with their rule, mark every change with an arrow, and answer from your notes, not from the last number you heard.
In the full course
Listening once: notes, numbers and changes 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