A surprising number of JFT-Basic listening clips are about a decision. Two people are planning something - a meeting time, a meal, who phones the customer - and the plan changes once or twice before they settle.
The question then asks about the final version. And every earlier version of the plan is among the options, because those are the answers a half-listening candidate would choose.
So these items are not really about vocabulary. They are about tracking. Here is how.
The words that signal a change
A small set of words almost always means the plan is about to move:
| Word | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| やっぱり | Reverses an earlier choice: “after all” | やっぱり、バスで行きます |
| じゃあ | Draws a conclusion from what was just said | じゃあ、あしたにしましょう |
| それより | Proposes something better: “rather than that” | それより、電話したほうが早いですよ |
| でも | Raises a problem with the current plan | でも、その日は休みなんです |
| 〜にします | Fixes the decision | カレーにします |
| 〜ことにします | Decides on an action | 歩いて行くことにします |
When you hear one of these, whatever comes after it beats whatever came before it. That is the whole rule.
Example 1: the time moves
An original example:
女：あしたの会議、10時からでいいですか。 男：うーん、10時は工場の見学があるので…。 女：じゃあ、午後にしましょうか。2時はどうですか。 男：2時なら大丈夫です。
When is the meeting? 2時. Notice that the man never actually says no to 10時. He says there is a factory tour, and trails off with ので. In Japanese, that unfinished reason is the refusal. A sentence that stops after ので or が is usually a polite no.
Example 2: who does what
The hardest change-of-plan items are about people, not times. Two people divide up tasks, and the question asks what one of them will do.
男：リーさん、お客さんに電話しておいてくれる？ 女：はい。あ、でも、わたし3時から休憩なんですが…。 男：そうか。じゃあ、電話はぼくがかけるよ。リーさんは、この書類のコピーをお願い。 女：わかりました。
What will the woman do? Make copies. The phone call was hers at the start of the clip, which is exactly why it will be an option.
Before the clip, check whose action the question asks about - 男の人 or 女の人. Then, as you listen, attach every task to a person. A note like “電話 → 男, コピー → 女” is enough.
Example 3: やっぱり
やっぱり is the clearest signal of all. It means the speaker has thought again and gone back on what they just said.
男：何にする？ 女：うーん、ラーメンにしようかな。あ、でも、きのうも食べたし…。やっぱり、カレーにする。
What will she eat? カレー. Note that やっぱり can also go back to an earlier choice: “I thought about the bus, but やっぱり the train”. Either way, the version after やっぱり is final.
Example 4: それより
それより offers a better option, and the other person then accepts or rejects it.
女：駅までバスで行きましょうか。 男：それより、タクシーのほうが早いですよ。この時間はバスが込みますから。 女：そうですね。じゃあ、タクシーで行きましょう。
The answer is タクシー. But be careful: それより is a suggestion, not a decision. You need to hear the other person agree - そうですね, いいですね, そうしましょう - before the new plan is final. If they reply でも…, it has not changed.
The question words to read first
Change-of-plan items often ask:
- このあと何をしますか - what will they do next?
- どこで会いますか - where will they meet?
- 何時に来ますか - what time will they come?
- 女の人は何を買いますか - what will the woman buy?
The word このあと (after this) is a strong hint that the conversation contains a change, and that only the last plan counts.
Using the two plays
Every clip in our mocks plays twice automatically, as on the real test.
- First play: follow the plan as it changes. Do not choose yet.
- Second play: listen only to the last third, where the decision lands, and check who agreed to what.
The most common mistake on these items is choosing during the first play. The first plan sounds like an answer. It almost never is.
Where to practise
Mock exam 4 (restaurant) and mock exam 8 (transport and clinic) are set where plans change all day, and mock exam 10, the hardest of the ten, is the real test of whether you can track them. The answer guides - such as the mock exam 4 answers - show the point in each clip where the plan was fixed.
Corrections to numbers are a close cousin of this pattern; see numbers and prices in listening. For the other ways wrong options are written, see how wrong options are built.