作为英语学习基本技能之一的“听力”，在高考中具有不可忽视的地位。要求考生听懂人们日常生活交际中所进行的简短对话和独白。考生应该能够做到以下几点:
(1) 理解主旨要义: 它要求我们对听到的内容有一个整体的把握和全面的领会, 理解说话者究竟在说什么。任何一段对话或独白都是围绕一个中心展开的, 有时主旨大意较明显, 有时则需要归纳和概括。
(2) 获取事实性的具体信息: 它要求我们听清、听懂与话题中心相关的具体信息, 准确理解具体细节,如时间、地点、人物、价钱、数量、目的、原因、结果等。同时, 还要求我们对所听到的信息进行简单的处理, 比如数字运算、时间排序、比较筛选、同义转换等。
(3) 对所听内容做出简单推断: 它要求我们从对话或独白的话题和语气中来推断出对话双方(或说话人)的职业或身份, 彼此之间(或与他人)的关系, 对话发生的时间、地点或场合等。
(4) 理解说话者的意图、观点或态度: 它要求我们从话语中听出“弦外之音”, 也就是揣摩说话人的意图、观点或态度。从最近几年高考试题分析可归纳以下几个考点:
考点: 主旨大意题类
考例: What are the speakers talking about? (2008闽、苏、皖、赣卷)
A. A way to improve air quality. B.A problem with traffic miles.
C. A suggestion for city planning.
听力原文：M: Air pollution is so bad in this city. I think the government should stop people from driving cars on certain days.
W: You have a point. Air pollution is a problem, but not letting people drive on certain days is a bad idea. People have to go to work by car.
M: I’m afraid I don’t agree with you there. Reducing air pollution is really important. People are so used to driving that they don’t think about ways to do things. If we stop them from driving on certain days, maybe they could think of new ways to get around.
W: I see your point, but I still think it wouldn’t be possible to stop people from driving.
解析: 该段对话是围绕一个中心 “I think the government should stop people from driving cars on certain days.”展开的。
对这种类型题, 抓住短文的前两句话往往特别重要, 因为前两句话往往是主题句, 即使不是主题句, 也对理解全文有重要的意义。例如: Last Friday，a storm to re through two villages in Fujian Province，14 people were killed. 这句话是一篇新闻的开头，很明显是主题句，介绍了新闻的中心内容，下面则应是对风暴情况的具体叙述。
这类试题要求我们对听到的内容有一个整体的把握和全面的领会, 抓住说话者究竟在说什么。任何一段对话或独白都是围绕一个中心展开的,有时主旨大意较明显, 有时则需要归纳、概括。常见的提问方式有: What are the speakers mainly discussing? / What’s the passage mainly about? / What’s the topic of the passage? / What are the two speakers doing? / What is the dialogue / conversation about?为了把握所听内容的主旨要义, 要从说话人的语气上体会主旨大意,抓住关键词, 对语段进行整体理解。而不应纠缠在某些小细节上, 这样往往会造成以偏概全。