这里所说的知识包括与听力材料有关的背景知识、对话和文章的话题知识、听力的策略知识以及听力测试的命题规律等知识。 1、背景知识 对听力材料的背景知识的了解有助于听力材料的理解，而缺乏应有的背景知识常常是造成理解失败的原因。听力对话和听力短文所涉及的领域广泛，要求同学们注意积累有关文化、历史、地理、宗教、政治、风俗、生活等各方面的知识，正是 Rich experiences are the facilitator of listening comprehension. 2、话题知识 无论是对话还是短文，都有其所涉及的话题，所要说明的主题，而材料中的一切又都是为了这一主题服务，表现同一主题，或同一话题又有与其同现的词汇。同学们可以通过这些词汇推测文章的话题，然后通过文章的主题，预测文章的大体内容，从而对短文进行整体的理解。同学们同样可以通过同现的词汇推测对话发生的地点，会话人之间的关系，各自的身份等。 （1）利用词汇的同现判断对话发生的地点以及会话人之间的关系和身份、职业等。如： ①M: The Golden Lion sounds like a nice place to eat. W: Ok, lets go there. I hear that they have a complete menu and a warm atmosphere. Q: Where are the man and the woman going? (1989.1) A. To the beach. B. To a play. C. To a movie theater D. To a restaurant. 从menu一词结合a nice place to eat，同学们便可轻松判断答案D。 ②M: How about the food I ordered? Ive been waiting for 20 minutes. W: Im very sorry, sir. Ill be back with your order in a minute. Q: Who is the man most probably speaking to? A. A shop assistant. B. A telephone operator. C. A waitress D. A clerk. 从order的使用可以判断答案为C。 ③M: Why didnt you stop when we first signaled? W: Im sorry. Will I have to pay a fine? Q: What is the probable relationship between the man and the woman? A. Policeman and driver. B. Policeman and thief. C. Teacher and pupil. D. Director and actress. 从signal, stop, pay a fine可以看出，说话者之间的关系为警察和司机的关系。答案为A。 (2)利用话题和主题知识把握全文： 文章的主题一般出现在文章的首句，在听时一定要注意首句的理解，然后根据首句推测文章可能会包括的内容，在听的过程注意用来说明主题的信息，进行前后的连贯思索，就可以轻松地理解全文。事实上听力中也有对文章主题的考查。如： There are many reasons why family life in Britain has changed so much in the last 50 years. The liberation of women in the early part of 20th century and social and economic effects of the World War Two had a great impact on the traditional family life. Women became essential to industry and professions. During the war, they had worked in factories and proved their worth. Now with the loss of millions of man their service was indispensable to the nation. More recently great advances in scientific knowledge, and particularly in medicine have had enormous social