26. Today was Samantha’s birthday, and her friends were taking her out for a surprise evening. It was hard enough to pay attention to speeches on a hot afternoon, but Samantha’s mind kept wandering to what her friends might be planning—and who might be coming. According to your textbook, the most important cause of Samantha’s poor listening was a. jumping to conclusions. b. adapting to the situation. c. not concentrating. d. focusing on appearances. e. failing to listen for main points. 27. Margaret is passionately committed to animal rights. At an evening lecture required for her biology class, she learned that the title of the speaker’s talk was “The Importance of Animal Experimentation to Medical Advances.†Offended and sure that the speaker had nothing ethical or interesting to say, Margaret ignored everything the speaker said and spent the whole lecture sending outraged tweets to other animal activists. According to your textbook, the primary cause of Margaret’s poor listening was a. poor concentration. b. focusing on the speaker’s topic. c. being distracted by external interference. d. jumping to conclusions. e. spare “brain time.†28. Ted is listening to the introduction of Janine’s speech when he thinks to himself, “Man, this is really going to be boring.â€What aspect of poor listening identified in your textbook is Ted exhibiting in this example? a. listening too hard b. jumping to conclusions c. rejecting the speaker’s frame of reference d. giving in to distractions e. not listening comprehensively 29. Matt’s political science professor announces that next week there will be a guest lecture by peace activist Rachel Phelps entitled “The History of War, the Prospects for Peace.†Matt decides to skip class that day, saying to himself, “What can a peace activist possibly tell me about war?†What aspect of poor listening identified in your textbook is Matt exhibiting in this example? a. failing to concentrate b. jumping to conclusions c. rejecting the speaker’s frame of reference d. giving in to distractions e. suspending judgment 30. Which of the following is one of the four major causes of poor listening discussed in your textbook? a. focusing on a speaker’s appearance or delivery b. taking key-word notes during a speech c. suspending judgment about a speaker’s ideas d. concentrating on a speaker’s evidence and reasoning e. listening empathically rather than critically Â