ABSTRACT
This paper first explores the significance of listening in college English listening tests according to the practical situation of college English learning and has a simple analysis about the reason why students have listening failure. It then elaborates some theories of pragmatic inference which are related with college English listening tests: pragmatic presupposition, conversational implicature, indirect speech act theory, relevance theory. After that depending on the actuality of college English listening tests,a study based on the latest 10 years’ questions of CET6 is conducted and discussion is about the relationships between college English listening tests and pragmatic inference. Meanwhile it elaborates the practical use of pragmatic inference in college English listening tests. In the end, some suggestions are provided from the perspective of pragmatic inference.
Keywords:listening;pragmatic inference;college English listening tests