I’ll never take an exam in summer again. I was very unlucky to be seated in a spot where sun was shining at a lot. In the beginning it was ok, it wasn’t too much, but it got intense halfway through and left side of my face got burned. Too bad they can’t pause the audio after starting because it’d be really nice to cover that window instead of being blasted with the full force of the summer sun. And it’s a shame because I felt like I was doing quite well in the beginning but later I couldn’t focus, I was just thinking how hot it is, how to cover my face and that I want to leave the exam as soon as possible 
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There should be a philosophical lesson here somewhere about how our life always follows the same formula, just substituting cake for presentation slides.
But I think this formula is not bad at all: it’s short, it gives 4 plausible answers, you cannot guess just by searching for 1 keyword, and there’s no ambiguity which answer is correct, as long as you catch every word.
I’m honestly curious what people would consider an example of a better question for a multiple-choice listening comprehension test. (not for another test type)
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I think the problem is, when it comes to vocab, grammar and reading most of the contents are fairly realistic and you will see a lot of the stuff in the world if you are paying attention and engaging with native materials. However, the listening portion is really just pure fantasy and scripted so heavily that I think it devalues its usefulness. Just listening to two or three people’s private conversation and then you as the invisible passive listener working out what all their actions are going to be is just a weird way to approach a something that is supposed to test your ability to get by in real life.
I think a more interesting challenge would be something like listening to people make a plan and then YOU offer a suitable response, or even an opinion, for the situation. Not just passively listening for whether someone is going to pick up some groceries before or after they clean their house. So, it would be more like the quick-fire 3 choice questions they have, but expanded upon a lot more.
There are also often big issues when it comes to audio quality and audibility which come up every single year without fail.
Is it good enough for what it is? Maybe. It’s still a fine achievement to take and pass any level of JLPT. But some would say its woefully lacking in so many aspects and has had the same old problems for like 20 years at this point. Especially now that learning Japanese has become far more widespread.
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