What is meant by responding?

The correct answer is C. Responding is the stage in the listening process where the listener gives feedback to show the message has been received and understood, such as paraphrasing the speaker's point or asking 'Do you mean the deadline has moved?' It confirms understanding and lets the speaker correct any gap.

Option A describes attending, the step where you focus on a particular sound or message. Option B describes sorting or selecting among the many stimuli competing for attention, which belongs to the early perception stage. Option D describes understanding, where the listener assigns meaning to the message and interprets it. Each of these comes before the response, so none of them captures what responding means.

This sits within the listening process model, which is useful for communication and interpersonal skills in GS Paper IV and for questions on administrative communication. A civil servant who paraphrases a citizen's grievance before acting on it is practising exactly this step.

Trap: Candidates confuse understanding (assigning meaning) with responding. Understanding happens internally; responding is the outward signal that understanding has taken place.