Speech Test: 2nd attempt

I took the Advanced Bionics speech test again tonight to see any improvements compared to last time. Last time you may remember I started getting mixed sounds in the different consonants/different vowels section, as I had mistaken words like ring for joke, and had an 85/100 score. This time I heard the word ring every single time and got it correct, but am mistaken words like fun for pear because fun sounds like pick. Yet, I seem to be hearing the f's fine in other words, and I can hear pear fine when they say it. I got a 93/100 this time around, which isn't too bad. 

Then I moved up to the same first consonants/different vowel test and started going downhill again with a score of 36/50. The more I tried to figure out what word on the chart it was saying, the more I got it wrong, but if I really focused to make out just the vowel during the first try, I tend to get it correct. Although if you were to give me a total speech test and expect me to repeat back the correct word, I might get like 1 out of 20 right. I also got a 36/50 on the initial manner test... which I believe is like the previous one expect more of the words were alike and had one small difference in their sounds.

What's neat is that I can hear r's fine now. Back in middle school, I was specifically in speech therapy to focus on my r's... I couldn't hear them well nor could I pronounce it. It was like trying to get me to speak Italian as my therapist told me to put my tongue on the roof of my mouth. Either way, my car sounded like caw. The most confusing part was that as I watched my therapist pronounce it, she/he didn't seem to be saying it the way they were telling me to so it was ridiculous. My lack of correctly pronouncing r's made people believe I had a Boston Accent. Maybe I did. I pick up accents pretty well and can imitate British or Spanish after one listening. After all, my parents are from Massachusetts (as I was born there, but wasn't essentially raised there).

I've got another week with my CI at these levels before my fourth mapping, in which my levels will be raised further. I feel like they need some leveling out though... as my speech testing is showing I'm not distinguishing a different set of sounds now. Fun should not sound like pick. Like ring vs joke, it makes no sense, but if they're on that test, obviously experts realize how they can be confused. But I don't.