I have found that often dictators leave out those little connectors or sometimes just say them really low.
I find when I proofread, I sometimes relisten to a spot to see if I missed it or if they just didn't say it. Seems like a time waster, but if you see a spot like that, it is probably worth listening again until you get out of QA anyway.
I am surprised they make a big deal over the commas and semicolons. It seems everyone in my company punctuates a bit differently, and they don't make much of a deal about that.
Hang in there. Maybe try to relax and try not to think about speed. That (trying to be fast) often makes me screw up more.