TOEFL Speaking Magoosh

Speaking Task 1
Describe a time you accomplished an important academic goal. What was the goal,
and what did you do to accomplish it successfully?
Preparation time: 15 seconds
Response time: 45 seconds
Here we have another question that focuses on something from your life and your
experience. So here, one of the TOEFL's favorite topics is school academia. And of
course, it is a favorite topic because everyone who is taking the TOEFL has been to
school and most people are applying to large school, to a university or college.
So, the TOEFL is an academic test and you have these questions about your education
and your experience on your education. All right, now to answer this question well, I
should just think of anything that was important to me, it doesn't have to be the most
important goal, it just should be any important goal. Anything that I can talk about and
for me, personally, the first thing that comes to mind is my thesis project before my
bachelor's degree.
So I'm going to plan for that given 15 seconds, starting now. Okay, that's 15 seconds and
my notes here, the th just means thesis. I don't need that personally. I understand what it
meant. Teach is actually referring to my teacher who helped me.
And year, yr, means year and that is referring to how long it took me to actually do the
project. So that, how did I accomplish it successfully? Well, I'm gonna talk about that
year and that teacher in my 45 seconds to answer the question. So, let's hear my answer
to this question.
One of the most significant goals that I achieved while in school was finishing my thesis
project. It's what we called the senior project for my undergraduate degree. In my final
year studying, I had to write a short novel because I was a creative writing major. I did
this with a lot of help from my academic advisor.
A teacher of mine who is a poet, who really helped me to edit my novel quite a bit. And
also, just threw a lot of hard work. It took me about a year to write it. I was taking other
classes at that time, but still, I spent a lot of time writing that book, and I'm proud of
that.
Okay, and that is my 45 seconds answer. And notice, I had a nice little conclusion at the
end there with I'm proud of that, it sort of summarizes the whole experience. Of course,
those conclusions aren't necessary, but if you can put a short one-sentence conclusion in,
it makes it very well-packaged.
(Question type: Task 1)
You will now be asked a question about a familiar topic. After you read the question, you will have 15
seconds to prepare your response and 45 seconds to speak.
Describe a time that you learned a lesson after overcoming difficulty. Be sure to include specific
examples in your response.
Text Explanation
This is a great question because it’s so general! Start with the specifics: think of anything difficult in
your life that ended okay—anything.
Then, quickly imagine how it might have helped you. This doesn’t need to be very interesting or
insightful. Just a simple lesson learned is good enough.
As you speak, be careful about your tenses. You’re telling a story about something that happened to you
in the past, so you will need the three tenses for telling stories:
• Past simple: “I crashed my parents’ car.”
• Past continuous: “I was driving through snow.”
• Past perfect: “My parents had allowed me to borrow the car for just an hour.”
Of course, you might not need all of them—it’s possible to give a great response using only the past
simple. But be careful to use the other tenses if you need them, and definitely don’t use the present
tense for that story about the past!
Sample notes #2
• Chem tests
• give up
• hard work
• tutor
Sample response
When I was in ninth grade, I had a really hard time in my Chemistry class. I mean, uhh… I had totally
failed two tests, so I was worried that I would ruin my perfect record on my report card. But I learned
from these problems to… stay focused and do my best to succeed, no matter what. Like, I started
studying really hard for three hours a night. I worked with a tutor. In the end, I improved my grade and
got a B. My failure taught me the importance of hard work, and I will never forget that important
lesson I learned.
Describe a teacher who was important to you and why he or she was important. Be sure to include
specific examples in your response.
Text Explanation
It’s easiest to just choose a favorite teacher, then think about the reasons why you liked them. Don’t get
stuck thinking about the details before you make the choice.
When speaking, it’s easy to make the mistake of giving only abstract adjectives like “nice” and “smart”
to compliment the teacher. Do more than that! The question asks for specific examples, so try to
include that as much as possible. Mention an event that you still remember, or something specific that
you learned from the teacher.
Sample notes #2
• Charest
• ed. games
• care
Sample response #2
My favorite teacher was Ms. Charest. She… uhh, I had her in third grade. She was basically a great
teacher for two reasons. First, she played games with us in class that were actually very educational.
For example, we played this game that taught us our multiplication tables using rhymes. It made
learning fun. And the second reason she was great was that she took a personal interest in her students.
She really cared about us. When I visited her last year, she even remembered my name, even though I,
like, hadn’t seen her in ages.
Describe a time you learned something new about someone you know well. Be sure to include specific
examples in your response.
Text Explanation
It can be hard to think of an example of something so broad. To make the brainstorming faster, first
pick a person who you have known for a long time. Then pick anything you have learned about that
person in your life. As long as you can describe the event well, then it’s good enough. This isn’t a test
of how interesting your story is, but rather a test of how well you tell it. Remember to use appropriate
past tenses, as always for speaking task 1, and be descriptive.
Sample notes #2
• Dad
• crafts
• design (!)
Sample response #2
I always thought my dad was kind of, uhh, an uncreative guy. But one time, my mother brought the
whole family on this trip to a traditional crafts center. They, like, they made traditional works of art
there, like troll dolls and cuckoo clocks. There was a work station there where we could paint our own
dolls. And my dad, well, he painted these amazing patterns that looked… uhh, the word is psychedelic,
I think. Like, he used really cool bright colors and interesting wavy patterns. It was a huge surprise for
me, ‘cause I hadn’t seen that side of my dad before.
What is a good activity that people can do every day to stay healthy? Describe the activity, and explain
how it helps people to be healthy.
Because this question doesn't ask about your experience, it's possible for you to invent something here.
So say, for example, my good activity is oh, it doesn't matter, rock climbing. That could be a good
activity to be healthy. Maybe it's not great for everyday, but anyway, it's possible that I do not
personally rock climb.
Maybe I know people who rock climb, and here's my rock wall and somebody climbing it. Maybe I
know people who rock climb and I don't. Well, that's okay. I can just imagine, because this one is not
about my life. So this is a good activity to be healthy.
Any activity to be healthy. Just pick whatever comes to mind. Anything is okay. Just as long as you can
explain it, so that you can support it. So you're going to need to explain and, of course, you'll have 15
seconds to prepare and think about those explanations.
I'm going to take 15 seconds right now to take a few notes and think of my own answer before I do a
simple response. Stairs. I go stairs every day it's good for my legs. Good for the muscles and it's also,
that's good for the heart, I guess. That was just 15 seconds.
That's all it takes. Now, I have a few things to talk about. I'm going to talk about taking the stairs. And
I'm going to talk about how its good for your legs and good for you heart. It was just the first thing I
thought of, because I take the stairs every day. And it's, I think, good for me.
Now, I'm going to have 45 seconds to give my answer. And in that time, I should of course, explain my
main opinion, give a reason and explain that reason and then, ideally, another reason and explain that
reason. So let's hear my response starting now. There are many things you could do every day to stay
healthy, but I think one of the easiest is probably taking the stairs.
We spend so much time going up and down buildings, and it's better to just take the stairs, instead of
taking the elevator as many people do. It's good for your legs. It helps build the muscle in your legs and
keep your legs healthy and used. And besides that, it's also just good for like your lungs and your heart,
so that you're always moving and getting a small workout.
Standing still in a elevator isn't as healthy as moving up and down the stairs. So it's better to take the
stairs. And that is time. And I added a little bit of filler at the end, just summarizing my opinion. And
notice that I contrasted with the elevator. That helps give some extra time, fill some extra time.
Because if I talked only about the stairs I might run out of things to say, because they were very simple.
It helps my legs, and it helps my heart. So it was good to then say, well, on the other hand, in the
elevator you stand still. And that comparison, that contrast, helps to explain my point even more.
Now, you try it again and try to keep it in that 45 seconds, and give those two reasons.
Speaking Task 2
Question type: Task 2)

You will now be asked to give your opinion about a familiar topic. After you hear the question, you will
have 15 seconds to prepare your response and 45 seconds to speak.
Many people prefer watching music videos on television or the Internet rather than listening to the
songs on their own. Which way of experiencing music do you think is preferable and why?
Text Explanation
There is no right or wrong answer, here: just go with your first thought. Which one is an easier answer?
You might not listen to music while watching videos often, but it might be easier for you to answer that
way, so it might be your first idea even if you disagree with it in practice.
Whatever seems like it’s the easiest response—whatever you think of first as an easy way to answer—
is the best answer for you. Just be sure that you give those reasons. You need to explain the preference,
not just say it.
For most people, it will be easier to argue that watching music videos is preferable (even if you don’t
watch videos often), because you can quickly think of reasons that the videos are enjoyable. It’s a bit
more difficult to think of why the music is better without a video.
Be sure to structure your answer. Give your opinion, then a reason for that opinion, and be sure to
explain that reason, possibly with an example. Then move on to a second reason (if you have time), and
again, be sure to explain it.
Sample notes #2
• Vids
• story
• dance
Sample response #2
I definitely prefer watching music videos to listening to songs on their own. Music videos let talented
directors and camera people … uhh, cinematographers… videos let them tell interesting stories. I
mean, instead of just listening to lyrics, it’s possible to see the entire narrative unfolding before your
eyes, with talented actors and musicians doing entertaining stuff on screen. At the same time, I love
dancing and think that… err, that dancing is one of the greatest art forms. Music videos let me enjoy
choreography… I mean, they let me enjoy the work of talented choreographers in a way that just
listening to music never can.
Some parents educate their own children at home. Others insist that their children should be sent to
school. Which way of learning do you think is preferable and why?
Text Explanation
It always helps to have specific, real-world examples to talk about—it helps to communicate more
clearly, and it gives you more things to say.
In this case, you can more easily think of examples if you choose the side of how you were educated. If
you were educated at a school, not at home, then that will probably be the best choice, because you can
think about the good things of that school experience.
Of course, it’s possible that you went to a school and hated it. In that case, you should take the side of
studying at home and explain with the negative experiences of a school.
In either case, look for the side that’s easier to argue based on your experience. Then take that side
(even if you don’t believe it’s right).
Sample notes #2
• School
• Parents X teach?
• Diversity
Sample response #2
I am absolutely against teaching kids at home. They need to go to school. I mean, there’s no guarantee
that parents will be good teachers. Instead of just…relying… trusting the two parents to do a good job,
uhh…kids should have an opportunity to learn from many teachers, and expand their horizons, too. I
learned so much, for example, from my high-school teacher Dr. Qureshi, who was Muslim—my family
is not very religious, so it was a unique perspective for me. Staying at home all the time will rob
students of important chances for getting to know other points of view, and leave them with teachers
who might not actually be very skilled or experiences… I mean their parents.
Some believe it is important to learn as many foreign languages as possible. Others believe that
speaking one or two languages fluently is enough. Which do you think is preferable and why?
Text Explanation
It will be easiest to give examples and explanation if you talk about the choices you’ve made in life, so
just pick whatever is true of you! Do you speak more than two languages? Then try picking that as the
“better” choice, then just describe how it has helped you. And if you speak only English and your
mother language, then pick that, explaining why you haven’t started to study a third language.
Of course, it’s possible to answer well in the opposite way, but this is the fastest way to make a choice
and start thinking about details.
Sample notes #2
• Two lang
• Eng. uses
• time spent
Sample response #2
Learning foreign languages is great for the brain, but knowing one or two fluently is probably enough.
English is the international language these days. It’s important for business and education and…
important for tourists. If you speak it, you will have the ability to… to talk to people basically
everywhere. So, err, knowing English fluently is important, and of course your native language too. But
besides that, it’s sort of a waste of time. It would be better to study things like computer programming,
economics, or… uhh, other subjects using that time.
Some believe that a high salary is the most important factor when choosing a job. Others believe that
loving what you do is a more significant factor. Which do you think is preferable and why?
Text Explanation
This question is fairly straightforward, and it’s likely something you’ve thought about or talked about
before. Remember that there’s no right answer. Any opinion is acceptable. Use this opportunity to
really show your language skills. Focus on comparison language, hypotheticals, and phrases to show
opinion or preference.
Don’t be afraid of using a common, cliche opinion or statement like “money can’t buy happiness,” but
don’t rely only on those thoughts. You need to form your own statements using your own experiences.
Sample notes #2
• + job
• $ happy
• me: animals
Sample response #2
Clearly it’s better to do what you love than make a lot of money. Money is definitely important, but…
but life is only so long. If you spend your time slaving away in an office you hate...but you have a
healthy bank account, then what’s the point? That money can’t make you happy by itself. But if you
choose a job that you love, then the money is just sort of…unnecessary. If I could spend every day
training animals—that’s my dream job—then I wouldn’t even worry about the things money could
buy...I’d be a more relaxed, more content.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Why or why not? Use details and examples to
support your answer.
For learning job skills, workplace training is better than a university education.
Translation Audio -
So we'll need to choose between these two options. Choose one of these two options. And they are
pretty simple. Training, learning things at your work or during education, a university education in
school. So and this is specific for learning job skills.
So you can really use your own experience or the experience of people you know to answer this one.
This is a great example of when your life will probably be relevant, because this question is applicable.
It is useful for most people who are taking the TOEFL, because they have some education and they
maybe have some job experience.
If you don't have that experience, it's okay. Just use reasons that you think would be true and if you
can, use some specific examples from other people's lives or from jobs that you think of. Just things
that you use hypothetically. All right, now we're going to hear my simple response, but first I'll have 15
seconds to prepare.
So let's see what that looks like in those 15 seconds, starting now. Okay and at this point, I've lost my
time. I have no more time, so I notice I only actually have one reason here. This may happen to you on
your TOEFL, it's okay. At this point, you're going to try to talk mostly about more than one reason. So I
made my choice about working instead of education.
And my one reason is that you're actually doing the skills. Now, hopefully I can talk about this for the
whole 45 seconds. Or ultimately, I might actually think of a second reason while I'm speaking about
this first one. But I should probably plan for just giving this one reason with extra detail. So this is a
great time for me to do, talk about my life.
All right, so now let's hear that sample response and I'm going to be very sleer and very clear and calm
and slow while I give the answer because. I want to stay calm, so I can stay focused on this one and not
worry so much about the fact that I don't have a second reason yet. Okay, so I have 45 seconds to give
the response.
Let's hear that starting now. In my personal opinion and from my experience, it's better to get the
training that you need for your job, for your work, at the actual job instead of at a university. That's
because really primarily, you learn the skills that you're going to use at the job by doing them when
you are working.
If you're at a university, you don't really do them, you just learn about them. So when I started teaching
for example, I had to actually learn what it's like like to be in front of a classroom. Before I had started
teaching, it was just learning about the material that I would teach, which is very. Okay, now that is
this is not a perfect answer, but because it's clearly communicated.
And because I had good pronunciation and idiomatic language and I transitioned smoothly from one
topic to another. It would still be possibly a perfect lead to a perfect score. I might get a single point
removed or more likely a half point, so I could get 3.5 out of the 4 on this speaking. But probably that
is a four point answer, even with the one answer, one explanation.
I gave some real world reasons, it was clear what my opinion was and it was clear why my opinion
was. So it communicated well and that's the most important thing.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Why or why not? Use details and examples to
support your answer.
Listening to music while studying is a bad idea, because it makes the time spent less effective.
Translation - audio
This type of question, with agree or disagree, is very common. In fact, I would say it's more and more
common on more recent TOEFLs. And here, this is interesting, this text gives you a reason. It gives you
a because ssso when you have something with an agree or disagree and a reason, it's very tempting to
simply agree and use this as your reason.
And you know that's okay. You can get a perfect score by doing that, but it is tempting to do this and
not explain yourself well. If you rely on this too much, then you won't have your own thoughts, your
own ideas, and more detailed. What you need is some real concrete detail.
Some more explanation. Okay, so if you say yes, listening to music is a bad idea, and it makes the time
spent less effective. Then, you have to say why? Why is it less effective? And show how using some
real world examples.
So, be careful not to simply repeat this in different words again and again, it's common problem for
students who don't know what to say. Answer the question of why. This is what use details and
examples to support your answer really means. Okay so we're going to first prepare for this in 15
seconds as usual.
And before I give my response, I will explain my preparation a little bit. So first I have 15 seconds to
prepare, starting now. Okay, I actually spent a little less than 15 seconds. That's okay, that's great. Now
I can just think more about what these mean.
This x just means a no, I disagree. Honestly you don't really need this, you can just write the two
details, the two reasons, save time. Now my two reasons, my two details, one is fun, listening to music
is fun, and here's a tricky part, I need to think about why that is related to spending time and how
effective that time is because if I simply say I enjoy listening to music that doesn't really answer this
question.
It doesn't relate here. I need to connect here, so you'll hear me do that in the sample answer. And this
other part here is an abbreviation for a much longer word, instrumental music. Meaning music without
singing, without vocals. It is only the instruments, like guitar, drums, violin, any instruments, piano.
Okay so I'm going to answer in 45 seconds with those two details, those two reasons. And again, make
sure that you listen for how I connect it to the original statement and how I use real world examples.
All right, 45 seconds starting now. I definitely disagree with the statement that was given because I
don't that think listening to music is always a bad thing if you're studying.
I think it can help you have more fun while you're studying, which is important for staying focused and
continuing to study. If you're not enjoying it then you won't focus, you won't be interested and most
likely you'll stop studying. Also I only listen to instrumental music personally when I'm studying. I
understand that vocals and words can be distracting but if the music is only instrumental like Jazz for
example, it's a lot easier to stay focused on what you are doing.
Okay and there's my answer. So again notice those real world examples. My personal experience,
talking about Jazz and how I study and relating this fun to the main idea here. So that both of these are
connected back to how to spend this time effectively and not be distracted.
Speaking Task 3

You will now read a short passage and then listen to a conversation on the same topic. You will then be
asked a question about them. After you read the question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your
response and 60 seconds to speak.
The university has decided to change its transportation options for students. Read the university
website’s announcement about the decision. You will have 45 seconds to read the announcement. Begin
reading now.
University Bus Service Discontinued
We regret to inform you that the university will no longer be able to offer complementary
transportation by bus between various stops on campus and in the city at large. Instead, all students will
now be given a fifty-dollar pass for public transportation. It will be renewable each semester. This pass
can be used on all public subways and buses. While the university regrets this inconvenience, it is
hoped that students will take the opportunity to immerse themselves more closely in the local
community.
AUDIO
The female student expresses her opinion about why she disagrees with the university’s new policy.
State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.

Text Explanation
The announcement that you read has some hints about what the student will talk about. First, we see the
change: the school will not have complementary (free) buses. Instead, they will give students $50 every
semester. After that, there are some details. The student will argue against those details in the
conversation.
• “This pass can be used on all public subways and buses.”
• “It is hoped that students will take the opportunity to immerse themselves more closely in the
local community.”
The second one is more noticeable. Probably, the student in the conversation will say that students
won’t immerse themselves in the local community. Definitely listen for a reason why not.
Besides that, you might expect something about the “all public subways and buses” detail. The student
might say something negative about those.
Then, after listening, you’ll focus your response on those two details and why the student disagrees
with them.
Sample notes
Reading:
• Free bus Listening:
• $50 / semester • Sci center far—thru bad area
• Sub. & bus • Little $ ⇒ Interact
• Students ⇒ community
Sample response #2
The female student disagrees with the decision to cut funding to the university’s official buses. The
school wants a new system—a voucher system for public transport. But it’s bad. Some university
buildings are far away from the subway and public bus routes...specifically the science
building...students will need to walk through the dangerous part of town to get there. She is also
suspicious of the idea that taking local transportation will mix students in the local community, because
the fifty dollar vouchers are not worth enough money to consistently let the students take public
transport. Students will need to walk to most places after that money is used up, and…umm, they
probably will not interact much more than they do right now with people in the city.
Script
Narrator
Now listen to two students discussing the announcement.
Female Student
So, did you hear that the university is cutting its transportation budget and ending all bus service?
Male Student
I did hear that. But it’s no big deal, right? I mean, the university is also compensating all students with
fifty dollar vouchers for public transportation. The vouchers can be used on, like, the subway and
public buses. So, it sounds like there won’t be a big problem.
Female Student
Are you kidding me? This is going to be horribly inconvenient. First of all, there’s no public
transportation to the DeWolfe Science Center. It’s far away from any subway and bus station. Getting
there will require a twenty minute walk through some of the WORST neighborhoods in the city.
Male Student
I guess that will be a problem for some people. But try to look at it this way. There’s too much
DIVISION in this country between university students and the people who live in the cities around
them. Won’t this encourage a spirit of togetherness…like, when we’re all using the same public
transportation?
Female Student
But actually, I think that this policy… that it won’t help create much new interaction between students
and city dwellers at all.
Male Student
Why not?
Female Student
Because FIFTY DOLLARS is not very much money. It will probably only cover about a month’s worth
of subway or bus passes. Most students won’t be able to AFFORD to take public transportation. So,
with students forced to WALK everywhere, I don’t understand where all of this great new interaction is
going to be happening.
A university has announced a new scholarship opportunity on its website. You will have 45 seconds to
read the announcement. Begin reading now.
New Scholarship Offers Opportunity to Study in Rome
The university is pleased to offer an exciting new opportunity for students in the Romance Languages
department. The prestigious Buonocore Scholarship allows students to study tuition-free for two
semesters in Rome. Students must submit an essay exploring a specific aspect of Italian culture to the
selection committee. They must also submit a detailed plan explaining how a year in Italy would
provide the opportunity to further research and improve the essay. Please note that students in
departments other than Romance Languages are ineligible for this opportunity.
Text Explanation
This text offers notable detail that you can definitely expect the student to disagree with: the
scholarship is only for specific people. Other students aren’t allowed. That is very likely a problem for
some students, so listen for a reaction to that in the conversation.
And when you do hear the student speak, both of the reasons she’s unhappy are related to the restriction
of the scholarship to one department. She thinks other students can benefit from the scholarship (she
says this: “It’s a matter of principle. First of all, there are students in other departments, like History
and Classics and Renaissance studies, all of whom… all of whom would definitely benefit from a year
in Italy. Why shouldn’t THEY get a chance to submit their work to the committee?”).
And she also thinks that winning the scholarship feels less important if few people compete. She wants
the winner to be honored because of talent, not because of exclusion—she says this at the end, very
quickly. It’s good to note that, because on the TOEFL, the two student’s reasons for disagreeing don’t
always take an equal length of time. Sometimes they spend more time talking about one reason, then
talk quickly about the second reason.
Sample notes
Reading: Listening:
• Buonocore Scholarship • Others students? Not fair
• Essay + plan=>study in Rome • Hist., Class., Renaissance
• Only Rom. Lang. Dept. • Wants compete w/ all
Sample response #2
The female student thinks that it’s unfair that the… Buono…uhh, that the scholarship to study in Rome
is only being offered to students in the Romance Languages department. Instead of that, she thinks that
the application should be open to all students. She mentions students in the History, Classics, and
Renaissance Studies departments, especially. Uhh…the male points out… he says the lesser… the
fewer people apply for the scholarship, the easier it will be to get it. But the female says that the
scholarship will lose meaning to her unless she competes against the very best that the school has to
offer. She also believes it is wrong for a very small department to monopolize the money. It should
benefit everybody at the—
Script
Narrator
Female Student
I think it’s totally unfair that the Buonocore Scholarship is only being offered to students in the
Romance Languages department. Like, it’s an amazing opportunity, and it’s SAD to see it monopolized
in this way.
Male Student
Is it really such a bad thing to limit the scholarship to one department, though? I mean, uhh… the fewer
students compete for the prize, err… the easier it will be for students like US to win it. After all, there
are only seven other students in the whole Romance Languages department besides us.
Female Student
That doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong for the scholarship to be limited to our single department.
It’s a matter of principle. First of all, there are students in other departments, like History and Classics
and Renaissance studies, all of whom… all of whom would definitely benefit from a year in Italy. Why
shouldn’t THEY get a chance to submit their work to the committee?
Male Student
But if they also submitted their essays, it would be harder for US to get the prize.
Female student
Look, just because something benefits me personally doesn’t make me think that it’s right. I mean, I
have a lot of FRIENDS in History and Classics and Renaissance Studies, and I totally agree with them
that it’s wrong for them to be…ineligible to compete for the scholarship. After all, Romance Languages
is a very SMALL department, and it seems abusive for us to keep this resource all to ourselves.
Male Student
I guess I see where you’re coming from.
Female Student
Also, I think that it TAKES SOMETHING AWAY from the honor of winning a scholarship if the
competition isn’t very strong. I’d rather know that I earned the opportunity to study in Rome by
competing against the very best students… instead of thinking that I was only honored because other
talented people were unnecessarily EXCLUDED from the process.
The university is hosting a talk given by a guest speaker. Read the school’s announcement about the
opportunity. You will have 45 seconds to read the announcement. Begin reading now.
Seats Available to Hear Secretary of State
The university is pleased to announce that the Secretary of State will be making a one-hour speech on
the future of modern warfare in the Kincaid Auditorium on Friday, May 14th, at 3:00 pm. Admission is
guaranteed to all students in the Political Science and Government departments. Applications are now
open for one hundred additional seats in the audience. Applicants should fill out the accompanying
form and include a 1000 word essay explaining why attendance would be important for them. A
committee of professors from the Political Science and Government departments will evaluate the
applications.
AUDIO
Text Explanation
In order to structure your response well and talk for enough time, it’s important that you hear the two
details the students gives that explain her opinion: the students in other departments might deserve
seats and the professors reading essays will be biased.
Based only on the text that you see before the recording, you can guess that the student might have
opinions like those, because the most important parts of the text are the parts that say who has
guaranteed seats and the description of the essay. You cannot know the specific details about what the
student will say before listening, but if you predict that it will be about departments and the essay, then
you’ll be more comfortable listening to the conversation.
Sample notes
Text
Recording
• Sec. of State speech
• 1 hr • unfair assume
• Only pol. sci & Gov’t students • other dept.s—e.g. hist?
• Essay for other • judge profs prej.
• 1000 wds
Sample response #2
She, uhh, she’s unhappy with the university’s decision to guarantee seats to Political Science and
Government students…seats to hear a special, political guest speaker…and not to students in some
other departments. She says that the school can’t just assume the speech will be more…more relevant
to some students, and not, for example, history students. And the essay option…the essay students can
write to get admission is also flawed because it’s gonna be graded by the professors from those same
departments—Political Science and Government—who’ll have biases. Those biases mean the
professors judging essays won’t be able to recognize when a…like, a poet, for example, has a good
reason to get a seat and listen to the talk.
Script
Narrator
Female Student
Can you believe that the Secretary of State’s speech is being LIMITED to students in the Political
Science and Government departments? It’s really UNFAIR that they get guaranteed access.
Male Student
Wait, really? I mean, don’t you agree that the Secretary of State’s speech is especially IMPORTANT to
students in Government and Political Science?
Female Student
But what about students in History or Cultural Studies? It’s wrong to ASSUME that just because
someone studies Government, this speech would automatically be more important for them.
Male Student
I guess so… But can’t you still apply to get a seat? So if it is important to you, you can just, uhh, show
‘em that it is.
Female Student
With the essay? That’s not exactly ideal. The people who judge the essays will be professors from
GOVERNMENT and POLITICAL SCIENCE. They have their OWN ideas about what good and bad
reasons are. They’ll be too prejudiced.
Male Student
You think?
Female Student
Oh, totally! I mean, how will they be able to judge an essay by…by someone like a poet, or a computer
scientist, or…or a sculptor? They’ll probably just dismiss those essays completely!
The university is planning to change the menu options in the school cafeteria. Read an
announcement about the changes. You will have 45 seconds to read the announcement. Begin
reading now.
Expanded Cafeteria Menu
The university is committed to healthy eating and sensitive to recent criticisms that the cafeteria menu
is too limited. For this reason, beginning this week, a vegetarian hot meal will be served every Friday
to all students. It is hoped that this policy will encourage healthy dietary habits among members of our
community and address the problem expressed by vegetarian students about limited menu options. Of
course, all students are welcome to make use of the salad bar seven days a week, regardless of the hot
meal being offered.
AUDIO
Text Explanation
The text is a bit hard to break into parts in order to predict what the students will talk about, but here
are the clearest possible issues:
• this vegetarian meal will only be served one day per week.
• it may not “encourage healthy dietary habits”
• doesn’t expand the menu enough
• the salad bar
Note those points and then listen carefully for them when the students speak. Two of them will be key
to the discussion.
When the woman speaks, she makes it immediately clear that she is unhappy when she says “can you
believe this RIDICULOUS new policy.” Then listen for why she thinks it will be ridiculous, and be
sure to note details that aren’t included in the text. For example, she says that the vegetarians “pay for a
full meal plan.” That is very important to include in your response, because it is purely about the
woman’s opinion, not about just the text. Similarly, at the very end, she criticizes the quality of the
salad bar. The text does not mention the quality of the food, so this is important to note.
Sample notes #2
Reading Listening
• Add veg. meal • unfair, pay too
• Friday • evry day
• healthy • repet.
• salad bar • salad bad
Sample response #2
The female student is angry that the school is only offering hot vegetarian food one day per week…she
wanted it all the time. She says that it’s unfair for the vegetarian students to be forced to have cold
salad instead of a real, hot dinner, because, uhh, because the vegetarians pay full price, just like the
other students. She also thinks that the salad bar isn’t a very good option for her because it’s always the
same, and the food, like the tomatoes and the lettuce isn’t very good. She’s upset that the school thinks
it will be enough, but she still has to suffer through, or, well, deal with that unappealing salad every
day.
Script
Narrator
Female Student
Can you believe this ridiculous new policy about vegetarian meals every Friday?
Male Student
What’s wrong with it? I mean, I thought you were a vegetarian. Isn't...isn’t this exactly what you'd
want?
Female Student
Yeah, I'm vegetarian! But we told the head of the dining hall that it was UNFAIR that every day of the
week, the HOT MEAL seemed to include meat, and students like me were basically forced to have cold
dinner all the time.
Male Student
What’s the problem, then?
Female Student
We pay for a full meal plan like everybody else does, but we don’t get hot food like everybody else
does! We wanted a hot vegetarian option to be included EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK on the menu as
an alternative for vegetarians, so we can have a, uh, a proper meal for dinner.
Male Student
But one meal a week is better than nothing, y’know?
Female Student
Not really. The university thinks that this will APPEASE us… but I still have to eat salad four days a
week. It’s really REPETITIVE.
Male Student
Yeah, I could see that getting old.
Female Student
Tell me about it! And have you actually used the salad bar? Half of it is totally INEDIBLE. The lettuce
is all wilted, the tomatoes are tasteless…it's not exactly fine dining.
The campus radio station is considering a change to its programming. Read an article in the university
newspaper about the possible change. You have 45 seconds to read the article. Begin reading now.
College Radio Station May Take Advertisers
The school radio station may soon air paid advertisements from local businesses. Dan Shanklin, the
student director of the radio station, has commented that money earned from advertising could help the
radio station improve its programming. Shanklin expects that advertising revenue would be used to
purchase both higher-end recording equipment and the broadcast rights for popular songs and
syndicated radio programs that may be of interest to students. With enough advertising money,
Shanklin feels it may even be possible to invite famous singers to campus for performances in the radio
station studio. The radio station’s board of directors, which includes both students and faculty, will
make a decision on this possible programming change early next week.
AUDIO
The woman expresses her opinion about the change described in the article. Briefly summarize the
change. Then state her opinion about the change and give the reasons she states for holding that
opinion.
As is often true, in this question we have a person, a student. In this case, a woman. Who disagrees
with or dislikes the announcement, the text. Of course, it's possible that they like it, but usually they
dislike it. So we're going to summarize why the woman has that opinion. And here we go, here's the
text about the college radio station may be changing to have advertisements.
And my first reading of this text gives me some main points that I expect to hear in the conversation.
The first thing I expect is something about improving the programming, that's improving the radio.
Now, this is very general. There are more specific details later in the text.
Here, we see that they are going to buy better recording equipment. They are going to purchase more
equipment, and they also are going to purchase popular songs and radio programs. So they're going to
buy things and that's going to make it better. That's with the money that comes from advertising. The
other main detail I notice is this part, here.
They will invite famous singers. So I have in my notes on the left-hand side about reading, here, that
these ads are going to bring in money which will be spent on better equipment and some famous songs,
as we saw back here. And it will be spent on famous singers.
So when I listen to the recording, the conversation, I expect to hear those details. And, in fact, I did
hear them. The woman said that it was a bad idea, that she thought that the radio already had
announcements, and that made not enough time for entertainment with the Announcements and the
advertisements.
And then after that, she talked about these details. She said that the radio doesn't really need that
money. That they had gotten new equipment last year. And famous singers already come to the school
and sing live, so notice there is something here that wasn't in the text. This part about the
announcements on the radio station.
It wasn't here. You can't predict everything, but you can predict many things. So you can predict a lot of
this. That the equipment isn't necessary, and the singers aren't necessary for some reason. And then, you
hear in the recording why they're not necessary.
Because they just bought new equipment last year. And because famous singers already come to this
school and sing live. Now, when you actually do this task you have 30 seconds after listening to
prepare, and that gives you the time to make these connections. To say that in the text they mention
these famous singers and there was new equipment last year, etc.,, and to plan and structure your
answer.
So you're first going to talk about the fact that it's a bad idea. So this is the main point. And then, I'm
going to structure my answer by talking about this part, that there are announcements already. And
then, this part that they don't really need the money, second. So my three main parts of my response
will just be what the woman's opinion is.
Why she thinks that we already have too much stuff on the radio, and that the money isn't necessary.
And I have one minute to give that answer, as you will on your test. And let's start that now. The female
student is upset about that announcement, because she doesn't feel that the radio should have the
advertisements that they're planning to get.
She's particularly concerned that the advertisements will take up too much time, because already on the
station there are announcements for school news and changes. That take up time and if there are radio
advertisements too, there will be less time for the entertainment, for the music and programs she wants
to hear. She's also not convinced that the radio needs the money from the advertisements because, well,
she mentioned that the radio station had just got new equipment the year before.
She also said that famous singers already come to the school, so she doesn't think it's necessary for
them to sing on the radio station. When students can see those singers live instead. All right, and there
we go, we have a one minute answer to that question, and notice I gave all of those three parts, I said
what the main idea was, the first reason, and the second reason with some details for each of these two
detailed parts.
Script:
Narrator: Now listen to two students discussing the article.
Female student: I really don’t think this is a good idea.
Male student: [CONFUSED] Uh… really? But… it sounds like ads could help the radio station make
money.
Female student: Yeah, I guess. But the radio station already plays a lot of announcements.
Male student: Announcements?
Female student: Yes. Between shows, they announce campus events, changes in school policy, that
kinda thing. If they add commercials too, there’ll be a lot less time for the entertainment content.
Male student: And they can’t really stop running those announcements. There’s a lot of important info
there.
Female student: Yeah! And besides, does the college radio station really need to bring in more money?
I mean, they just got new sound gear last year, and the music department already pays to bring famous
singers to campus—who cares if they’re aired on campus radio if we get the chance to see ‘em live?
Male student: I see what you mean. I’ve never had any problems with the programming, myself.
Female student: Exactly. I think advertisers will just take up extra time. They won’t really improve the
station. Y’know, I think they’ll just make things worse! I don’t know if I’ll keep listening if they really
do start running ads.
Male student: [THINKING/THOUGHTFUL] Hmm… Maybe you’re right
Narrator: The woman expresses her opinion about the change described in the article. Briefly
summarize the change. Then state her opinion about the change and give the reasons she states for
holding that opinion.
The university will be making changes to one of its campus dining areas. You will have 45 seconds to
read the university’s announcement about the changes. Begin reading now.
New Dining Options on South Campus
The dining hall at the southern end of the campus will be redesigned for the fall semester, with the
cafeteria to be replaced by a new food court. This remodeled dining area will include restaurants, cafes,
and a convenience store where students can buy school supplies. The restaurants will be varied,
specializing in international food, vegetarian dishes, and handmade sandwiches, all made to order at the
request of the individual diners. The food court will be open by the end of the first week of the spring
semester, giving students more food choices on campus in the coming calendar year.
AUDIO
The man expresses his opinion about the change described in the article. Briefly summarize the change.
Then state his opinion about the change and explain the reasons he gives for holding that opinion.
We have here another change to the university's policies to something on the campus and a student's
reaction to the change. The change this time is a new dining hall. So you're going to not note all of this,
this is a long title, but pay careful attention to that title, new dining options. This is the same basic word
as dinner, right?
It is eating. Okay, so there's new options to eat, and what are they? This sentence tells us what the new
options will be. There's going to be restaurants, cafes, and a convenience store. This, by the way, is to
buy school supplies, not really about the dining options, but it's just an added detail.
This maybe will appear in the conversation between the students. But there are a lot of details here,
actually. I want to maybe note some other ones, too, such as the types of food. This could be a topic for
the student to talk about, maybe he doesn't like the international food, or he doesn't like the sandwiches
or something. Or maybe he's excited.
Maybe he's excited about vegetarian dishes because he's a vegetarian. What else? We have here, the
end of the first week of the spring semester, so this tells us when. Maybe the student will be upset about
it being too late, or he's going to be excited because it's at a good time.
We'll see. Usually, of course, as was true in this recording, the student doesn't like what was in the text,
and that is true here. Not always, but often. And here are my notes that I've got a new food court with
these different types of food, restaurants, cafes, convenience store.
There are many different dishes, and they are made at request. That was here, homemade sandwiches
all made to order. So when you ask for it, they make it. And it was in the first week of the spring
semester, all right. Now the man disagrees with this. He doesn't like it.
The woman says there will be more options, and the man says no, there will not be more options, that
they already had those same options. These same options, rather, not the restaurants and cafes, but the
many dishes, and that the quality will probably be the same because it will be from the same source.
The man and the woman talk about this for a minute, the man suggests that they will be from the same
supplier.
And then the women says, oh, maybe they will be. And between the two of them talking about that, you
might get this detail. And finally the man says that it will be pricier, meaning it will be more expensive,
it will cost more money. And the woman asks why, and he says, because you don't pay for all you can
eat.
In the old cafeteria, you pay one time and then take all the food you want. In the new food court, you
will have to pay for individual meals. So, let's hear, or rather, first let's think about how we can connect
these two. Notice that in my notes, these two details aren't really in the listening. In fact, the only
important details in the reading that I need to answer this question are the many different dishes
because the man says that they are already in the cafeteria.
This part about being from the same source and being pricier, that is not in the text, so it's not really
connected here. That can happen. It is a detail that is introduced in the conversation. But we do want to
make this connection between the text and the conversation, and then talk about how this one makes
the text, the announcement, less exciting for the student, but there's less connection we can really make
between them, right?
Because the text doesn't mention it. All right, let's hear a sample answer. The university has announced
that they're going to open a new food court with all these different options instead of the old cafeteria.
And the male student is upset about this for a couple of reasons. First he suggests that the new
cafeteria, or rather the new food court, won't be any different from the old cafeteria in terms of options.
They'll have all the same food with all the same quality. He doesn't believe that the new sandwiches or
international food will introduce anything new to the menu because they already had that same type of
food. What's more, he also thinks that it will just be more expensive in the new food court because he
has to pay for individual meals, instead of paying just once and then eating everything that he wants.
So it's the same food and just more expensive, and he's upset. All right. And that's time. Now again, we
had two details. First, what is the change? So the main idea and the fact that the man is disagreeing
with it, and then we had the two main details that it's the same and that it's more expensive.
We have here another change to the university's policies to something on the campus and a student's
reaction to the change. The change this time is a new dining hall. So you're going to not note all of this,
this is a long title, but pay careful attention to that title, new dining options. This is the same basic word
as dinner, right?
It is eating. Okay, so there's new options to eat, and what are they? This sentence tells us what the new
options will be. There's going to be restaurants, cafes, and a convenience store. This, by the way, is to
buy school supplies, not really about the dining options, but it's just an added detail.
This maybe will appear in the conversation between the students. But there are a lot of details here,
actually. I want to maybe note some other ones, too, such as the types of food. This could be a topic for
the student to talk about, maybe he doesn't like the international food, or he doesn't like the sandwiches
or something. Or maybe he's excited.
Maybe he's excited about vegetarian dishes because he's a vegetarian. What else? We have here, the
end of the first week of the spring semester, so this tells us when. Maybe the student will be upset about
it being too late, or he's going to be excited because it's at a good time.
We'll see. Usually, of course, as was true in this recording, the student doesn't like what was in the text,
and that is true here. Not always, but often. And here are my notes that I've got a new food court with
these different types of food, restaurants, cafes, convenience store.
There are many different dishes, and they are made at request. That was here, homemade sandwiches
all made to order. So when you ask for it, they make it. And it was in the first week of the spring
semester, all right. Now the man disagrees with this. He doesn't like it.
The woman says there will be more options, and the man says no, there will not be more options, that
they already had those same options. These same options, rather, not the restaurants and cafes, but the
many dishes, and that the quality will probably be the same because it will be from the same source.
The man and the woman talk about this for a minute, the man suggests that they will be from the same
supplier.
And then the women says, oh, maybe they will be. And between the two of them talking about that, you
might get this detail. And finally the man says that it will be pricier, meaning it will be more expensive,
it will cost more money. And the woman asks why, and he says, because you don't pay for all you can
eat.
In the old cafeteria, you pay one time and then take all the food you want. In the new food court, you
will have to pay for individual meals. So, let's hear, or rather, first let's think about how we can connect
these two. Notice that in my notes, these two details aren't really in the listening. In fact, the only
important details in the reading that I need to answer this question are the many different dishes
because the man says that they are already in the cafeteria.
This part about being from the same source and being pricier, that is not in the text, so it's not really
connected here. That can happen. It is a detail that is introduced in the conversation. But we do want to
make this connection between the text and the conversation, and then talk about how this one makes
the text, the announcement, less exciting for the student, but there's less connection we can really make
between them, right?
Because the text doesn't mention it. All right, let's hear a sample answer. The university has announced
that they're going to open a new food court with all these different options instead of the old cafeteria.
And the male student is upset about this for a couple of reasons. First he suggests that the new
cafeteria, or rather the new food court, won't be any different from the old cafeteria in terms of options.
They'll have all the same food with all the same quality. He doesn't believe that the new sandwiches or
international food will introduce anything new to the menu because they already had that same type of
food. What's more, he also thinks that it will just be more expensive in the new food court because he
has to pay for individual meals, instead of paying just once and then eating everything that he wants.
So it's the same food and just more expensive, and he's upset. All right. And that's time. Now again, we
had two details. First, what is the change? So the main idea and the fact that the man is disagreeing
with it, and then we had the two main details that it's the same and that it's more expensive.
You will now read a short passage and then listen to a talk on the same academic topic. You will then
be asked a question about them. After you hear the question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your
response and 60 seconds to speak.
Now read a passage from an art history textbook. You will have 45 seconds to read the passage. Begin
reading now.
The Decline of Greco-Roman Ideals in Art
Before the nineteenth century, European critics generally believed that works of art that were based on
Greco-Roman ideals of beauty represented the pinnacle of achievement. Artwork based on those ideals
strived, in part, to represent the physical world at its aesthetic best. In the twentieth century, however,
philosophical views concerning art significantly changed. Notable critics began to judge work not by
whether it subscribed to those Greco-Roman standards, but instead by its power to evoke powerful
ideas and emotions, even through jarring, at times unattractive abstraction. Although some artistic
works continued to draw from Greco-Roman ideals, the ways in which they were judged shifted
notably.
AUDIO
Using the points and examples in the lecture, explain how artistic standards changed in the twentieth
century.
Text Explanation
This question is tricky because the lecture is structured a bit differently from the common “example 1,
example 2” format that speaking task 4 often uses.
There’s an important lesson to learn, here: although sometimes you can predict exactly how the the
lecture will relate to the reading, it can also surprise you a bit. Listen carefully to the structure of the
lecture, regardless of what you expect. In this case, the professor first gives an example of why the
change happened, and then an example of the continued connection between old ideals and modern
work.
Sample notes
Reading
• Greco-Roman ⇒ modern
• G.R.: beauty, physical

• New: abstract, emotions
Listening
• Critics, camera:
• no school needed
• don’t need years
• G.R. ideals
• painting from Rom. coffin
• Picasso
• not dead!
Sample response #2
The professor explains the change of ideas about art…uh…the shift from Greco-Roman styles to
abstract styles. Before modern times, many people…painters had followed aesthetic rules about how
art should represent the world, but, as the professor says, the invention of the camera made a big
difference. That’s because people didn’t need to train for years and years to be able to create a realistic
picture. Cameras did that instead. She also mentions that even if there have been some changes, the
Greco-Roman tradition still influences work today. ‘cause… well, it’s not totally dead. To illustrate
that, she gives the example of a painting that used, uhh, images from a Roman coffin, and Picasso...
Script
Narrator
Now listen to part of a lecture in a class focusing on the history of modern art.
Female Professor
Scholars sometimes like to say that in the twentieth century, art based on Greco-Roman ideals of
beauty and physical perfection fell totally out of favor thanks to the work of pioneering critics like
Roger Fry. But today, I’m going to argue that this is actually an OVERSIMPLIFICATION.
Paintings in the twentieth century certainly became more ABSTRACT than at any other time in history.
In some ways, though, umm…in some ways, this had NOTHING to do with the work of professional
critics like Roger Fry. I mean, I think it can be convincingly argued that the change in style was simply
due to the invention of the camera. It was no longer necessary to turn to professional portrait painters to
have one’s picture taken. For this reason, there was a gradual DECREASE in the number of students
who went to painting school. It was… it was simply no longer important to spend years mastering
technical painting… and instead, it became possible to produce highly abstract works meant to express
IDEAS.
However, many of these IDEAS still had to do with age-old Greco-Roman ideals. For example,
Manet’s painting, Luncheon on the Grass, which is sometimes called the first modern painting…
actually used images originally copied from an ancient Roman coffin. Pablo Picasso, a great abstract
artist, also created several paintings reacting to Greek mythology. And to this day, advertisers and
filmmakers often turn to Greco-Roman notions of beauty in order to entice audiences. In fact, many
modern artists have reacted to too much ABSTRACTION in modern art and are returning to classical
Greek and Roman themes in their work. So the Greco-Roman tradition in art is far from dead!
Now read a passage from a textbook on evolutionary biology. You have 45 seconds to read the passage.
Begin reading now.
Altruism in Animals
Altruism, in humanity and the animal kingdom both, refers to the urge to selflessly help others, even at
great personal cost. Although acts of altruism are fairly common among humans, many are surprised to
see them carried out by other species. We generally expect animals to do only that which aids
individual survival. Animals that behaved altruistically would, theoretically, die more often than those
that acted selfishly, so they would not be able to pass on their genes to the next generation. However,
altruistic behavior exists in many species and therefore must serve some other positive evolutionary
purpose.
AUDIO
Using the points and examples given in the lecture, explain how altruism may be a beneficial
characteristic for some animals.
Text Explanation
First, take a look at the definition at the start of the text. You’ll definitely want to make note of this,
since you will be explaining what altruism is in your response. The rest of the text explains why
altruism in animals can be surprising. Of course, the lecture then gives explanations and examples of
that.
Be careful to note the types of animals that are mentioned and how they act altruistically. You want to
be able to refer back to the specifics of the lecture—your job is to connect those specific details to the
general ideas.
Sample notes
Listening
Reading • squirrels: fox ⇒ noise
• Altruism = selfless help • warn, but targets
• help survival • wildebeests
• positive purpose? • fight pred.
• Why? protect commun.
Sample response #2
The professor and text both basically say that altruism helps communities of animals to survive, even
though some animals…some individual animals inside those communities might not benefit from
altruism…from that specific behavior. She goes through a couple of examples of animals that do
altruistic things, like some squirrels that make noise when another animal approaches…when the
community is put in danger…so that the other squirrels in the group can run away to safety or, uhh…
hide. Meanwhile, wildebeests actually attack the predators—they put themselves in harms way, but…
well…the rest of the animals in the group are better off, so the community is healthier as a whole when
there are some altruistic animals within it.
Script
Female Professor
The idea that altruism is a uniquely HUMAN characteristic that cannot be found in nature might be
popular among certain philosophers, but it has little basis in fact. Actually, altruism is relatively
common in the animal kingdom. For example, in certain families of squirrels… when a predator like a
fox comes around… the squirrels are known to shriek out to warn their family members about the
danger, even if the noise makes them TARGETS for the predator. Similarly, when a herd of wildebeests
is attacked… stronger members of the pack will try to TRAMPLE the threat rather than letting the
young and weak get picked off, even if this subjects them to danger.
What is the reason for all of this, evolutionarily speaking? It seems like a puzzle, right? Why would
evolution favor the development of altruistic behaviors that might endanger individual life? The answer
is… uh… it’s a bit complicated, but essentially, the answer is that by protecting the entire
COMMUNITY, including several relatives, the altruistic animal ensures that the community’s genes as
a whole can still be passed on. In other words, if a single squirrel dies after, say, shrieking at a fox, but
the entire community is spared… well… that means that from a COLLECTIVE perspective, the
community’s fitness is INCREASED by having altruistic behaviors associated with its members.
Now read a passage from a psychology textbook. You will have 45 seconds to read the passage.
Begin reading now.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy, or the use of hypnosis in clinical psychiatric contexts, while once commonly used, has
fallen out of favor. The practice involves coaxing patients into a dreamlike state and encouraging them
to follow the orders of the authoritative clinician. Under conditions of extreme relaxation, patients have
little trouble volunteering information about their deepest memories in an environment free of
judgment and inhibitions. This open communication led to the popularity of the practice. However, it is
likely that the information gathered from the patient during hypnosis is not reliable.
AUDIO
Using the points and examples given in the lecture, explain why hypnotherapy has proven to be a
controversial form of treatment.
Text Explanation
The text tells us what hypnotherapy is, first, but then there’s some more important information: how
people regard hypnotherapy today. It has “fallen out of favor” because the information is “not reliable.”
If we note that message of the text, the lecture’s structure becomes very clear. The professor gives two
reasons why hypnosis is not reliable, and uses an example to explain one of those reasons. We want to
note those reasons and, of course, any examples that we do hear. Then, when summarizing, we’ll focus
on using the reasons/examples to explain the bigger idea, that hypnotherapy is decreasing in popularity.
Sample notes
Reading:
• Hypnotherapy
• not pop. now
• relax → give info
• unreliable
Listening:
• Why controv?
• ppl can’t be
• pretend
• false info
• false probs
• split pers. dis.
• psych created
• excuse
Sample response #2
Hypnotherapy is basically, uhh, hypnotizing patients to try to get them to deal with traumatic
memories. It’s controversial because first, not everyone can actually be hypnotized. Like, it doesn’t
work for everyone. And also, patients…people who aren’t hypnotized sometimes pretend to be
hypnotized, just to please their doctors. But it also can create new psychiatric diseases. Fake ones,
though. Like, therapists themselves… psychiatrists themselves… they might have implanted the idea of
split personalities in their patients. Their patients basically made up all these different personalities, and
used the disorder to excuse committing crimes in some situations. If it weren’t for hypnotism, that
disease might never have…
Script
Narrator
Now listen to part of a lecture from a psychology class.
Female Professor
Hypnosis is uhh, is CONTROVERSIAL for several reasons.
First, not everyone can actually be hypnotized. I mean to say only certain types of people are able to
fall completely under the power of a hypnotist’s suggestions. But, um, at the same time, a lot of patients
are eager to please their therapists. So, for this reason, they, uhh, patients might be likely to PRETEND
to be hypnotized, when in reality, they’re wildly improvising. That means hypnotherapy leads to false
positives, times when patients exaggerate the effects. People make up memories, totally false
information, that they otherwise wouldn’t have said, just so, uuh… in order make it seem like the
hypnotism is working.
And it gets worse! Sometimes, hypnosis might create false psychological problems. For example, these
days a lot of people question whether split personality disorder... or, uhh, as it's officially called,
dissociative identity disorder… whether this disease in which people have multiple personalities… um,
it’s questioned whether this is a disease that is found in nature, or whether PSYCHIATRISTS
themselves basically CREATED the disorder. It’s thought that when psychiatrists questioned patients
suffering from trauma and used HYPNOSIS, they sometimes bombarded them with leading
questions…and these questions basically implanted the idea of split personalities where it didn’t even
exist before. No one stopped to think that the hypnosis might only REINFORCE made up behavior by
giving patients an excuse, a scapegoat. Many times, for example, people claimed to have been suffering
from dissociative identity disorder to avoid being held liable in court for crimes committed… crimes
ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED by their other personalities.
Now read a passage from a history textbook. You will have 45 seconds to read the passage. Begin
reading now.
Cultural Impacts of Climate Change
Climate change is not a modern phenomenon. In fact, new evidence shows that throughout history,
variations in weather patterns and long-term transformations of the environment were responsible for
some of the greatest revolutions in world culture. Because climate is so closely tied to productivity and
the fertility of the land, even subtle variations in long-term weather patterns could have profound
effects on fragile societies. Today, archeologists, geologists, historians, and meteorologists are working
in close cooperation to investigate the repercussions of climate change since the dawn of human
civilization.
Explain how the lecturer’s claims give a concrete example of climate change’s effect on culture.
Text Explanation
The text is very general, and most of the information isn’t important. What’s most important is that you
hear the main idea: changes in weather create changes to societies. Based on that and knowledge of
speaking task 4, you know that the lecture will give an example of a culture that was affected by
climate change.
When the professor starts speaking, we hear him mention Egypt very early. That specific country will
be the example of the text’s topic. So we should listen for two pieces of information: how the climate
changed and what the effect was.
When speaking, organize your response in that way. Talk mostly about Egypt, not about climate change
in general or how climate change and culture are linked. Focus on the example, and explain the
connection between climate change and culture by talking about the Nile valley.
Sample notes
Reading
• Cult & clim. change
• clim → land prod.
• sm change → EFFECT
Listening
• Egypt - des. vs riv.
• was farm
• change → ppl move
• fought
• walls → cities
Sample response #2
When the landscape of an area changes, the text and the lecture both say that, umm, that the culture of
the people in that area is affected, too. The professor gives as an example Egypt… I mean, the Nile
valley, really, and how people had to migrate when the climate shifted. Once, like, in ancient history,
the desert in the area was actually fertile, and there were people living there, but when it changed, the,
uhhh…those inhabitants had to adapt. They moved nearer to the river, and that created conflict with the
people already living there, in the valley. So walls were created…and cities in those walls, and so both
the cultures of the people who lived in the desert before and the people who lived in the valley—both
changed.
Script
Narrator
Now listen to part of a lecture from a class on ancient history.
Female Professor
Climate change hasn't always been seen as such a major factor in how we've progressed, how culture
has developed. But more and more, we're finding that it does play a major role.
Let’s… uhh, let’s take the example of Egypt. The country today is harshly divided between the Sahara
DESERT, where basically nothing grows, and the area around the Nile River Valley, which is still one
of the… uh, one of the most fertile places on the whole planet.
But the thing is, we're now discovering that the landscape of Egypt was not always divided in that way.
Instead, until the fourth millennium BCE, the desert of Egypt was actually a rich, prosperous area of
fields and… farmable meadows. There were societies living away from the Nile, successfully
farming... er... getting by. Um, in a place that would later be completely uninhabitable.
But then of course the climate changed, and the Sahara Desert formed. That meant people were
FORCED TO MOVE to the Nile Valley to survive, because there were no more fields to cultivate or,
or… uhh, animals to hunt.
So, right. You can imagine their culture HAD to adapt as they moved to a new area, a new climate. But
it doesn't stop there. The Nile Valley was already settled.
So these newcomers FLEEING the desert, they evidently fought the people already living in the valley,
and we see that from the construction of these giant…defensive WALLS for the first time in history.
So, right, people JOINED TOGETHER behind those walls and formed cities to protect themselves.
This was a large interaction between communities, deeply affecting the local culture. The changing
landscape was at the heart of that change.
Read a passage about business negotiation. You have 45 seconds to read the passage. Begin
reading now.
Principled Negotiation
Often, business negotiations are seen as similar to sports games. In such an approach, negotiations are
treated as win-lose scenarios, in which each side holds a position that must be defended. However,
business negotiations can also serve the interests of all parties involved. In this model of negotiation,
the different negotiators do not function as competing teams with conflicting interests, but rather as
partners working toward a common objective. Businesses negotiate toward the common goal of a deal
that suits the needs of both sides. This is called principled negotiation, and it’s especially useful for
longtime business partners.
AUDIO
Using the example of the university cafeteria, explain what is meant by principled negotiation.
So, we have a term here, principled negotiation, which will be, of course, defined in the lecture. And
you'll learn that term from the text, so you know it's going to be about this by the title. And here we
have a very general definition of it, so in most negotiations, some people win and some people lose,
similar to a sports game.
But in some other types in a different model of negotiation, they can act as a team together as partners
with one goal, with a common objective, means with the same goal. So that is principle negotiation.
When the two people, or two sides, that are negotiating are not like fighting, like sports.
Instead, they have a shared goal. So what I can expect in the lecture is an example of that, or two
examples of that, and some more detail. All right, so we have here Reading. This is my quick notes
from that same text there. Principle negotiation, I have this here just so I remember the term because I
want to remember this when I'm speaking, right?
And you cannot see the text when you're speaking, so it's important that I make a little note of what that
term, that phrase is. And that it's not about win/lose, I like this phrase, I want to repeat it when I speak
so I'm going to remember by writing it. So it's not win/lose. Instead, there are partners with a common
goal.
All right, now in the actual recording I heard some explanation of some partners with a common goal.
And who were those partners? They were the cafeteria or the people who work at the cafeteria and the
university that employs the people who work at the cafeteria. And they want it to have a future together
according to the professors so they needed to keep the students happy.
And how did they do that? There are two examples here of how they kept students happy. The first
example is the training. Who was getting trained? Well, let's think about this. The company benefited,
so it was the cafeteria people who were being trained to do their jobs.
The company some development for their employees. And meanwhile, the university paid for it. And
on the other hand, the company that runs the cafeteria agreed to serve organic food which cost them
more money but is higher quality. So the students benefit.
And again, students benefit from that higher training in the cafeteria. So that common goal is important
here. All right, now I'm going to actually give that answer in a one minute explanation and a one
minute response. Of course, on the actual test you have 30 seconds to prepare and make this
connection.
And I think that the biggest connection I would make is that this common goal here is keeping students
happy. That the partners are the cafeteria and university, but all this, these concrete examples are not in
the texts because this is the specific part. And this is the general part. So these specifics don't appear in
the text, I can't really link them to the text except more in theme, like what this means and how that
relates to these topics down here.
And I'm going to do that in my response in just one moment. All right, so we will have exactly one
minute to give the answer, and we'll start that now. The professor talks about principle negotiation
which is a form of negotiation in which the two sides work together towards a common goal. And she
gives the example of the university, which hires people to work at the cafeteria.
And the company that runs that food service, they had to meet and talk about their goals to keep
students happy. And on the one hand, the university agreed to give some training to the company's
workers which costed the university money but helped the students. And on the other hand, the
company that served the food agreed to serve organic products which again helped to benefit the
students but cost them a little bit more money.
So both sides were working together to keep the students happy and keep their relationship. All right,
so there we go 60 seconds, I give the name definition of principle negotiation which is working towards
a common goal and then the two examples from the lecture that both explain that in concrete real world
situations.
Script:
Narrator: Now, listen to a lecture on this topic in a business class.
Professor: You can see the effects of principled negotiation right at this university, actually. We have—
um—a private company running our cafeteria, right? The university pays the company to buy food,
hire employees, and serve meals to the students. When they drafted the contract outlining the, uhh, their
expectations, the university and the food service company had to think about their future together…
and how they could keep students happy. Only if the students were satisfied would the relationship be
able to continue smoothly—that was the common goal.
So, at the company’s request, the university agreed to fund training the cafeteria workers, precisely
because they saw that training as being in the best interest of the students, even if the direct benefit was
for the food service employees and uhh, it was coming out of the university’s pocket.
And at the same time, the food service provider agreed to buy and serve only organic foods…
ingredients that cost more, but are healthier for student diners. If the food service had refused to buy
those higher quality ingredients, it’s more likely that students would have passed on meal plans or
worse, requested the university find a different service. Obviously, the company’d want to avoid that.
In the long run, these kinds of decisions were in line with everybody’s goals—especially you, the
students.
Narrator: Using the example of the university cafeteria, explain what is meant by principled
negotiation.
Read a passage about the development of written language. You have 45 seconds to read the
passage. Begin reading now.
Pictographs
Pictographs are very simple pictures that represent a word or idea. This artwork is the earliest known
form of writing, with archaeological discoveries of pictographs dating back to 3000 BC in
Mesopotamia and Egypt. Scholars believe that pictographs developed independently in many different
parts of the world, including the Middle East, China, and Mesoamerica. Because early pictographs
were meant to resemble physical objects, they tended to represent nouns that referred to concrete
things, but as pictographs in the ancient world became visually simpler and more abstract, they stopped
representing actual objects. Instead, they began to represent abstract concepts and phonetic sounds. In
time, pictographs became the basis for modern writing systems.
AUDIO
Using examples from the talk, explain how pictographs changed to become modern writing.
Our question asks about the examples in the lecture and how they explain the main idea which was in
that text. So first let's take a look at the text, and we need to come away with the main ideas here, the
definition of pictograph, and why they are important, what the importance is in this specific context.
So pictographs are pictures. Well, that's not a surprise. And what kinds of pictures? They represent a
word or idea. Okay. I also see that they're very old here. They go back to 3000 BC.
They are from many places, Middle East, China, Mesoamerica. So we see it all over the world. And
then there is a little bit of history here. Early pictographs were objects, and then, so they were nouns,
but then they became abstract, more abstract. And then later they became modern writing.
So they became letters or things like letters, characters. All right. Now, in my notes, I have all those
same details. I have that it is about pictographs, and I almost copied this full word because I want to
remember it, because I want to be able to say it in my answer. This lecture will definitely be about
pictographs, and I will have to say that word if I want to explain it well.
So I write this so I remember it, and I give a short definition and some of the main details from the text.
They're very old, from many places, and they changed from concrete nouns over time to letters. Now,
in the lecture, we have a lot of explanation about how this part happened.
In the lecture, the professor says that pictographs and modern alphabet, the Roman alphabet, are very
close. And the modern alphabet is A, B, C, etc. So this is the Roman alphabet that the professor talks
about. And she talks about two letters, A and E. First she talks about A as part of a bull's head, and then
she talks about E as a person praying.
And there are some details about how those things changed in both cases, how they went from being
this noun, this picture into over time, a letter that is just an A or an E. Now, this is tricky because it's
hard to imagine what the professor is saying while it's described. So whether this A, for example, is,
how does that look?
How is that a bull? Is the bull like this? What? What is this? That doesn't make much sense. It's a little
bit tricky to understand exactly what the professor's saying, but, yes, the general idea is that the bull is
something like that.
And over time it became just an A. If you can't picture it, it's okay. You don't have to imagine it. You
only have to describe it. And that's a little tricky, but if you can be just like a parrot and repeat the
things you heard, the types of changes that you heard, then that's enough.
You don't need to perfectly understand the picture. You can instead just know more generally what
types of changes happened. All right. So in my preparation, I'm not really going to do too much. I'm
just going to try and think about my main topics here, my A and my E.
And maybe I'll even try to imagine how they look, but mostly I'm going to think about how this
connects back to the noun idea from earlier. So let's hear an example of that response. I will have 60
seconds to answer. And we'll start that now. A pictograph is a type of picture that shows an object or is
used for, like, writing in a way, but over time pictographs became our modern letters.
And the professor talks about two examples from the modern alphabet, like A, B, C, D, E, F. So she
gives the example of A, which used to be a bull's head, but then some details were lost over time, like
the eyes and the mouth disappeared, and there's just a triangle with sticks now. And she also talks about
the letter E, which strangely used to be a person praying, but it's actually kind of close to the modern E,
because it still has the arms and the head, even though it was rotated and part of the body was lost.
Those arms and the head remain from the old pictograph. All right. Now, you may have noticed that I
didn't exactly describe how the pictures looked. It wasn't a perfect description of how the old
pictographs used to be. That is okay because if you don't know how it looks, well, you can still get a
perfect score.
Script:
Narrator: Now, listen to a lecture in an art history class.
Professor: You might be surprised at how close the link between those ancient symbols and our current
writing systems actually is. Let me show you some really neat examples from the Roman alphabet to
illustrate.
Take the letter “A.” It looks, uh…kind of like a triangle with two sticks underneath it, right? …Well,
those sticks used to actually be horns on a drawing of a bull. “A” started out as an ancient Egyptian
pictograph of a bull’s head—this naturally stood for the word “bull,” or a, uh, a similar creature. But
over generations, the eyes and other details on the bull’s head disappeared, until the head just looked
like a triangle… And the horns just looked like sticks. Voilà.
The next example is a bit...a bit more distorted. But uhh… the letter “E” has a very similar story. This
one started out as a stick figure, an image of a person praying. A line down the middle represented the
legs, body, and head, and then two arms extended out on either side. But over time, the symbol was
rotated—rotation like that is pretty common, historically—and a part of the image was lost… Now, the
three horizontal strokes of the “E,” those are what’s left of the two arms and the head of that person in
prayer.
Narrator: Using examples from the talk, explain how pictographs changed to become modern writing.
You will now listen to a conversation. You will then be asked a question about it. After you hear the
question, you will have 20 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.
AUDIO
The two students are discussing the woman’s problem with her summer internship. Describe the
problem, then state which of the two solutions you prefer and why.
Text Explanation
As you take notes, you should listen for three things:
• the student’s problem
• the first solution
• the second solution
Keep in mind that you will have to choose the better solution, so it helps to note details about those
possibilities: what is good (or bad!) about each solution. You can then use those reasons that the
students gives to support your opinion.
Sample notes
Woman
fail class
Man summ. school
BUT summ. intern, too
Both? Too much—hard intern
Intern next summ?
Maybe not
Will need job

Sample response #2
The woman’s problem is she failed calculus and will need to go to summer school. Because of this,
she’s unsure what to do about her plans for a summer internship with the Elm City Newspaper. On the
one hand, uhh…she can try to juggle her responsibilities to the internship with her schoolwork. On the
other hand, she can wait a year and apply again to the internship next summer. I think that she should
just juggle her class and the internship. Next year, there’s no guarantee the internship will still be
available. The newspaper position is her dream job, so she has to fight for it. Also, she has nothing to
do professionally for a whole year.
Script
Narrator
Now listen to a conversation between two students.
Male Student
Hey, Marcia. You seem worried. Is something wrong?
Female Student
Hi, Lance. Yeah, I actually just found out some really frustrating news.
Male Student
What’s the problem?
Female Student
Well, please don’t tell anyone, but it turns out that I FAILED calculus this semester, and I won’t be able
to get my diploma unless I go to summer school.
Male Student
Oh no!
Female Student
I guess have no choice but to go to summer school, because I NEED to graduate… but it’s a major
problem.
Male Student
I’ll bet.
Female Student
You see, I was going to work as an intern at the Elm City Newspaper this summer. If I have to skip that
internship… like, it will be a major problem for me. I mean, I’ve always wanted to work full-time at
the Elm City Newspaper, and that internship could have been the ticket that I needed to land my dream
job.
Male Student
Well, why don’t you just take a summer school class and complete your internship at the same time?
Female Student
I’m afraid that it would be hard for me to JUGGLE so many responsibilities. The Elm City Newspaper
is notorious for its demanding internships. Umm… in fact, they usually choose new employees from
among former interns… because being able to fulfill all of the obligations of the internship PROVES
that you’re a dedicated worker. I really need to do my best this summer, and I don’t want to spread
myself too thin.
Male Student
That’s definitely a problem. I guess the other solution is to REJECT the internship and try again for it
next summer, when you’ll have your diploma and be less busy. I mean, if you reject the internship for
now, you can finish up your degree in peace this summer, right?
Female Student
But I mean, if I reject the Elm City Newspaper’s offer of an internship this summer, there’s no
guarantee that they’ll extend the offer for next summer. I might lose a once in a lifetime chance. And
also, once summer ends, I don’t know what I’ll do professionally for a year while I wait for a chance to
reapply. So I’m really confused about what I should do next.
AUDIO
The students are discussing the woman’s problem with her summer plans. Describe the problem,
then state which of the two solutions you prefer and why.
Text Explanation
Using your time wisely is key for tasks like this (speaking question #5). Don’t spend too long
describing the problem: be sure to mention the problem, the solutions, and your preference (there’s no
right or wrong answer—just pick what sounds best to you!).
Of course, you’ll have to explain why you chose that option, so the details and reasons the students say
during the conversation are extremely helpful. Be careful to take note of not just the problem and
solutions, but also the benefits or disadvantages of the possible solutions.
Also, don’t spend too much time worrying about which choice is better. You only have about 20
seconds to give that opinion, so you just need a couple of sentences.
Sample notes
Woman
• Go Brazil? No job
Man • Stay NY⇒ internship
• hard, little pay

• waste time
• Braz: BF’s house, but too long
Sample response #2
The woman isn’t sure whether she should spend the summer in Rio de Janeiro with her boyfriend and
his family or whether she should stay in New York and work as a research assistant for Professor
Miranda. If she went to Rio, uhh… In Rio, she could work on her research project and spend time with
her boyfriend and his family. Like, maybe she could stay with Mateo’s parents because they have a big
house. If she stays in New York, though, she could have something specific to put on her résumé and
make her own money. I think that she should stay in New York. Like, if she went to Rio, she would be
too reliant on the boyfriend and his family. She should save up money and live like an independent
woman.
Script
Narrator
Male Student
Hey, Michaela. Have you figured out your summer plans yet?
Female Student
Hi, Ferdinand. No, I’m really struggling to decide what to do. I’m at my wits’ end.
Male Student
What do you mean?
Female Student
You know my boyfriend Mateo, right? He’s Brazilian. He’ll be studying for law school entrance exams
in Rio de Janeiro this summer. Part of me really wants to join him there. After all, my thesis is about
how the Brazilian government is fighting poverty in Rio… and like, this trip could be a great
opportunity to do some more research. Also, I would get a chance to spend time with Mateo and his
family, which would definitely be a plus.
Male Student
All of that sounds great. What’s the issue, then?
Female Student
The problem is I don’t actually have anything official to DO in Rio. I haven’t been offered any kind of
job or internship opportunities or ANYTHING there. I wouldn’t be making any money, and I’d
essentially be doing all of my research informally.
Male Student
I see. That IS a problem.
Female Student
That’s why I’m thinking about staying here in New York this summer. There’s a job offering as a
research assistant for Professor Miranda. At least I’ll have something concrete on my résumé.
Male Student
But Professor Miranda is notorious for asking so much from her research assistants… and, uhh… the
university doesn’t pay too much to its research assistants, anyway.
Female Student
Tell me about it. Also, I’d hate to waste time helping Professor Miranda research HER projects when
my own thesis needs so much work.
Male Student
Do you think you might be able to find a formal job offering for the summer in Rio?
Female Student
At this point, it looks pretty difficult. Mateo says that I could always stay with his parents there because
they have a big house, but I’d hate to impose on them all summer long…
AUDIO
Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing. Then state which of the two solutions
from the conversation you would recommend. Explain the reasons for your recommendation.
Text Explanation
This recording is a bit tricky because the second solution isn’t mentioned until the very end, when the
man says “just choose one and stick with it,” meaning that the woman should not try to join both clubs.
Be careful not to ignore that solution in your response!
You need to be very quick in summarizing the problem, because there is a lot of detail here that you
could include but don’t have to. In order to give a complete answer, including your own opinion, you
need to move quickly from the problem to the two solutions. Remember that you can use the reasons
given by the students as your own reasons for your choice. Just be sure to rephrase in your own words.
Sample notes
Man
Woman
• debate?
• advice?
• choir
• 3 spot
• tell dbt → join
• hide info?
• mad, liar
• Y, choir too
• much work, choose 1
Sample response #2
OK, the woman’s problem is basically this. She auditioned for the choir, and she got one of three spots.
She wants to take it, but this might cause an issue with the… with the debate team. The debate team
asks if you’re doing other extracurriculars, and if she says YES, they’ll probably reject her. So she can
either lie about getting onto the choir and try to do both clubs, or she can do just one of them. I think
she should tell the truth to the debate team, and if she ends up with only the choir, then well… tough
luck, I guess. But she shouldn’t outright lie like that to get on the team, especially because she probably
will be too busy with both clubs.
Script
Narrator
Male Student
Hey, Jane. Ready for auditions for the debate team tonight?
Female Student
Hi, Fred. Yeah, I guess I am! I mean, I’ve been getting ready all day.
Male Student
You’ll nail it, I’m sure
Female Student
Thanks. I hope so Actually, I was wondering if I could ask your advice…
Male Student
Sure! What’s up?
Female Student
As part of the audition process, you, uhh, the debate team asks you if you’re planning on doing any
other extracurricular activities besides debate.
Male Student
Right, I’ve heard that.
Female Student
The problem is I just got into the school choir. Only THREE SPOTS open up per year, and they’re
asking me if I want to take one of them…
Male Student
OK.
Female Student
I want to say yes to the choir, but I’m afraid to tell that to the debate team because they’re… they’re
going to be much more UNLIKELY to let me join the club.
Male Student
So, you’re thinking about hiding the information about the choir from the debate team?
Female Student
Yeah. I mean, if I tell them the truth, they might not accept me. I’d still have the choir, but…but if I tell
them that I don’t plan on doing other activities, maybe the debate team would accept me. Once I’m on
the team, there’s nothing to officially stop me from joining other clubs. I’ll just tell them I changed my
mind, and decided to try choir too.
Male Student
But if you hide the information, they might get really mad at you and think you’re… well, a liar.
Female Student
But I’m not obligated to tell them my whole life story, right?
Male Student
I’m not sure about this plan. Even if you do get on the team and have both activities, what if it’s too
much work? I’d think there’s a reason they don’t want you on other clubs, y’know? You might be
spreading yourself too thin…I’d say you should just choose one and stick with it.
AUDIO
As always, question five requires you to budget your time carefully. Spend very little time
summarizing the problem, and don’t go too far into details on the possible solutions. The main
idea here is that the male student can either stay on the team or quit the team. Describe only the
major benefits or downsides of each possibility—that can be part of your explanation of your
own recommendation.
Advantages of quitting: try new things, not boring, maybe more time
Advantages of staying: he’s good at it, keeps his scholarship
Sample notes
Man
• quit b-ball Woman
• lots pract.
• try other
• quit!
• but fin. aid
• job? loan?
• more time
• mayb…
• stay
• good at
• but new...
Sample response #2
The man…uhh…Bruce, I think his name was…is getting tired of being on his school’s basketball team
and wants to quit but, uh, he’s afraid he’ll lose part of his financial aid. So he can either stay on the
team and, you know, keep that scholarship…just, uhh…just suffer through it, or he can quit and find a
job to cover the money he’d lose by quitting. If you ask me, I’d say he should quit the team. Doing
something for money alone, well…it tends to make you resentful and unhappy. Even if getting a job
means he’s just as busy, at least he’d be doing something by choice. And maybe that way he’d be able
to try out for that play he mentioned.
Script
Narrator
Female Student
What’s wrong, Bruce? You seem concerned.
Male Student
Oh! Hi. Yeah, I guess I’ve been feeling sorta down. I’m, uh…thinking about quitting the basketball
team.
Female Student
Really?
Male Student
Yeah. There’s soooo much practice! And to be honest, its…it’s getting boring. I want to try other
things, like maybe trying out for a play or something… I don’t know.
Female Student
Well, I guess it sounds like you should quit, then.
Male Student
But it’s not so simple. The problem is...if I quit, I’ll lose my athletic scholarship. A big part of my
financial aid depends on my keeping my spot on the team.
Female Student
Yikes. That is a problem.
Male Student
Exactly. I mean, if I end up quitting, I guess I can do something like… I mean, I’d have to either get a
job or take out a loan or something to cover the difference.
Female Student
Well, that would work. You’d have more time to take on the job if you weren’t at basketball practice,
right?
Male Student
Maybe…but I’m not sure. My grades are already suffering from being on the team. That’s part of why I
want to quit, actually. Taking on a job might just create that same problem again.
Female Student
Hm. I’d say that you should just stay on the team and learn to enjoy yourself again.
Male Student
Really?
Female Student
Well, yeah. Playing basketball is something that you do better than anyone else at this school,
practically. There’s nothing to guarantee you’ll be very good at something like theater. If you stay
where you are, you get to be the very best at something.
Male Student
I guess…and if I stayed on the team, I’d get to keep my scholarship… But then I wouldn’t get the
chance to try new things. I don’t know…
AUDIO
As always in this kind of question in task five. We have a problem and two possible solutions for the
problem. So, what is our problem? Well, the man goes to his advisor and she asks, is everything okay?
And he says no, it's not really. Because, and this is hard to hear, but his classes are at the same time.
It's a little difficult to hear because he starts to say it and it's actually the woman who finishes this.
Now, in my notes I just have classes same time and I have this under the man saying this. But really
there's some conversation between them about this. And that is a good point for how your notes should
work.
Don't try and write everything while you hear it. Write what you understand, when you understand it.
So, I understood that the problem was that his classes were at the same time. After some back and forth
between them had finished and then I understood this and wrote it under man. So listen first,
understand, then write a short note about it.
Okay. So the classes at the same time. Even if you don't hear that, you understand that there is a
problem with his classes and graduating. If you understand that, you can still give a perfect answer to
this question, or near perfect, a level four answer because you know that he has a problem with two
classes, and you know these solutions.
That's much more important. So let's say you don't know that this is exactly the problem, but you know
that because of his classes, he might not be able to graduate. The woman says that maybe he can take
one class during the summer. And he says maybe but it costs money. Then the advisor says that maybe
he can leave early and he says maybe but he'll miss important parts of class.
And then she says that the man should talk to a professor and he says he'll talk. From that, we might
actually infer that the classes are at the same time. Even without that though, if we still don't know it,
we do know there is a problem with his classes and graduating and these are the possible solutions. And
that is really the most important thing because after that, you have to give your reasons, your opinion.
Okay, so when you're preparing you should think about what the problem is, and I'm gonna note that
here's the problem and think about the two solutions, and here is solution one and it's connected to this,
the money issue. Here is solution two. And it's connected to missing important parts of the class. And
that is really what my answer is going to be for the first 40 or 45 seconds.
After that I will talk about my personal opinion of about which of those he should do. So let's hear that
sample answer. It is again one minute. And I'm going to structure it very carefully with problem,
solution one, solution two, and my opinion.
And each of those should take between 10 and 20 seconds. And we will start that now. The man's
problem is that he has two classes that he needs to take in order to graduate but he can't take them both.
The professor, or rather, the advisor suggests that he should take one over the summer but the man's
afraid he can't afford to do that because he won't be able to pay for housing.
The other option is for him to leave one class early and go to the other class. But he doesn't want to
miss the information at the end of the class. And he doesn't want to be treated specially. I would say
that it's better for him to try to just take both classes at the same time in the semester and leave a little
early. Especially because according to the advisor, one professor could help him with this and it seems
like.
Okay. So that is the end of our answer there. And notice I didn't quite finish. That's always okay. But I
gave the main issues, the problem, the two solutions, and most of my opinion. Also notice that in the
beginning I didn't specifically say the classes are at the same time.
Even if you didn't quite hear that, you can still answer this perfectly, or near perfectly, just by saying
that he needs two classes to graduate and he can't take them both. And there's our sample answer.
Script:
Narrator: Now listen to a conversation between a student and an academic advisor.
Female advisor: You look upset, Brad. Is everything OK?
Male student: [WORRIED] Not exactly… I’ve been looking at my courses for next semester and, uh...
I think I can’t graduate on time.
Female advisor: [CONCERNED] Oh really? Why not?
Male student: Well, I need to take American Literature and Intro to Biology before fall semester if I’m
gonna graduate next year. But on Wednesdays, American Lit ends at 2 pm, and, uhh...
Female advisor: ...that Biology course starts at 1:50 on Wednesdays. Yes, I see that in the course
catalog. Well, you can take the English class this summer, instead.
Male student: Oh yeah? That’d fix the issue. Oh! [REALIZING] But what about money? I mean, the
thing is I’d need to live on campus over the summer, and I don’t think I have the funds for that. My
dad’s been paying for housing, and he’s kinda expecting me to move back home for the summer—he
might not be so understanding about this.
Female advisor: Hmmm… Not sure what to tell you there. Aright, so why not see if one of the
professors will give you permission to leave class early, or—ah—start late?
Male student: I thought about that, yeah. But I mean, besides that I don’t love the idea of asking for
special treatment like that, I’m a little worried I might miss important parts of the class.
Female advisor: I guess you’ve got a tough call to make. But, uhh... I can tell you that Professor Adler,
the woman who teaches American Lit, is always willing to work with students who have conflicts like
this.
Male student: OK. I’ll check with—um—Professor Adler then. After I talk to her, I’ll decide what to
do.
Narrator: Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing. Then state which of the two
solutions from the conversation you would recommend. Explain the reasons for your recommendation.
You will now listen to a conversation. You will then be asked a question about it. After you hear
the question, you will have 20 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.
AUDIO
As always in question five we have a problem and two solutions. So we should be listening for that in
the conversation. And here, the woman does most of the talking because she has the problem. She says
that she wants to be the lead in the play, but she might not because her parents are visiting, so here is
the problem. After we hear the problem we should be listening for the two possible solutions and often
it is the other person who suggests the solutions.
So the man here does one of those. He says that maybe. She should do the play and spend time with her
parents. So this is solution 1. And then, after that, she suggests the other solution. She can just drop out
of the play and give the role, give that lead role to her friend, who was in the same play last year.
So this is what we need to have in our answer, in the one-minute answer. And in your preparation time,
that's what you want to identify. I want to identify problem, solution, and solution. So now, in your
answer, you will give about 20 seconds, or rather about 15 seconds for each of these, so that you can
also give your preferred solution at the end.
Save at least 15 seconds for that. And you're going to hear my answer, which has those four parts.
Problem, solution, solution, preference. Right about now. The woman's issue is that she has a play that
she wants to star in over the weekend, but her parents are coming to visit at the same time.
And she's afraid she can't really do both. The men suggested that she star in the play and spend time
with her parents by rehearsing in front of them and bringing her parents to the play. He also suggests
that she could skip the play, spend time with her parents, and give the role in the play to her friend who
starred in that same play last year.
I would say it's probably better for her to try to do both, because she won't have so many opportunities
to be in a play like this. But she could see her parents almost any time. So if she does both she can
spend a little time with her parents and get that. And I got cut off. That's okay, because I gave all of the
main points.
And probably I only needed two more words to finish my answer. The listener can understand what I
wanted to say, that is how I could have finished that sentence. My main ideas were all there, so it's still
a perfectly fine answer.
Script:
Narrator: Now listen to a conversation between two students.
Male student: Jenny, I heard you just got the lead role in the school play this Sunday?
Female student: (Sounding proud) Y’heard right, Roger. The lead actress got a really sore throat, and
she can’t use her voice. I’ve been asked to take her place. It’s a huge honor, but… I’m not sure I’ll do
it.
Male student: (Surprised) But you’ve wanted to star in a play all year. Don’t you want the lead role?
Female student: I do, but my parents are coming to visit me this weekend, y’know? I really wanted to
spend time with them, not just spend all my time practicing an’ being on stage.
Male student: Well, why not do both? You could practice your lines in front of them. And I bet they’d
be really proud to watch you starring in the play.
Female student: Maybe you’re right. And I could invite ‘em to the cast party after the play, too. But
my parents really wanted me to show them around town. If I act in the play, I’m—um—not sure I’ll
have time.
Male student: Well, if you back outta the role, you’ll have more time with your parents for sure. But
what’s the theater gonna do? Do they have time to find a replacement?
Female student: My friend Stacy could replace me. She’s free this weekend, and she starred in the
same play last year.
Male student: Well, you better ask her soon—you wanna give her enough time to practice.
Female student:If I ask her. I really would love to be the leading lady.
Narrator: Briefly summarize the problem the speakers are discussing. Then state which of the two
solutions from the conversation you would recommend. Explain the reasons foryour recommendation.
You will now listen to part of a lecture. You will then be asked a question about it. After you hear the
AUDIO
Using points and examples from the talk, describe the double slit experiment and explain why the
professor thinks that it is significant.
Text Explanation
This is a difficult lecture! The trick is to realize that you don’t need to understand all of the science
behind it. You only need to understand the basic ideas, because you’re going to speak for a shorter time
than the professor did: just one minute.
Listen for the intro-detail-detail structure. The professor talks about the experiment and its purpose,
first, and then he talks about the results. When he talks about those results, he mentions two important
details:
• The scientists expected the film to show two narrow lines if the electrons were particles.
• The film actually showed a wave-like pattern.
He explains why the scientists expected that and how the experiment was set up, but it’s most important
to hear the difference between the expectations and the results.
Sample notes
• elect. particles? something else?
• think small particles
• 2 slit exprmnt: shoot elect @ screen
• expect: particles, make lines
• BUT other: random, wavelike
• rethink elect.—both particles and waves
• still today
Sample response #2
The double slit experiment involves shooting electrons through two narrow holes… like, slits…
shooting them at a piece of film. When the film is developed, it’s possible to see where each electron
landed. The professor thinks that the double slit experiment is significant… uhh… because it shows
that electrons have the properties of both waves and particles. Waves create one specific pattern on the
screen. But particles…they make two lines. If the electrons behaved totally like particles, then they
should have created two narrow bands on the film. It’s important because that’s not what happened, so
ideas had to be rethought, and people even talk about the experiment nowadays.
Script
Narrator
Now listen to part of a lecture in a physical science class.
Male Professor
So, in the early twentieth century, there was this big debate going on in the scientific community. Did
very small stuff like electrons behave like particles? Or did electrons, these negatively charged things
that whirled around the nucleus of the atom…did these electrons actually behave like SOMETHING
ELSE? For a long time, it was assumed that because electrons were DISCRETE… I mean, because
electrons seemed to be individual objects with specific energy levels…for a long time, it was assumed
that electrons were simply small particles.
But then the double slit experiment happened. In the double slit experiment, electrons are shot at a
screen containing two long, vertical holes. The positions of the electrons after they go through the
screen are captured on film. Experimenters expected that the results of the experiment would be simple.
Because they thought that electrons were like small particles… uhh, they guessed that the electrons that
went through the two slits would create a pattern of two narrow bands, or lines, on the film.
However, this is not at all what the experimenters saw. Instead, they were shocked that the electrons
formed an INTERFERENCE PATTERN, one by one, on the film. In other words, the electrons
randomly scattered all over the film in a wave-like pattern instead of collecting in two narrow bands
and creating the pattern that PARTICLES would make.
So, the double slit experiment was significant because it forced scientists to RETHINK the nature of
electrons. They realized that electrons, like light, have characteristics of both particles and waves. Like
particles, they collected one by one on the film. But like waves, they formed a complex
INTERFERENCE PATTERN on the film instead of forming two neat lines. The results of the
experiment…they’re discussed, debated, and reproduced to this day.
AUDIO
Using points and examples from the talk, explain why the professor thinks that Oedipus Rex
meets the definition of a classic tragedy.
Text Explanation
There are two things you should be ready for: a definition or explanation of a general idea and
examples of that idea.
In this case, the general idea is the definition of a classic tragedy. The professor lists a few important
parts of a tragedy: a search for happiness, a flaw, responsibility, and the audience’s reaction (catharsis).
Then, when he starts speaking about the play Oedipus Rex, it is unsurprising that those features of a
tragedy are repeated.
In fact, this lecture is very structured, so it’s great practice for hearing organization of lectures and
taking notes that show the organization.
When you speak about it, be sure to talk about the specific parts of Oedipus Rex that match the
professor’s definition of a tragedy. You have to connect the example to the general idea.
L2 - Sample notes
• Tragedy: person flaw, happy. BUT respons.
• Oedipus Rex (don’t worry about the spelling!)
• flaw: pride. Kills man⇒king, marries
• plague—caused.
• woman=mom, man=dad
• blinds self, mom dies
• apologizes⇒catharsis
Sample response #2
The professor says that a classic tragedy is more than a sad story. It has these specific qualities… like,
three specific qualities. The first is that a hero tries to find happiness but has a tragic flaw. In Oedipus
Rex, Oedipus tries to find happiness. But his pride causes some major problems. He accidentally, err,
murders his father and, uhh, marries his mother. The second thing about a tragedy…uhh…the next
thing is that the hero accepts responsibility for everything. Oedipus does this before he blinds himself.
Then the third part of tragedy is a feeling of release for the audience. After Oedipus accepts blame for
the plague and everything he has done, the audience has a sense of relief. They see how brave he is…
umm...
Script
Male Professor
Since the time of Aristotle, thinkers have struggled to define the nature of TRAGEDY. You see, in
classic literature… uhh, I mean, a classic tragedy is more than simply a story about an unfortunate
occurrence. No, it’s much more than that—a classic tragedy is a story about how a heroic person
struggles to find happiness, but how they somehow have a terrible FLAW… a terrible flaw that negates
the possibility of their happiness ever coming about. Nevertheless, tragic heroes will often ACCEPT
RESPONSIBILITY for their downfall, admitting where they have been at fault. The audience
experiences a sense of release, or CATHARSIS, when they see the transformation of the characters and
the nobility of their decision to accept responsibility in even the darkest circumstances.
Aristotle believed that Oedipus Rex by the playwright Sophocles was one of the greatest tragedies ever
written. It contains all the elements of a classic tragedy: an unsuccessful search for happiness, a tragic
flaw, an acceptance of responsibility for one’s faults, and catharsis.
Oedipus is a heroic man who is quick witted, strong, and ambitious. He sets out in the world to find
happiness. However, his tragic flaw is PRIDE. His pride leads him to kill a total stranger on the road. It
also leads him to successfully answer the riddle of the Sphinx, a legendary monster. In gratitude for his
achievement, the people of Thebes make Oedipus the king, and he marries the widowed queen of the
city.
However, a PLAGUE soon comes to Thebes, brought on by the anger of the gods. Oedipus eventually
finds out that HE is the reason for the plague. The stranger that he killed on the road was his father, and
the woman that he married was his own mother. The play ends in sadness and disaster as Oedipus
blinds himself and his mother commits suicide. However, before this happens, Oedipus apologizes for
his pride and takes responsibility for all that happened, leading the audience to experience
CATHARSIS… a sense of release… thanks to his heroism in the face of suffering. No wonder Aristotle
praised the play so highly.
AUDIO
Using points and examples from the talk, explain why the professor thinks there is no real answer
to the question of what period of history Homer described.
Text Explanation
It would be very easy to get stuck in the details of this lecture, trying to note all the information you
hear: the names, the dates, the places, etc. And it wouldn’t hurt you to use all of that information in
your response, but it’s not necessary, and noting it all down will distract you from hearing the main
point.
The only details you really need are in the second half of the lecture, when the professor talks about A)
the helmets made from boar tusks and B) how the chariots are used. And you don’t really need to
mention what the helmets are made of, either—you just need to make it clear that the special material
used in those helmets was not used in Homer’s time, but the way the chariots were used in the poems
was the same as in Homer’s time. Relating the details to the main idea of the lecture is the most
important part.
Sample notes
• Homer poems
• when?
• dunno
• retold, mix
• ex: tusk helm.s
• dist. past
• wagons
• carry—H’s time
• battle—helm. time
Sample response #2
The professor says that Homer’s poems, The Odyssey and…and another one… uhh… like, a lot of
people question what period of history Homer describes. Are the poems about the world that Homer
lived in? Or about something…a previous time? The professor explains that there isn’t a clear answer,
because storytellers… uhh… told and told and told the stories before Homer wrote those poems, and
those people all added details. He gives an example of helmets…special helmets made of tusks that are
in Homer’s writing. They’re from a distant past, not Homer’s time. But the professor also says that the
horse-drawn wagons in Homer’s poem only carried people, but in that earlier time, they would have
been used in battle, so it’s uhh, it’s a bit of a mix of—
Script
Narrator
Now listen to part of a lecture in a literature class.
Male Professor
In the eighth century BCE, a legendary author named HOMER wrote two epic poems…you probably
know them already…The Iliad and The Odyssey. They’re fascinating poems, really, partly because they
give us such a clear window to the CULTURE of the time. But what culture? Or, uh… what PERIOD
of Greek history was Homer describing? His own era, or an earlier one? It’s an interesting question, but
it’s very likely that there’s NO REAL ANSWER.
You see, Homer was working in the ORAL TRADITION. Before he wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey
down, the poems were told and retold by GENERATIONS of storytellers. Each generation added
details to the poems. So it’s likely that these poems are actually this… They’re an interesting mixture of
historical details about a bunch of DIFFERENT time periods.
So, let me give you a couple of examples. Here’s one. Homer describes helmets made out of boar tusks.
Well, just these kinds of helmets have actually been DISCOVERED in sites dating back to the second
millennium BCE in Greece. They weren’t used in later time periods. That’s a pretty clear indication,
right? So, clearly Homer’s poems preserved some authentic details about the distant past, and some
would argue that’s the era that Homer INTENDED to write about.
But then we take a look at another detail, and it’s a bit more nebulous. Homer describes CHARIOTS…
horse-drawn wagons carrying warriors into battle… he describes them as simply carrying troops on and
off the battlefield. That might be how chariots were used in HOMER’S time, sure. But in earlier history
—the time when those helmets might’ve been used, say—they were used in battles themselves. The
chariots, that is. So, this is a good example of Homer adding details from his own world into the
poems.
AUDIO
Using points and examples from the lecture, summarize the two explanations of how planes are
able to fly.
Text Explanation
This is a technical lecture, but the structure of it is straightforward. The professor starts by saying he’ll
talk about a “couple of ways” we can explain how planes fly. After that, you should be ready to takes
notes on two different parts of the lecture—the two different explanations. Then when you summarize,
break it into parts and deal with the two different explanations separately. If you understood one better
than the other, then spend more time on that one, but don’t get stuck summarizing only one of the two.
For full points, you need to talk through both explanations from the professor.
Sample notes
Planes fly?
• 1. Law: push
• slant → air ↓
• → push ↑
• 2. Brnoli princ. (fluids)
• speed↓, press ↑, & opp
• wing → fast top, low press
Sample response #2
The professor describes a couple of different…well, sort of different explanations for how airplanes
stay in the air. They both hinge on air pushing the plane up, in a way. But the first explanation he
details is that the air going under a wing…it gets pushed down by the slant, and in response, it has to
push back up, lifting the plane. The second one is more complicated. It’s based on some law of how
fluids work…a law that says slower moving air has higher pressure, and vice versa. The wing shape
makes the air above it move faster, so that air has lower pressure, and that means there’s more
pressure…uhh…higher pressure under the wing, again, pushing upward.
Script
Narrator:
Now listen to part of a lecture in a physics class.
Male Professor
Have any of you ever wondered how, exactly, planes are able to fly, even though they’re so much
heavier than air? There are actually a couple of ways we can answer that.
The first way, the uhh… easier way, I think, is based on Newton’s third law. That law says that when
you PUSH something, there is push back. So, think about a wing. It’s slanted up, right? The front of the
wing is higher than the back. And as the plane moves through the air, that air goes…goes under the
wing. It gets pushed DOWN by the slant. And when that air is pushed down, as we said, it has to push
back! It pushes up. So there’s a lot of air getting pushed down by that angle of the wing, and it’s all
pushing back up, pushing the plane into the air.
The second answer has to do with something called Bernoulli’s principle, which is about how FLUIDS
work. And when I say “fluids,” that includes, gases, too—not just liquids. This principle...it says that as
the speed of a fluid…in this case, air...as the speed of the air DECREASES, pressure INCREASES.
And also, as SPEED goes up, pressure… pressure goes down. So, in other words, the faster the air is
moving, the LESS the pressure. The slower it is moving, the MORE the pressure. Get it? They’re
OPPOSITE.
We won’t worry too much about how this works, but just know that a plane’s wing has a special shape.
Because of that shape, air moves FASTER on the TOP of the wing than on the BOTTOM of the wing.
So that means the air on TOP, where the air is moving fast, has LOW pressure… and the air on the
BOTTOM of the wing, where the air is moving slowly, has HIGH pressure. The difference in pressure
pushes the wing upward into the sky.
You will now listen to part of a lecture. You will then be asked a question about it. After you hear
AUDIO
Using points and examples from the lecture, explain how a society can be a large group of people
or a very small group.
The professor here defines a couple of things. Some actually very common terms. Society and culture.
Very important words. And talks about some examples. This is very typical for task six.
So you're going to use those examples and you're going to explain that definition. We have in our notes,
these are my notes, actually, this nice structure of the definition. And then, one example and another
example. Maybe your notes aren't so structured. If that's the truth then that's okay, because you have 20
seconds to structure your notes.
And in that time you will find what is the main idea. What is the professor describing or defining? And
what is the first main example? And what is the second example? Sometimes these aren't really
separate examples, they might be separate details. So I should actually change this to just make it detail
or detail.
But still, we're going to think about the main concept, the main idea, that the professor is explaining,
and then how those details or examples explain the main idea. So in my notes, that's pretty easy to do,
but you should look for these in your notes, too. Find the main idea, which is culture and society, or the
meanings of culture and society.
And then, how a big society can have a shared language and this stands for behavior. These are my
notes and remember that your notes can be as short or as long as you want. Especially the C here.
Stands for culture.
Now, they can have a shared language or behavior. And, for example, some people in some cultures
leave their shoes off when they enter a home. And some people don't. Some people keep their shoes on.
And then, there is the other example of the class waiting for the professor in a small society, a small
culture.
So there are really two things here. There's culture and society, and there's big society and small
society. But if you focus on this too much, you might lose the main point. Really, this professor is
talking about the definition of culture and society. And yes, how that works in a big situation, and also
how that works in a small situation, but more importantly what is the definition and how do these
examples relate to that definition?
So we have the main idea here. And then, we have example 1 and example 2. Now, I'm going to give an
answer that will take 60 seconds. And I'm going to touch on all of those main points. In his lecture, the
professor defined culture and society as they are used by sociologists, and specifically he talks a lot
about how culture or having a common culture sort of creates a society, it defines a society.
For example, in a very large society, like a country, people might share the same culture with the same
language, or with similar behaviors. Like, for example, in countries where people take their shoes off
before entering their homes compared to other countries where they don't. Or in even smaller societies,
the professor points out that the class is a society because they share social interactions, and they have
this experience of waiting for the professor and that made them patient.
And they share that patience together as a group. So there. It wasn't perfect, because I didn't give every
single detail that the professor mentioned. But I summarized all the most important parts. And as long
as that summary is clear, and the main details are included and the language is correct, that's all you
need for a perfect score.
Script:
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture in a sociology class.
Male Professor: Let’s consider the way sociologists use the terms “culture” and “society.” A society is
a distinct group of people… A, uhh, a sociologist would say that people in a society are defined by their
social interactions and the… the culture they share. Meanwhile, culture itself can be defined as that
society’s shared knowledge, beliefs, and expectations.
Often people think of a society as something really... well… big. And, sure, that’s true.... an entire
nation, for example, will generally have some common thread of culture that defines it. The most
obvious example is that citizens of one region generally speak a common language, but think about
behavioral standards, too. Like, what’s considered polite or impolite? Whereas in one country, you
might be expected to take off your shoes as the guest in another’s home, in other countries that might
be considered strange. Cultural traits like that can extend over enormous populations.
But a society can also be much smaller, much simpler. Take—well—take this class. Aren’t we a
society? We have social interactions with each other every week. And I think it’s fair to say we have a
culture of a sort, too. Think back to what happened on the second day of class—do you all remember?
I’d missed my train and didn’t have any way to let you all know I’d be late. But, uhh, in contrast to
other classes, where students might’ve just headed home fifteen minutes after the planned start time,
each and every one of you waited the full thirty minutes it took me to arrive. That kind of set
expectations, right? It lay the foundation for a culture of patience… something I think is still true of
this particular group, this little society.
Narrator: Using points and examples from the lecture, explain how a society can be a large group of
people or a very small group.
You will now listen to part of a lecture. You will then be asked a question about it. After you hear
AUDIO
Using points and examples from the talk, explain the two types of biological selection.
All right. So we have a concept here, biological selection, which is explained in the lecture with some
specific details and some examples. So first let's take a look at our notes here. What did you hear? The
professor mentions natural selection and artificial selection.
He defines them both. My definitions here aren't perfect, but the professor says that natural selection is
about surviving in the wild, and artificial selection is not really natural, it happens because of people.
That's my abbreviation for people. And there is something in common that both of these types of
selection give characteristics, that is, ways that something is, some characteristics which animals need
to survive.
It gives traits that animals need. And then the professor talks about two examples, first the wolf and
then a dog. Now, in your 20 seconds that you prepare, you should be thinking about how these both
connect to the main idea of biological selection and what the details are important, why those details
are important.
So for the wolf, this is going to be natural selection. It is not about people, right? The wolf is about the
wild. And the wolf will be an example of how a animal living in nature needs to survive. They need to
eat, so they need to be fast and strong. The dog is the second example of artificial selection.
And this is one where people had an influence, right? So this artificial selection is completely about
what people want, what humans need, what humans want. So humans wanted a good hunting dog that
was easy to control and friendly, and then they bred the dog to have friendly puppies and more pets.
Now, when I give my answer, I'm going to talk briefly about this, and then I'm going to talk about how
the wolf is natural selection, the dog is artificial selection, and how these help define the main idea.
All right. I have one minute to give that answer. We'll start that clock now. The professor talks about
different types of selection in animals, that there is a biological selection that can happen because of
nature or something artificial like humans.
The example given of natural selection is a wolf. The wolf needs to be strong so that it can hunt and
survive outside, even in, like, really bad weather. But, on the other hand, a dog which is not really
naturally selected, a dog is artificially selected. It doesn't need to be as strong and as capable in the
outside.
It instead needs to help people. People want dogs that are good hunters but that are easy to control and
that are really friendly, so that way the dogs survive and they have more puppies because the people
want them. That's artificial selection. Okay.
So I talked about both points here, natural selection and artificial selection. I spent more time talking
about the dog, because I have more details about it. That's okay because I also did mention the wolf and
explain how it connected to the main idea. And our answer then has that nice, neat structure of main
idea and two main points or examples or details from that main topic.
Script:
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.
Professor: Let’s talk about two kinds of biological selection—two different ways that traits are
selected in a species of animal as it breeds and reproduces. First, there’s natural selection. Here, living
things develop features that help them survive in a certain kind of climate… escape from a certain kind
of predator… that sort of thing. In contrast, we have artificial selection. Artificial selection happens
outside of what we’d call nature. It happens when people deliberately breed living things for their own
use. Now, it’s true that natural selection and artificial selection both give a living thing the traits it
needs to reproduce and survive. But… these two types of biological selection also have very different
effects, obviously.
Maybe one of the easiest places to see this difference is with wolves and dogs. Let’s start with
wolves… So, uh—what’s a wolf’s job? It’s to survive in the wild and get enough to eat, right? So
certain qualities are naturally selected: wolves need keen senses so that they can detect prey. They need
to be fast, strong, and aggressive to catch their prey—and to survive even the harshest weather. Wolves
that are born with these qualities live longer and pass the qualities on to their pups. That’s natural
selection.
But a dog’s job—its role in its environment—is a little different. Dogs don’t need to survive in the wild
—they need human protection… So to survive, a breed of dog needs to have traits that humans want.
Take the—ah—golden retriever. People bred a dog big enough to be a good hunter, but not so big that it
was hard to control. And it had to be obedient, unlike a wolf, right? A golden retriever has to be, well,
friendly in order to be well liked enough that we humans decide to breed it, so we can get similarly
friendly puppies—more pets.
Narrator: Using points and examples from the talk, explain the two types of biological selection.

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