0008 TOEFL LISTENING COMPREHENSION SCRIPT

1. Man: do you have this style shirt in my size? Woman: Ill check. But. . . To tell u the truth, I think this one's right for u. Q: what does the Woman: mean? 2 Man: oh, Im sorry, I just realized that I forgot to bring the tape recorder you lent me. I left it back in my dorm. Woman: that's all right. I won't need it until tonight. As long as Ive got it my by then. Q: what does the Woman: imply? 3 Man: so how much was your plane ticket? Woman: more than I could really afford. I had to dip into my saving. Q: what does the Woman: imply? 4 Woman: wed. Are going to be busy days for me next semester? Three class in the morning and then two more in the afternoon. I won't even have time for lunch. Man: you really should try to fit it in, you know. Those afternoon classes would be tough to sit through if u stomach's rumbling. Q: what does the man suggest the Woman: do? 5 Woman: you are dropping out of the marching band? But I thought you loved it. All the traveling, playing before big crowds. . Man: I do. But. . . With all that time away from my studies my grades are really starting to slip. Q: what does the man mean? 6 Woman: Im thinking of getting a new pantsuit to wear to James' wedding. Man: I just hope that my old suit still fits. You know how I feel about shopping. Q: what does the man imply? 7 Man: what's my share of the bill? 18. 50? That can't be right! I only had a salad for dinner. Woman: don't get excited. Let me check them out. Q: what will Woman: probably do next? 8 Man: Im surprised that Sarah told her boss he was wrong to have fired his secretary. Woman: I know. But that Sarah. . . If she has an opinion, everyone's got to know it. Q: what does the Woman: mean? 9Man: how about a movie tonight? That new comedy is opening in town.

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Woman: sounds great, but Ive got be finishing sketches on my psychology research paper. Q: what does the Woman: imply? 10 Woman: you won't have to look very hard to find a job on campus. But I don't think you'll find anything that isn't just part-time. Man: that suits me. Anything more than that, and I have to change my class schedule. Q: what does the man mean? 11 Man: Do u think u feel energetic enough to walk to our study group session tonight? Woman: if there is one! I guess u haven't heard the weather reports. Over a foot of snow is expected. Q: what does the Woman: imply? 12 Man: oh! I turned all of my white sock pink! I threw a red t-shirt in by accident. Woman: have u tried running them through again with bleach? Q: what does the Woman: suggest the man do? 13 Woman: I hear that your brother is planning to transfer to another university Man: not if I can talk him out of it. And believe me, Im trying. Q: what does the man imply? 14 Woman: Id like to enroll in the free seminar u advertised in newspaper. The one on managing your personal finances. Man: okay. Now the ad did say that u have to have a saving account at our bank to be eligible. Do u have one here? Q: what does the man want to know? 15 Woman: did see the weather forecast for this weekend? I can't believe how the temperature's going to dip. Man: I know. That isn't my idea what oct. should be like. Q: what does the man mean? 16 Man: this exhibit is a total bore! I can't believe they call this art. Woman: I think Ive seen enough. Q: what will the Woman: probably do next? 17 Woman: we should probably think about selecting someone to lead our study group. U know, somebody really organized.

0008 TOEFL LISTENING COMPREHENSION SCRIPT

Man: then u can count me out. Q: what does the man mean? 18 Woman: what do you think would be a reasonable price to pay for a new computer? Man: you are asking the wrong person. My brother gave me mine. Q: what does the man imply? 19 Woman: thats a nice-looking jacket. It fits u perfectly. I sit something u bought recently? Man: thanks. No, Ive had it a while. Ive just been waiting for the weather to cool down. Q: what does the man imply? 20 Man: what's wrong with herald today? He snapped even no reason. Woman: don't worry, it's just the end of the semester pressure. He'll be his old self next week. Q: what does the Woman: say about herald? 21 Woman: Im sorry. I need to work late tonight. So u should probably cancel our reservation at the restaurant. Man: oh, actually Ive never got round to making one in the first place. Q: what does the man mean? 22 Man: Professor Johnson, for my sociology project this term Im thinking of interviewing all the residents in town on their TV viewing habit. Woman: well that's quite an undertaking for such a short-term project. Maybe you should to take a little shile to think about what that would entail before making your final decision. Q: what does the Woman: suggest the man do? 23 Man: how do I look in this new sweater I bought yesterday? I was in a hurry, so I didnt have a chance to try it on. Woman: well, I really like the style. But it looks a little tight. You might want to take it back and get the next size up. Q: what does the Woman: suggest the man do? 24 Man: do you have any idea what it'll cost to send this little package to Australia? Woman: you've got me! The farthest Ive ever sent a package is Canada. Q: what does the Woman: mean? 25 Man: this isn't the dish I ordered, but Im glad I got it. It's delicious. Woman: as far as Im

0008 TOEFL LISTENING COMPREHENSION SCRIPT

concerned, the waiter should still hear about it. Question 36 through 39 Man: let's say you are geologist, and u want to investigate the geological history of a place. That is, how did geologists determine things like. . . Say. . How were the rocks formed? Or was an area once under water? If so, when? How should u about it? Woman: Id start with stratigraphy. Man: could u explain what this is to the class? Woman: well, stratigraphy is the description of strata in sedimentary rock. I guess that's not so clear, huh? Ok, let's say one of the investigators thought near a river, for example. Well, over the history of the area, every time the river flooded, it would deposit a layer of sediment all through with flooded, it would deposit a layer of sediment all through with floodplain. Sometimes a bigger layer, sometimes a smaller, depending on the size of the flood. Well, one layer or stratum gets deposited over another. Obviously these strata built up over millions of years. Stratigraphy is the study of these layers of deposited settlement. Man: so does that mean if I examine each of these strata, I can tell how long ago each one is deposited? Woman: not necessarily. U see, there might've been some years when the river didn't flood and no settlement was deposited. You need other kinds of evidence to tell how much time might've gone by between when one layer got deposited and one on top of it got deposited. Man: and what are those other kinds of evidence u are talking about? Woman: well, fossils for one. U can determine exactly how old a fossil is and that's how u can tell how the rock surrounding it is. Man: very good. The discovery of that particular technique is an interesting story. It was a man named William smith who first used fossils for the purpose of dating strata back in the 1800s. Let's take a look at how he went about making this geological breakthrough. 36 what is the discussion mainly about? 37 what does the Woman: explain when she talks about rivers? 38 according to the discussion, why are geologists unable to determine the geological age of an area by studying sediment deposit alone? 39 what will the class probably discuss next? Question 40 through 43; Recently some anthropologist conducted an interesting case study in ethnology. Now ethnology as u recall is a branch of anthropology that deals with how various cultures developed change. The study was about the development of basket weaving by African American women who live in the Town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The town is known for its high quality sweet grass baskets

0008 TOEFL LISTENING COMPREHENSION SCRIPT

which are woven bye these women. They've been weaving the baskets for generations, handing down the skis from mother to daughter. Some of the baskets have been place on permanent display at the Philadelphia museum of art. The origin of their basket weaving dates back to the 17th century and even earlier when these women's ancestors came to the United States from the west coast of Africa. Now, it's mainly a hobby. But back in the 17th and 18th century African and American women wove the baskets for use on the rice plantations. There were two types of baskets then: workbaskets and baskets for use in the home. The workbaskets were made out of the more delicate sweet grass. They were used for everything from Fruit baskets to baby cradles. 40 what is the talk mainly about? 41 how did the women mentioned in the talk learn to wave basket? 42 according to the speaker, what type of baskets was make out of bulrush? 43 what is the main reason that the women in South Carolina now weave baskets? Questions 44 through 46: This morning I want to tell u about a recent scientific discovery dealing with the relation between plants and animals. This is about a desert shrub whose leaves can shoot up a stream of poisonous resin a distance of six feet. Do you think it would be safe from all attacks by insects? But a recent Study has found one insect, a beetle, that can chew its way past the plant's defense system by cutting the mainly vein that delivers the poison to the leaves. This vein cutting is jut one method the beetles used to prepare a safe meal. Another is by cutting a path all the way across the leave to hold the flow of chemicals. Then they simply eat between the veins of poison. In the past, scientists who studied inset adaptation to plant defenses have focused on chemical responses. That is how the insects can neutral or alter the poisonous substances plants produce. What's unique about this chewing strategy is that the beetle is actually exhibiting a behavior response to the plant's defenses rather than the more common chemical response. It is only after a beetle's survived several encounters with the plant' resin that it learns how to avoid the poison: by chewing through the resin Transporting veins on the next leaf it eats. And thus gives itself a meal. However, it can take a battle an hours an a half of careful vein cutting to prepare a small leaf that takes it only a few minutes to Eat. So, though the method is effective, it's not very efficient. 41 what is the talk mainly about? 42 what is unusual about the desert plant? 43 how can the beetles avoid being poisoned by the plant? Questions 47 through 50: We're going to start our discussion of poetry in Western Europe with the Iliad and the odyssey. These two great poems stand out as great examples of the earliest European poems. They are believed to

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have been written some time between 800bc and 700bc, partly because the poems refer to the social conditions of that time, conditions that have been validated by the findings Of archeologists. But just who was the poet who laid down these cornerstones of western literature? Well, tradition ascribes them to a man named homer, but we know virtually nothing about this homer. In fact, some say that such a poet never existed at all, that neither the Iliad nor the odyssey was written by a single poet, but rather each poem is composed of the writings of several people. This, anyway, is the view of a school of literary critics in the 18th century known as the analysts. The analysts pointed to internal evidence such as variations in the literary devices used in the poem to argue that each work was in fact a collection of several poems by several Greek authors. Opposing the analysts were a second group of scholars called the Unitarian. They insisted that the Iliad and the odyssey could have been the work of single poetic genius. To support their argument, they stress among other things the consistency of the character portrayed in the poetry. This wouldn't have been possible, they said, if they were written by many different poets. Now how we look at the Homeric question today has been greatly influenced by someone named milman parry, an American scholar who first presented his ideas about homer in the 1930s. So let's take a look at parry's research and how it affects what modern day scholars think about homer. 47 what aspect of the Iliad and the odyssey does the professor mainly discuss? 48 according to the professor, what is one of the claims made by the analysts? 49 according to the Unitarians, what is one type of evidence that a single Poet could have written both the Iliad and the odyssey? 50 what will the professor probably talk about next?