In the TOEFL Listening test, you will see different types of questions. They may ask about main idea, speaker's attitude, or organization of ideas in the listening passage. Practice with these questions now. Check the correct answers and audio transcripts below. This video is in the series of NEW TOEFL iBT Tests: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2jvSGmpWX1UMjbc8Onae7i-R6Z8VcPbU.
Questions 6 through 11. Listen to a discussion in an archeology class.
(professor) I hope all of you read the assigned material. Do any of you have any questions about it?
- I do. I'm really having difficulty understanding some of the material.
- Which material?
- The material in the tenth chapter in the text, on cross-dating. Can you explain it a bit more?
(professor) Sure. No problem. What do you need me to explain?
- First of all, exactly what is cross-dating?
That's a pretty broad question . . . OK, cross-dating is ... uh ... a method of dating one archeological area by extending relative dates from another area.
(student) And just what exactly does that mean? I still don’t understand.
(professor) It means that archeologists may be certain of the dates when one particular culture existed, from scientific data in that area, but they may not have scientific information to be. sure of the dates of another culture in the area. They can draw a conclusion about the dates that the second culture existed by comparing it with the first culture.
(student) You mean that archeologists compare two cultures in one area and determine the dates of one culture from the other?
(professor) Exactly. Let me give you an example. Archeologists found two areas of ancient cultural development, one in what is today northern Arizona and the other in what is today southern Arizona.
They were able to date the cultural development in the northern area scientifically, but they were unable to date the cultural development in the southern area in the same way.
(student) So let me guess. Because they were able to date the northern area but not the southern area using scientific methods, they used cross-dating to infer the dates of the southern culture.
(professor) Exactly.
(student) And what type of scientific method did the archeologists use to date the culture in the northern area?
(professor) They used tree-ring remnants to determine the dates of the northern culture.
(student) Well, why couldn’t they use the same method to determine the dates of the southern culture?
(professor) They couldn’t date the cultural development in the southern area in the same way because there were no trees in that area, so they had to use the technique of cross-dating to determine the dates of the southern area.
(student) But, can you tell me, how exactly did the archeologists do that?
- They used pottery. The culture in the northern area, which had been scientifically dated at 700 to 900 a.d. using tree-ring dating, had a distinctive type of pottery. Pieces of this distinctive northern pottery were found in the southern area.
- How did the pottery from the northern culture get to the southern culture?
- Apparently, the pottery from the northern culture came to the southern culture through trade.
- And if the two cultures were involved in trade, then they must’ve existed at the same time.
- Exactly. Because these pieces of northern pottery were found in the southern culture, archeologists were able to infer that the culture of the southern area was active in the same era as the northern culture.
- So the southern culture must have existed sometime around the period of 700 to 900 A.D., just as the northern culture did.
- You’ve got it. Now do you understand how cross-dating works?
- Thanks. I actually think I do!
- OK, then. . . . Now, are there any other questions?
Correct Answers:
6. A
7. D
8. C
9. B
10. The dates of the northern culture were determined from tree-ring dating. YES
Pieces of southern pottery were found in the northern area. NO
The dates of the southern culture were determined from cross-dating. YES
Pieces of northern pottery were found in the southern area. YES
11. D
