Practice these TOEFL iBT listening tests to help you score high in the TOEFL Listening Section. Check the correct answers and audio transcripts below. This video is in the series of NEW TOEFL iBT Preparation: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2jvSGmpWX1UMjbc8Onae7i-R6Z8VcPbU.
Questions 6 through 10. Listen to a discussion in an ecology class. The class is talking about the salmon’s run.
W1: Various species of Pacific salmon make a round trip from the small streams where they are born, to the sea, and then back to the stream of their origin, where they spawn and die. This round trip is known as the salmon’s run. The end of the salmon’s run is the beginning of the next generation. Pacific salmon hatch in the headwaters of a stream. As fry, the fish then migrate downstream via rivers, and eventually to the ocean, where they require several years to mature. While in the sea, salmon from many river systems school and feed together. When mature, the salmon
form into groups of common geographic origin and migrate back toward the river they emerged from as juveniles.
M: Is it true that they find their way home by their sense of smell?
W1: During the first stage of their return, they navigate by the position of the sun. But later, when they reach the river leading to their home stream, their keen sense of smell takes over.
M: Just what is it they can smell? The other fish?
W1: The water flowing from each stream carries a unique scent. This scent comes from the types of plants, soil, and other components of that stream. This scent is apparently imprinted in the memory of a salmon fry before it migrates to the sea.
W2: I remember having a real shock when I was hiking once. I was looking at a waterfall, and I saw a salmon jump up, about ten feet! At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes. But then I saw another one do it! And then several more! It was an awesome sight.
M: They must have an incredibly powerful instinct.
W1: The survival of their species depends on their ability to get home and reproduce. And, of course, other species depend on the survival of the salmon. Salmon provide an important link in the food chain. They spend 90 percent of their lives in the ocean, where they feed on plankton, shrimp, and small fish. When they make their return journey, they carry nutrients from the ocean back to the rivers and streams.
M: Up north, where I used to live in the river valley, the eagles would gather for the salmon run every year. They'd gorge themselves on all the salmon that had just spawned.
W1: Nothing is wasted in nature. After the salmon spawn, their carcasses feed birds, mammals, and vegetation—and even their own newly hatched offspring.
Correct Answers:
6. Salmon compete with eagles for food. - NO
Young fry swim downstream in rivers. - YES
Adult salmon migrate home to spawn. - YES
Salmon die from pollution in rivers. - NO
7. B & D
8. C
9. D
10. A
