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 1 through 5. Listen to a career counselor talk about two different types of employees.
Are you going to be more effective and happy as a specialist or as a generalist? Do you find real satisfaction in the precision, order, and system of a clearly laid-out job? Or are you one of those people who tend to grow' impatient with anything that looks like a "routine" job?
There are a great many careers in which the emphasis is on specialization. You find these careers in engineering and in accounting, in production, in statistical work, and in teaching. But there is an increasing demand for people who are able to take in a great area at a glance. There is, in other words, a demand for people who are capable of seeing the forest rather than the trees, of making overall judgments. And these “generalists” are particularly needed for administrative positions, where it is their job to see that other people do the work, where they have to plan for other people, to organize other people's work, to initiate it and appraise it.
Specialists understand one field; their concern is with technique, tools, media. They are “trained” people, and their educational background is technical or professional.
Generalists and especially administrators deal with people. Their concern is with leadership, with planning, with direction, and with coordination. They are “educated" people, and the humanities are their strongest foundation.
Any organization needs both kinds of people, although different organizations need them in different ratios. It is your job to find out, during your college years, into which of these two job categories you fit. and to plan your career accordingly.
Correct Answers:
1. C
2. A & D
3. Skilled in directing other people: Generalist
Concerned with tools and techniques: Specialist
Trained in a technical or professional field: Specialist
Must be able to make overall judgements: Generalist
4. B
5. D
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Questions 6 through 10. Listen to part of a talk in a botany class.
There are several common leaf arrangements in wild-flowers. In the usual arrangement, the one called alternate, each leaf is attached at a different level on the stem. This poppy is a good example. Sec how ... uh ... there's a leaf here, on the right side, and above that a leaf on the left here, and above that, one on the right again ... and so on, alternating right and left, all the way up the stem.
Another type is the opposite arrangement. Notice the difference between the alternate leaves on the poppy and the opposite leaves on this bee plant. The bee plant's leaves arc paired on opposite sides of the stem. See how they're attached at the same level of the stem, but on opposite sides.
And here we have yet another kind. This one's called basal, and our example is the amaryllis. Notice how all the leaves are at ground level, at the stem’s base. The amaryllis ... this particular plant, and all other members of the amaryllis family ... uh ... it has narrow basal leaves and a long, leafless stalk.
I have some lovely samples to share with you today. I’d like you all to come up and examine the contents of... uh ... these two tables. Many of them are specimens of the sunflower family, which includes several species with alternate and opposite leaves. Take a good look and see if you can identify the three types of arrangements. It's OK to handle ... but let me ask you to please handle with care, as some of them are quite delicate.
Correct Answers:
6. D
7. B
8-9. The plant's leaves are paired on the opposite sides of the stem. - Opposite
All the plant’s leaves are at ground level. - Basal
Each leaf is attached at a different level on the stem. - Alternate
The leaves are attached at the same level on the stem, but on different sides. - Opposite
10. B
