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 18 through 22. Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.
(student) Hello, professor. I need to talk with you, please. Do you have some time to talk with me now?
(professor) Yes, certainly. What did you want to discuss?
(student) Well ... I’d like to talk about the . . . uh . . . last exam . .. my grade on the last exam.
(professor) What about your grade on the last exam?
(student) It was, um, very low ... I was surprised at how low it was.
(professor) If your grade was low, perhaps you should’ve studied harder . . . you know, prepared more for the exam.
(student) No, it’s not that, really. I really studied hard. I went over the material, and I learned everything!
(professor) OK. Do you have your exam paper with you?
(student) Yes, I do.
(professor) Let me look at it. No, that’s not a very high grade. . . . Here’s the first question ... let me see what you wrote . . . OK, let’s talk about this ... I see what the problem is. . . . Look at the first question. Do you see what it is?
(student) Yes, it asks about four steps in a process. ...
(professor) Yes, but do you see this word: evaluation? The question asks you to evaluate the four steps in the process. You simply listed the steps. Do you understand what evaluate means?
(student) It means “to show the strengths and weaknesses of something.”
(professor) That’s right. So in this question, you weren't supposed to simply list the steps. You needed to evaluate them. . . .
(student) Show the strengths and weaknesses of each one?
(professor) Yes, exactly. You see, you did list each step accurately. . . .
(student) Yes.
(professor) So that shows you knew the steps in the process. . . .
(student) Yes.
(professor) But you didn’t provide any evaluation at all, and that’s what I was looking for, not just a list of the steps in the process. So you see that?
(student) Yes, I do now.
(professor) OK, then, let’s see what happened in a different question. . . . OK, now look at the next question . . . What does it ask?
(student) It asks about two theories.
(professor) It does. It asks about two theories, but. . . very important... it asks you to compare and contrast these two theories. Now, look at your response. . . . What did you do in your response?
(student) I wrote about the two theories. . . .
(professor) You did. You provided a lot of information about the two theories, I mean a lot of information, and this information about the two theories seems quite accurate . . . but . . . and this is the key point. . . you didn’t do what the question asked you to do. Do you see what the question asks you to do with these two theories?
(student) To compare and contrast them?
(professor) Exactly. So, instead of listing a lot of information about the first theory and then giving a lot of information about the second theory, you should’ve clearly stated the ways that these two theories are similar and different.
(student) Ah, I should’ve compared and contrasted them.
(professor) Exactly. I think the important thing for you to make sure you understand is precisely what I’m asking in a particular question. Now please understand that on exams I generally don’t ask you to just restate information from the text or lectures. Instead, I usually ask you to respond to the material somehow. It’s not merely a matter of memorizing a lot of material, something that you clearly do well. So, is that clear to you now?
(student) I think so.
(professor) I would read and think about the actual questions very carefully because, uh, the next exam will be the same type of exam.
(student) I certainly will, and thanks for taking the time to help me.
(professor) You’re welcome.
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Correct Answers:
18. B
19. C
20. D
21. D
22. C
