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 Tests https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2jvSGmpWX1UMjbc8Onae7i-R6Z8VcPbU.
Questions 6 through 11. Listen to a lecture in a music class.
(professor) The trumpet of today, with its long oblong loop of metal and three piston valves, is a brass instrument that has a commanding role in modern-day bands and orchestras. This modem musical instrument has a long and interesting history. As we take a look at the development of the trumpet, you should keep the following points about the trumpet in mind. First, the trumpet is a universal instrument that has been part of numerous cultures. Second, the trumpet has undergone numerous mutations in its development. Third, the trumpet has served a variety of purposes in its various mutations and in different cultures.
The first point that we want to understand about the trumpet is that many early cultures had their own distinct version of a trumpet, so it’s difficult to say that the trumpet originated in one specific culture. Early cultures in Africa and Australia had trumpet-like hollow tubes, and by 1400 B.C. the Egyptians had developed wide-belled trumpets made from bronze and silver. Assyrian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Celtic, and Teutonic civilizations all had some form of the trumpet, and during the Crusades in the Middle Ages, the Europeans were introduced the Arab trumpa.
Now for the second point... The second point to understand about the trumpet is that it has undergone extensive changes in construction, both in the materials used and in its shape. © In this drawing, you can see various types of trumpets that’ve been used throughout the ages. Some of the materials that've been used to construct trumpets are the cane plant, horns or tusks of animals, and metals such as bronze, silver, and brass. In shape, the trumpet began as a long, hollow, straight tube to which a wide-mouthed bell was later added to magnify the sound. Then, as the tubing got longer and longer, it was bent to make the instrument more convenient, first into an S-shape and then into the circling loop of today. To increase the number and accuracy of tones produced, keys and a slide similar to the slide on a trombone were added to the trumpet before the three piston valves of the modem trumpet became the norm.
OK, so far we’ve discussed the first and second points I wanted to make. Now on to the third point. The third point to understand about the trumpet is that it has served a variety of purposes. The trumpet has only relatively recently been considered a musical instrument. For most of its long history, its been used in other ways. First, the trumpet has been used for ceremonial purposes, perhaps to herald the arrival of an important personage or to provide what you could call resonant ornamentation during a celebration or rite. In addition, the trumpet has been used for communication over distances; ancient versions of the trumpet with a limited range of low powerful notes were used for communication from village to village and from mountaintop to mountaintop. Finally, the trumpet has been used by numerous cultures in battle, to announce the charge into battle and to exhort troops to fight more intensely during battle. It wasn’t until the last few centuries, when changes and improvements to the trumpet made it more versatile, that it became established in its role as a musical instrument.
Of course, there’s a whole lot more we could say about the trumpet. However, for today, these points will suffice.
-------------------
Correct Answers:
6. B
7. The culture where the earliest trumpet developed is known. - NO
Today’s trumpet is much like the earliest trumpet. - NO
The trumpet has been used in many different ways. - YES
Many different types of music have been written for the trumpet. - NO
8. C
9. A & D
10. A
11. Playing from a mountaintop: Communication
Beginning a charge: Battle
Announcing an arrival: Ceremony
