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 part of a lecture in a communications class.
Researchers study television to understand its effects on viewers and to measure its effectiveness in selling products. Much of the research on TV audiences is market research, paid for by corporations with something to sell. Let me repeat: research on television is funded largely by advertisers.
The television industry depends on advertising money to survive, and this relationship influences what television offers viewers. Advertisers aim to reach mass audiences and specific social groups. In turn, the television industry tries to meet the needs of advertisers, because pleasing the advertisers is nearly as important as pleasing the public. This means advertisers have a lot of control over what programs are made and when they are shown.
The American television industry is controlled by people who are more interested in the culture of consumerism than in preserving cultures or natural resources. I mean, for the first time in history, most of the stories children learn don’t come from their parents or schools; they come from a small number of large corporations with something to sell. And this culture of consumerism is exported to other countries.
Television is the most effective marketing tool ever created. Many advertisements apply basic psychology by sort of appealing to our insecurities and desires. Ads convince us that the things we once thought were luxuries are now necessities. Television is highly skilled at creating images of affluence, not just in the ads, but in the programs as well. Using sophisticated market research, programmers and advertisers sort of paint a picture of life centered on material possessions. This kind of life may look glamorous and desirable, but it’s all at the expense of personal relationships.
As you probably can tell, I tend to agree with critics of the media. Advertising does create false needs, and products we really need don’t require advertising. Television promotes consumerism. It shows us things, things, and more things. It encourages greed and envy. Television helps create a wasteful society, where things are thrown out long before they are worn out.
Correct Answers:
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. A
10. B
