1. Detail Questions

まずは、Detail Questionsを実際に解いてみて、どのような問題傾向かを確認しましょう：

1. How does the use of words affect the poem that the student is studying?
A. The words are all complex, which means the poem is trying to be fancy.
B. The words are all relatively simple, which means the poem is for children.
C. The words are all relatively simple, which gives the poem a feeling of simplicity.
D. The words are all mixed up, which means the poem is very confusing.

Professor:	And so what you’re having the most difficulty with, then, is arriving at an answer.
Student:	Yeah. I just, I don’t know how to think about words and stuff like that. It doesn’t come easily for me.
Professor:	Alright, so let’s walk through it together a little bit. Do you think the words are simple or complex?
Student:	Umm…well they’re easy words, like I knew them all, not like some poetry.
Professor:	Okay, so that’s important. Using words that most people are aware of does mean that the poem conveys a sense of simplicity.
Student:	Do other things make it feel simple too, or just that?
Professor:	Well, you should be able to tell me a bit. I mean, did you agree that when you read the poem it gave you a feeling of simplicity.
Student:	Yeah.
Professor:	So that’s the first step.
Student:	But how do I prove that?
Professor:	With exactly what we’re doing. You can pick a few words or a line and talk about how those words make the poem seem simple. For example, the poet uses the word “Mare” rather than its more formal name. That’s a choice that the poet made.
Student:	Okay…so it’s like everything can be seen as intentional?

Detail Questions は、音声で述べられた詳細かつ部分的な情報に関しての正誤を問う問題です。TOEFLリスニングで出題される問題の中で、特に出題される割合が高いです。

設問の形式は多岐に渡ります。今回のように How が聴かれることもあれば、

のような形式も出題されます。

設問で取り上げられるのは詳細で部分的な情報ですが、音声の要点と関連した重要度の高い情報が中心となります。

日頃からリスニングをする時に、

の三点の情報に意識を向けておき、重要な情報のみを聴き取ることに慣れておくことが大切です。

慣れないうちは、トランスクリプトを読みながら要約をつくるために重要な情報にマーカーをつけるなどして、情報の重要度を区別できるようにしておくと良いでしょう。