TOEFLリスニング練習模試08
TOEFL Listening 8 Part 1
| Man: | Hey, Jenna, right? |
| Woman: | Yeah. What’s your name again? Sorry, I forgot. |
| Man: | No worries. I’m Peter. |
| Woman: | Right, Peter. So, how’s it going? |
| Man: | Good, good. That freshman orientation is coming up. |
| Woman: | That it is. And it is our privilege as seniors to help host. |
| Man: | Anyway, what are you doing for it? |
| Woman: | Since I’m a member of choir, I’ll be performing with them at the beginning of the orientation. You? |
| Man: | I’m in charge of the student club section. |
| Woman: | What and all does that involve? |
| Man: | Just keeping tabs on everybody, essentially. There will be a bunch of booths from all the different clubs on campus, well, the ones that are participating, anyway. So I’ll monitor the area, help direct freshman to certain areas, stuff like that. |
| Woman: | That seems like a lot of work. I’m glad I’m just singing. |
| Man: | I dunno, I’d rather be doing my job than singing in front of people! |
| Woman: | Well, when you’re in choir, you’re used to it, or at least, you better be. |
| Man: | True, true. That makes me think, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you perform. |
| Woman: | If you haven’t, that’s only your fault. We perform all the time and the concerts at school are always free to students. |
| Man: | Ouch, I get it. Well, I’ll be too busy during the orientation. Any way that I could watch the choir’s rehearsal? |
| Woman: | I don’t see why not. It’s tomorrow at 7pm. |
| Man: | Ok great, I can definitely make that. I’m looking forward to hearing your singing voice! |
| Woman: | Well, it’s not like you’ll necessarily be able to pick mine out from the group, but I appreciate it. |
| Man: | What, no solo? |
| Woman: | Not for orientation. We’re just doing a bunch of big group pieces. In other concerts though, I’ve gotten solos before. |
| Man: | Ahhh, okay. Because I was gonna say, you deserve solos! |
| Woman: | You can’t know that when you’ve never heard me sing, silly. |
| Man: | I can just tell. |
| Woman: | Well thanks, I guess. |
| Man: | Alright….so 7pm tomorrow. How about we get dinner together at the cafeteria first? |
| Woman: | Dinner’s good, and I do need to eat, so sure. |
| Man: | Great. So I’ll meet you at the cafeteria at….say, 5:30? |
| Woman: | Yeah, that should give me plenty of time to eat before the rehearsal. |
| Man: | Soon, you won’t be able to get on my case anymore for never having seen you perform. |
| Woman: | I suppose not. |
| Man: | Alright, I better head off and get some stuff prepared. Looking forward to tomorrow! |
| Woman: | Me too, see you then! |
TOEFL Listening 8 Part 2
| Professor: | Our lecture today is about ethanol. Can anyone give me another name for ethanol? |
| Student: | Alcohol! |
| Professor: | That’s right, and the place where most people come across ethanol, especially in establishments like this one, is in the form of alcoholic beverages, and that’s where ethanol gets its alternative names – beverage alcohol or drinking alcohol, although it is also known as pure alcohol and ethyl alcohol. And, as I’m sure most of you are aware, ethanol is a recreational drug which affects the brain, causing intoxication, something that I dare say the majority of you have firsthand experience with. |
| But while drinking might be its most common usage it’s certainly not the only one. It’s also used as a solvent and as a fuel. You can also find ethanol in thermometers, and it has a number of uses in medicine, which we’ll come to later. But let’s look at alcoholic beverages first. These broadly fit into two groups: fermented beverages and distilled beverages. The former kind involves the action of yeast on sugary foodstuffs, such as wine from grapes, cider from apples, and beer from cereals and so on; while the latter involves taking these fermented alcohols and distilling them in order to concentrate the levels of ethanol within them, and it’s this way that we get brandies, by distilling wine; rum, by distilling fermented sugar cane, and vodka, usually from potatoes, but sometimes from grain. What this is doing, in effect, is increasing the percentage of ethanol within the beverage. The process of doing so actually removes all the flavours from the original foodstuff, to the extent that we then have to introduce new flavors, like herbs, and berries and so on, to add to the taste. Gin is a good example of this. | |
| So what happens when we imbibe such substances? Well, ethanol is a psychoactive which has a depressant effect on the brain’s central nervous system, in particular the GABA receptors. I won’t go into the ins and outs of what occurs here as it’s a er… biological reaction rather than chemical one, and it’s not really my forte so to speak – all that said we see enhanced activity here. We also see a delay to signals in the brain and this causes a loss of balance and impaired reasoning and movement. | |
| And that’s just one form of ethanol that we come across. We also see it in the form of vinegar. Like, malt vinegar which comes from beer,and there’s other kinds as well, like wine vinegar. It’s the same process which allows acetic acid to be produced from industrial ethanol. So, ethanol is the source, and acetic acid is the product, and that can be used for any number of things. We also use alcohol quite a bit in cooking, does anyone know why? No? It’s because alcohol bonds with both fat and water, allowing flavor compounds like garlic, herbs or sugar to travel into the food, and so that’s why adding a little bit of beer to your meat can improve the taste considerably. |
TOEFL Listening 8 Part 3
| Professor: | Good morning everyone. Today I’d like to talk about the design of spaces where music is meant to be listened to. Buildings like theaters or concert halls, they all have a specific kind of plan in mind, for the best listening experience. What do you think it is? |
| Student: | Acoustics? |
| Professor: | Exactly right. The design of theaters and stages have been in thoughts and words of musicians and architects for more than 2,000 years. They want to make sure the sound carries, and is both audible and of good quality by the time it reaches the far edges of the audience. |
| At the beginning of the twentieth century, architectural acoustics actually became a scientific field. Mostly due to the contributions of Wallace Sabine, who started extensive research on the science of reverberation. Sabine said he wanted to find out why listeners had such a hard time hearing the speakers in one of his lecture halls in Boston. And thus began his studies. | |
| Student: | Hi Professor, you just mentioned the word reverberation. Can you explain what reverberation is? |
| Professor: | Okay. Reverberation is the continuation of sound in a room. You see, sound in a solid room will reflect off the walls, the floor, even the ceiling and any occupants. The sound waves keep going, keep bouncing off surfaces in an understandable manner even after the source stopped producing them. In fact, the way to find out a reverberant sound quality was made up by Sabine. He made an equation that would measure how long it took for the reverberant sound to die down. |
| So! What do you think happens if the time between the source stopping and the sound stopping is very long? | |
| Student: | The reverberation would be high, right? But isn’t it difficult to hear two sets of sounds going on at the same time? |
| Professor: | Yes! Drawn-out reverberations sometimes make the music notes drown each other out. On the other hand, if the notes fall flat as soon as the instrument Is finished, the musicians have to struggle to keep the stage feeling ‘alive’, so a lack of reverberation isn’t good either. We want to strike a balance between a rich reverberation and a gentle fade that allows all of the music to swell and be distinguished. |
| What do you think would need to be considered when designing a house for music? | |
| Student: | Probably the materials inside – hard materials make sounds bounce better, while softer ones absorb it.. oh, and the size and shape of the place would also be important, right? |
| Professor: | Lovely observations, you’re right on the money. The larger the room, the longer sounds will reverberate inside. So, architects would keep in mind what the room is going to be used for. After all, the sounds produced in an orchestra will need a lot more reverberation than say, someone giving a speech. A musical room will need to have different criteria than one intended for drama. |
| Even within the music category, something like an orchestra will need a larger room than a piano recital, and Jazz music in particular needs a short reverberation time to let all of the notes ring as they should. Aside from the room size, the shape is also important for good sound quality. | |
| For instance, designers often avoid rectangular rooms – the parallel walls will bounce some sounds over there, some over here, and miss parts of the audience entirely right here. You want to design a room where every listener has the opportunity to experience the production in full, so you want the sound to be diffused. | |
| I’ll wrap this up with the proper treatment for rectangular rooms. In areas where occupying a rectangular room is unavoidable, concert halls will hang chandeliers, elaborate decorations, even statues along the edges to better diffuse the sound. The soft chairs soften loud reverberations, while the ringing crystals will pick up softer ones. Well, that does it for now. I’ll see you next week. |
TOEFL Listening 8 Part 4
| Student: | Hi, professor, can I come in? |
| Professor: | Sure. It is, after all, my office hours. |
| Student: | Okay great. |
| Professor: | So, what’s on your mind? |
| Student: | Well… would it be possible at all for me to miss the trip to observe the sea turtle next month? |
| Professor: | It’s not ideal. What are the circumstances? |
| Student: | My sister is getting married in Boston and it’s a big deal for me to be there. I really can’t miss it. But the problem is, I won’t get back from the wedding in time to make the class trip. The only way to make it in time would be to fly, and my family has already spent so much money on the wedding, and I don’t have any money on my own, there’s really no way for me to get the ticket since flights are so expensive. |
| Professor: | I see. |
| Student: | I guess I could make it though, if there were like, emergency student funds for me to apply to? |
| Professor: | I’m sorry to say there aren’t. Travel funds are only available to graduate students. |
| Student: | Well, then I just have to miss the trip. Will that be a problem? |
| Professor: | Like I said, it’s not ideal, but I understand your situation. Viewing the sea turtles is still really important though. I suggest that you find another time to observe the sea turtles by yourself when you’re in Boston. |
| Student: | Wait…would that be possible? |
| Professor: | It would indeed. The sea turtles usually appear on the path of warm currents and the oceans near Boston fit that description. |
| Student: | Wow! I never knew. Do you know, like, exactly where? |
| Professor: | I don’t know off the top of my head. I’m sure if you look it up, though, you’ll be able to find the information easily. |
| Student: | Alright. I can do that. |
| Professor: | Are you sure? It’s just important you don’t forget. I know weddings can be very busy and almost hectic, so you just have to make sure you set aside some time for this project. |
| Student: | Yeah…yeah, I’ll set a bunch of reminders on my phone and stuff. I’ll find time one way or another. It’s better than the alternative, which is paying for a plane ticket I can’t afford. |
| Professor: | Well, I think the issue is settled then. I am sorry that the timing is not ideal. |
| Student: | I guess that’s my sister’s fault! Ha ha. Oh well, she’ll only get married once, so it’s not like I’ll run into this problem again. |
| Professor: | True enough. Well, I wish your sister a happy marriage and I hope that you enjoy the ceremony. Also, be sure to take some notes when you’re observing the sea turtles. When we go as a class, I’ll be lecturing slightly, so you’ll miss that, but I can get you a sheet of my lecture when you return and if you add those to your notes you should be perfectly caught up. |
| Student: | Sounds good. Thanks so much! |
| Professor: | Anytime. See you later. |
TOEFL Listening 8 Part 5
| Professor: | So today we are going to talk about social psychology. Basically it is a scientific study of mental functions and behaviors. Its goal is to understand both individuals and groups – it does this by establishing general principles and researching specific case studies, and ultimately, benefiting society. |
| Psychologists also explore all manner of concepts … perception, emotion, motivation, personality, behavior, as well as how the brain works. What’s interesting about psychologists work is that psychologists are looking for correlations and causal and effect relationships, so they employ empirical and deductive methods to try to determine whether or not relationships between variables is taking place, but at the same time they also employ symbolic interpretation and inductive techniques that are less…um.. scientific in essence. So psychology have to take into account research from a lot of different perspectives – social sciences, natural sciences, medicine. It can be referred to as a ‘hub science’ for this very reason. | |
| Now when you think of a psychologist, you probably think of someone working in … in treating people with mental health issues. And, perhaps in a clinical setting, and those are the psychologists who have more scientific – neuropsychological leanings, but you actually see psychologists all over the place. Many have a therapeutic role, as counselors, maybe in a school, care homes, churches even. You have private practitioners working individually. And then you’ve got a whole range of people working in research. | |
| Let’s look at the different branches of psychology now. The first one is cognitive. The focus on cognitive psychology is to look at what’s going on in the mind when we carry out different mental tasks – tasks like problem solving, reasoning, learning, remembering, feeling emotions and so on. Cognitive psychology is interdisciplinary – within this branch we see cognitive neuroscientists, linguists, logicians, social scientists, and a new, well new-ish, strand interested in artificial intelligence, which is interested in human–computer interaction and computer modelling of the brain. | |
| Neuropsychology is the next branch, and what these people are looking at in particular is how the way we think and act relates to the brain – the physiological part of the brain, that is. What each part does and how each part links to other parts of the brain. Their techniques include neuroimaging and stimulating parts of the brain to see the consequences. | |
| And the third branch is biological psychology, or it is sometimes known as behavioral neuroscience. These people are looking at the deeper, underlying causes of unusual behavior and mental processes. For example, they might look at how disease or brain damage affects the brain and someone’s subsequent behavior. Or they might look at the effects of genetic or cellular mechanisms on the mind. | |
| Okay! So these are three branches in psychology today. Now I like to talk about the history of computer modelling of the brain. Psychologists used to consider the brain a computer. Through a series of programmed algorithms, it transforms information inputs into a series of outputs. But If our brain had programmed algorithms, we would have other types of responses. Our responses would be slower, more rigid, and much more precise than they actually are. This theory does not explain well how human cognition works. This is where a new theory called connectionism comes in. It’s a much simpler theory than the previous one and explains brain functioning a lot better. | |
| Connectionism explains that information is processed through patterns of activation spreading. But what are these patterns? In simpler terms, it means that when information enters your brain, neurons begin to activate, forming a specific pattern that produces a specific output. This forms networks between neurons that will process information quickly without needing preprogrammed algorithms. | |
| Nowadays we can’t ignore the importance of computer modeling in psychology, as it’s an often-used tool. Although a computer cannot replicate the human mind fully, computers can process information extremely quickly, allowing psychologists to run many simulations at the same time – in a short time. And that gives us more statistical power compared to running a couple of experiments in real life. With computers you can also test hypotheses that you couldn’t ordinarily observe in humans for ethical reasons. |