TOEFLスピーキング練習模試03
You have 15 seconds to prepare for the answer.
- Do you prefer to eat at home or eat at a restaurant? Use details and examples to support your explanation.
You have 45 seconds to record your answer.
Task 2 Integrated Speaking
Read a passage below. You have 50 seconds to read through:
A CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENT
There is not enough housing for the large number of freshman university students. As an answer to this problem, we can take the lounges and study areas located in the main campus dorms and turn them into “triples”, rooms to house 3 students. This idea will be an answer to the shortage of available rooms. These converted rooms will have the same features as the other dorm rooms. This includes furniture like desks and bookshelves. And since these spaces are large areas, they will be plenty big enough and comfortable for the students.
Now listen to the conversation below.
Prepare your answer in 30 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- The woman expresses her opinion about the proposal in the student’s letter. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for that opinion.
You have 60 seconds to record your answer.
Task 3 Integrated Speaking
Read a passage below. You have 50 seconds to read through:
Behavior modification
Behavior modification refers to the process by which humans adapt their behavior to meet favorable circumstances or avoid unfavorable circumstances. When a person learns that a behavior is associated with pleasant consequences, they will continue. When a person learns that a behavior is associated with negative consequences they will reform their behavior. This is common in everyday settings in which people adapt their behavior based on what they have learned.
Now listen to the lecture below.
Prepare your answer in 30 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- Explain Behavior Modification and how the example used by the professor illustrates the concept.
You have 60 seconds to record your answer.
Task 4 Integrated Speaking
Now listen to the lecture below.
Prepare your answer in 20 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- Using the main point of the lecture and examples from the lecture, compare and contrast two carbon capture techniques.
You have 60 seconds to record your answer.
Sample Answer
Sample Answer Task 1
I prefer to eat at home for two reasons.
The first reason is I can save money. I would much rather spend 20 dollars on three meals compared to spending 20 dollars on a single meal. In addition, you will save money on gasoline, because you do not need to drive anywhere if you are eating at home.
The second reason is it is healthier to eat at home. Eating at a restaurant almost guarantees that you will ingest close to 1000 calories per meal, while eating at home, you can decide on the amount of calories per meal.
Therefore, I prefer to eat at home rather than eating at a restaurant.
Sample Answer Task 2
Megan doesn’t like the idea of converting the lounges and study areas of the main university dorms into rooms to house 3 freshmen students each. She thinks that students need quiet areas to get away from noisy roommates and also for reading.
She says the location of these converted areas wouldn’t be the best for freshmen. Since these areas are located at the corners of each floor, they are too far away from most other students, making the freshmen year of dorm living, not a typical experience.
However, Megan does agree that if space is needed, these areas should be converted. But she wants to have sophomores volunteer because they already know the campus and they also have made friends.
Sample Answer – Task 3
Behaviour modification is described as the conscious change in behaviour displayed by both humans and animals when faced with the prospect of rewards or punishments, and then remembered.
The professor demonstrates behaviour modification through two examples of times when animal and human behavior was altered based around rewards. First, a group of scientists were able to teach mice to follow the correct path out of a maze by rewarding correct movements with treats, and likewise punishing poor choices with electric shocks.
The second example was about his young son, who learned to associate good behavior in company with candy as a reward, and no cartoons as the punishment for bad behaviour.
In both instances the subject learned to alter their future behaviour based upon their memories of the reward or punishment they received for those previous choices they made.
Sample Answer – Task 4
The lecture is about carbon capture techniques that we use today, which are generally taken from two types of methods, post-combustion and pre-combustion.
With post-combustion, CO2 is removed after the fossil fuel is burned. This method is popular because it separates CO2 from natural gas. On the other hand, with pre-combustion, carbon is captured by trapping the CO2 before the fossil fuel is burned.
Pre-combustion actually provides a higher concentration of CO2 than post-combustion. The professor also talks about two major differences between the two methods, which are the cost and the effects on the environment.
Pre-combustion is not only cheaper than post-combustion but it’s also able to prevent most of a power plant’s emissions from entering the atmosphere. This makes it even better to use for the environment.
Transcript
Transcript – Task 2
| Male: | Megan, as a freshman student, what is your opinion about this letter? |
| Female | Personally, I don’t like the idea. |
| Male: | Why not? |
| Female | Well, I agree that there aren’t enough dorm rooms, but I think that there should be lounges and study areas in the dorms. They are important to have because some students may need to have a quiet space, away from their noisy roommates. |
| Male: | I agree, specially if most students are partying and you have an exam to study for. |
| Female | And you might need a quiet place to just read. I’m sure the lounges and study areas are quiet. |
| Male: | Yes, I agree. Sometimes you need a quiet spot. |
| Female | And I have another point. I don’t think the location of the lounges and study areas would make good dorm rooms for freshmen. They are at the corners of each floor… too far away from most of the other students. To me, this is not your typical dorm experience. |
| Male: | Oh, so you are saying that the converted rooms should not be used for the freshmen? |
| Female | Yes, that’s right. Well, I mean nobody should have to live in the converted rooms. They aren’t the best. But even more, it is worse for freshmen. But, I guess if you need the space, then you could ask if any sophomore is interested. They most likely have made friends and are familiar with the campus. |
Transcript – Task 3
| P: | I think this will help you get a picture of what your textbook is describing. I used to watch shows a while back where you see a mouse run around a maze from entry to exit without making a single wrong turn. I used to be really impressed by the skill of such a tiny animal. God knows I couldn’t even make it halfway out if you gave me three days, except maybe by accident. Later, I came across another show that more or less explained how they got the mice to learn the way out. It turns out that they let the mice out at the entry and put treats along the correct way out and put something unpleasant like little discharges of electricity on the wrong paths. Soon enough the mice learned to follow the correct route and avoid the wrong one. |
| With us, the analogy is much the same. Children many times don’t really understand when they’ve done something wrong or right. The only way you can get them to do the right thing is to reward them for the action and the only way to get them not to do the wrong things is to punish them. My three-year-old son has now learned to associate getting candy with sitting quietly when we visit another family. He also knows to associate no cartoons with being naughty. So, he adjusts his behaviour to maximize the amount of candy and cartoons he gets. The very same thing can be observed with adults even though we are significantly more complicated. |
Transcript – Task 4
| P: | Now, carbon currently can be taken out of the emissions from a power plant in two ways: post-combustion methods and pre-combustion methods. The two methods have differences in the way they’re applied, as well as in the results obtained. |
| So, with post-combustion carbon capture, the CO2 is removed after the fossil fuel has been burned. This process is currently used widely as a means to separate CO2 from natural gas. With pre-combustion carbon capture, CO2 is trapped prior to the fossil fuel being burned. During this process, fossil fuel is converted into a mixture of hydrogen gas and CO2. The hydrogen is then separated and can then be burnt without producing any CO2, as this has been removed. So what about the CO2 separated at the beginning of the process? That CO2 can be compressed for transport and storage. | |
| Now, pre-combustion carbon capture is already in use for natural gas and provides a much higher concentration of CO2 than, the first method, post-combustion. However, the fuel conversion steps required for pre-combustion are more complex than the processes typically involved in post-combustion. This makes the technology more difficult to apply to most existing power plants. | |
| In summary, the pre-combustion process is lower in cost, compared to the post-combustion process. It’s also able to prevent 80 to 90 percent of a power plant’s emissions from entering the atmosphere, but it’s not, however, a retrofit for older power generators. |