TOEFLスピーキング練習模試04
You have 15 seconds to prepare for the answer.
- Do you agree or disagree that childhood is the best time of a person’s life? 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
Heating costs and the university’s heating bills reached record levels last year. The university is determined to cut heating costs. It plans to do so by lowering the temperature in classroom buildings on workdays after 5 pm when classes end for the day, and on weekends, when there are no scheduled classes. The university management believes that this decision will not have a negative impact on students and their studies because classes will not be in session during the “cool off” period. The management considers it essential that energy- and cost-saving measures should not interfere with student activities.
Now listen to the conversation below.
Prepare your answer in 30 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- The woman expresses her opinion about the plan described in the reading. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding these opinions.
You have 60 seconds to record your answer.
Task 3 Integrated Speaking
Read a passage below. You have 50 seconds to read through:
Nonverbal language
Nonverbal language is a phrase that describes the expression of human emotions without the use of verbal declarations. The most common forms of nonverbal language are facial expressions and body movements. These forms of nonverbal language function in many ways by either enhancing the verbal language presented, allowing people to interact silently, or revealing people’s true emotions despite their verbal language.
Now listen to the lecture below.
Prepare your answer in 30 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- Explain Nonverbal Languages 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 points and examples from the lecture, describe memory gap.
You have 60 seconds to record your answer.
Sample Answer
Sample Answer Task 1
I agree that childhood is the best time of a person’s life for two main reasons.
My first reason is that a child has no concerns. They wake up every morning feeling as if it is the best day of their life and unfortunately, adults lose that feeling because they have too many worries on their mind. So this is my first reason.
My second reason is that children are not aware of themselves. They will act according to who they are, without fear of judgment, so all the child knows is being happy and enjoying life.
Therefore, these reasons are why I agree that childhood is the best time of a person’s life.
Sample Answer Task 2
The university has decided to lower the temperature in classroom buildings every workday and on weekends in order to save on heating costs.
The woman is opposed to this plan. She points out that the buildings are often used after hours for group meetings.
The library does not have enough dedicated meeting rooms to accommodate all of the group activities that currently take place in classroom buildings after hours. In the middle of winter, especially, this becomes a big problem.
She feels the solution is not to lower the temperature in the classroom buildings but to improve their energy efficiency by improving insulation and reducing heat loss through the windows and walls.
She thinks the university should seek advice from a specialist in the field of energy efficiency.
Sample Answer – Task 3
Nonverbal language is referred to as the emotional expression people make that don’t include verbal statements but maybe facial cues or body movements that reveal something about our feelings.
The professor explains nonverbal language through a personal example from his youth. As a child, the professor would often lie to his mother about things, and his mother would always instantly know the truth.
When he was an adult, his mother revealed to him that when he would lie as a child he would never make eye contact, would shuffle back and forth, and rub his sweaty hands together. These nonverbal cues always informed his mother that he was lying to her, despite his lack of verbal confirmation. Those emotional expressions are what we call nonverbal language.
Sample Answer – Task 4
During this lecture, the professor explains the concept of memory gap, which is the loss of information in a person’s memory for a specific event. He offers two reasons for why this particular phenomenon occurs.
The first reason is that the person experiences some heightened emotions. During a car accident, a person experiences a big emotional change and can cause them to remember things inaccurately, or not remember something at all.
For a second reason, he explains that memories can be altered when the wording of a situation is altered. Again in a car accident, the choice of words a police officer uses can alter the perspective a person has on the situation by insinuating particular motives or actions. These insinuations can become a part of the person’s memories of that event and produce false or inaccurate memories.
So through these two examples of emotional stress or language alteration, people can acquire memory gaps.
Transcript
Transcript – Task 2
| Student 1: | What on earth is the university thinking? |
| Student 2: | (Laughing) You’re talking about their plan to put us in the freezer after 5 every day?! |
| Student 1: | Yes, and don’t forget weekends! Don’t they realize that those buildings are used after hours as well? My study group meets there, for example. |
| Student 2: | Can’t you move to the library? |
| Student 1: | There are not enough rooms reserved for group meetings in the library. Can you imagine what would happen if all the study groups met in the general study areas? The noise would disturb everyone trying to study in silence. |
| Student 2: | I get your point. Lots of people would be stuck without a meeting place, especially in the middle of winter. What, do you think, is the solution? |
| Student 1: | Well, for starters, they should pay a company that specializes in energy efficiency to help them make these buildings more energy efficient. I am sure they will be told to replace those old windows. If they can control heat loss through windows and walls by using better insulation they can save a lot of energy. |
| Student 2: | You mean invest in new technology and building material now to save energy later? |
| Student 1: | Exactly! |
Transcript – Task 3
| P: | I think this’ll help you get a picture of what your textbook is describing. As a kid, I used to get into trouble a lot. Frankly, I was just clumsy and so error-prone. But something always amazed me until my mother told me about it recently. Whenever I got into trouble, she would always know it. She would ask me, for example, who broke her new china, and even though I was responsible, I would tell her it wasn’t me. But as soon as I said this, she would pull my ear and give me a good spanking. Every single time I did something wrong and she asked me about it and I invariably denied, she would know I was lying. I used to think maybe she could read my mind. As I got older, I just learned to tell her the truth and at least earn forgiveness by telling the truth. |
| Recently, we were having Thanksgiving dinner and we were all reminiscing about our childhood. It was then that she told me that every time I lied, I never looked her in the eye and I shifted from one foot to the next. She even told me that I rub my hands together because they became sweaty. Apparently, when I lie, my mouth is saying one thing whereas my body language is saying something completely different and since we have no control over our body language, it’s usually more reliable than the things we say. |
Transcript – Task 4
| P: | Ok! Let’s talk about the memory gap. What is the memory gap? It is the loss of information in the memory system for a specific event. It leads to remembering something that has never occurred or is different from the way things actually happened. |
| There are a number of reasons why a memory gap occurs. The most common cause is emotional involvement. For example, during a car accident, a person experiences a large emotional change and is unlikely to remember or recall everything accurately. In most cases, the information is lost and the details are distorted. For example, a person that was in a car accident would try to recall what happened for the police, but more often than not can’t remember what actually happened. He might be frightened or act angry and he may overexaggerate such as the car did not stop at the red light or the car accelerated. This is a perfect example of the memory gap. | |
| Memory gap can also happen when the presentation of information is influencing the memories that are relevant to the target memory. In other words, memories are likely to be altered when questions are worded differently. For example, in an event…such as… when the police ask a car accident victim “how much did they sped up?” instead of “what was the speed when they hit you?”. The recalled speed would most likely be higher in the former question compared to the latter question. The cause of this is the phrase “sped up” because it will influence the victim ’s memory causing it to exaggerate the emotional elements and as such the memory is changed. |