TOEFLスピーキング練習模試06
You have 15 seconds to prepare for the answer.
- Should new university students all be required to read the same book in the summer before they start their first course of study? Explain your answer.
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
From the start of next month, the University Dining Services will change their breakfast menus at university dining halls. Hot breakfasts will no longer be served. Instead, students will be offered a wider choice of cold breakfast options. The cold breakfast options, for example freshly sliced fruit platters, non-fat yoghurt, bread, and smoked salmon platters, are healthier than many of the hot breakfast menu options we have included so far. Health-conscious students should welcome the change, so should dollar-conscious students. This move will save students money because limiting the choice to cold food items is more cost-effective and affordable.
Now listen to the conversation below.
Prepare your answer in 30 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- The man expresses his opinion about the change in breakfast menus that the university has announced. State his opinion and state his reasons for holding 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:
Social Interaction
A social interaction is any situation in which people are aware of each other’s presence and engage in some sort of contact, even silently. Obviously, people talking is an interaction, but even if two people consciously ignore each other, they are silently interacting. Only those situations where two or more people are consciously interfacing are considered social interactions
Now listen to the lecture below.
Prepare your answer in 30 seconds. Then answer the question below:
- Using the main points and examples describe social interaction.
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 and examples from the lecture, describe the two ways of discovering an invention.
You have 60 seconds to record your answer.
Sample Answer
It is my belief that not all university students should be required to read the same book before entering their first year of study.
Although many people attend the same university, they will be studying a wide array of subjects and should be challenged to meet the requirements of their chosen field, not be identical.
Additionally, requirements should be dictated by the chosen department of study that a student goes into, not the university as a whole.
Thus, students should be focusing their energy on mastering their decided area of study rather than trying to fit into a collective identity that doesn’t serve their future goals.
The university plans to stop serving hot breakfasts in university dining halls. They claim that serving only cold breakfasts is healthier and more cost-effective. In the conversation, the man questions the university’s decision. He thinks the decision-makers are not honest when they claim the decision is driven by both health and financial considerations.
First of all, he questions the claim that cold food such as yogurt is healthier than warm food such as eggs. He quotes research about low-fat products, animal fats, and smoked foods to back up his point.
Secondly, he points out that students who choose to eat hot breakfasts, especially in winter, will be forced to buy off-campus where prices are more expensive. Having to go off-campus will also be inconvenient.
The lecture described social interaction as two people being aware of each other in an interaction. The professor used two examples to demonstrate social interactions.
The first example described two friends writing letters to each other. In this case, both friends were aware that they were each sending each other letters and so is considered a social interaction.
The second example demonstrated a non-social interaction by describing a friend sending an anonymous letter to another friend. In this case, only one friend was aware and so it is not considered a social interaction.
Therefore, these two examples demonstrated the difference between a social interaction and a non-social interaction.
The lecture described innovatory development as happening in two different ways, intentionally and accidentally. The professor used an example for each different way of inventing.
The first example was about inventing the light bulb. The light bulb was invented to solve the annoyance of using a candle for light and therefore was intentionally invented and became popular immediately.
However, the second example was about discovering the X-ray. Scientists discovered the X-ray but had no idea how to put it to good use and therefore the X-ray was an accidental invention. Both examples demonstrated the difference between intentional and accidental inventions.
Transcript
| Student 1: | Do they really think we are going to fall for this? |
| Student 2: | What do you mean? |
| Student 1: | They limit our choice and expect us to believe that their decision is about health and money when money is the ONLY thing they are really interested in! |
| Student 2: | Well, I do believe a healthy breakfast is the way to go. |
| Student 1: | Of course you should eat a healthy breakfast but who is to say low-fat or no-fat yoghurt is healthier than eggs, for example? Have you read the newspaper reports lately? Despite eating low-fat and no-fat foods people are getting fatter and fatter. There is growing evidence that animal fats are not the enemy they are made out to be. Also, smoked food is really bad for you because of the chemicals they contain. |
| Student 2: | Um… I won’t argue. You seem to have read quite a bit on the topic. Although, I am not so sure about animal fats. |
| Student 1: | Do you know what is going to happen? Students are going to end up paying MORE for breakfast rather than less. They’ll be forced to go off-campus to buy decent hot food, especially in winter. Imagine having a bowl of yoghurt on a freezing winter’s morning! |
| Student 2: | And off-campus food prices are not subsidized. |
| Student 1: | Exactly! It all adds up. Even if you eat off-campus just two or three times a week, you are going to end up paying a lot more. Not to mention the inconvenience of being forced off-campus to find hot food. |
| P: | Social interaction is two or more people being aware of each other and creating a form of interaction with each other. By aware, I mean each person involved in the social interaction regardless of how the interaction takes place, knows that the other person exists and understands what they are doing. |
| For example, two friends writing a letter to each other is a form of social interaction. Although the two friends cannot see or hear each other, both friends are aware of each other and understand what they are trying to do. | |
| However, if someone wrote an anonymous letter to a friend, it would not be a social interaction. Although there are two people involved with the letter, only one person is aware who is involved while the other person is left unaware. |
| P: | Okay! Today we’re going to look at the topic of invention. In the long history of humans, thousands of inventions and innovations have been created. And they always have an impact on our day to day life. But, no matter which invention we’re talking about, it was created in only one of two ways, intentionally or accidentally. |
| Intentional discoveries have given birth to the majority of all great inventions. The light bulb, for example. Before it was invented, people had to use candles or gas, for light; obviously not the safest solutions. So, as soon as the light bulb was invented, it became extremely popular, because it was safer and much more convenient. Intentional discoveries are intended to solve a problem. | |
| Now, as opposed to the intentional invention, half of all inventions happen by accident. People invent new things when they’re not trying to invent anything at all, or when trying to create something quite different. Understand? For example, Coca-Cola. Confederate Colonel, John Pemberton, originally created it as a tonic for nerves, and it was first sold as a pain-reducing medicine. Interesting, right? | |
| So, you can see that accidental inventions are often not the final product, or breakthrough, the inventor was looking for. The discovery of X-rays, is another example. Wilhelm Roentgen, the scientist who discovered x-rays, had no idea what his discovery meant, or how to use this new radiation. The discovery was an accidental result of other work that he was doing. While he did learn to use the radiation to produce medical images, it’s often left to others to come up with a use for the accidental invention. |