The official guide to the toefl ibt third edition part 28 pptx

The question you are asked when the conversation has ended has several
parts: you are asked first to describe the problem that the speakers are dis-
cussing, then to state which of the two solutions you prefer, and finally to explain
why you prefer that solution. The reasons you give for your preference can
include information provided by the speakers in their discussion as well as your
own experiences. For example, if your own experience with a similar or related
problem is relevant to your choice of one solution over the other, you may draw
on that experience when explaining your reasons. Here, as in other Speaking
tasks in which you are asked to choose between two alternatives and give reasons
for your choice, it does not matter which of the two proposed solutions you
choose, and there is no “right” solution or “wrong” solution. Your response will
be rated not on which solution you choose but rather on how well you describe
the problem, state the solution you prefer, and explain the reasons for your pref-
erence.
Tip
It is very important to practice your conversational speaking skills as often as
possible. One way of doing this might be joining an English language conversation
club. If such clubs do not exist in your area, you may want to start your own and,
if possible, invite native speakers to join in.
The types of problems discussed by the speakers in these conversations will
vary. The problem could be that one of the speakers needs to arrange transporta-
tion for a class field trip and does not know whom to ask. Or the problem could
be that a student has a doctor’s appointment scheduled at the same time as a
meeting with job recruiters. Another could be about a student who is not getting
along with other members of his or her study group. In the following sample
question, the speakers are discussing a problem that you may find very familiar:
too much schoolwork and not enough time to do it.
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Example
The following example shows how you would hear and see this task on your com-

puter:
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You will hear:
Narrator
In this question, you will listen to a conversation. You will then be asked to talk about
the information in the conversation and to give your opinion about the ideas pre-
sented. After you hear the question, you will have 20 seconds to prepare your
response and 60 seconds to speak.
Then a picture of two students will appear on the screen.
Then you will hear the conversation:
Man
Hey Lisa, how’s it going?
Woman
Hi Mark. Uh, I’m OK, I guess, but my schoolwork is really stressing me out.
Man
[sympathetically]
Yeah? What’s wrong?
Woman
Well, I’ve got a paper to write and two exams to study for. And a bunch of math prob-
lems to finish. It’s just so much that I can’t concentrate on any of it. I start concentrat-
ing on studying for one of my exams, and then I’m like, how long’s it gonna take to
finish that problem set?
Man
Wow. Sounds like you’ve got a lot more work than you can handle right now.
[Not
wanting to sound too pushy]
Look, have you talked to some of your professors . . .
mean, you know, try to explain the problem. Look, you could probably get an exten-
sion on your paper, or on the math assignment . . .

Woman
You think? It would give me a little more time to prepare for my exams right now.
Man
Well, I mean another thing that you might do . . . I mean have you tried making your-
self a schedule? I mean that’s what I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
Woman
What does that do for you?
Man
Well, I mean it helps you to focus your energies. You know, you make yourself a chart
that shows the next few days and the time till your stuff is due and . . .
Woman
Uh-huh . . .
[meaning “I’m listening”]
Man
I mean think about what you need to do and when you have to do it by. You know then
start filling in your schedule—like, all right 9:00 [nine] to 11:30 [eleven-thirty] A.M.,
study for exam. 12:00 [twelve] to 3:00 [three], work on problem set. But I mean don’t
make the time periods too long. Like, don’t put in eight hours of studying—you know,
you’ll get tired, or start worrying about your other work again. But if you keep to your
schedule, you know you’ll just have to worry about one thing at a time.
Woman
Yeah, that might work.
[somewhat noncommittally]
When the conversation has ended, the picture of the two students will be replaced
by a screen instructing you to get ready to answer the question. Then the ques-
tion will appear on the screen and will be read aloud by the narrator.
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5. The students discuss two possible solutions to the woman’s problem. Describe
the problem. Then state which of the two solutions you prefer and explain why.

Preparation Time: 20 Seconds
Response Time: 60 Seconds
After you hear the question, you will be told when to begin to prepare your
response and when to begin speaking. A “Preparation Time” clock will appear
below the question and begin to count down from 20 seconds (00:00:20). At the
end of 20 seconds you will hear a short beep. After the beep, the clock will change
to read “Response Time” and will begin to count down from 60 seconds
(00:00:60). When the response time has ended, recording will stop and a new
screen will appear alerting you that the response time has ended.
To answer this question, you should begin by briefly describing the woman’s
problem, giving just enough details so that someone listening to your response
but who has not heard the conversation would know what you are talking about.
Then you would state which solution you prefer and explain why. If you believe
the second solution is preferable, you would probably begin by saying that you
think it would be better if the woman prepared a schedule, and then you would
proceed to explain why. There are many possible reasons you can give: you might
say, for example, that the problem of too much work to do is something that the
woman is going to confront in the future as well, and that if she learns how to
organize a schedule now, this will help her throughout her academic career. You
could also speak about the disadvantages of the other solution: for example, even
though her professors might be willing to give her an extension, they might some-
how penalize her for it by grading her assignments more severely. If your own
personal experiences are relevant to your reasons for choosing one solution over
the other, you may wish to mention those experiences, but you should keep in
mind that the focus of the question is the problem faced by the speaker or speak-
ers, not your own situation. Remember, too, a question like this can be answered
in many different ways, and there is no “right” or “wrong” choice.
Question 6
This integrated task, the last of the six Speaking tasks, is based on academic con-
tent. For this task you will first listen to a professor present a brief excerpt from

a lecture on an academic subject, and then you will be asked a question about
what you have heard. You will have 60 seconds in which to give your spoken
response.
As with Question 4 (the other Speaking task that is based on academic con-
tent), the topics for this question are drawn from a variety of fields within the life
sciences, social sciences, physical sciences, and the humanities. Here too, no
prior knowledge of any academic field in particular is required for you to under-
stand the lecture or answer the question.
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The lecture excerpt is between 60 and 90 seconds long and focuses on a single
topic. Usually the professor will begin the lecture by defining a concept, by high-
lighting an issue, or by introducing a phenomenon, and will then go on to discuss
important aspects of it or perspectives relating to it. The lecture will contain illus-
trative examples that help explain or clarify the main concept or issue. The ques-
tion you are asked after you have heard the lecture will typically ask that you
explain the main concept or issue of the lecture, using points and examples that
were given in the lecture.
The lectures can be about processes, methods, theories, ideas, or phenomena
of any type—natural, social, psychological, etc. If a lecture is about a process, the
professor might explain the process by describing some of its functions. In a lec-
ture about a theory, the professor might explain the theory by describing its appli-
cations. In a lecture about a phenomenon, the professor might explain it through
examples that illustrate its causes or its effects.
Tip
Find a textbook that includes questions about the material at the end of chapters,
etc. Practice answering the questions orally.
In the sample Question 6 given below, the lecture is about a social phenome-
non—the emergence of a national culture in the United States in the early twen-
tieth century. The professor illustrates this phenomenon by describing two of its

causes—radio and the automobile—and how they contributed to it. After you
hear the lecture, you are asked to use information from the lecture to explain
how the two causes contributed to the formation of a national culture.
Example
The following example shows how a question of this type will be presented to you
on your computer.
First you will hear the narrator say this:
Narrator
In this question, you will listen to part of a lecture. You will then be asked to summa-
rize important information from the lecture. After you hear the question, you will have
20 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.
Then a picture of a professor standing in front of a class of students will appear on
your screen, and you will hear the narrator say:
Narrator
Now listen to part of a talk in a United States history class.
The professor will then begin the lecture.
Professor
Because the United States is such a large country, it took time for a common national
culture to emerge. One hundred years ago there was very little communication
among the different regions of the United States. One result of this lack of communi-
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cation was that people around the United States had very little in common with one
another. People in different parts of the country spoke differently, dressed differently,
and behaved differently. But connections among Americans began to increase thanks
to two technological innovations: the automobile and the radio.
Automobiles began to be mass produced in the 1920’s, which meant they became
less expensive and more widely available. Americans in small towns and rural com-
munities now had the ability to travel with ease to nearby cities. They could even take
vacations to other parts of the country. The increased mobility provided by auto-

mobiles changed people’s attitudes and created links that had not existed before. For
example, people in small towns began to adopt behaviors, clothes, and speech that
were popular in big cities or in other parts of the country.
As more Americans were purchasing cars, radio ownership was also increasing
dramatically. Americans in different regions of the country began to listen to the same
popular radio programs and musical artists. People repeated things they heard on the
radio—some phrases and speech patterns heard in songs and radio programs began
to be used by people all over the United States. People also listened to news reports
on the radio. They heard the same news throughout the country, whereas in newspa-
pers much news tended to be local. Radio brought Americans together by offering
them shared experiences and information about events around the country.
When the lecture has ended, the picture of the professor will be replaced by a
screen instructing you to get ready to answer the question. Then the question will
appear on the screen and be read aloud at the same time by the narrator.
6. Using points and examples from the talk, explain how the automobile and the
radio contributed to a common culture in the United States.
Preparation Time: 20 Seconds
Response Time: 60 Seconds
After you hear the question, you will be told when to begin preparing your
response and when to begin speaking. A “Preparation Time” clock will appear
below the question and begin to count down from 20 seconds (00:00:20). At the
end of 20 seconds you will hear a short beep. After the beep, the clock will change
to read “Response Time” and will begin to count down from 60 seconds
(00:00:60). When the response time has ended, recording will stop and a new
screen will appear alerting you that the response time has ended.
To answer this question, you might begin with a little background and men-
tion that the United States did not have a common culture 100 years ago because
people in different regions of the country did not communicate much with each
other. Then you could say that the automobile and the radio changed this situa-
tion, and go on to summarize the information from the lecture that explains how

they caused this change. For example, you could say that when automobiles
became inexpensive, people from small towns could travel easily to cities or to
other parts of the country, and that when they began to do this, they started
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acting like people from those other regions and started to dress and speak in the
same way. As for the role that radio played in the emergence of a national culture,
you could point out that when radio became popular, people from different parts
of the country began listening to the same programs and the same news reports
and began to speak alike and have similar experiences and ideas. If you have
time, you could conclude by saying that these similar ways of speaking and dress-
ing and thinking became the national culture of the United States. Remember
that you do not need to repeat all of the details provided in the lecture. There is
simply too much information in the lecture for you to do that. You should, how-
ever, convey enough information so that someone who has not heard the lecture
would be able to form a clear idea of what the professor was explaining to the
class.
Other lectures for question 6 could include topics such as how people learn,
and the central concept might be that learning occurs when two events are asso-
ciated in the brain. The professor would illustrate that concept by describing two
different ways that events can be associated in the brain, and you would be asked
to use points and examples from the lecture to explain how these two ways of
associating events result in learning. Or in a lecture about money, the professor
might provide two different definitions of the concept and illustrate them with
two examples, and you would be asked in your response to explain the two defi-
nitions, using the two examples. The question that follows a lecture like this
would typically ask you to use points and examples that you heard in the lecture
to explain how people learn or what the definitions of money are.
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