Tài liệu Cracking the Toefl IBT 2009 edition part 36 docx

Template #3: Summarize an Opinion Question “The third type of task requires you to read a brief passage and listen to a conversation about it.. Now listen to the following conversati

Trang 1

Describe your favorite hobby, and explain why you enjoy it Use

details and examples to support your point

State personal preference

Reason #1

Specific detail for reason #1

Reason #2

Reason #3

Practice using this template on your own Think of your favorite food, color, ar-

ticle of clothing, activity, and so on, and try to provide reasons and details as to

why they are your favorites Don't forget to use transitions

Cracking the Speaking Section | 353

Trang 2

354 | Cracking the TOEFL iBT

Template #2: Choose an Option Question

“The second type of task on the TOEFL presents you with two options You'll have

to decide which one is best and support your decision Here's an example

Some universities give financial aid in the form of grants, which don't have to be paid back, whereas others provide financial assistance in the form of loans, which must be paid back Which option do you think is better and why? Support your decision with reasons and examples

Here's the template we'll use

State option | think it is better to offer students’ loans

dent responsible,

A student who has to pay back a loan

Specific detail for reason #1 | becomes personally responsible for his or

her education

Reason #2 Furthermore, loans are safer for the

school

Grants require the school to give away

large amounts of money, and there is no

guarantee that the school will get the money back

Lastly, a student with a loan is probably more likely to stay in school

Reason #3

If the student doesn't complete the Specific detail for reason #3 | degree, it wll be harder to pay back the

money

‘Try out this template As before, keep track of your time Give yourself 15 seconds

to prepare and 45 seconds to respond

‘Some people believe that universities should require students to take classes on ethics, whereas others believe a school should focus only on academic issues Which do you think is better?

‘Support your decision with reasons and examples.

Trang 3

State option

Reason #1

Reason #2

Reason #3

You can try out this template on your own as well Newspaper editorial pages of-

ten present two sides of an issue Also, political issues are good practice

Template #3: Summarize an Opinion Question

“The third type of task requires you to read a brief passage and listen to a conversa-

tion about it You'll then have to summarize the opinion or position given in the

conversation This task is different from the first two in that it has both reading

and listening elements

While reading the passage, you most likely won't need to take notes ‘The passage

will usually discuss some sort of campus life issue While listening to the conver-

sation, pay attention to the speaker's opinion or attitude about the reading You

should pay particular attention co the reasons the speaker gives for his or her posi-

tion Write them down if you can

Here's an example

Read the following announcement from the university president:

Due to recent budget constraints, the university has decided

to close the computer labs during weekends and reduce their

operating hours during the week from 8:00 A.w to 10:00 pm to

9:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m These changes are necessary in order to

compensate for an unexpected budget shortfall Without these

cutbacks, the schoo! would be forced to reduce service in other

important areas, such as the library and the cafeteria

Now listen to two students discuss the announcement

Cracking the Speaking Section

Trang 4

Woman: Did you hear the announcement? They're cutting back the

computer lab hours!

Man: Yeah, but i's better that they cut down there than at the library or the cafeteria

W: Maybe for you, but | don't have a computer | use the

computer lab a lot Plus, | need to have access to a

computer for my economics class

M: Well, they'll still be open during the week

W: 1 know But | get most of my work done during the weekend The labs are usually empty then They'll

probably be filled with students now It's going to make it

really hard for me to get all my class work done

M: Hmm | didn't really think of that

‘The woman offers her opinion of the announcement State what her opinion is and what reasons she gives for having that view

Here's the template for our response

‘The woman believes that the decision to

State opinion reduce the hours of the computer lab is a

bad idea

she needs a computer for her class work

The woman states that she doesn't have Details for reason #1 a computer and that some of her classes

require her to use one

Also, the woman claims it will be harder to

Re Vượt #2 complete all of her work

According to the woman, the best time to

do work is on the weekende, Now she fears

‘that the labs will be too full during the week

As you can see, all you have to do is basically repeat the reasons given by the speaker You won't be required to do anything else Now, it’s your turn to try the template with the following example Give yourself 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to respond

Trang 5

Read the following announcement from the president of a

university:

Effective immediately, the university is instituting a new policy on

off-campus visitors Any guests are now required to register with

campus security and obtain a guest pass which must be worn at all

times This new policy is necessary in order to keep all the students

safe and to increase campus safety's knowledge of who is on

campus

Now listen to the following conversation about the announcement:

Man: | think the university's new policy is great

Woman: Really? | think it's going to be annoying | have some

friends visiting, and they're going to have to spend all this

time registering And what if they lose their passes?

M: True But that's a minor inconvenience It's worth it if

the campus is safer Remember that vandalism that

took place at the library was done by someone from off-

campus

W: | still think the school is overreacting One bad thing

happens, and they go and change the policy

M: No, there have been other incidents A couple months

ago, there were some things stolen from one of the dorms

And the students reported seeing a suspicious figure

W: | guess you're right

The man gives his opinion on the announcement State the man's

opinion and provide the reasons he gives for holding it

Cracking the Speaking Section 387

Trang 6

388 | Cracking the TOEFL i8T

State opinion

Reason #1

Details for reason #1

Reason #2

Detail for reason #2

Template #4: Summarize/Contrast Question

“The fourth template involves your response to a reading and an academic lecture

“The goal of this task is to show how the lecture relates to or contrasts with the reading Both the lecture and the reading will present some characteristics of a given topic While reading the passage, write down the characteristics mentioned—typi- cally there will be three to five of them While listening to the lecture, listen for the characteristics and jot them down if you can Think about how the characteristics

in the lecture agree or disagree with the information in the reading

Here's a sample

Read the following passage about captive breeding Both environmentalists and animal rights activists consider captive breeding a solution to the threat of extinction of certain endangered

species In captive breeding, endangered animals are caught

and bred, and the offspring is then released back into the wild Unfortunately, the results of this program have been mixed, In many

cases, the animals that are released back into the wild are unable

to survive The time spent in human captivity makes it more difficult

for them to acquire food and to fit in with other members of their

species Now listen to a professor lecture about the same topic

Okay, so we've been talking about some problems faced by biologists when they try to reintroduce species into the wild As we've um ah, talked about, sometimes the animals aren't ready

or able to go t0 fit into their native habitats But there have been some new strategies used which seem to be, uh, working out For example, biologists recently reintroduced four lynx—you guys know what a lynx is, right?—into the wild The first time they tried it, the cats died of starvation—they didn't know how or where to hunt

Trang 7

This time, they kept the animals longer and let them mature They

also forced the animals to hunt for food instead of giving them the

food directly And finally, they kept the lynx together in a big pen so

they know how to get along with other members of their species

‘The professor describes the results of a captive breeding

experiment Explain how the results of the experiment relate to the

reading on the topic

For this response, we need to combine information from the lecture and the read-

ing, so our template will be a little different Here's how we'll do it

Main response The experiment with the lynx shows that

captive breeding can be succeseful

‘One problem with captive breeding, Characteristic #1 from according to the reading, is that animals

into the wild

But the scientists were able to success- Detail #1 from lecture fully reintroduce the lynx into the wild

Characteristic #2 from The coniaang stares Ses # rs ri

However, for the experiment, biologists Detail #2 from lecture firet taught the animals how to hunt: be-

fore releasing them

‘Another problem in the reading is that the

acetie #5 hom animals don't know how to interact with

Scientists were able to get around this, Detail #3 from lecture however, by keeping the lynx together in a

group

For this type of question, it’s acceptable if you run out of time before you list all of

the characteristics Your goal while speaking is to be as clear as possible, so don't

rush through the details because it may make you harder to understand

Try the template for the following example You have 30 seconds to prepare and

60 seconds to respond

Read the following passage about methane:

Methane is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs naturally as a

result of the decomposition of plant and animal matters Methane is

a hydrocarbon like coal and oil, and it's all that remains of

Trang 8

long-dead plants, dinosaurs, and other prehistoric animals

Although methane can be produced by volcanic activity, scientists

usually connect the presence of methane with the presence of biological life Many microorganisms excrete methane as a waste product, and scientists often infer the presence of these creatures

by measuring the amount of methane in the air

Now listen to a professor give a talk about the same topic

So, there's been some interesting news for those of you who dream

of life on other planets It tums out that Mars has a pretty high concentration of methane in its atmosphere Now, usually when we think of life, we associate it with oxygen, right? But that’s because

we're kind of prejudiced A whole host of creatures need no oxygen

whatsoever

The reason that this is important is that it looks like Mars has very little geologic activity Methane can be produced without life, but as

far as we know, there are no active volcanoes on Mars Plus, here's

another interesting point—methane only lasts about 300 years in the atmosphere So that means the methane we're seeing now is fairly new and it's being replenished somehow

The professor presents some facts about Mars Explain how these facts may indicate life

Main response

Characteristic #1 from

reading

Detail #1 from lecture

reading

Trang 9

Template #5: Summarize/Preference Question

“The fifth type of task asks you to listen to a conversation, usually about a problem

After listening, you'll have to summarize the problem and any solutions offered

and state your preference As you're listening, pay attention to the problem and the

solutions offered Here’s an example

Listen to a conversation between two students

Man: It looks like I've got a big problem on my hands,

Woman: Yeah? What's wrong?

classes, and two of them are really demanding | have two

really big projects due, and | don't think | can do both of

them

W: Oh no It really sounds like you've got a lot of stuff on your

plate Have you talked to your professors yet?

M: No | don't see how that would help

W Well, you could ask for an extension Last semester, |

asked Professor Miller for an extension on my psychology

project She was really nice about it and gave me two

more weeks to finish it

M: Hmm | could do that But | can't take extensions forever

The fact is that | still have a lot of work to do for these

classes

W: | guess But it could help you open up your schedule for

Now so you're not so stressed out, you know?

M: Right

W: Of course, there is one other option—but it's kind of

drastic You could drop one of the classes and take it next

semester It's still early enough to do it

M: That could work, but I really didn’t want to think about it

But | may have to

The students discuss two possible solutions to the problem

Describe the problem and state which of the two solutions you

Trang 10

“The important thing for this task is that you are able to list the solutions to the problem There is no “right” or “wrong” answer, so when it comes time to state your preference, just pick whatever solution is easier for you to talk about Here's the template, with the summarizing and preference terms shown in boldface

The man’s problem is that: he has two proj- robl

His friend offers two possible solutions

State the solutions He can ask for an extension, or he can

drop the class

| think asking for an extension is a better

solution

the class is too drastic

It seems silly to drop the entire class just

Detail fe Di a because of one conflict,

| also think an extension is better because Reason #2 ‘the professor will probably give the stu-

dent one

The woman told of a similar situation, and

Detail for reason #2 she was able to get an extension

Now try the template on the following example; you have 20 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to respond

Listen to a conversation between two students

Woman: Did you hear about the school’s new parking policy? t's

going to be a problem

Man: No | don't drive So what's the deal with it?

W: Well, they changed the rules so that freshmen have to

park all the way down near the athletic center That's so far away!

M: Why did they do that?

W: | don't know | think because the seniors have complained that there's not enough parking on the main campus All|

know is that i's going to be a big inconvenience for me M: Is there anywhere else you can park? | mean, the athletic center is pretty far Maybe you can park off campus

362 | Cracking the TOEFL i8T

Định dạng
Số trang	10
Dung lượng	729,01 KB