In this question, you'll first read a short text. The text will go away and you will then listen to a talk on the same topic. You will then be asked a question about what you have read and heard. You'll have 30 seconds to prepare your answer and 60 seconds to speak.
You may take notes while you read and while you listen to the conversations and lectures. You may use your notes to help prepare your response.
We recommend you practice taking notes with a pen and paper like you will during your TOEFL exam.
Read the following passage
The Chemistry Department is planning to award scholarships to students who have received an average grade of 90% or above. We have found there to be a serious need for well-educated chemistry students and the current pool of chemists is highly lacking. By awarding these scholarships, it will allow future chemists to get a better handle on their tuition costs as well as encourage students to study harder in class. After the recent audit, we have found there to be plenty of funds for this department and we feel this is the best place to use them. Considering this school spends most of its funds on the Sports Department, we want to get students more interested in chemistry and we feel this is the best place to start.
Start preparing now
You have 60 seconds to record your answer. Click the record button to begin.
The Chemistry Department is planning to award scholarships to students who have received an average grade of 90% or above. We have found there to be a serious need for well-educated chemistry students and the current pool of chemists is highly lacking. By awarding these scholarships, it will allow future chemists to get a better handle on their tuition costs as well as encourage students to study harder in class. After the recent audit, we have found there to be plenty of funds for this department and we feel this is the best place to use them. Considering this school spends most of its funds on the Sports Department, we want to get students more interested in chemistry and we feel this is the best place to start.
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library_books Audio Script
Female: This is a bad move from the Chemistry Department. I can’t believe they are going to spend school funding like this.
Male: Why would you say that?
Female: Have you seen the outdated equipment in the Chemistry Department? Most of it is older than I am. If the department has so much extra money, they should spend it on updating the chemistry equipment before pushing for more students. I mean, think about it! Most companies use updated equipment, so how do they expect us to compete for positions when we’re accustomed to using outdated equipment? We’re going to be at a disadvantage.
Male: Yea, you’re right. I never thought about that. We will need to know how to use the latest equipment in the Chemistry field for our future careers.
Female: Exactly! Also, I think they should consider spending money on current students who are actually working hard and not try to lure in potential students. I know a lot of my friends are studying hard. Even though they are not getting an average grade of 90%, they are still getting good grades in Chemistry. I think the Chemistry department should award them, like giving them a bonus or something.
Male: That’s true! You make a good point. It would be great if my hard work was rewarded.
The woman expresses her opinion about the announcement. State her opinion and explain the reasons that she gives for holding that opinion.
The woman does not think the chemistry department’s plan to award scholarships to students who have received an average grade of 90% or above is a good idea. She makes a point to say that the current items on hand in the Chemistry lab are very outdated. The use of outdated equipment hurts the students because it doesn’t allow for them to understand or use the latest equipment being used currently in the Chemistry field. She also thinks that the department should spend the money on current students who are working hard and reward them for the hard work and their dedication to the department instead of trying to lure in potential students and spending money on them. For these two reasons, she is not in agreement with this campus announcement. She feels the funds need to be used in the current lab considering its condition or used to reward current hard-working students.
Grammar & Vocabulary Training Exercise
(This exercise trains your speech, listening skills, and speaking comprehension)
Listen to your response and write out exactly what you hear including grammar and spelling mistakes. Use Grammarly to find any common and intermediate level mistakes.
Re-write your response to use correct grammar and spelling and improve the structure then redo the test.
Sample Answer
Pronunciation Training Exercise
(This exercise trains your pronunciation, speech rhythm, timing, and reading)
Click the record button and read out load a Sample Answer Script:. As you speak, your speech will be translated to text. It can take 5 seconds before the text appears, so don't worry and keep speaking.
Click the record button to stop recording; Review the text for any pronunciation errors.
Sample Answer Script:
The woman does not think the chemistry department’s plan to award scholarships to students who have received an average grade of 90% or above is a good idea. She makes a point to say that the current items on hand in the Chemistry lab are very outdated. The use of outdated equipment hurts the students because it doesn’t allow for them to understand or use the latest equipment being used currently in the Chemistry field. She also thinks that the department should spend the money on current students who are working hard and reward them for the hard work and their dedication to the department instead of trying to lure in potential students and spending money on them. For these two reasons, she is not in agreement with this campus announcement. She feels the funds need to be used in the current lab considering its condition or used to reward current hard-working students.
Video Answer Explanation
Answer structure
Next, you will hear a conversation between two students discussing their opinions on the passage you just read.
Remember to take notes while you read the passage and listen to the conversation.
Finally, you will answer a question based on the passage and conversation. The question will ask you to state a specific student's opinion and explain the reasons he or she gives for having that opinion.
You will have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.
Here is the structure we recommend you to use:
1. Summarize the main point of the reading passage and state the student’s opinion.
2. Present the first reason of the student and then the second reason of the student.
3. If you still have time, restate the student’s opinion again as a conclusion.
A format for the 60 seconds speech:
- 15 seconds - state the student’s opinion and summarize the main point of the reading passage
- 20 seconds -Present the first reason of the student
- 20 seconds - Present the second reason of the student
- 5 seconds - Restate the student’s opinion again as a conclusion.
Answer template
| Agree | Disagree |
|
The man/girl agrees with the announcement/letter/article, which is about ______
There are two reasons why the man/girl supports the announcement/letter/article. One reason is that ______ Another reason is that ________ Therefore, these reasons are why the man/girl believes that _____ is a good idea. |
The man/girl disagrees with the announcement/letter/article, which is about ______
There are two reasons why the man/girl opposes the announcement/letter/article. One reason is that _____ Another reason is that _______ Therefore, these reasons are why the man/girl believes that _____ is not a good idea. |
High Scoring Answer Analysis
This question requires you to integrate all three skills: reading, listening and speaking at once. You will have 50 seconds to read a short announcement about a campus issue. Normally for this question, it won’t be a lecture or anything too technical or academic. It will be a daily life or on-campus issue. After reading the announcement, you will get to listen to a short conversation between two people voicing their opinion about the announcement in the reading. You need to gather information from both the reading and the conversation to form a 60 seconds speech. Let’s look at an example for this question.
Example:
Read the following passage
Over the last few months, the school received many complaints about the lack of dining areas in the library. We have decided to build a new coffee shop in the library's bottom floor, where students, faculties, and visitors will be able to relax and dine. With a full service of coffee and dining areas, the new coffee shop will be opened from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, with aims of meeting the dining needs of students, as well as faculties.
Audio script
Boy: Oh Boy! I could use a coffee right about now. You know it would be nice if there was a closer coffee shop to the library.
Girl: Actually, you are in luck, the school is adding a new coffee shop in the library.
Boy: Really! That is great!
Girl: I do not feel the same way about it. I have learned many interesting aspects about food during the last year in my health food course. I took some time to study the coffee shops food supply, and found out that a lot of the food has preservatives in it.
Boy: Well. It is a good thing that I don't buy food from coffee shops then.
Girl: Yea. I am also worried that the library will become a new student hang out instead of a study area. I don't think it is appropriate to have food in the library.
Boy: then where should students go?
Girl: Students can go anywhere else.
The woman expresses her opinion about the announcement. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.
Answer:
The boy and the girl, in their conversation, disagree with each other. The boy thinks it is a good idea to build the new coffee shop in the library. He would like to have a coffee shop in the library, but the girl does not agree. She does not want a coffee shop in the library because of two reasons. Firstly, she has taken a health food course and done some research about the school coffee shops’ food. She found out that those food contain many preservatives. The boy still thinks the coffee is a good idea because he does not buy food from the school coffee shops. Secondly, the girl thinks that a library should be a place to study. Having a coffee shop inside may make the library become a new hangout place and distract the students. The boy questions her back about if that is the case then where the students can go. So, the boy supports the idea of the new coffee shop but the girl does not.
Analysis and comments
This is a good response to this question
- The speech starts off with a short introduction of the announcement and presents the discussed issue.
- The girl’s point of view towards the announcement is stated clear near the beginning of the speech. That will give the people who listen to the speech an idea about what idea the rest of the speech will defend.
- The speech does not only list out the reasons but also provides all necessary information from the conversation to support the reasons further. Include as much reasoning from the conversation into your speech as possible. The more information included, the better the reasons are explained and the more convincing the speech will be.
- Before presenting a reason, the speaker says ‘the first reason,’ and ‘the second reason.’ Numbering the main points is a good way for listeners to keep track and know what to expect from the speech. Also, numbering the reasons tells the examiners that you don’t forget any reasons you should mention.
- There is a good conclusion. Having a conclusion is good. Having a good, on point conclusion is even better. The conclusion of the speech just needs to be one sentence very quickly answers the prompt again. In this case, the prompt asks for the girl’s opinion towards the announcement and the conclusion restates that she disagrees with the announced matter.
Low Scoring Answer Analysis
This question requires you to integrate all three skills: reading, listening and speaking at once. You will have 50 seconds to read a short announcement about a campus issue. Normally for this question, it won’t be a lecture or anything too technical or academic. It will be a daily life or on-campus issue. After reading the announcement, you will get to listen to a short conversation between two people voicing their opinion about the announcement in the reading. You need to gather information from both the reading and the conversation to form a 60 seconds speech. Let’s look at an example for this question.
Example:
Read the following passage
Over the last few months, the school received many complaints about the lack of dining areas in the library. We have decided to build a new coffee shop in the library's bottom floor, where students, faculties, and visitors will be able to relax and dine. With a full service of coffee and dining areas, the new coffee shop will be opened from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, with aims of meeting the dining needs of students, as well as faculties.
Audio script
Boy: Oh Boy! I could use a coffee right about now. You know it would be nice if there was a closer coffee shop to the library.
Girl: Actually, you are in luck, the school is adding a new coffee shop in the library.
Boy: Really! That is great!
Girl: I do not feel the same way about it. I have learned many interesting aspects about food during the last year in my health food course. I took some time to study the coffee shops food supply, and found out that a lot of the food has preservatives in it.
Boy: Well. It is a good thing that I don't buy food from coffee shops then.
Girl: Yea. I am also worried that the library will become a new student hang out instead of a study area. I don't think it is appropriate to have food in the library.
Boy: then where should students go?
Girl: Students can go anywhere else.
The woman expresses her opinion about the announcement. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.
Answer:
The boy and the girl, in their conversation, disagree with each other. The boy thinks it is a good idea to build the new coffee shop in the library. He would like to have a coffee shop in the library, but the girl does not agree. She does not want a coffee shop in the library because of two reasons. Firstly, she has taken a health food course and done some research about the school coffee shops’ food. She found out that those food contain many preservatives. The boy still thinks the coffee is a good idea because he does not buy food from the school coffee shops. Secondly, the girl thinks that a library should be a place to study. Having a coffee shop inside may make the library become a new hangout place and distract the students. The boy questions her back about if that is the case then where the students can go. So, the boy supports the idea of the new coffee shop but the girl does not.
Analysis and comments
Wrong things
- The speech should begin with a sentence introducing the announcement in the reading. This speech starts off with an introduction of the conversation instead. It is fine if the speaker wants to describe the content of the conversation. However, the conversation cannot be the only thing that is introduced in the beginning. The content of the conversation can be included only if it comes together with the introduction of the reading announcement. The announcement in the reading provides important background knowledge for people who listen to the speech. Even if you don’t want to have the introduction of the reading announcement, at least describe the situation of the announcement talks about first thing in your speech.
- The biggest problem with this speech is that it talks about both the boy and girl’s opinions while the question only asks for the girl’s opinions. You need to read the question carefully before preparing your speech so that you won’t mention unnecessary information and waste speaking time. Only talk about the opinions of the person the prompt asks and completely ignores other people’s opinions in the conversation.
- The conclusion of the speech talks about the disagreement towards the matter between the boy and girl. The question does not ask for that. The conclusion sentence should just be a simple sentence about how the presented reasons are why she does not like the school’s coffee shop plan.
Right things
- This speech does a good job at stating clearly the girl’s point of view towards the discussed matter right near the beginning of the speech. She disagrees with the school’s plan to build a coffee shop in the library.
- The girl’s opinions are presented in a very organized manner in this speech. It starts off with stating outright that she dislikes the announced matter because of two reasons. Then before introducing each reason, the speaker says ‘firstly’ and ‘secondly.' That helps the speech organized, logical and easy to follow.
- There is a conclusion. Even though as said earlier, the content of the conclusion is not correct, having a short conclusion is very good for the speech. This speech has an attempt to include a conclusion.