TOEFL

Sub Topics

TOEFL Listening Section Conversation Strategies TOEFL Listening Practice Conversations TOEFL Listening Section Lecture Strategies TOEFL Listening Practice Lectures Listening For Tone Attitude Transitions And Signal Words in Listening Listening For Agreement Disagreement Listening For Intonation Cues Listening For The Main Point Listening to Accented English TOEFL Listening Practice Listening For Basic Comprehension TOEFL Listening Practice Listening For Pragmatic Understanding TOEFL Listening Practice Connecting Synthesizing Information The Four Stages of The Listening Process Critical Listening Thinking Evaluating Others' Speeches Improving Your Note-Taking Skills Strategies For Mapping a Speech

Main Topics

Lessons and MCQs

Select Test Select Question Types

TOEFL: Structure of The TOEFL Listening Section
TOEFL Listening Practice Conversations

Are you struggling with the conversations on the TOEFL listening section? In this lesson, you'll get some strategy tips and practice questions for these passages.

TOEFL Listening Practice Conversations

TOEFL Conversations

On the TOEFL, about one-third of the questions you get will be about conversation passages. On these passages, you'll listen to a conversation that might happen in an English-speaking academic environment. For example, it might be set in the library, at a professor's office hours, or at an administrative office. You'll get two to three conversations, each followed by five questions. There are three question types:

Listening for basic comprehension questions ask you about basic facts from the passage.
Listening for pragmatic understanding questions ask you to understand a speaker's attitude or purpose.
Connecting and synthesizing information questions ask you to make connections and inferences based on the big-picture organization of the passage.

In this lesson, you'll practice all three types of questions on a sample conversation passage. Just to start you off with a few strategy tips before you dive into the passage:

Take notes - You're allowed scratch paper on the test. Go get some now if you don't have any with you. Write down key names, people, and main points, not every word of the passage.
Pay attention to who says what - It might help to divide your notepaper in two, to make a chart so you can easily separate the speakers.
Think big picture - Don't worry about every single word; it's more important to understand what's happening in the passage as a whole.

The Passage

passage

Now for the practice questions! Here's the passage to start you off:

STUDENT: Good morning, Professor. I'm here to talk about my paper.

PROFESSOR: Oh, yes. What's giving you trouble with it? You're doing so well in class…

STUDENT: Well, um. I'd like to ask for an extension on the due date because I had it on my laptop, but then my roommate spilled his drink on the computer and it just - it won't turn on, and so now I have to write everything over again. I don't think I can get it done by this evening.

PROFESSOR: Hmm, and you didn't have it backed up anywhere else?

STUDENT: I know I should have. I feel really dumb.

PROFESSOR: Have you gone to the tech support desk at the library?

STUDENT: No. What's that?

PROFESSOR: It's a - a walk-in service to help students with computer problems. They might be able to help you get your files off the computer, even if it won't turn on.

STUDENT: Oh, that would be wonderful. Thanks so much. I'll go right now and see if they can help me.

PROFESSOR: Good. Do that, and if they still can't help you, come back and we'll talk about an extension.

STUDENT: Thank you!

Questions

Question1:

1. Why is the student asking for an extension?

The laptop where he saved his paper is broken.
He works at the tech support desk at the library.
He doesn't understand the class material.
His roommate told him his paper needed a lot of work.

Explanation:

The Correct Answer:A This is a listening for basic comprehension question because it just asks you about a fact in the passage..

Question: 2

Listen to the following two lines again: PROFESSOR: Hmm, and you didn't have it backed up anywhere else? STUDENT: I know I should have. I feel really dumb. When the student says 'I know I should have,' what is he implying?

He had another backup, but the roommate destroyed it as well.
He had another backup somewhere else.
He did not back up the essay anywhere else.
He didn't know he could back up his essay.

Explanation:

The Correct Answer:C This is a listening for pragmatic understanding question because it asks you to infer something about the purpose or function of a statement. When the student says 'I know I should have,' he's implying that he didn't actually do it.

Question:3

3. How does the professor end up helping the student?

By giving him the extension he asks for.
By directing him to a service that can help him fix his laptop.
The professor does not end up helping the student.
By repairing his broken laptop.

Explanation:

The Correct Answer: BThis is another listening for basic comprehension question: it asks you to recall a fact from the passage. The professor directs the student to the tech support at the library, where he suggests that the student will be able to get some help with his broken laptop.

Question:4

4. What are the professor and the student mainly discussing?

The student's request for an extension.
The topic of the student's paper.
Sources that the student might use for his paper.
Different computer resources available on campus.

Explanation:

The Correct Answer:A This is a connecting and synthesizing information question, since it asks you to understand the passage as a whole. Everything in this passage revolves around the student's request for an extension. They don't discuss the topic or sources of the paper at all, and the tech support desk is only relevant because it might prevent the student from needing an extension.