TOEFL IBT Listening Practice Test 08 From Delta’s Key TOEFL Test Solution & Explanation
Listening (p. 50)
1. D
The man needs to replace his identification card. He says Excuse me. Is this where I can get a student ID?; I need to, um, replace my old one. (2.1)
2. C
The man’s dog destroyed his student ID card. The man says I need to, um, replace my old one. You ’ll never believe it, but my dog ate it. (2.3)
3. B
The man wants to replace his student ID card. He says So, I thought I’d better get a new one so I can keep riding the bus for free. You can infer that there is no bus fare if you have a student ID. (2.4)
4. A The woman says If you want an unofficial transcript, you can use the computers in the information center to get a printout; Unofficial is free. (2.2)
5. A, D
The man wants a new student ID card, so you can predict that he will have his picture taken.
The woman says .. .you take your receipt down to the photo shop, and they ’ll take your picture and make your new card. You can also predict that the man will request an official copy of his transcript. He says I’m applying for a scholarship, so could I have the form for an official transcript? (2.4)
6. C
The professor’s purpose is to state that Wilson first proposed the theory of plate tectonics. The professor says This theory is called plate tectonics. It was first put forth in 1963 by a Canadian geophysicist by the name of Tuzo Wilson. (2.3)
7. A
The professor says Most of the world s earthquakes and volcanoes occur at plate boundaries; …because plate boundaries are where a great deal of friction and stress occur. (2.2)
8. C
The professor says This process of rock being “swallowed ’’ or forced back into the earth’s mantle is called subduction. (2.2)
9. D
The professor says …rock is melted and forced back into the mantle—at trenches. This process of rock being “swallowed” or forced back into the earth s mantle is called subduction; … lava that rises and spreads from the oceanic ridges sinks again elsewhere in subduction zones, which are nearly identical with the ocean trenches. (2.2)
10. D
The professor’s purpose is to introduce a phenomenon that he intends to explain. After the professor asks the question, he answers by saying Sea floor spreading doesn’t cause an increase in the earth s surface. And why not? Because the lava that rises and spreads from the oceanic ridges sinks again elsewhere in subduction zones, which are nearly identical with the ocean trenches. (2.3)
11. B, C
Chains of volcanic islands are associated with subduction zones: Subduction zones…are usually associated with the rows of volcanic islands that accompany the oceanic trenches. The sliding of one plate under another occurs at subduction zones: This is where a subducted plate is thought to have disappeared beneath the North American plate…. (2.2)
12. C
The main purpose of the talk is to trace the evolution of home design. Key phrases: The human habit of building homes has a long history.
Anthropologists think home building began……the first solid dwellings probably evolved; The box shape was a major development in home construction. (2.3)
13. C-A-D-B
The professor says (I) …home building began with very simple round huts… …tree branches were leaned up against one another… then the frame was covered with leaves…; (2) Round huts progressed from being temporary shelters…into stronger, more permanent structures built of stone; (3) The box shape was a major development in home construction. By making the sides of the house rectangular, and then covering the four walls with a roof…; (4) After the room came the multi-unit dwelling; the apartment house. (2.6)
14. D
The professor says By making the sides of the house rectangular, and then covering the four walls with a roof, it was possible to place structures next to one another, and to join them with doorways. Thus, the room was invented. (2.2)
15. B, C
The outer boundary still exists in the homes of today: The homes of today still contain some ancient features. Around the house itself there’s an outer perimeter—the symbolic boundary of the ancient home territory. The garden exists in the homes of today: Inside the boundary, we find… the garden, where we—like our ancestors—grow a few fruits and vegetables. (2.2)
16. B
The professor’s purpose is to explain how walls determine who may enter a room. Walls are boundaries that divide the home into public and private spaces. The professor says Each room you come to becomes more private and less available to outsiders. (2.3)
17. C
The professor implies that the rooms inside the homes of today are arranged to progress from public to private. The professor says Each room you come to becomes more private and less available to outsiders. Guests are allowed to enter the living room. Closer friends can go farther; …somewhere less accessible in our home—this is where we find the bedrooms and bathrooms, the most private rooms of our home. (2.4)
18. C
The students mainly discuss a major epidemic of influenza. The woman says OK, so we ’re going to look at the influenza epidemic of 1918 and, uh, probably its effects, like how many people got the flu. (2.1)
19. C
The woman mentions her great-grandfather because he was affected by the 1918 epidemic. The woman says My great-grandfather could remember the flu epidemic. He was born in 1910, so he was eight years old at the time. He remembered that there were a lot of funerals. His baby sister and his best friend died of the flu, and that made an impression on him. (2.3)
20. B
The man says What I found out was, it was the army that first noticed large numbers of men getting sick, and it was the army that first started reporting statistics about how many people were affected. (2.2)
21. A, D
You can predict that the students will include statistics on other major disease epidemics.
The man says I wonder how the flu statistics compare with the statistics for other major epidemics, you know, like AIDS and tuberculosis or other flu epidemics. The woman replies I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out.
That might be good to include in our report. You can also predict that they will include the connection between World War I and influenza. The man says I think we should also talk about the connection between the flu and World War I. The woman replies I like what you re saying about focusing on the war and the global aspects. (2.4)
22. B
The students agree to meet again to discuss their research. The woman says Why don’t we meet again and talk about what we have? Can you meet again on Thursday? The man replies .. .yeah, sure, that’s fine with me. (2.2)
23. B
The class mainly discusses the regulation of business by government. The professor says The economic role of the government has grown tremendously over the past century, as more and more corporate activities have come under regulation; These are all reasons why we have government regulation of business; …a whole set of industries has come under government regulation…. (2.1)
24. C
The students’ purpose is to give reasons why governments regulate corporations. The professor asks The economic role of the government has grown tremendously over the past century, as more and more corporate activities have come under regidation. Why has this happened? The students respond to the professor’s question. (2.3)
25. A, C
Governments influence economic activity through taxation and spending: Taxes encourage or discourage certain kinds of economic activity; Government spending— the government gives business incentives to produce certain goods or services;
Governments intervene in economic activity through taxation and spending. (2.2)
26. D
The professor’s purpose is to explain the origins of government regulation. Key phrases: Beginning in the late 1800s…; The government started to use its power…; One of the first things the government did…. (2.3)
27. B
The professor says There are a number of laws regulating food and cosmetics; …laws that protect all of society… regulations for air and water pollution, and for storage and disposal of hazardous materials like nuclear waste; …safety standards for automobiles and consumer products…; All of these are forms of social regulation. (2.2)
28. A
The professor says The general public has come to accept—and even expect—these limits on capitalism. You can infer that many people agree that the government should regulate business. (2.4)
29. D
The professor compares cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle. The professor says …skeletal muscle controls body movements, and cardiac muscle controls the body s blood flow. Skeletal muscle is found throughout the body, but cardiac muscle is found only in one place—the heart; Like skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle is striated; Cardiac muscle cells can generate impulses without any input from the nervous system. In contrast to this, skeletal muscles don’t contract unless the nervous system tells them to. (2.1)