Question Type 1:

Directions: You will now be asked to speak about a familiar topic. Give yourself 15

seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking for 45 seconds.

People enjoy reading many different types of books such as mystery, biography,

romance, etc. Of all the different types of books that there are, what type do you

most enjoy? Explain why.

Preparation Time: 15 Seconds

Response Time: 45 seconds

Important Points:

When you respond to this item, you should choose one type or genre of book and

explain why you like it so much, or why you enjoy it more than the other types of

books. In your response, you should give and discuss at least one reason to help

explain why you like that type of book. It is OK to give more than one reason for

why you like a certain type of book, but you should be careful not to only state a list

of reasons without providing any explanations or details to support the reasons.

Rather, a good approach is to try to focus on one reason and discuss it in detail. To

support your reason, you could talk about a specific book, an experience with a

certain type of book, or some other experience or story that explains why you like

that type of book.

Transcript of Response:

I like reading biography books the most, there’re two reasons for it. First, uh, we can
learn some pretty good productivity hacks from these books. Like I have read about Jerry
Seinfeld where he uses the Seinfeld strategy, which is to at least write something daily, be
it good, bad, but he used to write daily. Uh, second reason would be, you can find the
right motivation. Um, like, as in the case when things are going down south for you, you
can keep pushing for your dreams, you can keep on pursuing it, and, things will do go
right, like in the case of Google founders, um, Larry Page and Sergey Brin—they were
rejected by Yahoo, uh, but now they are successful. Google is a very successful company.

Rater Comments:

This is an example of a high-level response. In the beginning of the response,

Sarthak clearly states his preference for biographies, and then goes on to explain
why he likes biographies so much. His first reason is that you can learn from
biographies by seeing how other people do things. His second reason is that
biographies can provide their readers with motivation. He explains that the
founders of Google were successful even after facing rejection, though it is not
completely clear how this has motivated Sarthak (or if he learned about it in a
biography). This response would be even more full and complete if Sarthak
provided a clearer explanation of how biographies personally motivate him. In
terms of the delivery of the response, Sarthak has a noticeable accent, but he
speaks clearly and his accent does not make it difficult for listeners to understand
him. He effectively uses some idiomatic phrases, such as, “productivity hacks” and
“when things are going down south for you.” While there are some minor errors
(“second reason would be,” instead of “the second reason would be,” and “things will
do go right,” instead of “things will go all right”), the response is overall very clear
and mostly complete.
Question Type 2:

Directions: You will now be asked to give your opinion about a familiar topic. Give

yourself 15 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking for

45 seconds.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

One of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes.

Use specific examples and details to support your opinion.

Preparation Time: 15 seconds

Response Time: 45 seconds

Important Points:

When you answer this item, you should say whether you agree or disagree that

making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn, and then explain why you think

that. You can choose either point of view, and you will not be scored based on
which choice you make. The content of your response will be evaluated based on

how well you support your opinion and explain your ideas. If you agree that making

mistakes is one of the best ways to learn, you should use specific examples to

explain why making mistakes is a good way to learn or can help people learn. If you

disagree with the statement, you should provide at least one reason or example to

explain why making mistakes is not a good way to learn.

Transcript of High-level Sample Response:

The statement if one of the best ways to learn, uh, by making mistakes, it’s, can be, um,
can be discussed controversially but I personally think that the statement is complicate
because, um, it is definitely one of the best ways to learn if you do mistakes yourself. I
personally, uh, tried, uh, to, um, apply once for a consulting job and, uh, I made the
mistake to not inform myself about the company and so I came to, um, to the
assessment center and didn’t know anything so it was a great mistake, uh, performed by
me and so afterwards I wouldn’t do this mistake again. So if I apply the next time, I will
be, uh, prepared in a, in a correct manner.

Rater Comments:

This is an example of a high-level response. The speaker gives a full, clear response
after struggling at the beginning. His first sentence is confusing, but he is then able
to provide a solid response. He makes a couple of grammatical and word choice
errors (“the statement is complicate” instead of “the statement is complicated” and
“I wouldn’t do this mistake again” instead of “I wouldn’t make this mistake again”),
but the message is clear and these minor errors do not interfere with his meaning.
Because the speaker states his stance about the statement and provides a clear
personal example, this response is easy to understand and the speaker’s stance is
well justified. His delivery is also very clear, and no words or phrases are difficult to
understand.
Question Type 3:

Directions: You will now read a short passage and listen to a conversation on the

same topic. You will then be asked a question about them. After you hear the

question, give yourself 30 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself

speaking for 60 seconds.

Download Transcript

Reading Time: 50 seconds

University Should Allow Eating in Class

Currently, there is a university-wide policy that prohibits eating in the classroom. I
disagree with this policy. I think students should be allowed to eat in class. This
change would be good for two reasons. For one thing, if students were permitted to
eat, they would be able to concentrate better, because students often get hungry
during long classes, and hunger makes it difficult to concentrate. Also, if food were
allowed in classrooms, it would be possible for us to have in-class parties on the
last day of class—with snack foods and beverages—to celebrate the end of each
semester.
Sincerely,
Nancy Myers

The man expresses his opinion about the proposal in the newspaper. Briefly
summarize the proposal. Then state the man’s opinion and explain the reasons he
gives for holding that opinion.

Preparation Time: 30 seconds

Response Time: 60 seconds

Important Points:

In your response to this item, you should be sure to include and integrate

information from both the reading passage and the conversation. You could start

your response by briefly explaining what the student (Nancy) wrote about in her
letter; Nancy explained that students currently are not allowed to eat in classes,

and proposes that this policy should change so that students can eat in their

classes. You should then explain that the man in the conversation disagrees with

Nancy’s proposal. First, you could explain that he disagrees with Nancy’s idea that

being able to eat during class will help students concentrate (because they won’t be

hungry), since listening to students eating during class would be distracting. You

should also explain that he doesn’t think that having in-class parties at the end of

the semester, as Nancy suggests, is a good reason to change the policy. He doesn’t

think that having parties during class time is a good use of time, since the classes at

the end of the semester are important and help students review for final exams.

Transcript of High-level Response:

The main point that I read in this letter was the student was complaining about the, um,
that the food is not allowed at the classes because the classes tend to be pretty long and
the people can, like students can be hungry and this is like, prevents concentration, you
can’t concentrate when you’re hungry and the other opinion that you can’t you know like
do the end-of-semester parties but the student at the conversation, I, is against it, uh,
because, um, for the one person who’s eating it helps to concentrate, but for the other
who hear like this munching and chewing sound it can be pretty distracting and I do
agree with this. Um, and the classes that are at the end of the semester are very
important so those parties are not necessarily in the crucial at the end of the year so
that’s like those two guys’, students’ opinion.

Rater Comments:
Khrystyna gives a high-level response. She does not explicitly state the proposal
(that Nancy thinks eating should be allowed in class), but she implicitly
communicates this by explaining that the letter-writer is complaining about food
not being allowed in class, and she also includes the reasons why the person who
wrote the letter thinks this is bad (“can’t concentrate when you’re hungry” and “you
can’t you know like do the end-of-semester parties”). She then clearly states that the
student in the conversation disagrees, along with his reasons for disagreeing. Some
of the phrases Khrystyna uses sound a bit unnatural due to her use of prepositions
(for example, she says, “not allowed at the classes,” instead of “not allowed in the
classes,” “the student at the conversation” instead of “the student in the
conversation,” and “not necessarily in the crucial” instead of “not necessarily crucial”),
but these errors do not make the response difficult to understand. Khrystyna
makes good use of time and uses intonation effectively in order to emphasize
certain points (for example, her emphasis on “pretty” when she says, “the classes
tend to be pretty long”).

Question Type 4:

Directions: You will now read a short passage and listen to a lecture on the same

topic. You will then be asked a question about them. After you hear the question,

give yourself 30 seconds to prepare your response. Then record yourself speaking

for 60 seconds. Play the audio to begin.

Download Transcript

Reading Time: 50 seconds

Comfort Zone Bias

Psychologists have found that when people make important decisions, they often
choose to stay in their “comfort zones”; that is, they prefer remaining in
comfortable, familiar situations, rather than entering into new, unfamiliar ones.
This tendency is often referred to as the comfort zone bias. When people are
reasonably content, they often decide not to pursue a new opportunity, even if it
attracts them and offers more advantages. Psychologists believe that the comfort
zone bias exists not only because we have a natural preference for what we already
know, but also because we want to avoid taking risks.

Using the example from the lecture, explain the comfort zone bias.

Preparation Time: 30 seconds

Response Time: 60 seconds

Important Points:

When responding to this item, it is important to integrate information from both

the reading passage and the lecture—you should summarize important

information from the professor’s lecture AND explain how it illustrates the concept

that is described in the reading passage. One way you could begin your response is

by briefly describing the comfort zone bias, which is the tendency for people to
make decisions that let them remain in comfortable, familiar situations, rather than

take the risk of trying new situations, even if a new situation might be better for

them. You could then discuss the professor’s example, being sure to connect it to

the comfort zone bias. You could explain that the professor’s friend had a job as a

news reporter and was comfortable with that job. When he was offered his dream

job (to write movie reviews), he exhibited the comfort zone bias by turning down

the new job because he didn’t want to risk making a change.

Transcript of High-level Sample Response:

Well, in this case, uh, the man, uh, had, uh, he always dreamed about being a, a
repor—a film reviewer, however he originally did not get that job so he was forced to be
a, a journalist. Um, after years he got the option to be, um, a film reviewer, uh, he had
that opportunity, but he was already, he was used to, to being, uh, working as a, in the
news as a journalist, so that was his comfort zone. He was very familiar in a familiar
setting he was, he knew his job so, uh, he, he didn’t want to take new risks so he decided
to stay in his job as a, as a journalist and he did not, uh, take his dream job just because
he preferred to stay, uh, within his comfort zone.

Rater Comments:

This is an example of a high-level response. The speaker approached the response

a little differently than the method described in the Important Points, since he
implicitly explained the concept of the comfort zone bias throughout his response,
rather than starting the response with a definition of the concept. Even though the
speaker never used the phrase “comfort zone bias,” he clearly explained the
concept through the example of the journalist, explaining that the journalist “was
used to … working as a journalist … that was his comfort zone,” and “didn’t want to
take new risks … he did not take his dream job just because he preferred to stay
within his comfort zone.” The speaker’s clear delivery, including effective use of
intonation, as well as effective use of vocabulary, make this response very clear and
easy to understand.