Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts

Speaking

Listening Scripts, Important Points, and

Sample Responses with Rater Comments
Use the sample Independent and Integrated Speaking rubrics on pages 180–183
to see how responses are scored. The raters who listen to your responses will
analyze them in three general categories. These categories are Delivery, Language
Use, and Topic Development. All three categories have equal importance.
This section includes important points that should be covered when answer-
ing each question. All of these points must be present in a response in order for it
to receive the highest score in the Topic Development category. These important
points are guides to the kind of information raters expect to hear in a high-level
response.
This section also refers to example responses on the accompanying audio
tracks. Some responses were scored at the highest level, while others were not.
The responses are followed by comments by certified ETS raters.

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TOEFL iBT ® Practice Test 1

Question 1: Paired Choice

Track 21 Listening Script
Narrator
Some people who unexpectedly receive a large amount of money spend it on practical
things, while others spend it for pleasure only. Which do you think is better and why?

Preparation Time: 15 Seconds

Response Time: 45 Seconds

Important Points
In this question you need to choose the action you think is better and explain
why. In order to give an effective response, you should provide a clear reason
for your opinion. You will not be scored on which action you prefer, but rather
on how effectively you are able to present and support your opinion. You may
choose to speak about this topic more generally by describing what people in this
situation would do, or you may choose to respond from a personal standpoint by
talking about what you would do if you were given this money unexpectedly.
Whichever option you choose—spending money on practical things or
spending it for pleasure—you should include specific details and examples. For
example, if you choose to spend money on practical things, you could mention
what type of practical objects or experiences you mean (such as a new washing
machine or car to make your family’s life easier or something to further your
career, such as paying for college tuition). If you choose to spend the money for
pleasure, be specific about what kinds of things would give you pleasure and
why (taking a trip to a favorite vacation spot, donating to a charity, giving a gift
for your mother, and so on). It is also acceptable to support your choice of one
option by explaining what is wrong with the other option.

Sample Responses

Play Track 26 to hear a high-level response for Question 1.

Rater Comments
In this high-level response, the speaker chooses to develop the idea of using
money for practical items and explains why she thinks this is better than spend-
ing money on things for pleasure. To explain her opinion, she uses very specific
detailed language with almost no errors or awkward phrasing: “there’s been a lot
of cases with people who win the lottery and they spent almost all the money for
their own pleasure.” She goes on further to explain that this leads to a “luxurious
lifestyle,” which she claims is unsustainable. However, this response is not perfect.
It lacks some specificity: she does not describe what she would consider “practi-
cal things” that people should spend money on, so while the listeners know what
the speaker disapproves of, they do not know what she would approve of when
spending money. Lastly, her pronunciation is clear throughout, and her words
are easily followed. Her intonation and pausing are natural and appropriate and

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 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts

do not distract the listener. Overall, this is a mostly well-developed response that
is easy to follow.

Play Track 27 to hear a mid-level response for Question 1.

Rater Comments
This speaker is able to express an opinion—that the money should be used for
pleasure—and provides a general reason for her choice. However, she does not
develop her reason at all. The content is vague and lacks details. She states that
spending money on things for pleasure is better: “First, because now the life is so
stressful, if you can buy something or do something to relax is so important.” This
is an interesting idea, but it would be better to include more specific information
such as what to buy with the money and how or why that would give someone
pleasure. While she has good, basic vocabulary and grammar, she does make
some errors such as using “so” instead of “very” or she says, “the life” instead of
“life.” She has mostly clear pronunciation; it is usually easy to understand her
words. However, she speaks very slowly, enunciating each word separately, and
as a result, her use of intonation is limited and her speech lacks fluidity.

Question 2: Fit and Explain

Track 22 Listening Script
Narrator
A student has written a letter to the editor of City University’s newspaper concerning the
campus health center. You have 50 seconds to read the letter. Begin reading now.

Reading Time: 50 Seconds

Student Health Services Need Improvement

The situation at the health center is unacceptable: you sit in a crowded waiting room
for hours waiting to get treatment for minor ailments. Then when it’s your turn, you get
about three minutes with an overworked doctor. I have two suggestions: first, the health
center needs to hire more doctors so that each patient receives quality treatment. And
as far as the wait time issue is concerned, the health center is currently open only Mon-
day through Fridays, which means that people who get sick over the weekend wait until
the following week to get treatment. So, opening the health center on weekends should
solve that problem too.
Sincerely,
Megan Finch

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TOEFL iBT ® Practice Test 1

Narrator
Now listen to two students discussing the letter.
Woman
Did you read that letter in the paper?
Man
Sure. And though she’s right about the problems, I don’t think what she proposes will do
much good.
Woman
Really?
Man
Yeah, take her first suggestion—I mean, have you seen the health center?
Woman
Of course. Why?
Man
Well, it’s tiny, right? The center suffers from lack of space. So unless they build more treat-
ment rooms or offices or something. . . .
Woman
I see.
Man
And also, her second suggestion . . .
Woman
Seems like that’ll help things out.
Man
Well, not necessarily. I mean think about it. A lot of students aren’t even here on the week-
ends.
Woman
That’s true.
Man
They leave town and get away. There’s not a lot of people here . . .
Woman
Yeah, like me . . . I go home probably at least twice a month.
Man
Right. And a lot of us leave campus for the weekend even more often than that. So there’s
just not a lot of demand for treatment then. See what I mean?

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 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts

Narrator
The man expresses his opinion about the student’s suggestions that are made in the letter.
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
To respond to this question, you could explain that the man does not think that
the student’s suggestions will improve treatment quality or wait times at the
health center. To explain the reasons he gives, you should say that he does not
think hiring more doctors will help, since there is not enough space at the health
center for additional staff. Optionally, you could add that he mentions the health
center would need more treatment rooms. You should also explain that he does
not think opening the center on weekends will be helpful because many students
go away for the weekend.

Sample Responses

Play Track 28 to hear a high-level response for Question 2.

Rater Comments
This speaker effectively combines the important points from the reading and the
listening in his response, though he could have included more detail about the
points made in the reading (for instance, he could have mentioned the problem
with wait times at the health center). He demonstrates good control of gram-
mar with only minor errors and uses varied vocabulary (“take into consideration,”
“viable”) to express the ideas. While his pronunciation is obviously influenced by
his native language, the response is mostly clear and is easy to follow.

Play Track 29 to hear a mid-level response for Question 2. 

Rater Comments
This speaker demonstrates a basic understanding of the information from the con-
versation. However, because of some limitations with language use, the response
does not effectively convey the points from the listening or link them to points
from the reading. Limited vocabulary and grammar are evident in the repetition
of simple phrases such as “he think that” and vague expression of ideas (“The
man’s opinion is he think that a student’s opinion is not so good”). The response
also contains many grammatical errors. Despite some pronunciation difficulties,
the speaker is generally clear enough to be understandable, with no major prob-
lems in pacing.

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TOEFL iBT ® Practice Test 1

Question 3: General/Specific
Track 23 Listening Script
Narrator
Now read the passage about the nature of social interaction. You will have 45 seconds to
read the passage. Begin reading now.

Reading Time: 45 Seconds

Social Loafing
When people work in groups to perform a task, individual group members may feel less
motivated to contribute, since no one person is held directly responsible for completing
the task. The result is that people may not work as hard, or accomplish as much, as they
would if they were working alone and their individual output were being measured. This
decrease in personal effort, especially on a simple group task, is known as social loafing.
While it is not a deliberate behavior, the consequence of social loafing is less personal
efficiency when working in groups than when working on one’s own.

Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in a psychology class.
Professor
Now, a study was done that illustrated this phenomenon. In the study people were given
an ordinary task that everyone has probably done before—they were simply asked to peel
potatoes. And to peel as many potatoes as possible in a given amount of time. OK, so some
people worked alone—and they were told that the number of potatoes they each peeled
would be recorded. Others peeled potatoes together, as part of a group, and they were told
that only the total number of potatoes peeled would be recorded. So it would be impos-
sible to tell how many any one person had done.
Then researchers compared the results of the people who worked alone and those that
worked together to see if there was any difference. That is, they took the average score of
the people working alone and compared it to the average score of the people working
together in a group. And they did discover a difference. It turns out that people working as
a group peeled significantly fewer potatoes than people who worked alone.
Narrator
Using the example from the lecture, explain what social loafing is and how it affects peo-
ple’s behavior.

Preparation Time: 30 Seconds

Response Time: 60 Seconds

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 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts

Important Points
In this item, you need to explain the concept of social loafing and explain how
the professor’s example relates to this idea. Social loafing is a term that describes
what happens when people work in groups. Members of a group may not be as
motivated and may not do as much as they would if they were working by them-
selves. The reading states that this happens because one person does not feel
responsible for the task. The professor’s example then describes people’s behav-
ior in a study in which people were asked to peel potatoes. Some people worked
alone, and others worked in groups. The people working in the group did not peel
as many potatoes as the people working alone. This study is a good example of
social loafing because it illustrates that people working in a group do not do as
much as people working by themselves.

Sample Responses
Play Track 30 to hear a high-level response for Question 3.
Rater Comments
This speaker provides a complete and clear response to the task. She first explains
what social loafing is and why it might happen (“It means that people who work
in a group do not feel responsible for the result”). She then describes the example
of people peeling potatoes and again explains why the people in the group may
not be peeling as many potatoes (“They know they’re not going to be held respon-
sible for the number of potatoes that are peeled in a group”). This effectively
explains how the example relates to the reading. The speaker’s pronunciation is
clear, and her pace of speech is also good. She does hesitate at times and makes
a few minor language errors, but these do not prevent her from communicating
her ideas.

Play Track 31 to hear a mid-level response for Question 3.

Rater Comments
This speaker does provide important information from the reading and the lec-
ture, but she is not able to show their relationship very clearly. She starts with a
definition and struggles to find language for that but is able to communicate her
idea somewhat (“Social loafing is decreasing an individual’s efficiency in a work
when they’re working in a group”). She then describes the example but is slowed
down by trying to provide information that is not really necessary (“they were
not sure how to count how many potatoes they did each when they worked in a
group”). The response has this lack of precise language and wording throughout,
as well as language difficulties and a slower pace when the speaker is searching
for language. On the positive side, she does include some important and accurate
information about the study, and her pronunciation is clear for the most part.
She has difficulty, however, connecting the material from the reading with the
example. She gets across the idea that people work less efficiently in a group, but
she leaves out the very important point about people in a group having less moti-
vation or not feeling as responsible for their work.

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TOEFL iBT ® Practice Test 1

Question 4: Summary
Track 24 Listening Script
Narrator
Now listen to part of a talk in a psychology class.
Professor
OK. Ever thought about the things that happen to you, and what’s responsible for them?
We psychologists have a term—locus of control. Locus of control refers to [hesitates] where
people think control over their lives comes from: whether it comes from themselves, or
from somewhere else. People who think that control is in themselves are “internals.” And
people who think it comes from somewhere else are “externals.”
Let’s say there’re two people going for job interviews. One of them is an “internal”—she
has an internal locus of control. Since she thinks that control comes from within herself,
she’ll believe that her success and her preparation are really her responsibility. So, she’s
likely to really work on her interview skills ahead of time. Then, if she gets the job, she’ll
believe that it’s because she’s worked so hard, and if she doesn’t get it, well . . . she’ll prob-
ably be disappointed with herself and try to figure out how she can improve for the next
time.
OK, and another job candidate is an “external.” He perceives other things—say, his inter-
viewers—to have more influence. After all, it’s their decision. It depends on what mood
they’re in, and you know . . . luck! Now, with his external locus of control, he’s not as hard
on himself, so he’s more likely to take risks. He might interview for a job that he’s not com-
pletely qualified for. If he gets it, he’ll think he’s really lucky and, because he believes exter-
nal forces are in control, he might think it’s because the interviewers were having a good
day. If he doesn’t get it, he’ll probably blame the interviewers . . . or bad luck . . . rather than
look at himself and try to figure out what he could’ve done better.
Narrator
Using points and examples from the talk, explain internal and external locus of control.

Preparation Time: 20 Seconds

Response Time: 60 Seconds

Important Points
In your response to this prompt, you need to explain that locus of control refers
to where people believe control over their lives comes from, internal (from within
the person) or external (from somewhere else). You should explain the example
the professor discusses about job candidates. A job candidate who has an inter-
nal locus of control sees herself as responsible for her own success. She feels that
whether she gets a job is the result of the effort she puts into preparing. A job
candidate who has an external locus of control perceives other forces to be in
control. He feels that whether he gets a job is the result of other factors such as
luck or the mood of the interviewers.

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 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts

Sample Responses
Play Track 32 to hear a high-level response for Question 4. 
Rater Comments
This speaker conveys his understanding of the concept through a discussion of
the example about the people interviewing for the job. He uses intonation very
effectively (“it’s her responsibility to get the job . . .”) to convey the ideas, and his
pronunciation is clear. Use of vocabulary and grammar is varied and precise.
While there is some occasional natural hesitation while the speaker gathers his
thoughts, overall the response flows and is easy to follow.

Play Track 33 to hear a mid-level response for Question 4.

Rater Comments
This speaker is able to convey the ideas from the lecture fairly well; however,
issues with word choice and grammar prevent the response from being fully and
clearly developed. For example, the speaker’s definition of the two types of locus
of control is somewhat vague (“internal locus of control means one believe that
she can control her life and she will response for her . . . behaviors, and the exter-
nal control means the opposite”). Inaccurate word choice causes some confusion
for the listener (“if she lost it she would disappear,” and “the external person will
do the interview just for risk”). Some difficulties with pronunciation also cause
listener effort at times.

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