p 145 

(track 87)
dean: 系主任；學院院長 theory: 理論；學說；意見 alternative: （計劃或方法）可替代的；可供選擇
的 pursue: 追求，從事，實行 application package: (package: 一（整）套)
candidate: 申請人；候選人 composition: （音樂）作品，樂曲 sonata: 奏鳴曲
audition: （演員、樂手、舞蹈演員等的）試鏡；試奏；試唱；試演 proficiency: 精通；熟練；水平
specialize in: 專門研究，專攻；專門從事 specialization: 專門化，專業化；專業範疇 requirement: 需
要；有賴於；要求；規定 tough: 強硬的；嚴厲的/困難的；棘手的 excessive:  過分的；過度的；過多
的 reasonable: 合情理的；講道理的；公平的 demonstrate: 顯示；表明
rationale: 根本原因；基本原理 endorse: （公開）贊同，認可，支持
excel at: 擅長，善於；突出 specialist: 專家；專業人員 illustrate: （尤指用例子）說明，闡明
The man expresses support for the university’s plan for an addition of a new music theory program to the
School of Music. He believes that the requirements for this program are reasonable/acceptable/appropriate.
For example, one of the requirements for the master’s degree in Music Theory is that applicants/candidates
submit one musical piece that they have composed. He is highly supportive of this idea as (and his rationale
is that) students who study music theory must know how to apply their understanding of piano music theory
by composing music themselves). He also endorses the school’s requirement for applicants to possess basic
proficiency in playing the piano. Even though a person may excel at theory, they may need to be able to play
the piano. For example, when people who specialize in music theory, they need to have the ability to
demonstrate theory principles by playing examples on the piano/playing a musical example. Furthermore, he
pointed out that it is necessary for every music student to have basic piano skills. 
p 148 (track 89)
ensemble: 全體，整體；劇團；（尤指）樂團 designate: 指定，選定；委派  choir: 合唱團；（尤指教
堂的）唱詩班 rehearsal: 排練，排演，試演 window: 時機；機會 naive: 輕信的；天真的；幼稚的
pointless: 無意義的，空洞的 rehearse:（為公演而）排練，排演，試演 what’s your take on (sth)? 你覺
得怎樣？／你怎麼看這件事？這裡的 take 其實指「想法」，經常用在問人對一件事的「反應、立
場」
A student has written a letter to the newspaper in regards to the plan to change rehearsal time. The man, who
majors in music/who is a music major, strongly opposes the plan (is not pleased with the university’s plan
and believes that it is unrealistic/pointless. He made the point that if the school changes regular class periods
to create a window of free time at noontime for rehearsals will cause lots of trouble and won’t solve the
problem of not being able to fit rehearsals into their schedules/won’t prevent people from having schedules
that conflict with the time set aside for rehearsal time. He believes that going through the trouble of
changing the practice schedule to around noontime will be all for nothing. He thinks that most scheduling
conflicts occur with people who don’t major in music. His suggestion is that the school set up ensembles for
non-majors and then hold rehearsals in the evening for those music ensembles, the ones that non-majors are
members of/belong to.  If non-majors are really interested, they will attend evening rehearsals/they will find
a way to attend/they will find the time to attend. Another plus of having evening rehearsals is they can run
for two to three hours, which will give the groups a chance to get quality practice/give the groups a good
chance to practice.
p 150 (track 91) 
foster: 鼓勵；促進；培養 a sense of social responsibility: 社会责任感 consequently: 因此；所以
proposal: 建議；計劃；提案 briefly: 短暫地；簡短 nature: 種類；特性；本質 failure:  未履行；沒做到
fail to (do sth): 失敗；未能做到 withhold: 拒絕給與；扣留 grant:  （通常指官方）同意，准予，授予
meet expectations: 达到期望 optional: 可選擇的；非強制的 skyrocket: 暴漲，飛漲 student loan: 助學貸
款 grade-point average: （學生各科成績的）平均積分點 take full advantage of___: 充分利用、善用 
squeeze in (the time for ____): (squeeze sth in/squeeze sby in: 擠出時間做；抽出時間見（某人）)
eligible: 具備條件的；有資格的；合格的
The woman expresses dissatisfaction with the university’s new plan that requires all students to complete 20
hours of community before they are eligible to graduate. She is against the idea of making volunteer work
mandatory and thinks it should remain optional for all students. In her case, she doesn’t think she has the
extra time to do volunteer work because she puts in a lot of hours on her part-time job. She has to work so
hard because tuition fees are skyrocketing/extremely high and she has to pay back her student loan. That is
all the more reason why she considers any remaining time she has to study in her schedule very precious.
She likes to take full advantage of/make good use of the few hours so she can keep her grade point average
(GPA) high and also so she can learn as much as possible during her years at college. 
p 152 (p 94) 
council: 委員會；理事會 election: 選舉 ballot:（不記名）投票 candidate: 申請人；候選人/ substantial:
大的；可觀的；價值巨大的；重大的 margin: 差數，差額 dean: 系主任；學院院長 glitch: 小毛病；小
差錯；小故障 assure: （尤指為消除其憂慮而）確定地對…說，向…保證，使確信；讓…放心
administrator: 管理人員，行政人員 functional: 爲實用而設計的，實用的 conclusive: 無可置疑的；確
實的；決定性的；結論性的
In the first student council election that was held, a portion of students didn’t receive ballots emailed to them
so the university has decided to hold a repeat election. She thinks that this plan is a waste of time. Her
rationale is that ____./Her opinion is based on the fact that there were only a few students who didn’t get
ballots. Also, in her experience, very few students actually vote in student council elections, so those few
students’ votes were not going to make much of a difference. Another even more important reason for her
having this opinion is the fact that the margins of victory for all of those who won in the first election were
around 40%./Another important reason for her holding this opinion is the fact that the winners of the first
election won by a wide margin of 40% (won by a substantial margin of 40%). The Dean of Student Affairs
even confirmed that as a fact. For the above mentioned reasons, the woman thinks holding another election
is not going to be a waste of time/a meaningful time. 
p 155 (track 96) 
approve: 贊成；同意；稱許 entrepreneur: （尤指涉及風險的）企業家，創業者 venture: （有風險的）
企業；投機活動；商業冒險 business venture: (有風險的）商業機會 / （有風險的） 商業冒險機會
make it up/make up for sth: 補償，彌補 volume: 容積；體積；容量 bargain: 便宜貨，廉價品 judgment
call: a difficult decision that someone must make (Investors have to make a judgment call on how much risk
they are willing to accept.) advisor: 顧問
The student is highly supportive of the university's decision for the new student operated business, which is
a used bookstore. As a student who majors in business, he signed up to work at the store. Not only does he
believe that the business will be competitive, he believes that it will be popular with the students, as students
love to buy books at discounted prices. The man is confident that the used bookstore will be profitable to
some extent, even though they might not be able to make much profit on each book. He also expresses
excitement about the fact that students in the School of Business can use this as an opportunity to gain
experience in successfully running/operating a business. Although the students may need some guidance in
regards to making the right decisions/making judgment calls, the business professors will be there to assist
and advise them. That way, it will be possible for students to acquire more knowledge about how to
successfully run a business. 
p 158 (track 98)
renowned: 著名的 / 著名的,聞名的,有名望的 intern: 實習人員，實習生 internship: 醫生實習期
specialize in: 專門研究，專攻；專門從事 eligible (for): 具備條件的；有資格的；合格的 practice: （專
業性強的）工作，業務（活動） Job Placement: a service for finding a suitable job for someone,
especially a temporary job for a student or unemployed person   / 工作實習 file: (verb) 把…歸檔 
data entry: 输入数据/输入资料 remotely: 微弱地；細微地；程度很低地 
put ___ to good use:  to use (something) in an effective way/To use something in a way that will be
beneficial or have significant results
put ____ to better use: to use (something) in a more effective way/To use something in a way that will be
more beneficial or have significant results     tip: 小費 law firm: 法律事务所 (firm: 公司；商號) in the
first place: 最初，原本 bother (doing sth): 努力，盡力；費心 meager: （數量）很少的，不足的
The woman thinks that the requirement for students to complete an internship at State College is
unnecessary. She believes that, based on her experience as an intern last summer, it’s not worthwhile doing
an internship. She makes the point that interns are only required to complete basic tasks, like filing and
typing up data/data entry. Consequently, interns don’t learn anything remotely related to tax law. Another
aspect of the internship requirement that she isn’t satisfied with is that she feels it is too long and she could
have made better use of her time. She feels that the three months were wasted and the internship prevents
students from earning real money, money that she could use to pay for her housing or tuition fees. She
explains to the man that even though the companies claim that students are paid, they only earn a meager
amount of money. She finally mentions that she only did the law internship so that she would be eligible for
using the college’s Job Placement Services at State College. 
p 160 (track 101) 
undergraduate: 大學本科生 permit: 允許，准許 statistics: 統計數據；統計資料  peak: 高峰的（時期）
first come, first served:  先到先得；先到先接待 increment:  增加，增長 competency: 技能；能力；本領 
aid: 幫助；支持 (financial aid)  pool: 共用人員；共用資金；共用資源 (hiring pool) unqualified: 不合格
的，不稱職的  know their stuff: to be an expert at something (When it comes to math, ____ really knows
his/her stuff.)
 The university has changed its policy of just hiring graduate students as tutors in the Math Center to hiring
undergraduate students as well. The man, who is also a graduate student, is not happy to hear this news as
believes that this new policy is unwise. His line of reasoning is as follows. He believes that graduate
students should be the first people to be offered jobs like this, because the Math Center has always offered
them a stable income to pay for their tuition and it is quite difficult to find appropriate jobs. He thinks that
undergraduate students aren’t proficient in math and statistics, therefore should choose to take on jobs
outside of the campus. The second point he made is related to the quality of education at the Math Center. 
In general, he believes that graduate students are more qualified to work as a tutor teaching different aspects
of statistics and math. Students may not be able to learn so much if the Math Center hires undergraduate
students.
 Campus Fitness Center to Close
The campus fitness center will permanently close at the end of this semester. This decision was made by
the university administration in coordination with representatives of the student’s
association. Unfortunately, the building currently housing the center is very old and the university can no
longer afford the cost of maintaining it or providing heat and air conditioning as required. Furthermore, the
popularity of the center has declined since the university formed partnerships with several private fitness
centers in the city. These partnerships mean that all full and part time students can access five privately
owned gyms across the city at no cost.
Coordination: 協調，調節 permanently: 總是；持久地；永久地 association: 協會；社團；聯盟
decline: （逐漸）減少，衰落，降低 partnership: 合夥關係，夥伴關係/合夥企業，合股公司
The man expresses his opinion of the university’s plan. State his opinion and the
reasons he gives for holding that opinion.

https://www.toeflresources.com/toefl-speaking-question-two-sample-answers/
Model answer 1: According to the announcement the campus fitness center will be closed. This is
because the school can’t afford to maintain it properly, and students can go to private gyms in the city for
free if they want to exercise. The man opposes this.
To begin with, he points out that the university will still have to maintain the building even if the fitness
center closes because it could become a dangerous fire hazard. On top of that, it will be very expensive to
hire construction workers to tear down the building and replace it with something else. Moreover, he
argues that all of the gyms in the city are quite far from the university, so it could be hard for students to
reach them if they don’t have their own vehicle. The closest one is more than thirty minutes away by car.
Additionally, it can be quite hard to find a taxi from campus into the city late at night.

Model answer 2: The university has announced a plan to permanently close down the fitness center on its
campus. They have decided to do so because the university can’t afford maintenance costs. In the future,
students will have the option of going to privately owned gyms in different parts of the city to
exercise/work out.
The man strongly opposes the university’s plan for two main reasons. Firstly, he believes that tearing down
the building isn’t going to save the university much money because they will still have to maintain the
building and ensure that it doesn’t become a fire hazard. He also pointed out the fact that the cost of
demolishing the building will be high because they will have to hire construction workers to finish the work
and even replace the building. The man’s second point relates to students’ ability to access gyms in
different parts of the city. Students will have to drive for up to thirty minutes to reach the closest gym. He
mentioned that it will be difficult for students who don’t have their own car to reach them. In addition, he
thinks that is won’t be easy to find a taxi to take into the city late at night.

Using the points and examples from the lecture, explain how some animals survive
in environments with very little light.