Purpose (Sometimes Listen Again) Questions
Or Function Question
When dealing with these questions, you must know what the statement is doing in the
logical flow of the lecture or conversation. Of course, this is easy to say and not so easy
to do. These questions ask you to identify the purpose of a specific statement or
reference made. These questions contain words and expressions such as:
why does the professor mention
why does the professor say
Special Note:
Function questions will not appear during the test. You will only hear
them.
• Listen again to a part of the conversation. Then answer the question.
You will hear a few lines of the lecture or conversation again.
• Why does the _____ say this:
You will hear part or one line of the previous excerpt again.
• The following types of function questions may appear during the test:
- What is the purpose of the _____ response?
- What does the _____ imply when he/she says this:
- What can be inferred from the _____ response to the _____ ?
Strategy:
1) Read the question to understand what you’re being asked.
2) Identify the key words.
3) Search for and find those key words or synonyms of them in your notes.
4) Remember the information you heard around these key words and
understand that the purpose of our key word is to explain or expand on the
information that came before.
5) Look for any words in your notes that will help you understand the connection
between your key words and the words that came before in your notes: adverbs,
questions, topic shifts, etc.
6) Think of an answer on your own to the best of your ability.
7) Examine all of your answer choices and choose an answer choice that reflects
your rough idea of the answer.
Let's go through this strategy in a bit more detail. To answer these questions well, we
must understand that the key words in the question served a purpose in the
development of the topic. What kind of development? There's only a few kinds of
development that exist and they generally fall into one of the three categories below:
Support (it's true, consequently, of course)
Oppose (in contrast, however, on the other hand)
Further explain (what does this mean, to clarify, for example)
Adverbs and surrounding content will help you identify the answer to these questions
(we've given you some clue words to help you understand this in the parenthesis next to
the words above).
For example, if you know that before the professor said xyz and he used the adverb in
contrast before mentioning xyz. Then, you know that the purpose of the professor
saying xyz was to oppose what he said a little earlier. The most important concept to
keep in mind is that the listening section of the TOEFL mirrors the reading section in
content and strategy. The major difference is fewer questions, the appearance of
conversations, and no reading to refer to.
Keep in mind:
Listen for the overall organization of the lecture or conversation and think
about whether the purpose is to describe, explain, compare, or give an
opinion.
Consider the relationship between the speakers and the context in which
the speakers meet.
Use clues like intonation to help you understand the meaning behind the
words.
Psychology
1. Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question.
Why does the professor say this:
(A) To give herself time to think.
(B) To tell the student to take notes.
(C) To transition to her next point.
(D) To rephrase her use of a term.
2. Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question. n
Why does the professor say this:
(A) She does not think the students understand.
(B) She is correcting her own error.
(C) She is emphasizing the point that follows.
(D) She is returning from a digression.
3. Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question. n
What does the professor mean when she says this:
(A) She believes subjective actions are common.
(B) She is asking the students to respond to a question.
(C) She is summarizing the information in her lecture.
(D) She is giving an example of the post-conventional stage.
Office Hours
1. Listen again to part of the conversation. Then answer the question.
What does the professor mean when he says this:
(A) He is confident in his own abilities as a college professor.
(B) He was not trying to cause the student concern about her grade.
(C) He is unsure of how well most of the other students did on their
tests.
(D) He was about to grade the student's test when she came to his
office.
2. Listen again to part of the conversation. Then answer the question.
What does the professor mean when he says this:
(A) He is trying to convince the student to change her mind.
(B) He is emphasizing that he was not well prepared for his first job.
(C) He wants to motivate the student by referencing his experiences.
(D) He feels that all students should take an independent study course.
3. Listen again to part of the conversation. Then answer the question.
What does the student mean when she says this:
(A) She does not want to take the independent study course.
(B) She is unsure of the professor's suggestion.
(C) She does not want to add anything more to her schedule.
(D) She is doubtful that she is qualified for the course.
