Listen to the recording and choose the best answer to each question. To make this practice more like the real test, cover the questions and answers during each conversation.
Transcript for 2.2 A
Questions 1 through 2. Listen to a conversation between two students.
M: I had a lot of expenses this quarter, and the money my parents sent didn’t last very long. I may have to get some kind of job.
W: You can probably find something right here on campus. You should check out the job board in the student center.
M: Where is that exactly?
W: In the student center, on the first floor, next to counseling. In fact, I think it’s part of the counseling
center. You can ask one of the counselors if you want more information about any of the jobs listed.
M: My problem is that I need the money but I don’t have a lot of spare time. I’d like a quiet job that would
allow me to get some reading done.
W: Then go on over there. Maybe there’s an opening for night watchman.
- What does the woman suggest the man do?
- What type of job does the man want?
Questions 3 through 5. Listen to a conversation on a college campus.
M: Hey, Lorrie, are you doing anything on Wednesday afternoon?
W: I usually either go to the computer lab or go home after I get out of class. Why?
M: Well, we’re having our annual book sale at the library, and we need extra cashiers.
W: When is the sale?
M: All day Wednesday, from ten until six. The busiest time will be from around noon to three. If you’re free
in the afternoon, why not volunteer to help us out? The library will give you ten dollars in book credit for every hour you work. You have to use the credit at this sale, but that will get you a lot of books. Most are priced around one or two dollars.
W: Why are you selling books from the library?
M: The sale includes mostly books people have donated to the library. There are a lot of paperbacks and
things like encyclopedias.
W: Oh, I see. I guess I could spare a few hours.
M: Great! I can put your name down then?
W: Sure. I’ll be there around noon.
M: Thanks, Lorrie! - What does the woman agree to do?
- How are book sale workers compensated?
- When will the woman arrive at the book sale?
Questions 6 through 7. Listen to a conversation between two students.
M: How do you like your classes this term?
W: All of my classes are really good. I especially like political science with Professor Hahn.
M: Oh, I had Professor Hahn for American history. We had to write a lot of papers. But one time we had a
debate, and I’ll never forget that.
W: Her assignments are challenging but useful. And she has the most interesting stories to illustrate her
lectures. She really makes us think.
M: And she really makes you work in her class!
W: I know. But I’m starting to figure things out as a result of this class.
M: Great! - Why does the woman like her class with Professor Hahn?
- What does the man say about Professor Hahn?
Questions 8 through 10. Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.
W: Professor Abraham, did you want to see me?
M: Yes, please come in Nina, I have a job here that I hope you can help me with.
W: I’d like to, if I can.
M: Well, see this stack of paper? These are all journal articles that I need to go through for my research.
It would really help if they were arranged more logically. Can you help me? I imagine it will take a few hours of your time.
W: Yes, of course I can. How do you want them organized?
M: Well, primarily by subject, and then by date. There are articles from the past four or five years. Most are
about primate behavior, but a few deal with other mammals or birds, or with behavioral psychology in general.
W: This will be interesting. I have some free time tomorrow afternoon. Would that be all right?
M: That sounds perfect. - What does the professor want the woman to do?
- What is the subject of the professor’s research?
- When will the woman do the work?
Transcript for 2.2 B
Questions 1 through 4. Listen to part of a discussion in an anthropology class.
M: The men of the northwoods tribes were the hunters. The hunting season began in the fall and continued
until midwinter. These expedi tions frequently took the hunters away from the village for long periods of time. Moose, deer, beaver, bear, and elk were the animals sought. Large deer drives were common, and small animals were taken with snares or the bow and arrow.
W: Did the women ever go hunting with the men?
M: The women often accompanied their husbands on hunting parties. Their job was to take charge of the
camps.
W: Do you mean they just cooked for the men? I thought the Native Americans had more of a system of
equality.
M: Overall, men and women shared the labor. On hunting expeditions, women basically supported the
men, whose job was to procure the game. On the other hand, women controlled other realms of life. For example, women managed all of the agricultural operations. Also, a woman headed each clan, and these women were respected for their role as keepers of the clan.
- When did the hunting season take place?
- What animals did the northwoods tribes hunt?
- According to the man, how did women participate in hunting?
- Which activities did women control?
Questions 5 through 7. Listen to part of a talk in an introductory art class. The professor is talking about choosing a career in the arts.
M: Before you undertake a career in the arts, there are a number of factors to consider. Whether your goal is to be an actor or an animator, a saxophonist or a sculptor, talent is an essential consideration. But talent alone won’t guarantee a successful career in the arts; you also need training, experience, and self–discipline. Most importantly, however, you should realize that a career in the arts requires a personal sense of commitment—a calling—because art does have a history of insecure employment. A lot of
artists find it difficult—even impossible—to live on the money they make from their art. Most have to supplement their income by teaching, or by working behind the scenes, or by doing other work not related to the arts. sculptor, talent is an essential consideration. But
talent alone won’t guarantee a successful career in the arts; you also need training, experience, and self–discipline. Most importantly, however, you should realize that a career in the arts requires a personal sense of commitment—a calling—because art does have a history of insecure employment. A lot of artists find it difficult—even impossible—to live on the money they make from their art. Most have to
supplement their income by teaching, or by working behind the scenes, or by doing other work not related to the arts.
W: In your opinion, what’s the best way for us to know if we really have a calling to art?
M: Well … those of you who are interested in art as a career should talk with arts professionals, or work in
the arts yourselves. Professionals can give good firsthand advice, but experience is the best way to get a feel for the field.
W: What kind of experience? I mean … how do we get started?
M: Experience doesn’t have to be formal. It can be part–time or volunteer work. For example, if you want to
be a photographer or graphic designer, you could work for your school newspaper. Or if your interest is acting, you could start out in community theater. The important thing is getting started—spending time doing something in your chosen medium. - According to the professor, what factors are important in choosing a career in the arts?
- According to the professor, why does a career in the arts require a special calling?
- How does the professor suggest one get started in a career in the arts?
Questions 8 through 10. Listen to a discussion in a speech communications class.
W: For your speaking assignment, you will want to follow a logical series of steps in preparing for your
speech. The first step, of course, is to realize the importance of the speech to you.
M1: But isn’t that always the same in this class? After all, you give us an assignment and we want to get a good grade for it.
W: Yes, that’s true, but the grade isn’t the only thing that’s important.
M2: Yeah, Paul, think of us, your listeners! We want you to believe in what you’re saying!
W: Next, of course, you select your subject. Then, decide on your purpose. Do you simply want to inform us
about your subject? Or do you want to influence us in some way? Write down a statement of exactly what you wish to accomplish in the speech. This is the first step in organizing your thoughts.
M1: Is entertainment a purpose?
W: It could be, yes. Your purpose could be to make your audience laugh.
M2: I expect you to be really funny, Paul!
W: After you decide on your purpose and organize your ideas, you are ready to develop your ideas
interestingly and soundly. Why don’t you all just take the next few minutes to start brainstorming? Jot down ideas that come to mind—things that matter to you, things you feel strongly about.W: In your opinion, what’s the best way for us to know if we really have a calling to art?
M: Well … those of you who are interested in art as a career should talk with arts professionals, or work in
the arts yourselves. Professionals can give good firsthand advice, but experience is the best way to get a feel for the field.
W: What kind of experience? I mean … how do we get started?
M: Experience doesn’t have to be formal. It can be part–time or volunteer work. For example, if you want to
be a photographer or graphic designer, you could work for your school newspaper. Or if your interest is acting, you could start out in community theater. The important thing is getting started—spending time doing something in your chosen medium. - According to the professor, what factors are important in choosing a career in the arts?
- According to the professor, why does a career in the arts require a special calling?
- How does the professor suggest one get started in a career in the arts?
Questions 8 through 10. Listen to a discussion in a speech communications class.
W: For your speaking assignment, you will want to follow a logical series of steps in preparing for your
speech. The first step, of course, is to realize the importance of the speech to you.
M1: But isn’t that always the same in this class? After all, you give us an assignment and we want to get a good grade for it.
W: Yes, that’s true, but the grade isn’t the only thing that’s important.
M2: Yeah, Paul, think of us, your listeners! We want you to believe in what you’re saying!
W: Next, of course, you select your subject. Then, decide on your purpose. Do you simply want to inform us
about your subject? Or do you want to influence us in some way? Write down a statement of exactly what you wish to accomplish in the speech. This is the first step in organizing your thoughts.
M1: Is entertainment a purpose?
W: It could be, yes. Your purpose could be to make your audience laugh.
M2: I expect you to be really funny, Paul!
W: After you decide on your purpose and organize your ideas, you are ready to develop your ideas
interestingly and soundly. Why don’t you all just take the next few minutes to start brainstorming? Jot down ideas that come to mind—things that matter to you, things you feel strongly about. - According to the instructor, what is the first step in preparing a speech?
- What examples of purpose are mentioned in the discussion?
- What does the instructor want the students to do next?
Transcript for 2.2 C
Questions 1 through 5. Listen to a talk in an art class. The instructor is talking about pigments.
Whether you’re working with oil, tempera, or watercolor, it’s the pigment that gives the paint its color. A pigment can either be mixed with another material or applied over its surface in a thin layer. When a pigment is mixed or ground in a
liquid vehicle to form paint, it does not dissolve but remains suspended in the liquid.
A paint pigment should be a smooth, finely divided powder. It should withstand the action of sunlight without changing color. A pigment should not exert a harmful chemical reaction upon the medium, or upon other color pigments it is
mixed with.
Generally, pigments are classified according to their origin, either natural or synthetic. Natural inorganic pigments, also known as mineral pigments, include the native “earths” such as ochre—yellow iron oxide—and raw umber—brown iron oxide. Natural organic pigments come from vegetable and animal sources. Some examples are indigo, from the indigo plant, and Tyrian purple, the imperial purple the Romans prepared from a shellfish native to the Mediterranean.
Today, many pigments are synthetic varieties of traditional inorganic and organic pigments. Synthetic organic pigments provide colors of unmatched intensity and tinting strength. The synthetic counterparts of the yellow and red earths are more brilliant and, if well prepared, are superior in all other respects to the native products. Inorganic synthetic colors made with the
aid of strong heat are generally the most permanent for all uses. In contrast, pigments from natural sources are less permanent than the average synthetic color.
- What is a pigment?
- According to the instructor, what characteristic should a pigment have?
- How are pigments generally classified?
- Which natural pigment did the Romans obtain from a shellfish?
- According to the instructor, why are synthetic pigments superior to natural pigments?
Questions 6 through 10. Listen to part of a lecture in a sociology class.
So… when children grab for their favorite toys, what’s guiding them? Is it social conditioning, or is it nature?
Research shows that two–year–old boys like to play with dolls and kitchen sets as much as little girls do. Still, by age five or so, most will tell you those toys are for girls. The older they get, the more children will say that a certain toy is either for girls or for boys. How do they learn this?
I believe—and research supports this—that a child’s choice of toys is a natural occurrence, not a sexist plot by society. Studies show that monkeys, like children, pick their toys based on gender. When male and female monkeys were given a wide
choice of toys to play with, male monkeys spent more time playing with cars and balls, and females spent more time with dolls and pots.
In one study of human children, researchers observed children playing with toys in a preschool class. There were eight boys and three girls in the class. During the hour for free play, two of the girls usually went straight to the kitchen area and stayed there most of the hour. One girl usually sat at the table, coloring and drawing pictures. The boys usually spent most of the hour with blocks—building towers and then knocking them down.
I’ll briefly summarize the rest of their findings. First, they observed that younger children of both sexes play with both dolls and trucks, with no apparent thought of being a boy or girl. But around age five, the boys start moving away from kitchen play, and the girls start ignoring cars and trucks. Older kids of both sexes like blocks. And … sometimes kids will hear that they shouldn’t play with something because it’s a boy or girl toy. Sometimes an older kid tells them; sometimes it’s a parent.
So, it seems that parents and older children do reinforce the gender stereotypes to some extent. But still, despite some minor evidence of social conditioning, the research supports the idea that most boys and girls are naturally drawn to
different types of toys, and it doesn’t matter what their parents and society teach them. - What is the lecture mainly about?
- According to the professor, what does research reveal about toy choices in the youngest children?
- According to research mentioned by the professor, what types of toys do male monkeys prefer?
- At what age do children start showing gender differences in their choice of toys?
- What is the main point made in the lecture?
Transcript for 2.2 D
Questions 1 through 2. Listen to a discussion between two students.
M: That was a pretty good history lecture, don’t you think?
W: Well, to be honest, I didn’t understand what Dr. Marquez meant by “partible inheritance,” and it seems like that’s an important thing to know.
M: Partible inheritance means that a man’s property would be divided equally among all his children. After the man died, that is.
W: Oh. Then what’s “primogeniture”?
M: That’s when all the property goes to the eldest son. Just think about the word “primogeniture.” “Primo”
means “one” or “first,” right?
W: Right. Oh, I get it! “Primogeniture” is when the first son gets everything.
M: That’s right.
W: Now it’s starting to make sense.
- What are the students discussing?
- What does “primogeniture” mean?
Questions 3 through 5. Listen to part of a discussion in a business class. The professor is talking about small businesses.
W: Small business owners usually consider themselves successful when they can support themselves solely
from the profits of their business. So, why do so many small businesses fail each year? Well, for one thing, they usually face stiff competition from larger, more established companies. Large companies generally have cash reserves that enable them to absorb losses more easily than small firms can. Still, with the right combination of factors, a small business can do quite well.
M: My friend has a bicycle shop, and he runs the entire operation by himself. He buys the inventory, repairs
bicycles, and sells to customers. He also builds the displays and cleans the shop—he does everything! And he manages to stay in business!
W: It is possible to make it—with hard work, good management, and a product or service for which there’s a demand. A small business owner performs a lot of different tasks. It’s absolutely essential to be a competent manager, as I’m sure your friend is. You also need to have a thorough knowledge of your field—a combination of formal education and practical training suited to your kind of business. To run a store, for example, you need to know how to keep track of your inventory—what you have to sell—and your accounts, so you need courses in accounting and business. Experience in retailing is helpful, too. Your primary responsibilities center on planning, management, and marketing, so organizational skills are a must. To keep your store in business, you have to adapt to changing market conditions. This means improving services or promoting your products in innovative ways. - According to the professor, why do many small businesses fail?
- According to the professor, what is essential for success as a small business owner?
- What are two responsibilities of a store owner?
Questions 6 through 10. Listen to a discussion between a student and a biology teaching assistant.
W: Hi, Gordon.
M: Hello, Julie. How are you?
W: Fine. I wonder if I could ask you a few questions.
M: Sure. What’s on your mind?
W: Well, something happened—I mean I saw something happen—on a hike I did last weekend, and I was
wondering if it sort of fit what we learned about muscle cells.
M: This sounds like it might be interesting. What did you see?
W: Well, I was hiking with my friend—on the desert canyon trail—and we ran into these two guys sitting
by the side of the trail. It turns out they were part of a high school group. My friend and I stopped to talk to them, and it turns out that one of them was sort of having trouble. He said he’d been having leg cramps for about five hours.
M: Oh. That’s not good on the canyon trail.
W: I know. We asked if they had water and food, and they said a little, but their teacher went back to get some more. The guy with the cramps said he didn’t feel like eating. So, we gave them one of our water bottles, and we just went on. Later on, on the way back, we ran into them again. This time the teacher and the ranger were there. The guy was eating saltine crackers. It turns out he’d skipped breakfast that day.
M: Well that was a dumb thing to do! A strenuous hike in the desert is not the time to diet.
W: So, I wondered if his muscle cramps were because of what we talked about in class, because lactic acid
ferments when the cell has no oxygen.
M: I’d say that’s what happened with this young man. Do you remember why it happens?
W: Well, I know that human muscle cells make ATP by lactic acid fermentation when oxygen is scarce. It’s
what happens when … during exercise, when ATP production needs more oxygen than the muscles can supply. The cells then have to switch from aerobic respiration to fermentation. This means lactate collects in the muscle as a waste product, and that causes muscle pain.
M: That’s absolutely correct. And the young man made his problem worse by not eating after he first
experienced cramps. He was simply out of fuel. His teacher did the right thing by getting him to eat something salty.
W: I guess it’s important to balance food and water intake.
M: That’s right. Well, Julie, it looks like you saw biology in action!
W: Yeah! It’s cool. I can really understand what happened. - What does the woman want to discuss with the teaching assistant?
- Where did the woman meet the young man who had a problem?
- What help did the young man receive?
- Why did the young man experience muscle cramps?
- What point does the teaching assistant make about what the woman saw?
Extension
1 Listen again to the conversations in Exercise 2.2.A above. With your classmates, discuss the meaning of the underlined expressions in the script below. In what other situations might these expressions be used?
check out |
You should check out the job board in the student center. |
---|---|
spare time |
…I need the money but I don’t have a lot of spare time. |
free |
If you’re free in the afternoon… |
help out |
…why not volunteer to help us out? |
I guess I could |
I guess I could spare a few hours. |
put (one’s) name down |
I can put your name down then? |
make someone do something |
She really makes us think. And she really makes you work in her class! |
figure out |
I’m starting to figure things out as a result of this class.. |
go through |
These are all journal articles that I need to go through for my research.. |
deal with |
Most are about primate behavior, but a few deal with other mammals or birds….. |
- What _____?
- Where _____?
- Why _____?
- Who _____?
- When _____?
- How _____?