2019-04-05 TOEFL: check reading, speaking practice

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Look at your writing from yesterday. What did each person do well? What needs to be improved?
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You don’t need to write a conclusion for the integrated writing task. If you have extra time at the end, it’s better to go back and look for things to correct or clarify in the rest of your response.

We discuss topics and question. We state/argue/say/claim sentences.

No space before punctuation (commas and periods), yes space after punctuation, only one space between words, no comma after “because”, etc.
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The “dirty little secret” about commas in English (and probably every language) is that many situations don’t really have strict rules. It’s more a matter of style and preference.

I went to the store to buy some fruits, such as apples, bananas, and grapes, and some beverages, such as coke, water, and apple juice.
- The comma after “grapes” is in a pair with the one after “fruits”, separating the “such as” phrase from the rest of the sentence.

I traveled to New York, New York; Boston, Massachusetts; and Portland, Maine.
- We can use ; as a “supercomma” when some items in a list already have their own commas.

The comma before “and” in a list of three or more is the serial comma or the Oxford comma. Some people argue very strongly that it’s good, and others argue equally strongly that it’s wrong.
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In every language, it’s possible to write perfectly grammatical sentences that have two (or more) meanings.
I saw the man using the binoculars. - Who had the binoculars?

If you think a sentence might be unclear, you can usually change the wording to fix it:
Using the binoculars, I saw the man. = I had the binoculars.
I saw the man who was using the binoculars. = He had them.
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BREAK
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Speaking Section: third section after the break, 20 minutes, 6 tasks, 5.5 minutes of speaking time
1 independent, open-ended - 15 seconds to prepare / 45 seconds to speak
2 independent, choice question - 15/45
3 integrated reading/listening/speaking, campus announcement and conversation - 30/60
4 integrated R/L/S, academic text and lecture - 30/60
5 integrated L/S, conversation about a problem and solutions - 20/60
6 integrated L/S, academic lecture - 20/60
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Speaking Task 5
- Listen to a conversation about someone’s problem and two suggested solutions.
- 20 seconds to prepare
- 60 seconds to summarize the problem (and the solutions) and recommend your choice of solution

Your notes can usually be organized like:
(general notes on the background and beginning of the conversation)
P: (what’s the problem?)
S1: (what’s the first solution they talk about?)
	but (what’s a disadvantage of this solution?)
S2: (what’s the second solution they talk about?)
	but (what’s a disadvantage of this solution?)

Your response can be organized like:
1 Introduction: summarize the problem and list the two solutions
2 Your opinion: state which solution you prefer
3 Lead-in: “I have two reasons for this recommendation.”
4 First reason (one or both of your reasons can be disadvantages of the other option)
5 Detail/example
6 Second reason
7 Detail example
(8 Conclusion - if you still have time)
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Speaking Task 6
- Listen to part of a lecture by a professor
- 20 seconds to prepare
- 60 seconds to summarize the main points from the lecture

The lecture usually has a general topic and two main points. These points can be different examples or methods or ways of approaching the general topic, or they can be the methods and results of an experiment.

You can organize your response like this:
1 Introduction: summarize the general topic of the lecture
2 Lead-in: state what kind of points the professor makes
3 First point
4 Detail/example
5 Second point
6 Detail/example
7 Conclusion (if appropriate)
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Record your responses to all the ETS 2.1 speaking questions.
Listen to some sample responses. What was good and bad about each one?