2020-05-06 TOEFL: listening function

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
---
Homework (optional): passages 3 and 4
---
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-really-happened-during-the-salem-witch-trials-brian-a-pavlac
---
Listening Section: second section, after reading; 40-60 minutes; 2-3 conversations and 3-4 lectures
- The section will have one long set and one or two short sets
	long set = 1 conversation, 2 lectures or discussions, 10 minutes to choose answers
	short set = 1 conversation, 1 lecture or discussion, 6.5 minutes to choose answers
(Our practice tests have two long sets, so on the real TOEFL you’d either get one more conversation between the last two passages, or you wouldn’t have to do the final lecture or discussion.)

Listening Question Types:
- main idea (topic or purpose)
- detail
- inference
- function/replay
- purpose
- prediction
- attitude
- complete a table or chart (a type of detail question)
---
Function questions often require you to identify things like sarcasm from people’s tones.
Cengage exercise 12.1 - Is each statement true or false?
1 T - He was being sarcastic, and she recognized that when she agreed with him.
2 F
3 T - “About once a century” = very rarely
4 T - “Oh no, not again” = it has already happened many times
5 F - “spic and span” = very clean, so she thinks he should clean it carefully before moving out
6 T - She asks, “Do you really think that’s a good reason?” rhetorically, because she thinks it’s clearly not.
7 T
8 F - He asks the teacher to write them down, so he’s not already familiar with them.
9 T - He’s explaining that they can’t move on to complex numbers until they understand imaginary numbers. Therefore, he’s going to continue discussing imaginary numbers now.
10 F - He phrases his answer as a question: “Um...was it Bach?”
11 T
12 F - Some of them were too long. “I know I didn’t give you a maximum length, but some of these were ridiculous.”
---
Things to identify for replay questions:
- sarcasm
- idiomatic expressions
- rhetorical questions
---
Exercise 12.2 - Answer multiple-choice function questions about conversations. (Many of these depend on idiomatic expressions, which we’ll talk about when we check the answers.)
1 A - “I’ll just have to take my chances.”
2 A - “It turned out to be a complete bust.”
3 B - “I guess you could call it art.” (She implies that she doesn’t really agree that it’s art.)
4 B - The children’s style has “rubbed off on her”.
5 D - “That’s right up my alley.”
6 A
---
BREAK
---
7 D - “I really hate to say this, but…”
8 C - “Don’t even get me started!”
9 A - “Okay okay, you’ve sold me.”
10 C - “A rock’s a rock, isn’t it?” - She doesn’t understand that there are differences.
11 D
12 C - Earlier he said the apparent color can’t identify the mineral, and now he’s explaining how to see the “true color” which can be used for identification.
13 B - “I get the picture.”
---
“A [noun]’s a [noun]” = There are not (important) differences between different [noun]s
---
exercise 12.3 - Do the same for lectures and discussions
1 D
2 B
3 D - “I guess the kindest word I could use would be ‘questionable’.” = There are other less kind words he could use. He also could have said something like, “His work was questionable at best.”
4 A - “To put it in a nutshell.”
5 C - Most people think it’s called Nighthawks at the Diner, but she explains that the official name is simply Nighthawks.
6 B - “I probably don’t have to tell you this.”
7 D - “mastermind” = smart person (especially in the context of a plot or strategy)
8 C - “In theory, it’s simple.” - We often contrast how things work “in theory” with how they are “in practice”.
9 A - “I just don’t get it.” (B could be “I didn’t get that”)
10 B - “That’s an easy one.”
11 A - “I haven’t got a clue.”
	(C says she doesn’t know if that’s the meaning, but really she’s sure it’s the meaning, she just doesn’t know why.)
12 D - “It’s an uphill battle.” = It’s very difficult.
13 B - “I’m going to jump in here” = I want to interrupt. He’s interrupting between a question and an answer, meaning he wants to respond before Ms. Adams does.
14 B - “Today, I’m going to drop the other shoe.” - The “other shoe” dropping is an inevitable (or at least expected) event that follows something that already happened. Often we talk about “waiting for the other shoe to drop”.
15 C - “It shouldn’t take you long” because the poems are pretty short.
---
How can you (politely) express that you think the professor must be mistaken?
- Excuse me, I think you might have made a mistake.
- I thought you said _______ before.
---
It can be helpful to remember the full context of something you hear again, but usually isn’t necessary.
---
handout 1 p. 7 exercise 6L2 - Listen only to the questions and try to get the correct answers.
1 c
2 b
3 b (His voice sounds nervous, but he doesn’t yet mention anything about cost.)
4 c
5 b - “Speaking of ____” = I want to talk about ____ now, which is kind of related to whatever was just said.