针对2016年1月23/24日的托福考试,萍姐进行了口语部分的小范围机经预测,其中包括Task one共10道;Task two共10道;Task three共4道;Task four共9道;TASK five共9道;TASK six 共7道。希望大家都能考出理想的托福成绩!
TASK 1
① Your school is going to help the community. Which of the following would you prefer ? 1) clean litters and trash 2)plant trees and flowers 3)teach children knowledge about the environment.
I wanna say teaching children the knowledge about the environment is the most interesting and meaningful. At first, I like dealing with children, because they’re quite cute and creative. More importantly, only when kids learn about our environment can they actually take actions to protect it in their daily life. For example, if children know that lots of people in the arid area cannot take a bath all their life, they’d be aware of the significance of treasuring every single drop of water; if kids learn that the excessive use of fossil oil has stolen the blue sky from us, they’d possibly try to take the public transportation like buses and subways instead of driving.
②Describe the book you like the most when you were a child.
Harry Potter is my favorite book when I was a kid. First, it’s actually the first book about magics I’ve ever read, which helps me develop my strong interest in science fiction. In my mind, it’s the best science fiction ever. Moreover, the time I started reading Harry Potter was the last year in my junior high school. During that period, we were struggling for the senior high school entrance examination. So, you can imagine how much pressure I was undergoing. However, all the interesting stories in Harry Potter greatly helped me release my stress and helped me enter the best senior high school in my city.
③Science club, hiking club, which one are you interested in?
In fact, the hiking club appeals more to me. At first, I love outdoor activities, because they can make me close to our Mother Nature and relax myself. So, by taking part in the hiking club, I could gain lots of opportunities to go outside like climbing mountains or walking along rivers. I can breath the fresh air, enjoy beautiful sights, and totally escape from daily affairs. What’s more, if one wants to participate in a science club, he or she has to be good at some related subjects like math, physics, or chemistry. Nevertheless, those 3 subjects are actually my weaknesses since my senior high school. So, it’s more suitable for me to choose the hiking club.
④Which one you will learn: play a piano, swim, and repair a car.
I prefer to learn how to play a piano. At first, being able to play the piano is quite a cool thing. For example, I’ve watched a lot of TV series about romance, and those main actors who can play the piano always seem to be so attractive and graceful that they’re really popular among their friends. Furthermore, another reason I enjoy learning how to sing is actually for my future children. I really hope that I can find a special way to please them every day, and I ever heard that kids do love music. So, if I can practice playing the piano now, maybe in the future I can play the music they like by myself.
⑤When you and your friend have disagreement, what would you do to solve the disagreement?
You know, I just had a disagreement with my friend Tom on where to spend our winter vacation. I suggested that we should go to the southern part, but he wanted to go to the opposite direction. Actually, when this dispute happened, the first thing I did was to calm down both him and myself. After that, I invited him to express his reasons for his opinion. If they are acceptable, I’d make a compromise, because friendship matters more to me than a trip. However, I just could not buy his reason that he wanted to visit some old friends on our trip to the northern part. Since I noticed that it was impossible for us to reach this agreement, I suggested we should cancel this plan and find another chance to do this together. Anyway, we all agreed on this suggestion.
⑥Talk about a subject you enjoy learning in school.
The subject I enjoy learning is singing. There are a couple of reasons. At first, I enjoy it because I’m convinced that being able to sing is quite a cool thing. For example, I’ve watched a lot of entertaining programs about singing on TV, like The Voice of China. Those singers, no matter they are professional or amateur, seem to be so attractive and graceful on the stage. So, I wish that I can prepare myself well until one day I can gain such a chance to show myself. Also, another reason I enjoy learning how to sing is actually for my future children. I really hope that I can find a special way to please them every day, and I ever heard that kids do love music. So, if I can practice singing now, maybe in the future I can sing the music they like by myself.
⑦What food do you suggest university cafeteria should add to attract more people?
I think adding a variety of desserts could help to attract more people to the university cafeteria. At first, we cannot deny that more than half the people on this planet is into something sweet, because sweetness can bring people a sense of satisfaction or the so called happiness. More importantly, it’s not uncommon that some students could easily get hungry when it comes to the end of each semester, since there will be extensive exams or papers. If the school cafeteria could offer some delicious desserts, I believe that tons of students are willing to go over there and buy some of them supplement their energy.
⑧Police officers, transportation workers, building designers, which do you think is the most important to a city?
In my opinion, transportation workers is the most important to a city. I mean a city can live with only several police officers, because the comprehensive quality of current citizens has decreased the risk of crime to the lowest point. Also, a city can live without building designers, since it’s not the aesthetics that supports the development of a city. However, a city cannot survive without transportation. For example, millions of employees need transportation to take them to a relatively distant place to work; countless students rely on transportation to help them pursue knowledge; our daily necessities have to be delivered by transportation. Without transportation, we can hardly hang on for one single day.
⑨Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should be required to help with household tasks as long as they grow old enough to do so. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
I strongly advocate that children should be asked to do household tasks when they’re capable of that. At first, by doing such a kind of work, they would help their parents to share some life burden. What’s more, they would know how hard it is to support a family and thus deeply understand their parents. In this case, those kids could become more grateful for their parents’ love. Last but not the least, doing housework can also offer kids a good chance to grasp some basic skills for survival, like cooking and washing. Then, when they are studying or working away from their homes, they can support themselves on these aspects.
⑩What kind of strategy do you use to handle an overwhelming amount of work.
At first, I would choose to finish easier assignments, because they normally take me less time. At the same time, I can gain a sense of achievement from those easier ones, which offers me more motivation to keep on with the rest of my tasks. After that, it’s time for me to face those hard ones. At this moment, I would try to find if there is anybody who can help me to finish them together with me. Of course, what matters is not how much workload I can shift to others but I can release my stress when I know I can have someone to consult. I call it the sense of security.
TASK 2
①A friend of yours is going to study at another university and he's worried that he won't be able to make any friends there. What suggestions would you give him and why?
First, I would suggest my friend to take part in some clubs that he or she is interested in. In this case, my friend can find some friends with the same interests. Take myself as a case in point. During the first year in my university, I became a member of the hiking club in my school, because I love outdoor activities very much. Surprisingly, by attending various activities held by this club like climbing mountains and walking along rivers, each member got to increase their knowledge of each other. In the end, all of us have become an indispensable part of each other. Even after graduation, we still regularly gather together to go hiking on weekends.
②A/D: It is important to live close to your family.
I do believe that it’s crucial to live close to our families. At first, the short distance allows us to save lots of money on calling each other and buying tickets. More importantly, living close to our families offers us a good chance to ask them for help, especially when we just start living alone. Since we have been under our parents’ protection for so many years, it’s quite hard for us to immediately learn how to look after ourselves. For example, we could possibly have no idea of how to deal with serious fever. If we live close to them, we could just call them for help when we get ill. Under such a circumstance, the short distance between each other makes everything so simple.
③Finding a place to live near campus. 1: a house to share with several other students; 2: an apartment without sharing
From my perspective, I prefer to live in a house with several other students. At first, since all of us will split the rent together, it’s a good choice for releasing my financial pressure. Also, by living together, we could greatly increase our knowledge of each other and thus build a strong relationship. In other words, I can make more friends. Last but not the least, if I choose to live together with some other students, we could encourage and supervise each other on study. For example, when it comes to the end of each semester, we are normally faced with extensive exams and papers. Under such a circumstance, we could study together to prepare for them.
④Among the following three professions, which would you choose and why? 1. Lawyer 2. Animal doctor 3. Restaurant owner
I really wanna be an animal doctor. There are a couple of reasons. First, I love pets very much. If I could become an animal doctor, I’d obtain tons of chances to stay together with various pets like dogs, cats, parrots, and so on. In fact, I have kept a teddy dog for like 3 years, and I treasure every moment I am with her. Second, animals are just like human beings, we should be really patient and careful while taking care of them. So, it’s quite a good opportunity for me to practice my patience, which is also a good factor when we’re dealing with each other in our social life.
⑤A/D: School should require all students to have their own laptops.
I agree that students should be required to have their very own laptops. At first, the laptop could be a good study tool. As we all know, there are tons of study resources on the Internet, such as the database of Wikipedia. By just clicking a button on the mouse, students could easily get access to them. So, when it comes to writing papers, they could find a lot of references by their laptops. Also, students today are undergoing too much pressure from their study, so it’s quite imperative to find a way to release their stress. Having a laptop enables them to watch some movies or listen to some musics that they love, which is good for them to relax.
⑥A/D: Life now is better than life in the past.
I actually think that the current life is much worse than that in the old days. First, the rapid development of industries like chemical and vehicle factories have greatly contaminated the water and air today. So, it’s not surprising to find that the risk of getting diseases is ever higher. Also, compared with people in the past, modern people care too much about money. In this case, they’d do whatever they can, including breaking the law, to make profits. But the public are the one to get hurt. For example, in order to decrease the cost, many restaurant owners choose to use “gutter oil”, which is a kind of illegal cooking oil extracted from leftovers and does great damage to our health.
⑦A/D: Zoos are useful than harmful to animals.
I do believe that zoos are useful to animals. First, people today care so much about money that they would do whatever they can, including capturing and killing rare animals, to make profits. So, the wild is not safe for animals any more. But zoos are built up to look after or protect animals. Second, due to the rapid development of industries like chemical and wood factories, the water is contaminated and animals’ habitats are being destroyed. In this case, the living environment for animals in the wild has become harsher and harsher, and their populations has decreased greatly in recent years. So, zoos are quite a good place for them to live now.
⑧Some people prefer to do take a vacation in cities, others prefer to spend their vacation in countryside. Which do you prefer? Explain why.
I prefer to spend my vacation in the countryside. At first, the environment is better there. As we all know, due to the rapid development of industries like chemical and vehicle factories in cities, both the air and water are contaminated. In this case, the risk of getting diseases in the city is ever higher. But the number of modern factories in the countryside is less, which fortunately saves the clean water and blue sky for us to enjoy the visit there. Also, we don’t have too many cars in the countryside, which means that we don’t have to worry about the traffic. But the heavy traffics in the city is quite a daily annoyance.
⑨Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: protecting the environment is just as important as developing the economy?
Actually, it depends on the developing period of a nation whether we should focus more on economy or environment. On the one hand, for those developing countries, their industries are still in a slow progress. In this case, their environmental situation is quite good, but their living situation could be very harsh. So, they should try to develop their economy to improve their life quality. Of course, they need to pay certain attention to protecting environment to realize a balance. On the other hand, for those developed countries, they don’t need to worry about their living conditions any more. But the contaminated air and water in their daily life warn them the significance of focusing more on protecting natural environment.
Task3
①阅读是一个学生写信给学校建议卖旧物 sales of items on campus. 听力:女生说这个建议太好了,因为第一学生都不富裕,可以用便宜的价格买需要的东西。第二宿 舍空间小,可以卖掉不需要的东西,让宿舍很整洁。
②文 章 内 容 : 历 史 系 要 求 想 拿 历 史 学 位 的 学 生 必 须 去 学 校 的 档 案 馆 接 受 训 练 。 第 一是告 诉 学 生 学 校 有 大 量 资 源 , 第 二 是 教 学 生 怎 么 去 拿 historical document. 听力:女 学 生 同 意 , 第 一 , 丰 富 的 资 源 对 写 各 个 历 史 时 期 的 论 文 都 非 常 有 帮 助 , 教 授 也喜 欢 看 学 生 用 这 些 资 源 。 自 己 要 是 以 前 知 道 论 文 就 有 提 高 , 很 多 学 生 都 不 知 道 有这 个 资 源 。 第 二 , 很 多 人 不 知 道 怎 么 去 拿 历 史 文 献 , 会 对 文 献 造 成 损 失 , 比 如 有时 候 你 一 定 要 戴 手 套 。
③阅读:学校要给学生开设 information day,提供关于出国留学的信息咨询。听力:男同学觉得好,说这样的到的信息更全面,自己找的信息不够;另一方面可以和有留学经历的人直接交流。
④阅读:学校让宿舍生选室友。听力女同学不赞成。⑴和室友一般没什么矛盾,矛盾也是小矛盾,就算有也应该学习化解矛盾走上社会可以用;(3)住校外的都是为了省钱,就算你可以选舍友仍然会住外面。
Task4
①trial offer 买东西前可以试用。教授自己以前看了电视关于一台健身器材的广告, 被广告中身材很好的人吸引。但第一次公司只给了电话,由于没听过这种机器、不瞭解功能所以没买。过了几天后他在另一个电视台看到相同广告,可以试用一个月, 就定了一台而且用了之后觉得很好用,就买了。
②有些动物里面有 control animal 维护秩序。举的例子就是,猴子是群居动物,但是 猴子还是因为食物 会打架,这个时候 control animal,通常也是同一个猴子会过 来制止,而且会揍那个挑事的猴子,以防这种事情再犯。
③ecological validity:文 章 内 容 : 心 理 学 做 实 验 时 , 如 果 被 试 知 道 自 己 的 环 境 是 不真 实 的 , 行 为 就 会 改 变 。 所 以 心 理 学 家 就 必 须 让 实 验 环 境 更 接 近 真 实 。 听 力 : 教授举 例 : 在 一 个 实 验 里 , 先 让 大 家 在 计 算 机 上 仿 真 做 生 意 , 但 是 大 家 都 觉 得 没 什 么 要 紧 , 就 不 会 像 真 正 做 生 意 的 时 候 那 样 谨 慎 。 为 了 让 实 验 环 境 更 接 近 真 实 , 就 给他们incentive,实 验 中 的 商 业 决 定 如 果 做 的 好 , 就 有 真 的 奖 金 , 于 是 大 家 就 觉 得更 像 是 在 真的 做 生 意 。
④阅读:construction of quality动物通过操作表现自己比较彪悍,以逃避天敌。听力:羚羊跳很高以次来显示自己很有活力,避免野狗来抓他们。
⑤阅读:information bias,大概就是人以为信息越多就越有把握,结果等信息等的机会没了。听力:几年前教授要找个研究助理,第一个人很好,但是他没立即要,而是继续面试一星期人,最后决定要第一个,打电话一问,那个人已经跟别的教授了。
⑥阅读:有些人否定其他人对他的建议,是因为建议人也做不到他所建议的东西。 听力:教授在课堂举例子,他弟弟整天觉得很累,因为他经常食垃圾食品,含糖很高的食品很少吃菜,教授建议他少吃这些食品吃多些菜,他否定他的建议,说我也经常见到你吃垃圾食品。
⑦阅读:functional fixedness (功能固着),意思就是一种工具人们只用最原始的用法,可以有别的用途, 但通常都想不起来。 听力:一个人搬进公寓,想钉钉子,挂画在墙上,但他发现铁槌子还在箱子里。不过其实他穿着 硬底鞋,可以拿来钉钉子,另外他也有一些百科全书已经拿出来了,且书很重可以代替槌子,不过他一直到拿出槌子才钉钉子。
⑧阅读:有一种 marketing strategy 叫 skimming。商家先定很高的 价格再减价。听力: 教授举例子是 以前的 DVDplayer,刚出来的时候很贵要 1000 刀. 喜欢新科技的人不 在乎,觉得值得买就买了;之后卖不动就减价,到了一半的价钱,其他消费者很高兴觉得赚到了,也都去买,结果商家收获了很高的 profit。
⑨阅读:biological monitor. 用来 check health of environment;听力个机场每天有飞机,所以附近的蜜蜂可能受到飞机尾气的影响,所以用蜜蜂的蜂蜜 产量来判断环境好不好,结果发现蜂蜜产量没有变化,所以环境是好的。.
Task5
①一男一女 discussing about 女的的 problem,她早上總是錯過吃早餐,因為她起 不來。她的課在早上 8 點,她總是趕在提前剛好的時間起床,所以沒能時間吃早 餐。男的建議她是不是可以買些零食在 room 里,不用 cook 的那種,女的說不行, 因為她平時錯過早餐所以大概只吃 2餐,現在再加上一餐雖然是零食,但是 still cost 她一些錢,不行!然後又自己建議其實她可以 switch 到另一個在上午晚一點 才上的課程。還是同一個 professor teach 的。
②有個人室友搬走了,室友帶走了唯一的電視。剛好這個人這學期在 journalism 選了 一門課,需要 每天晚上看 news.然後解決兩個方案:1)重新買個,就算 used TV 還是很 expensive 2)第二個方案 就是用 laptop 看,但他覺得 screen 太小。
③一个学生去开会,会晚了一个小时才结束,学校的食堂就关了。如果去远一点的 cafe 吃饭,就会赶不上历史课。女生建议去吃饭,迟到一点不要紧,解释下就好。 但男生说有的教授会不高兴。女 生又建议去 vending machine 去买点啥,但是自 动售货机只有薯片什么的,早饭已经过了很久,现在不吃正经午餐,就要过很久才能吃到了
④男生抱怨住宿舍之后睡不好,导致上课精神不能集中,因为宿舍紧挨楼梯,楼梯 晚上很吵。解决方法(1) 马上换宿舍楼,但是男生不舍得同宿舍的室友们,而且离图书馆近;⑵等学期末了换到同楼的另一间远离楼梯的宿舍,但是要多等几个月。
⑤女生要去德国参加夏令营但是机票太贵了买不起她有两个办法办法 1 :晚一 周去,机票便宜得多, 但是参加不了第一周周末的 party,没法 know each other; 办法 2 :先飞 Berlin 再坐 train,但是没去过德国,怕不认识路标,迷路啥的
⑥在咖啡厅里举行读诗会,但是咖啡厅只给一个小时的时间,报名的人多,不能全读。方法一:前 10 个报名的同学读,剩下的下次再读,但是没能读诗的同学可能不高兴。方法二:换地方,在学校礼堂,时间可以很长,但是环境没意思。咖啡厅有吃的喝的,有意思
⑦有个人邀请她去一个音乐会唱 solo,但她要做 paper。有两个解决方案,一是将 solo 改为 sing a song ;二 是叫历史教授延长 paper 时间。
⑧女生宿舍漏水 有个女生,刚搬进新家,就遭遇了管线问题,屋子漏水,修了好几天。然后又发现她家没有热水。 解决方 案有两个,一个是再找个房子,但是比较贵,还有一个就是先住着,可以去附近同学家洗澡、洗衣服。
⑨女生的老师组织看 play 和打工时间冲突,1 和 manager 请假,但是上次已经请过一次假了;2 和professor 请假,事后看 vcd,但是她喜欢和大家一起看。
Task6
①biological 的课程一群群居的动物,易感染疾病,举了一种 ant 为例,说明他们如何去 defense 感染疾病。分泌物质清除病毒.他们会经常自我清洁,通过自我清洁可以避免感染。
②公司除了促销还可以选择保留已有的客户促利润发展。第一种促发展例子卖sandwich,买十个送一个,所以顾客想 eventually i will get one for free;第二个是给 discount, deal
③生物课,老师讲动物怎么改进来使用南极寒冷气候。两个例子,一,北极熊爪子上很厚的毛。这样full speed 跑起来也不会滑倒二,一个叫walrus 还是什么的动物,在冰下游泳,为了 break hole through the ice,adapt 出了很长的牙
④讲鸟类为甚么可以进行长距离迁徙(migrate long distances),举了两个例子来说 明两种情况。一是 在迁徙开始之前几个星期吃很多东西,储存 body fat,增加体重40% ,飞行途中就靠消耗这些能量。二是利用飞行途经地区的地理特性减少能量损耗。就是借助上升气流获得飞行高度,这样可以少挥翅膀,很高效节能。
⑤鸟类都需要照料他们的幼鸟,孵化什么的。因此要保证温暖。第一种方法是找 sheltered place, 遮风挡雨保证温度,比如在地洞里。第二种是隔热 isolation, 从周边找些植物,比如干草,加在巢穴里。澳大利亚那种鸟就是把干草铺在巢里,让蛋不要直接和冷的地接触。
⑥某鸟喜欢下蛋在 host bird 的巢里,教授举了两个例子说明 host bird 怎么防备某鸟。(1)改变生活习惯:从前不太护 巢,一旦发现附近有某鸟的踪迹,便常常保卫家园,防止某鸟来下蛋。(2)下特别的蛋:有独特的大小和颜色,一眼就能和某鸟的蛋区分开,一旦发现某鸟的蛋就把它们推出巢外。
⑦动物产蛋后,如何保护这些蛋和刚出生的幼体在寒冷的环境中生存,第一个 behavior 就是吃很多食物, 储存能量御寒;第二个 behavior 就是选择时间生产,比如说一个啥鸟忘了选择春天,是因为春天会越来越 暖和,也有充足的食物.
作者介绍:
姓名:钟萍
英文名:John
国籍:中国
教授课程:托福写作
教师简介:英语专业出身,热心教育。注重专业视角,擅于从TOEFL考试官方要求出发,施行“对症下药”,让学员应试时做到“有的放矢”;注重用心服务,为学员拓展国外生活知识,让课堂直通澳英美。喜欢以激情幽默的方式授课,点燃学员学习的热情,让课堂充满趣味性的同时又极富效率。地道的发音,让学员感受纯正的英美教学环境。
“好好去感受这个世界的美好和辽阔”