CORRECT ANSWERS:

Questions 1 through 5. Audio transcripts is posted in this link: [Link]

1. C
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. A & D
Questions 6 through 10. Audio transcripts is posted in this link: [Link]
6. B
7. A
8. B
9. B
10. C & D
Questions 11 through 16. Audio transcripts is posted in this link: [Link]
11. B & C
12. B
13. D
14. B
15. Incomplete flowers do not have all four basic flower organs. - TRUE
The sunflower has one large symmetrical flower on its stalk. - NOT TRUE
All varieties of the English daisy arc white with a yellow center. - NOT TRUE
The arrangement of flowers on the stalk can help identify the plants family. - TRUE
16. B
Questions 17 through 22. Audio transcripts is posted in this link: [Link]
17. C
18. D
19. A
20. D
21. A & D
22. B
Questions 23 through 28. Audio transcripts is posted in this link: [Link]

23. C
24. A & C
25-26. Statistics are used to describe the trend of a disease over time. - Descriptive
Researchers intervene to test a hypothesis about cause and effect. - Experimental
Researchers examine the eating habits of sick and well people. - Observational
A treatment group is compared with a non-treatment group. - Experimental
27. A
28. A
Questions 29 through 34. Audio transcripts is posted in this link: [Link]
29. D
30. B
31. B & C
32. A
33. B-C-A
34. A

Audio Transcripts of Real TOEFL Listening

Test 2015
Questions 1 through 5. Listen to part of a conversation
between two students.
M: Oh, hi! Its good to see you. Whats happening?
W: Im busy with my classes. The quarters going by really quickly. How about you? What have you been
up to?
M: Busy with school and work. Hey, what are you taking spring quarter?
W: Literature, sociology botany, and uh Im hoping to do something in the arts, maybe some sort
of work experience or internship.
M: No kidding! I didnt know you were artistic. What do you have in mind?
W: Well, theres this theater group I just found out about in Chester. I went to a couple of their plays.
Theyre an interesting company. They perform a lot of new works, and they also do older plays that arent
very well known, and well Im really impressed and would love to work with them in some way.
M: No kidding! I didnt know you were into theater. Do you act?
W: Not really I took drama in high school, but I was awful on stage. No its not acting that interest
me as much as all the other stuff.
M: Like what? Directing? Lighting?
W: All of it, actually. This theater I told you aboutthey have the best sets! Id like to build sets. Or make
costumes, find props I dont know, even work in the office. Its the whole atmosphere of theater that I
find exciting.
M: It sounds like you need to be a theater intern.
W: But, as far as that goes my problem is I dont know anything about setting it up.
M: What, the internship?
W: Yeah.
M: Do you know anyone who works there?

W: No, I only found out about it cause I went to a couple of plays.

M: Better go see your adviser about this. Doesnt the advising department post a list of internships that
are available?
W: Yeah, theres a list. I already checked it, and there was nothing in theater. But Ill talk to Sherry, of
course. Shes my adviser.
M: You know what you could do? When I had to do an observation last year for my psychology class
we had to observe a work group for two weeks what I did how I got started was, I picked out a
couple of law firms and then just sent formal letters of introduction. I told them I was a student, and had to
do a report for one of my classes, and asked if I could meet with them to arrange an observation in their
workplace.
W: Oh really? And what happened?
M: I said Id call them, and the first firm I called said I could do it there.
W: Wow! You make it sound so easy. I wonder if thatd work with the theater.
M: Its worth a try, isnt it?
W: Its worth a try. Hey, Im glad I ran into you!

Questions 6 through 10. Listen to a conversation between

a student and a professor.
M: Hi, Professor Reynolds.
W: Oh, hi, Jeff. I just read your note. You wanted to talk about something?
M: Uh, yeah, just an idea I have. Ive been thinking umm I was reading about whats been going on
with those houses on Fox Point.
W: You mean the slide?
M: Yeah, thats right. The paper said a few days ago there was only one house that was affected, but this
morning there was another article saying there were lots more houses involved than they previously
thought, maybe as many as Fifteen or twenty homes. A couple of houses have big cracks in the
foundation.
W: I read the article too. It seems like nothing but bad news for the homeowners.
M: Yeah. My old boss lives out there on Fox Point. I dont know if his house is one thats affected. Anyway
I was um I was sort of thinking I could write a paper on it. I remember how in your Intro to
Geology course we studied gravity movements. I thought maybe um the slide on Fox Point was
a case of subsidence um when the earth sinks cause theres a weakening of support. I was thinking
this might be an example of settlement.
W: Settlement happens from the more or less gradual compacting of underlying material for example,
when wet soil at the surface dries and shrinks, and creates a depression. It can also happen when frozen
ground melts.
M: In class you talked about the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
W: Yes. The settlement thats caused the Tower of Pisa to lean is due to the failure of a clay layer beneath
it. Engineers have been working on it for decades, but still havent been able to stop the process.
M: There was another kind of settlement you talked about um when groundwaters removed.
W: Yes. thats what happened in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Part of the valley floor sank 30
feet because of the removal of groundwater for irrigation. But the problem on Fox Point may not be
subsidence at all. This probably has more to do with the slope, and with the amount of rain weve been
having lately.
M: So its just a regular old mudslide, not like the Leaning Tower?
W: Its probably not like the Leaning Tower.
M: The article did say the houses were on a slope, but its only slight, its not steep at all.
W: Mudslides are most common on intermediate slopes 27 to 45 degrees because these slopes
are gentle enough for sediment to accumulate and steep enough for sliding. One suggestion I have is to
take a look at the countys Web site. Theres a page on the geology of the region. This area has a history
of slides. There was one on Johnson Island about ten, twelve years ago.
M: Oh, really? I didnt know that. Maybe theres a connection.

W: Possibly. Its an idea to work on.

M: Well, this gives me a place to start. Thanks, Professor Reynolds. I appreciate your input.

Questions 11 through 16. Listen to part of a discussion in

a botany class. The class is talking about flowers.
W1: In a perfect, idealized flower, its four organs are arranged in four whorls, all attached to the
receptacle at the end of the stem. Before we go on, lets quickly go over the four parts of the flower. First,
lets start from the outside and work in. Which organ is on the outside, closest to the stem?
M: The sepal. Thats the part that kind of looks like a leaf cause its usually green. The sepal protects the
flower bud before it opens up.
W1: Right. Then what comes next?
W2: The petals, the colorful part of the flower. Its the petals that make the flower attractive to insects and
birds and people, too.
W1: Right. And inside the petal layers we have ?
M: The flowers reproductive partsthe stamens and carpels.
W1: Thats right. So we have the four parts of a flower: sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels.
Now, duringthe millions of years in the history of flowering plants, numerous variations evolved. In certain
flowers, one or more of the four basic floral organssepals, petals, stamens, and carpelshave been
eliminated. Plant biologists distinguish between complete flowersthose with all four organs and
incomplete flowers those lacking one or more of the four floral parts. For example, most grasses have
incomplete flowers that lack petals.
There are many variations in the size, shape, and color of flowers. One important element in plant
classification is the arrangement of flowers on their stalks. The large composite family, for example, which
includes asters, daisies, and sunflowers, have flower heads that form a central disk. What appears to be a
single flower is actually a collection of hundreds of flowers. The central disk consists of tiny, complete
flowers. And what appear to be petals surrounding the central disk are actually imperfect flowers called
ray flowers.
M: Im not sure I got that. Could you say that again?
W1: Sure. The flower head the center part of the plant actually consists of many tiny, tightly packed
complete flowers that stand upright on a flat disk.
The whole arrangement looks like a single, symmetrical flower, but its actually a collection of hundreds of
separate flowers. The petals what look like petals are actually larger flowers called rays that extend
from the rim of the disk. Does that help?
M: Uh, yeah. I guess so. What youre saying is a single sunflower is really hundreds of flowers put
together.
W1: Thats right. This will make more sense in the lab this afternoon.
So in the composite family, there are about 19,000 different species worldwide. Many are grown as
ornamentals cosmos, zinnia, dahlia, marigold, and aster. Probably the most-recognized composite
flower is the English daisy. The daisy was introduced from Europe and now is a wildflower found on
lawns, in fields, and at roadsides throughout North America. The name of the daisy has an interesting
origin. The word daisy means days eye and comes from an older Anglo-Saxon word. The English
daisy folds up its rays at night and unfolds them again at dawnthe eye of the day or days eye.
Several cultivated varieties of English daisy are popular as edging plants or in rock gardens. The English
daisy comes in lots of colors rose, lavender, pink, and white. It has a long bloom time, from April to
September. The plants are compact and attractive, with flower heads up to two inches across. In the lab,
well be looking at some different varieties of the daisy, and youll see for yourself why theyre so popular.

Questions 17 through 22. Listen to part of a lecture in an

anthropology class.

M: Every human society has developed some interest in activities that could be considered sports. The
more complex the culture, the more various the range of sporting behavior. There are certain elements in
all human sports that are clues to the common underlying structure of sports. Sports tell us a great deal
about the kinds of behavior that our prehistoric ancestors evolvedactivities that were basic survival
skills. Now, let me ask you what skills were most important to the survival of our ancestors? Yes,
Lynne?
W: The ability to find food?
M: Yeah . But what skills were necessary to find food?
W: Um good eyesight?
M: OK. What else?
W: Well, if they were hunters, they also had to be fast runners and they had to have good eyes and a
good armI mean a good aimso they could kill game.
M: Yes! And isnt it interesting that you just used the word game? Our prehistoric ancestors were gamers
they hunted game animals to survive. Look at the number of sports that originated in hunting. First,
hunting itself. But for some societies, the ancient pattern of killing prey is kept alive in the form of blood
sportsthese are sports that involve the killing of an animal. Even in places where the killing is no longer
a matter of survival, it still survives as a sport. The animalslike ducks or pheasant, certain fishare
often eaten as luxury foods. Its the personal sense of mastery, the sort of delight in the skills of the
hunter these are more important than the food itself. For our prehistoric ancestors, the climax of the
hunt was always a group celebration, with songs of praise for the hunters. As hunting sort of became
more symbolic, spectators became more important. The ancient Romans brought the hunt to the people
by confining it to an arena the Coliseum. The Coliseum made the hunting field smaller, and this sort of
intensified the activity for the entertainment of the spectators. The systematic killing of animals for sport
still survives in parts of the world todaythink of bullfights and cock fights. But animal sports are only part
of the picture. Today, people find human competition more satisfying than competition involving just
animals. Take track and field sports. These dont involve animals, but they did originate in hunting. The
earliest sports meetingsor meets, as we call themwere probably ritualized competitions of important
skills. Think of how many Olympic sports there are that involve aiming, throwing, and runningwhich are
all hunting skills.
The difference is that now the hunting has become totally symbolic. In some sports, theres still a strong
symbolic clement of the kill. Wrestling, boxing, fencing, martial arts all these are examples of ritualized
fighting. Even tennis is kind of a fight of course, an abstract one. There are lots of direct references to
fighting in the language of sports, too. For example, what do soccer and chess players do? They attack
or defend.
Today, even the most violent fighting sports have strict rules that are designed to prevent serious injury.
Theres also some kind of referee to make sure that the rules are observed. In sports, the objective is
victory, not the actual destruction of your opponent. Another objective is to impress and entertain the
spectatorsnot to shock or offend them. Because sports contain such a powerful negative element, most
have an ideal of acceptable behavior something we call sportsmanship. Theres also a universal
convention in sports where the winner honors the defeated opponent with a handshake, with words of
praise, or some token of respect.

Questions 23 through 28. An epidemiologist has been

invited to speak to students in a public health class. Listen
to part of the talk.
Epidemiology is the field of medicine that deals with epidemics outbreaks of disease that affect large
numbers of people. As an epidemiologist, I look at factors involved in the distribution and frequency of
disease in human populations.
For example, what is it about what we do, or what we eat, or what our environment is, that leads one
group of people to be more likelyor less likelyto develop a disease than another group of people? Its
these factors that we try to identify.

We use statistical analyses, field investigations, and a range of laboratory techniques. We try to
determine the cause and distribution of a disease. We also look at how quickly the disease spreadsand
by what methodso we can implement measures to control and prevent the disease. Some
epidemiologists concentrate on communicable diseases, like tuberculosis and AIDS. Others focus on
the growingepidemics in cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
We gather data in a variety of ways. One way is through what we call descriptive epidemiology, or looking
at the trends of diseases over time, as well as uh trends of diseases in one population relative to
another. Statistics arc important in descriptive epidemiology, because numbers are a useful way to
simplify information.
A second approach is observational epidemiology, where we observe what people do. We take a group of
people who have a disease and a group of people who dont have a disease. We look at their patterns of
eating or drinking and their medical history. We also take a group of people whove been exposed to
somethingfor example, smokingand a group of people who havent, and then observe them over time
to see whether they develop a disease or not. In observational epidemiology, we dont interfere in the
process. We just observe it.
A third approach is experimental epidemiology, sometimes called an intervention study. Experimental
research is the best way to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables. A typical
experiment studies two groups of subjects. One group receives a treatment, and the other groupthe
control groupdoes not. Thus, the effectiveness of the treatment can be determined. Experimental
research is the only type of research that directly attempts to influence a particular variablecalled the
treatment variableas a way to test a hypothesis about cause and effect. Some examples of treatments
that can be varied include the amount of iron or potassium in the diet, the amount or type of exercise one
engages in per week, and the minutes of sunlight one is exposed to per day.
The Health Research Institute, of which I am the director, is mostly involved in experimental studiesI
say mostly because we study treatment and non-treatment groups and then compare the outcomes.
However, we do collect and study various types of data in any given year. From these different
approaches descriptive, observational, and experimental we can judge whether a particular factor
causes or prevents the disease that were looking at.

Questions 29 through 34. Listen to part of a talk in a music

education class.
Learning to play a musical instrument is one of the best experiences that a young child can have.
Learning to play music begins with listening to others play music. A childs first experience with playing an
instrument should be by ear. without the distraction of printed music. Playing by car is the natural
beginning for children. The ability to play by ear will help them throughout their lives, and it also enriches
the experience of music making. But children should eventually learn to read music. So. when is the right
time? And whats the best way for a child to learn how to read music?
A lot of children start playing an instrument at the age of eight or nine. Its best for them to spend a couple
of years playing by ear before the teacher introduces notation -printed music. Children should first be able
to feel that their instrument is a part of them. Playing by ear is the best way for children to become
comfortable with their instrument.
The teacher should introduce notation only when the child is ready. The right time is when the child feels
a need for notation. This might be when the child has learned so many pieces its sort of difficult to
remember them all. Then the teacher can present the printed music as a memory aid. so learning to read
music has a practical purpose and isnt just a meaningless task.
A good time to teach notation is when a group of children play together. The printed score is a way to help
them sort of keep track of who plays what and when. The score will organize their cooperative effort in a
way that makes sense to them.
Another good time is when the child wants to play music thats so complex it would be difficult to learn by
ear. In this case, learning to read music is a natural step toward playing the music the child wants to play.
The teacher should play the score for the child the first time through, and demonstrate how the notes on
the page are transformed into music. The child listens as he or she looks at the printed notes. This way.

the child can begin to see how the notes represent sound and a printed score becomes a piece of music.
As the child listensand maybe plays alonghe or she begins to understand the shape of the new
piece.
For students who play a chord-producing instrument- the guitar, for example a natural first step toward
reading music is playing by chord symbols. Chord symbols are found in a lot of different styles of music
-like pop and jazz and at various levels of difficulty. Chord symbols are a simple form of written music
theyre kind of a halfway point between playing by ear and reading a standard musical score.
After children can play by ear. and then by chord symbols, the next step is to read standard music
notation. Although thats the natural order for children to learn, it doesnt mean that each successive step
is better than the one that came before. The three methods of playing music playing by ear. playing
chords, and playing by standard notationare all valuable in their own way. Some children will always
prefer to play by ear. Others will like chord playing and have no desire to learn another method. And still
others will find their musical home in the tradition of note reading. Its the job of the music teacher to fit the
method to the needs of the students.