rize the examples from the listening. There are only very minor errors in lan- guage use, but they do not prevent her response from being understood. Play Audio Track 38 to hear a mid-level response for Question 4. Rater’s Comments The speaker sustains his response throughout. His pronunciation and intonation is affected by his first language. These pronunciation errors make it hard to know what he means. The speaker identifies the concept and the two examples, but with inaccuracies. Instead of summarizing each experiment, he combines the summary of both experiments. This causes him to incorrectly conclude that you make more mistakes when you are being watched while tying your shoes. Addi- tionally, the speaker sometimes stumbles when trying to form basic words (slowlier), which shows a moderate control of grammar and vocabulary. Question 5 Track 28 Listening Script Narrator Listen to a conversation between a student and her geology professor. Man Mary, I’m so glad I ran into you. Woman Oh hello, Professor Jensen. Man Listen, I know it’s short notice . . . and maybe you’ve already made plans for spring break . . . but . . . one of my students just dropped out of the field trip to the Smithson River Caves. You’re next on the waiting list, so now there’s room for you to come along. Woman You’re kidding! [disappointed] I didn’t think there was a chance . . . and . . . well, it’s a three-day trip, right? I agreed to spend next week helping Professor Clark set up the new museum exhibition. I think she’s really counting on me. Man Yeah, three days. But you know . . . if you’d rather come on the field trip, why not speak with her and see if she has anyone to replace you? Woman Yeah, I’d hate to miss out on the caves. I’ll definitely ask Professor Clark if there’s someone else who could help her. Man You know . . . we don’t leave until Wednesday. If you still have to help out, any chance you could get the museum setup done before then? 327 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts 328 TOEFL iBT Practice Test 1 Woman Oh yeah . . . not until Wednesday . . . so then yeah . . . maybe that’s possible too. Narrator The speakers discuss two possible solutions to the woman’s problem. Describe the problem and the two solutions. Then explain what you think the woman should do and why. Preparation time: 20 seconds Response time: 60 seconds Important Points The problem the student faces is a conflict between an earlier commitment to help with a museum exhibition setup and a more recent opportunity to go on a field trip led by one of her professors. She could talk to Dr. Clark about finding a replacement to help with setting up the museum exhibition. As an alternative, since the field trip doesn’t start until later in the week, the student could try to finish setting up the exhibit before the field trip. After summarizing the problem and solutions, you should choose the solution you think is best and give a detailed reason. For example, you could say that you think the student should stay to set up the museum exhibit because she should honor the commitment she made to Dr. Clark. Sample Responses Play Audio Track 39 to hear a high-level response for Question 5. Rater’s Comments There are minor pronunciation and intonation errors, but they do not prevent the speaker’s response from being understood. She uses connecting words to mark the progression of ideas. Her control of grammar and vocabulary is evident in the way she efficiently summarizes the situation from the listening. The speaker clearly identifies the problem and both solutions. She organizes her response, so it is easy to follow her ideas from one to the next. She indicates her opinion of what the student should do. Although she runs out of time before she can explain why she holds that opinion, it is clear that she understands the task. Play Audio Track 40 to hear a mid-level response for Question 5. Rater’s Comments The response is generally understandable. The speaker sustains speech through- out the response time. However, the sense of hesitation in the way the response is delivered requires some listener effort. The choppy delivery sometimes makes it difficult to know when one sentence or idea ends and when others begin. The speaker makes a number of errors with simple grammatical structures (very like to, let her to take, make somebody to replace her). Overall meaning, though, is not greatly affected by these errors. The speaker identifies the problem and describes the two solutions. A higher-level vocabulary would have been helpful to more effi- ciently summarize the situation. The problems and two solutions are summa- rized with too much detail, which prevents the speaker from having time to state her preferred solution and give a reason for it. Question 6 Track 29 Listening Script Narrator Now listen to a part of a talk in an economics class. Professor So, let’s talk about money. What is money? Well, typically people think of coins and paper “bills” as money . . . but that’s using a somewhat narrow definition of the term. A broad definition is this: [slowly] money is anything that people can use to make pur- chases with. Since many things can be used to make purchases, money can have many different forms. Certainly, coins and bills are one form of money. People ex- change goods and services for coins or paper bills, and they use this money . . . these bills . . . to obtain other goods and services. For example, you might give a taxi driver five dollars to purchase a ride in his taxi. And he in turn gives the five dollars to a farmer to buy some vegetables . . . But, as I said, coins and bills aren’t the only form of money under this broad defi- nition. Some societies make use of a barter system. Basically, in a barter system peo- ple exchange goods and services directly for other goods and services. The taxi driver, for example, might give a ride to a farmer in exchange for some vegetables. Since the vegetables are used to pay for a service, by our broad definition the vegetables are used in barter as a form of money. Now, as I mentioned, there’s also a second . . . a narrower definition of money. In the United States only coins and bills are legal tender—meaning that by law, a seller must accept them as payment. The taxi driver must accept coins or bills as payment for a taxi ride. OK? But in the U.S., the taxi driver is not required to accept vegetables in exchange for a ride. So a narrower definition of money might be whatever is legal tender in a society, whatever has to be accepted as payment. Narrator Using points and examples from the talk, explain the two definitions of money pre- sented by the professor. Preparation time: 20 seconds Response Time: 60 seconds Important Points Under the broad definition, money is anything that can be used as payment (as a medium of exchange), e.g., coins/bills and barter. If you take a taxi ride, you could use vegetables as payment for the cab ride. Under a narrower definition, money is anything that must be accepted as payment (legal tender). In the United States, coins and bills are legal tender. A taxi driver must accept coins and bills as pay- 329 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts 330 TOEFL iBT Practice Test 1 ment for the taxi ride. Vegetables and credit cards are not legal tender in the United States, so the taxi driver does not have to accept these as payment. Sample Responses Play Audio Track 41 to hear a high-level response for Question 6. Rater’s Comments The speaker’s pronunciation and intonation are highly intelligible. She speaks a little too quickly at times, but the overall meaning is not lost. Her words and ideas flow easily from one idea to the next. She uses complex grammatical struc- tures and a wide range of vocabulary. The speaker fluently summarizes the stim- ulus accurately recounting the broad and narrow definition. Her response is detailed and sustained. She spends too much time summarizing the first defini- tion and example, so she does not fully explain the second definition and exam- ple. However, it is obvious from the apparent ease in which she speaks that she understands the concept and is able to talk about it. Play Audio Track 42 to hear a mid-level response for Question 6. Rater’s Comments The speaker’s pronunciation is generally clear. She sustains speech and continues to try to elaborate her ideas. The hesitance and choppiness indicates a lack of control of vocabulary and grammar. This significantly affects the overall intelligi- bility of the response. She conveys some relevant details including an almost accurate summary of both definitions of money. However, her response is clearly incomplete. The speaker’s struggle to find the right words to convey her ideas pre- vents her from efficiently using her time. Neither of the examples is included in the response. Most of her ideas are underdeveloped. 331 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts Writing Listening Script, Topic Notes, and Sample Responses with Raters’ Comments Use the Integrated Writing and Independent Writing Scoring Rubrics on pages 200–201 and 209–210 to see how responses are scored. Writing Based on Reading and Listening Track 30 Listening Script The following is the script of the lecture that you heard and were asked to sum- marize. You know, often in science, new findings force us to re-examine earlier beliefs and as- sumptions. And a recent study of meerkats is having exactly this effect. The study ex- amined the meerkat’s behavior quite closely, much more closely than had ever been done before. And some interesting things were found . . . like about eating habits . . . it showed that typically meerkats eat before they stand guard—so the ones standing guard had a full stomach! And the study also found that since the sentinel is the first to see a predator coming, it’s the most likely to escape . . . because it often stands guard near a burrow, so it can run immediately into the burrow after giving the alarm. The other meerkats, the ones scattered about looking for food, are actually in greater danger. And in fact, other studies have suggested that when an animal creates an alarm, the alarm call might cause the other group members either to gather together or else to move about very quickly, behaviors that might actually draw the predator’s atten- tion away from the caller, increasing that animal’s own chances of survival. And what about people—what about some human acts that might be considered altruistic? Let’s take an extreme case, uh, suppose a person donates a kidney to a rel- ative, or even to a complete stranger. A selfless act, right? But . . . doesn’t the donor receive appreciation and approval from the stranger and from society? Doesn’t the donor gain an increased sense of self-worth? Couldn’t such non-material rewards be considered very valuable to some people? Question Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, being sure to specifi- cally explain how they cast doubt on points made in the reading. Topic Notes You should understand the meaning of altruism and altruistic acts. The defini- tions are given in the reading: altruism describes behavior that is the opposite of selfishness; it is behavior that benefits another individual or the group with no reward. The lecturer questions whether the examples meet the definition. A high-scoring response will include the following points made by the lec- turer: Point Made in Reading Contrasting Point from the Lecture Human organ donors gain The donors receive appreciation and nothing from their action. approval from the rest of society. Sentinel meerkats go without Sentinels actually eat before the food to stand guard. other meerkats. Sentinel meerkats place themselves Sentinels are actually the first to in danger from predators. escape the predators. Responses scoring 4 and 5 discuss altruistic/non-altruistic aspects of the three points in the table: human organ donation, meerkat sentinel eating behavior, and meerkat sentinel ability to escape. Sample Responses with Raters’ Comments Score 5 Essay The lecture completely refutes the passage. It is said in the lecture that, the perceived acts of altruism are nothing more than sneaky methods of gaining advantage for one’s self.Contrary to the belief in the passage that sentinels risk their lives for the cause of the whole group, the professor says that the meerkat sentinels are in fact less prone to outside threats. The alarm sentinels give off causes to group to move rashly which draws the predators attention towards them, thus drawing away the attention from the sentinels. The lecture refutes the fact that these meerkats are altruistic in the sense that they gain nothing in exchange of their services. In fact, researches have shown that they have a full stomach as they perform this “altruistic” duty and have a better chance of escaping from danger because they witness it ifrst Proffesor also offers a different underlying motivation that causes people to believe that acts such as donating an organ or sharing food with someone in need are altruistic. She says that people gain appreciation as a result of such acts, which may be deemed by some much more important than materialistic gains. Rater’s Comments This answer meets all the criteria for a Level 5 response to an integrated task. The writer does a good job of selecting, framing, and interweaving points from the lec- ture and reading, explicitly and fluently presenting accurate connections between the relevant points. All three points made by the lecturer are included. Language is used accurately and effectively, and the overall piece is well-organized. 332 TOEFL iBT Practice Test 1 333 Answers, Explanations, and Listening Scripts Score 4 Essay Baed on the lecture, meerkats actually do not sacrifice themself by becoming a sentinel. Firstly, the meerkats that become a sentinel usually eats before. Secondly, these meerkats usually standing guard near their burrows. As a result, when a predator is seen, they raise an alarm and reach a safe place before the other meerkats that hunt for food. This shows that these meerkats do not put themselves in danger. In fact, the lecturer warned that the the alarm raised by these meerkats could be harmfull for the other meerkats. One of the reason is that the responses of the other meerkats to the alarm might attract attention from the predator. Based on these reasons, meerkats can not be used as an example of a mammal that performs altruistic behavior. The lecture also pointed out that, it is not always true that individuals per- forming altruistic acts gain nothings for themselves. For example, when a man give one of his/her kidney to a family member or even a stranger, his/her self- worth increase. He/she feels usefull for other people. Therefore, he/she gain something from his/her action. In sum, altruism behavior in animal and human is questioned. It is difficult for individuals sacrificies its own interest without gain anything for themselves. Rater’s Comments This response includes all the main points of the lecture. The first paragraph begins with a clear statement that sentinel meerkats do not sacrifice themselves. There are strong concluding statements in each of the first two paragraphs that are quite explicit about the import of the sentinel behavior and the organ dona- tion. The connections to the reading could be stronger. The writer says that the sentinel meerkat eats “before,” but does not make an explicit contrast to the pas- sage which says that sentinel meerkats go without eating. The conclusion in the final paragraph is vague (“altruism . . . is questioned”). On balance then, this response is a level 4, with minor vagueness and omission. In terms of language, there are a number of minor errors: “themself,” missing verb in the sentence beginning “Secondly,” “one of the reason,” “a man give,” “It is difficult for indi- viduals sacrificies.” Score 3 Essay Acording to the lecture, examinig closely to the eating habits of meerkats, these animals are not altruistic, mainly because the sentinel before standing guard eats. So that it has a full stomach. Another fact is that the sentinel, being the first that sees the predator, is able to be the first in escape. Also the other meerkats that are hunting and looking for food are the ones in danger. Considering the altruistic human acts, the donation of body organs shouldn’t be considered like that, mainly because when a person donates an organ he or she receives appreciation and recognition of society. Because of this points the lecture might make the reader doubt, mainly because . alarm, the alarm call might cause the other group members either to gather together or else to move about very quickly, behaviors that might actually draw the predator’s atten- tion away from the. danger. In fact, the lecturer warned that the the alarm raised by these meerkats could be harmfull for the other meerkats. One of the reason is that the responses of the other meerkats to the alarm. which draws the predators attention towards them, thus drawing away the attention from the sentinels. The lecture refutes the fact that these meerkats are altruistic in the sense that they gain