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Directions
Before you start to listen, consider the following as your top priority:
“I am a teacher. My goal is to explain this audio excerpt in a way so clear and simple
that a six-year-old would understand.”
That’s it. You do NOT have to worry about answering the questions, finding the keywords, or understanding the vocabulary. You can listen to the passage as many times as you want. There are no rules or time limits.
You have been supplied with an incorrect summary. Explain why it is wrong and summarize the passage in your own words.
Keep in mind the following:
| Correct Choices |
simplifies the main idea, uses synonyms |
| Incorrect Choices |
includes opinions, includes adverbs like all, always, never, wrong modifiers, mixes details, modifies the significance, time, or mood, information is never mentioned, wrong main idea, an inference not a fact |
For more on how to identify the difference between correct and incorrect choices, refer to this document.
Question
Listen to part of a talk in a world history class:
| Vocabulary |
|---|
| Aequi Sabines |
Directions
You will now listen to the same short passage. The passage will be followed by two questions. The question types will be a mix of the seven types on the TOEFL. While in the reading section there is more focus on specific question type strategy, the listening is more about improving your listening and notetaking skills.
If you need some help with your notes, refer to this TOEFL Listening Notetaking Guide at the TST Prep site.
Do NOT look at the questions until AFTER listening to the passage.
Question
Listen to part of a talk in a world history class:
| Vocabulary |
|---|
| Aequi Sabines |
Directions
This fill-in activity is about building your listening skills. The words chosen for you to fill-in are NOT important vocabulary words and phrases for you to know. This activity was designed to improve your listening comprehension skills by asking you to identify a small number of specific words and phrases that you may have difficulty understanding.
This final activity, fill-in exercises, highlights speech patterns you may find challenging to comprehend. Sometimes referred to as cloze exercises, these fill-in-the-blank activities will help train your ears to recognize North American speech patterns and overall pronunciation.
Feel free to listen to the same passage multiple times, but your goal is to listen once and record all of the answers.
Question
Listen to part of a talk in a world history class:
| Vocabulary |
|---|
| Aequi Sabines |
Listening Actively
Cincinnatus
Listen to part of a talk in a world history class:
| Vocabulary |
|---|
| Aequi Sabines |
Incorrect Summary:
Cincinnatus was a Roman dictator who is historically renowned as the first emperor of Imperial Rome.
Why is the statement above incorrect?
Explain why this is incorrect and what the correct summary should be.
This is not true because the lecture actually explains how Cincinnatus was only a dictator for a short time and after victory he resigned his powers. He was not the first emperor of the Roman Empire.
Answer the Questions
Cincinnatus
1. B (speaker stance)
If you remember that the professor speaks positively of Cincinnatus, then you can probably decide to eliminate A, C and D right away, since they all have a negative tone. The professor says, at the end of the lecture, “For the remainder of the Roman Republic, and well into the Imperial Period, Cincinnatus continued to be seen as the quintessential Roman cultural hero and model of virtue: an aristocratic man who was a talented soldier, general, and politician who put the interests of Rome first, above his own. While no other Roman politician displayed Cincinnatus’ degree of self-sacrificing humility, the other Roman heroes of the Republic and the Empire were still uniformly male, pre- dominantly aristocratic, and famed for military and political achievements.”
2. A (organization)
Considering the main idea of the passage, to describe Cincinnatus and how well-liked and interesting he was, we can eliminate D as a possible answer. We can also eliminate B, since the professor does not change the subject of the lecture. C is not correct because mentioning other Roman heroes doesn’t help to elaborate on someone else’s life story.
Fill-in Exercise
Transcript:
“In 458 BCE, facing a military attack from the two (1) neighboring tribes of the Aequi and the Sabines, the Roman Senate took a (2) drastic measure, reserved for the direst of circumstances: they appointed a dictator, who would single-handedly lead the state in this time of trouble. As the Roman historian Livy tells it, Cincinnatus, the senator who was appointed dictator, received the news while working on his farm. Abandoning the (3) plow, he immediately rushed to join the army, which he then led to a swift and brilliant victory. Then something astonishing happened: Cincinnatus resigned his (4) extraordinary powers and returned to his farm. For the remainder of the Roman Republic, and well into the Imperial Period, Cincinnatus continued to be seen as the (5) quintessential Roman cultural hero and model of virtue: an aristocratic man who was a talented soldier, general, and politician who put the interests of Rome first, above his own. While no other Roman politician displayed Cincinnatus’ degree of self-sacrificing humility, the other Roman heroes of the Republic and the Empire were still uniformly male, (6) predominantly aristocratic, and famed for military and political achievements.”
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