TOEFL ITP Listening Materials

1. LISTENING
TOEFL TEST

2. Duration & Number of Questions
of TOEFL ITP Listening Test
Time
Number of
Questions
Section
35
minutes
50 multiple
choice
questions
Listening
Comprehension

3. Tips and Tricks
▪ In a lecture or discussion, pay
attention to expressions that
indicate the topic: “Today’s talk is
on…” “Today, we’re going to
discuss…” “Now, we’re going to talk
about…”
▪ In a conversation, listen for cues
that will indicate the speaker’s
main purpose: “How can I help?”
“What do you need?” “Can you help
me with…?”
▪ Listen for key words that are
emphasized or repeated.
1. Main Idea Questions
Main idea questions assess your
understanding of the overall topic
or basic idea of a lecture or
conversation. You are supposed to
understand the speaker’s general
purpose of giving a lecture or
having a conversation as well.
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4. Sample Question
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5. Sample Question
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6. Tips and Tricks
▪ Since answers to questions are found
in order in the passage, take notes in
order of what you hear.
▪ Listen for signal expressions that
identify details, such as:
for example, the reason is, on the other
hand, however, I would say, etc.
▪ Detail questions do not require
inference. Choose what speakers
actually say. Incorrect choices may
repeat some of the speaker’s words,
but do not reflect correct information
from the lecture or conversation.
2. Detail Questions
Taking notes of major points
and important details of a
lecture or conversation is
important to solve detail
questions
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7. Sample Question
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8. Sample Question
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9. 3. Function Questions
In this type of question,
you listen again the part of
the lecture or conversation,
and then answer the
question. Function
questions assess your
understanding of what a
speaker is trying to achieve
through what is said.
Tips and Tricks
▪ You should be careful about
the tone of voice, intonation
and sentence stress that a
speaker uses to show his or
her intended meaning.
▪ Listen for the overall
organization of the lecture or
conversation and think about
whether the purpose is to
describe, explain, compare, or
give an opinion.
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10. Sample Question
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11. Sample Question
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12. Tips and Tricks
▪ You should recognize words or phrases
that indicate the speaker’s feeling or
opinion.
▪ You should also recognize tone of
voice, intonation, and sentence stress
that the speaker uses to show his or her
feeling or opinion.
4. Stance Questions
Stance questions ask about
the speaker’s general feeling
about what is discussed.
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13. Sample Question
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14. Sample Question
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15. Tips and Tricks
▪ You are supposed to recognize the
sequence of information as well as the
main steps of a process.
▪ Use diagrams, arrows and outline
format while taking notes to indicate the
organization of information.
▪ Listen for transitions that indicate
sequencing of information, such as first,
now the first step is, next, then, so now,
the last step is, finally.
5. Organization Questions
Organization questions assess
your understanding of
organization of information in
a lecture or conversation.
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16. Sample Question
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17. Tips and Tricks
▪ Take notes while listening as questions
with tables will only appear after the
lecture or conversation.
▪ Pay special attention to category
words, the characteristics of categories
and examples.
▪ Keep in mind that there are different
types of tables to complete. Some in
which you need to click YES or NO, and
others in which you need to click the
correct category.
6. Content Question
Content questions assess your
ability to determine if a certain
point is discussed in relation
to a category. Identifying key
category words is required to
solve these questions.
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18. Sample Question
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19. Tips and Tricks
▪ Try to guess the implied meaning of
the given information. The correct
answer is not directly stated.
▪ Pay attention to clues expressed by
certain words, word stress, intonation, or
pace of what is said.
7. Inference Questions
Inference questions assess
your ability to guess the
implied meaning or to draw a
conclusion based on the main
points of a lecture or
conversation. Inference
questions include the
words,infer, imply or suggest.
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20. Sample Question
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21. Sample Question
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22. Improving
Listening Skill
(not only for TOEFL)
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23. What should I do to improve my listening
skills?
▪ Listen to different
types of materials.
▪ Listen actively. Try to
answer the following
questions:
o who o what o when
o where o why o how
▪ Listen passively to
get the general idea
of what's being said.
▪ Keep a listening
log (a list of
everything you listen
to in English each
day/week).
▪ Write a 1-sentence
summary to
remember the main
idea of what you
heard.
▪ Write down new
expressions, idioms
and vocabulary that
you hear.
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Practice listening to something in English every day, and
gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.

24. What should I do to improve my listening
skills?
▪ Listen for expressions
and vocabulary that tell
you the type of
information being given.
Think carefully about
the type of information
that these phrases
show:
1. opinion — I think, It
appears that, It is
thought that
2. theory — in theory
3. inference — therefore,
then
4. negatives — not, words
that begin with "un-,"
"non-," "dis-" or "a-"
5. fillers — non-essential
information — uh, er, um
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Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk,
connections between ideas and the importance of ideas.

25. What should I do to improve my listening
skills?
▪ Identify digressions
— discussion of a different topic from the main topic
— or jokes that are not important to the main lecture.
It's OK not to understand these!
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Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk,
connections between ideas and the importance of ideas.

26. What should I do to improve my listening
skills?
▪ Listen for signal words or
phrases that connect ideas in
order to recognize the relationship
between ideas. Think carefully
about the connection between
ideas that these words show:
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Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk,
connections between ideas and the importance of ideas.
o reasons — because, since
o results — as a result, so, therefore, thus,
consequently
o examples — for example, such as
o comparisons — in contrast, than
o an opposing idea — on the other hand,
however
o another idea — furthermore, moreover,
besides
o a similar idea — similarly, likewise
o restatements of information — in other
words, that is
o conclusions — in conclusion, in summary

27. What should I do to improve my listening
skills?
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Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk,
connections between ideas and the importance of ideas.
▪ Pay attention to
the connections
between examples.
o When you hear 2 details,
identify the relationship
between them.
o Write a sentence
connecting the examples,
using the appropriate
connecting word.

28. Questions?
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