TOEFL iBT — Test of English as a Foreign Language

TOEFL Listening — Conversations, Announcements and Academic Talks, Set 1

Take the TOEFL Listening — Conversations, Announcements and Academic Talks, Set 1: 20 multiple-choice questions (30 minutes) with instant scoring and a…

What this test covers

20 TOEFL Listening

Sample questions with answers

The first 5 questions of this test, with the correct answer and explanation.

Q1. Listen to the speaker. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: Do you know if the library is open on Sunday?
- A. Yes, but only in the afternoon. ✓
- B. I borrowed three books.
- C. It's on the second floor.
- D. No, I don't really like reading.
Answer: A. Yes, but only in the afternoon.
Explanation: The speaker asks about Sunday opening; only this answer responds to that.
Q2. Listen to the request. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: Could you send me your notes from today's lecture?
- A. I sit near the front.
- B. Sure, I'll email them to you tonight. ✓
- C. No, it starts at nine.
- D. The lecture was about genetics.
Answer: B. Sure, I'll email them to you tonight.
Explanation: The speaker asks for lecture notes; agreeing to send them answers the request.
Q3. Listen to the question about the study group. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: Why weren't you at the study group yesterday?
- A. The group meets in the library.
- B. We studied for two hours.
- C. Yes, I was there.
- D. I had a doctor's appointment that ran late. ✓
Answer: D. I had a doctor's appointment that ran late.
Explanation: The question asks why the listener was absent, so the answer must give a reason.
Q4. Listen to the question about next semester. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: Have you decided which course you're taking next semester?
- A. I took it last year.
- B. It's in Room 210.
- C. The semester ended last week.
- D. I'm still choosing between biology and chemistry. ✓
Answer: D. I'm still choosing between biology and chemistry.
Explanation: The speaker asks about a decision; this response says the decision is still being made.
Q5. Listen to the conversation. Why does the student talk to the librarian?
Transcript
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a librarian. Student: Hi. I'd like to reserve a group study room for Thursday afternoon. My team is preparing a presentation. Librarian: Let me check. I'm sorry, all the rooms are booked on Thursday afternoon. It's the week before exams, so they're very popular. Student: Oh no. Our presentation is on Monday. Is anything available on Friday? Librarian: Yes, Room 3B is free on Friday from nine to twelve. You can reserve it online with your student ID, or I can book it for you now. Student: Could you book it now, please? I don't want someone else to take it. Librarian: Of course. It's booked under your name. Just remember that if you're more than fifteen minutes late, the room may be given to someone else.
- A. To reserve a group study room ✓
- B. To return overdue books
- C. To ask about exam dates
- D. To find a quiet place to read alone
Answer: A. To reserve a group study room
Explanation: She asks to reserve a group study room for her team's presentation.

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Q6. In the same conversation, why can't the student book a room on Thursday afternoon?
- A. Her student ID has expired
- B. Rooms can only be booked online
- C. The library is closed on Thursdays
- D. All rooms are booked because it is the week before exams
Q7. In the same conversation, what does the librarian warn the student about?
- A. If she is more than 15 minutes late, she may lose the room
- B. The room has no projector
- C. Only two people can use the room
- D. She must pay for the room
Q8. Listen to the conversation. Why does the student visit the professor?
- A. To change her lab group
- B. To complain about the technician
- C. To ask for help with the first experiment
- D. To ask about the lab report because the equipment broke
Q9. In the same conversation, what is the group's new deadline for the final report?
- A. Wednesday
- B. The end of the semester
- C. Next Friday
- D. Monday
Q10. In the same conversation, what must the group submit on Wednesday?
- A. The complete final report
- B. Nothing at all
- C. The results of the first experiment
- D. A booking for a lab session
Q11. Listen to the announcement. Why are morning classes cancelled?
- A. The heating is broken
- B. The professors are at a conference
- C. A snowstorm is expected
- D. There is a public holiday
Q12. In the same announcement, what will happen to the dining hall?
- A. It will open at one o'clock
- B. It will open two hours later than usual
- C. It will close at ten a.m.
- D. It will be closed all day
Q13. Listen to the biology lecture. What is the lecture mainly about?
- A. Why some trees have thorns
- B. A relationship in which acacia trees and ants both benefit
- C. How giraffes find food
- D. How ants build their nests underground
Q14. In the same lecture, what do the ants receive from the trees?
- A. Leaves to build nests
- B. Shelter in hollow thorns and nectar to eat
- C. Water stored in the bark
- D. Protection from elephants
Q15. In the same lecture, what happened when researchers removed the ants from some trees?
- A. The trees were damaged much more by browsing animals
- B. The trees grew faster
- C. Giraffes stopped visiting the area
- D. New ants arrived immediately
Q16. In the same lecture, what term does the professor use for a relationship in which both species benefit?
- A. Competition
- B. Predation
- C. Mutualism
- D. Parasitism
Q17. Listen to the lecture. What is the professor's main point about the Silk Road?
- A. It was a changing network of routes that carried goods and ideas
- B. Merchants usually travelled its whole length
- C. It was used only to trade silk
- D. It was a single paved road from China to Europe
Q18. In the same lecture, how did goods usually travel along the routes?
- A. One merchant carried them the whole way
- B. They were sent only by sea
- C. Armies transported them
- D. They passed from trader to trader
Q19. In the same lecture, which idea is given as an example of something that spread along the routes?
- A. Democracy
- B. The steam engine
- C. Buddhism
- D. Printing presses
Q20. In the same lecture, what does the professor say about the name "Silk Road"?
- A. It was used by the earliest merchants
- B. It was introduced in the nineteenth century, long after the trade declined
- C. It comes from a Chinese emperor
- D. It was invented in the twentieth century by historians in Britain