TOEFL iBT — Test of English as a Foreign Language

TOEFL Listening — Conversations, Announcements and Academic Talks, Set 2

Take the TOEFL Listening — Conversations, Announcements and Academic Talks, Set 2: 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 question about the bookstore. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: Is the bookstore still selling the chemistry textbook?
- A. I think it sold out, but you can order it online. ✓
- B. I paid by card.
- C. The bookstore is next to the café.
- D. Chemistry is my favourite subject.
Answer: A. I think it sold out, but you can order it online.
Explanation: The question is whether the book is still on sale.
Q2. Listen to the invitation. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: Would you like to join our hiking club this weekend?
- A. Yes, it's very far.
- B. The club has twenty members.
- C. That sounds great. What time do you meet? ✓
- D. I hiked last year in the mountains.
Answer: C. That sounds great. What time do you meet?
Explanation: An invitation is best answered by accepting or declining it.
Q3. Listen to the statement. Which is the best response?
Transcript
Speaker: I can't find my student ID anywhere.
- A. My ID has a nice photo.
- B. Have you checked the lost-and-found at the front desk? ✓
- C. I found mine yesterday.
- D. Student IDs are free.
Answer: B. Have you checked the lost-and-found at the front desk?
Explanation: The speaker has lost their ID; suggesting where to look is the most helpful reply.
Q4. Listen to the conversation. Why does the student want to change rooms?
Transcript
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a housing officer. Student: Hi, I live in Maple Hall, and I'd like to ask about changing rooms. Housing officer: Is there a problem with your current room? Student: It's right above the music practice rooms. People play until eleven at night, and I can't concentrate on my work. Housing officer: I understand. There are no free rooms in Maple Hall right now, but there's a single room in Cedar Hall, which is a quiet building. The rent is slightly higher, though: an extra twenty dollars a month. Student: That's fine. A quiet room is worth it. When could I move? Housing officer: If you fill in the transfer form today, you can move this Saturday.
- A. His room is too noisy because of the music practice rooms ✓
- B. He wants to live with a friend
- C. His room is too expensive
- D. His room is too far from his classes
Answer: A. His room is too noisy because of the music practice rooms
Explanation: Music practice below his room continues until eleven at night.
Q5. In the same conversation, what is the disadvantage of the room in Cedar Hall?
Transcript
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and a housing officer. Student: Hi, I live in Maple Hall, and I'd like to ask about changing rooms. Housing officer: Is there a problem with your current room? Student: It's right above the music practice rooms. People play until eleven at night, and I can't concentrate on my work. Housing officer: I understand. There are no free rooms in Maple Hall right now, but there's a single room in Cedar Hall, which is a quiet building. The rent is slightly higher, though: an extra twenty dollars a month. Student: That's fine. A quiet room is worth it. When could I move? Housing officer: If you fill in the transfer form today, you can move this Saturday.
- A. It is noisy
- B. It is not available until next term
- C. It costs twenty dollars more each month ✓
- D. It is a shared room
Answer: C. It costs twenty dollars more each month
Explanation: The officer says the rent is an extra twenty dollars a month.

The other 15 questions

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Q6. In the same conversation, when can the student move?
- A. At the end of the term
- B. Immediately
- C. Next month
- D. This Saturday, if he fills in the form today
Q7. Listen to the conversation. Why does the student want to change her major?
- A. Economics has fewer exams
- B. Engineering courses are too expensive
- C. She enjoyed her economics course more than her engineering courses
- D. Her parents asked her to
Q8. In the same conversation, what does the advisor say about her maths courses?
- A. They will replace Introduction to Microeconomics
- B. They will count towards an economics degree
- C. They are not useful for economics
- D. She will have to repeat them
Q9. In the same conversation, why does the advisor suggest emailing the department head this week?
- A. The deadline for changing majors is the end of the month
- B. Emails are answered slowly in summer
- C. The department head is leaving
- D. The microeconomics course is full
Q10. Listen to the conversation between two students. Which part of the presentation will the man prepare?
- A. The slides
- B. Solar power
- C. The conclusion
- D. Wind power
Q11. In the same conversation, what will the two students do together on Saturday?
- A. Write the introduction
- B. Rehearse the presentation
- C. Make the slides
- D. Research wind power
Q12. In the same conversation, why does the woman ask for his section by Friday?
- A. Because the presentation is on Friday
- B. So that she can check his facts with the professor
- C. Because she is away on Saturday
- D. So that she has time to put everything into the slides
Q13. Listen to the psychology lecture. What is the lecture mainly about?
- A. The history of German psychology
- B. How to memorise meaningless syllables
- C. Ebbinghaus's memory research and the spacing effect
- D. Why people forget names
Q14. In the same lecture, what did Ebbinghaus find about forgetting?
- A. It starts slowly and then speeds up
- B. It happens quickly at first and then slows down
- C. It does not happen with practice
- D. It happens at the same rate over time
Q15. In the same lecture, according to the spacing effect, which is the best way to use five hours of study?
- A. Five hours on the morning of the exam
- B. Two and a half hours on two consecutive nights
- C. One five-hour session the night before
- D. Five one-hour sessions spread over a week
Q16. In the same lecture, when did Ebbinghaus carry out his experiments?
- A. In the 1780s
- B. In the 1880s
- C. In the 1920s
- D. In the 1950s
Q17. Listen to the lecture. Why does the Moon appear to change shape?
- A. It produces less light at certain times
- B. The Earth's shadow covers part of it each night
- C. Clouds block parts of it
- D. We see different amounts of its sunlit half as it orbits the Earth
Q18. In the same lecture, when do we see a new moon?
- A. When the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun
- B. When the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun
- C. During a lunar eclipse
- D. When the Moon is closest to the Earth
Q19. In the same lecture, about how long is the complete cycle of phases?
- A. About fourteen days
- B. About seven days
- C. Exactly thirty days
- D. About twenty-nine and a half days
Q20. In the same lecture, what misconception does the professor correct?
- A. That the Moon reflects sunlight
- B. That the Moon orbits the Earth
- C. That the phases are caused by the Earth's shadow
- D. That a full moon is fully lit