Getting to Know the TOEFL iBT Test

The Listening Section

The listening section includes two conversations and three lectures.

You'll hear them only one time each.

Each conversation is about three minutes long and has five multiple choice questions.

Each lecture has about five minutes long and has six multiple choice questions.

You will have 41 to 57 minutes to complete the listening section.

They include one, gist-content and gist-purpose questions.

Two, detailed questions.

Three, function questions.

Four attitude questions.

Five, organization questions.

Six, connecting content questions,

and finally seven, Inference questions

Gist-content and gist-purpose questions

Gist-content and gist-purpose questions?are similar to main idea questions,?

the answer may be expressed implicitly or explicitly.?

They test your understanding of?the gist of the lecture or conversation.?

They are typically phrased as,?why does the student visit the professor??What are the speakers mainly discussing??What is the lecture mainly about？

?

Detailed questions

Detailed questions ask you about explicit details or facts.

They are either directly or indirectly related to gist of the lecture or conversation.

You'll need to take notes to remember the answer.

They are typically phrased as, according to the professor, what is one way that X can affect Y? What resulted from the invention of X?

According to the professor, What is the main problem with the X theory?

?

Function questions

Function questions measure your understanding beyond basic comprehension.

They often involve listening again to a part of the lecture or conversation.

These questions are typically phrased as, what does the professor imply when he says this? Why does this student say this?

What does the professor mean when he says this?

?

Attitude questions

Attitude questions measure your understanding of the speaker's attitude or opinion.

They may also test your ability to understand irony.

Irony means the language signifies the opposite typically for humor or emphatic effect.

These questions are usually phrased as, what is the professor's attitude toward X? What is the professor's opinion of X?

Or what does the woman mean, when she says this.

For which, you will hear part of the conversation or lecture one more time.

?

Organization questions

Organization questions test your understanding of the overall organization of the lecture.

They may focus on the relationship between two parts of the lecture, they may ask you to connect the main topic to sub-topics.

Organization questions are typically phrased as, why does the professor discuss X?

Why does the professor mention X?

How is the discussion organized?

?

Connecting content questions

Connecting content questions require you to make connections between or among pieces of information.

They test your ability to draw conclusions or inferences.

The answer may be stated explicitly or implicitly.

There typically phrased as, what is the likely outcome of doing X before Y?

What can be inferred about X?

What does the professor imply about X?

?

?

Inference questions

To answer these questions, you need to reach a conclusion based on facts in the lecture or conversation.

The answer restated implicitly, they are typically phrased as, what does the professor imply about X?

What will the student probably do next?

What can be inferred about X?