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Preparation time: 20 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Important Points
The problem the student faces is a conflict between an earlier commitment to help with a museum exhibition setup and a more recent opportunity to go on a field trip led by one of her professors. She could talk to Dr. Clark about finding a replacement to help with setting up the museum exhibition. As an alternative, since the field trip doesn't start until later in the week, the student could try to finish setting up the exhibit before the field trip.
After summarizing the problem and solutions, you should choose the solution you think is best and give a detailed reason. For example, you could say that you think the student should stay to set up the museum exhibit because she should honor the commitment she made to Dr. Clark.
Sample Responses
Play track #38 on the CD to hear a high-level response for Question 5.
Rater's Comments
There are minor pronunciation and intonation errors, but they do not prevent the speaker's response from being understood. She uses connecting words to mark the progression of ideas. Her control of grammar and vocabulary are evident in the way she efficiently summarizes the situation from the listening. The speaker clearly identifies the problem and both solutions. She organizes her response, so it is easy to follow her ideas from one to the next. She indicates her opinion of what the student should do. Although she runs out of time before she can explain why she holds that opinion, it is clear that she understands the task.
Play track #39 on the CD to hear a mid-level response for Question 5.
Rater's Comments
The response is generally understandable. The speaker sustains speech throughout the response time. However, the sense of hesitation in the way the response is delivered requires some listener effort. The choppy delivery sometimes makes it difficult to know when one sentence or idea ends and when others begin. The speaker makes a number of errors with simple grammatical structures (very like to, let her to take, make somebody to replace her). Overall meaning, though, is not greatly affected by these errors. The speaker identifies the problem and describes the two solutions. A higher-level vocabulary would have been helpful to more efficiently summarize the situation. The problems and two solutions are summarized with too much detail, which prevents the speaker from having time to state her preferred solution and give a reason for it,
Question 6
Listening Script
Narrator
Now listen to a part of a talk in an economics class.
Professor
So, let's talk about money. What is money? Well, typically people think of coins and paper "bills" as money... but that's using a somewhat narrow definition of the term. A broad definition is this: [slowly] money is anything that people can use to make purchases with. Since many things can be used to make purchases, money can have many different forms. Certainly, coins and bills are one form of money. People exchange goods and services for coins or paper bills, and they use this money … these bills... to obtain other goods and services. For example, you might give a taxi driver five dollars to purchase a ride in his taxi. And he in turn gives the five dollars to a farmer to buy some vegetables ...
But, as I said, coins and bills aren't the only form of money under this broad definition. Some societies make use of a barter system. Basically, in a barter system people exchange goods and services directly for other goods and services. The taxi driver, for example, might give a ride to a farmer in exchange for some vegetables. Since the vegetables are used to pay for a service, by our broad definition the vegetables are used in barter as a form of money.
Now, as I mentioned, there's also a second... a narrower definition of money. In the United States only coins and bills are legal tender—meaning that by law, a seller must accept them as payment. The taxi driver must accept coins or bills as payment for a taxi ride. OK? But in the U.S. the taxi driver is not required to accept vegetables in exchange for a ride. So a narrower definition of money might be whatever is legal tender in a society, whatever has to be accepted as payment.
Narrator
Using points and examples from the talk, explain the two definitions of money presented by the professor.
Preparation time: 20 seconds
Response Time: 60 seconds
Important Points
Under the broad definition, money is anything that can be used as payment (as a medium of exchange), e.g., coins/bills and barter. If you take a taxi ride, you could use vegetables as payment for the cab ride. Under a narrower definition, money is anything that must be accepted as payment (legal tender). In the United States, coins and bills are legal tender. A taxi driver must accept coins and bills as payment for the taxi ride. Vegetables and credit cards are not legal tender in the United States, so the taxi driver does not have to accept these as payment.
Sample Responses
Play track # 40 on the CD to hear a high-level response for Question 6.
Rater's Comments
The speaker's pronunciation and intonation are highly intelligible. She speaks a little too quickly at times, but the overall meaning is not lost. Her words and ideas flow easily from one idea to the next. She uses complex grammatical structures and a wide range of vocabulary. The speaker fluently summarizes the stimulus accurately recounting the broad and narrow definition. Her response is detailed and sustained. She spends too much time summarizing the first definition and example, so she does not fully explain the second definition and example. However, it is obvious from the apparent ease in which she speaks that she understands the concept and is able to talk about it.
Play track #41 on the CD to hear a mid-level response for Question 6.
Rater's Comments
The speaker's pronunciation is generally clear. She sustains speech and continues to try to elaborate her ideas. The hesitance and choppiness indicates a lack of control of vocabulary and grammar. This significantly affects the overall intelligibility of the response. She conveys some relevant details including an almost accurate summary of both definitions of money. However, her response is clearly incomplete. The speaker's struggle to find the right words to convey her ideas prevents her from efficiently using her time. Neither of the examples is included in the response. Most of her ideas are underdeveloped.