TOEFL IBT Listening Practice Test 29 from Official TOEFL iBT Test with Audio Volume 1
Listening Section Directions
This test measures your ability to understand conversations and lectures in English.The Listening section is divided into 2 separately timed parts. In each part you will listen to 1 conversation and 2 lectures. You will hear each conversation or lecture only one time.
After each conversation or lecture, you will answer questions about it. The questions typically ask about the main idea and supporting details. Some questions ask about a speaker’s purpose or attitude. Answer the questions based on what is stated or implied by the speakers.
You may take notes while you listen. You may use your notes to help you answer the questions. Your notes will not be scored. If you need to change the volume while you listen, click on the Volume icon at the top of the screen.
In some questions, you will see this icon: This means you will hear, but not see, part of the question. Some of the questions have special directions. These directions appear in a gray box on the screen.
Most questions are worth 1 point. If a question is worth more than 1 point, it will have special directions that indicate how many points you can receive. You must answer each question. After you answer, click on Next. Then click on OK to confirm your answer and go on to the next question. After you click on OK, you cannot return to previous questions.
A clock at the top of the screen will show you how much time is remaining. The clock will not count down while you are listening. The clock will count down only while you are answering the questions.
TOEFL IBT Listening Practice Test 29 from Official TOEFL iBT Test with Audio Volume 1
Question 1-5: Answer the questions.
1.Why does the student go to the career services office?
- To confirm the date and time of the career fair
- To learn the location of the career fair
- To find out if he is allowed to attend the career fair
- To get advice about interviewing at the career fair
2.Why does the student think that companies’ representatives would not be interested in talking to him?
- He will not be graduating this year.
- He is not currently taking business classes.
- He has not declared a major yet.
- He does not have a current résumé.
3.What does the woman imply about the small print on the career fair posters and flyers?
- The information in the small print was incomplete.
- The print was smaller than she expected it to be.
- The information the small print contains will be updated.
- The information in the small print will be presented in a more noticeable way.
4.What does the woman say is a good way for the student to prepare for speaking to companies’ representatives? Choose 2 answers.
- Take some business classes
- Familiarize himself with certain businesses beforehand
- Have questions ready to ask the representatives
- Talk to people who work for accounting firms
5.Listen to Track 43.
- To acknowledge that he cannot go to this year’s career fair
- To acknowledge the amount of preparation he will have
- To indicate that he has school work he must complete before the career fair
- To indicate that he needs to go to his job now
-
- Directions: Listen to Track 44.
Question 6-11: Answer the questions.
6.What is the main purpose of the talk?
- To show what happens after an economy has experienced a boom-and bust cycle
- To illustrate the conditions needed to produce a boom-and-bust cycle
- To demonstrate how boom-and-bust cycles have changed over time
- To explain why the boom-and-bust cycle is not a frequent historical occurrence
7.What is the professor’s opinion about the dot-com crash?
- She thinks that people should have realized it would happen.
- She does not believe that anything like it will happen again.
- She is surprised that it did not have more serious consequences.
- She is confident that people learned a valuable lesson from it.
8.According to the professor, where did tulips originate?
- In the mountains of central Asia
- In the region around Istanbul in Turkey
- In the sandy soils of the Netherlands
- In the forests of northern Europe
9.Why does the professor mention a merchant who ate tulip bulbs?
- To explain how the Turks introduced the flower to European visitors
- To explain what happened to tulip bulbs that did not produce desirable colors
- To give an example of one way that the rich in the Netherlands showed off their wealth
- To illustrate her point that Europeans were unfamiliar with the flower
10.What were some of the factors that contributed to the tulip craze in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century? Choose 3 answers.
- Wealthy gardeners liked to compete for rare plants.
- The number of people with disposable income was growing.
- Tulip bulbs were initially cheap and easy to obtain.
- Tulips in the wild bloomed in unusual color combinations.
- The tulip market was not regulated by the government.
- The professor mentions the practice of trading promissory notes in the Netherlands in the 1630s.
11.What does this practice explain? Choose 2 answers.
- Why tulips replaced gold as a form of currency
- Why buyers were no longer interested in owning actual tulips
- Why borrowing in the Netherlands increased on a significant scale
- Why the middle class in the Netherlands expanded in size
- Directions: Listen to Track 45.
-
- Biology
Question 12-17: Answer the questions.
12.What topics related to the Nightcap Oak does the professor mainly discuss? Choose 2 answers.
- Factors that relate to the size of the area In which it grows
- The size of its population over the last few centuries
- Whether anything can be done to ensure its survival
- Why it did not change much over the last one hundred million years
13.According to the professor, what led scientists to characterize the Nightcap Oak as primitive?
- It has no evolutionary connection to other trees growing in Australia today.
- It has an inefficient reproductive system.
- Its flowers are located at the bases of the leaves.
- It is similar to some ancient fossils.
14.What point does the professor make about the Nightcap Oak’s habitat?
- It is stable despite its limited size.
- Unlike the habitats of many plants, it is expanding.
- Its recent changes have left the Nightcap Oak struggling to adapt.
- Its size is much larger than the area where the Mightcap Oak grows.
15.According to the professor, what are two factors that prevent the Nightcap Oak population from spreading? Choose 2 answers.
- The complex conditions required for the trees to produce fruit
- The fact that the seed cannot germinate while locked inside the shell
- The limited time the seed retains the ability to germinate
- Competition with tree species that evolved more recently
16.Why does the professor mention the size of the Nightcap Oak population over the last few hundred years?
- To explain why it is likely that the Nightcap Oak population will increase in the future
- To point out that the Nightcap Oak’s limited reproductive success has not led to a decrease in its population
- To present evidence that the Nightcap Oak is able to tolerate major changes
- To point out that the Nightcap Oak is able to resist diseases that have destroyed other tree species
17.Listen to Track 46.
- She wants the students to think about a possible connection.
- She wants to know if the students have any questions.
- She is implying that researchers have been asking the wrong questions.
- She is implying that there may be no connection between the questions.
Directions: Now answer the questions.
Question 18-22: Answer the questions.
18.Why does the student go to see the professor?
- She is having trouble finding a topic for Her term paper.
- She needs his help to find resource materials.
- She wants to ask him for an extension on a term paper.
- She wants him to approve her plans for a term paper.
19.Why is the student interested in learning more about dialects?
- She often has double understanding what other students are sayinq.
- CD She is trying to change the way she speaks.
- She is aware that her own dialect differs from those of her roommates.
- She spent her childhood in various places where different dialects are spoken.
20.Based on the conversation, what can be concluded about “dialect accommodation”? Choose 2 answers.
- It is a largely subconscious process.
- It is a process that applies only to some dialects.
- It is a very common phenomenon.
- It is a topic that has not been explored extensively.
21.What does the professor want the student to do next?
- Read some articles he has recommended
- Present her proposal before the entire class
- Submit a design plan for the project
- Listen to recordings of different dialects
22.Listen to Track 4-8.
- He thinks the topic goes beyond his expertise.
- He thinks the topic is too broad for the student to manage.
- He thinks the topic is not relevant for a linguistics class.
- He thinks other students may have chosen the same topic.
Directions: Listen to track 49.
Question 23-28: Answer the questions.
23.What aspect of creative writing does the professor mainly discuss?
- How to keep a reader’s interest
- How to create believable characters.
- Key differences between major and minor characters
- Techniques for developing short-story plots
24. Why does the professor recommend that students pay attention to the people they see every day?
- The behavior and characteristics of these people can be used in character sketches.
- Observing people in real-life situations can provide ideas for story plots.
- It is easier to observe the behavior of familiar people than of new people.
- Students can gather accurate physical descriptions for their characters.
25. The professor discusses an example of three friends who run out of gas. What point does he use the example to illustrate?
- Writers should know their characters as well as they know their friends.
- Writers should create characters that interact in complex ways.
- Friends do not always behave the way we expect them to behave.
- Friends’ behavior is often more predictable than fictional characters’behavior.
26. What warning does the professor give when he talks about the man who lives on the mountain?
- Avoid placing characters in remote settings
- Avoid having more than one major character
- Avoid using people as models whose lives are unusual
- Avoid making characters into stereotypes
27. What does the professor imply is the importance of flat characters?
- They act more predictably than other characters.
- They are difficult for readers to understand.
- They help reveal the main character’s personality.
- They are the only characters able to experience defeat. •
28. Listen to Track 50.
- To indicate that he is about to explain what type of drawing he wants
- To help students understand a term that may be confusing
- To indicate that he used the wrong word earlier
- To motivate the students to do better work
Directions: Listen to track 51.
Earth Science
29.What is the lecture mainly about?
- An example of rapid climate change
- A comparison of two mechanisms of climate change
- The weather conditions in the present-day Sahara
- Recent geological findings made in the Sahara
30. Not long ago, the Sahara had a different climate. What evidence does the professor mention to support this? Choose 3 answers.
- Ancient pollen
- Bones from large animals
- Rock paintings
- Agriculture in ancient Egypt
- Underground water
31. In the lecture, what do the Ice Age and the creation of the Sahara Desert both illustrate about past climate changes? Choose 2 answers.
- That some climate changes benefited the development of civilization
- That some climate changes were not caused by human activity
- That some climate changes were caused by a decrease of moisture in the atmosphere
- That some climate changes were caused by changes in Earth’s motion and position
32. What started the runaway effect that led to the Sahara area of North Africa becoming a desert?
- The prevailing winds became stronger.
- The seasonal rains moved to a different area.
- The vegetation started to die off in large areas.
- The soil lost its ability to retain rainwater.
TASK II: GAP-FILLING
TRACK 42 TRANSCRIPT
Narrator
Listen to a conversation between a student and an employee in the university’s career services office.
Student
Hi. Do you have a minute?
Administrator
Sure. How can I help you?
Student
I have a couple of questions about the […………………………. ]fair next week.
Administrator OK, shoot.
Student
Um, well, are […………………………………………… ]the only ones who can go? I mean, you know they’re
finishing school this year and getting their […………………………………… ]and everything … and, well i,
seems ,like [……………………………. ] would want to talk to them and not first-year students like me …
Administrator
No, no. The career fair is open to all our students and we [………………………………… ]anyone who’s
interested to go check it out.
Student
Well, that’s good to know.
Administrator
You’ve seen the flyers and the posters around [……………………………. ], I assume.
Student
Sure! Can’t miss ’em. I mean, they all say where and when the fair is … just no, wo should attend. Administrator
Actually, they do. But it’s in the small print. We should [………………………………….. ]make that part
easier to read, shouldn’t we? I’ll make a notre of that right now. So, do you have any other questions?
Student
Yes, actually I do now. Um, since I’d only be going to [………………………………………. ]myself with the
process you now, “check it out”—I was wondering if there’s anything you’d recommend that I do to prepare.
Administrator
That’s actually a very good question. As you know, the career fair is generally an
[………………………… for local businesses to recruit new [……………………………… ]and for soon-to-be
gradu-ates to have mterv.ews with several [……………………………………… ]they might be interested in
working for. Now, in your case, even though you wouldn’t be looking for employment right now,
it still wouldn’t hurt for you to […………………………… ]much like you would if you were looking for
a job.
Student
You mean like get my resume together and wear a suit?
Administrator
That’s a given. I was thinking more along the lines of doing some [………………………………….. ]. The
fivers and […………………………. ]list all the businesses that are sending […………………………. ]to the
career fair. Um, what s your major, or do you have one yet?
Student
Well, I haven’t declared a major yet but I’m strongly […………………………….. ] accounting. See, that’s
part of the reason I want to go to the fair… to help me decide if that’s what I really want to study
Administrator
That’s very wise. Well, I [……………………………… ]that you get on the computer and learn more about
the accounting […………………………. ], in particular, that will be […………………………….. ]. You can
learn a lot about companies from their Internet Web sites. Then prepare a list of questions.
Student
Questions … hmm. So in a way I’ll be […………………………… ]them?
Administrator
That’s one way of looking at it. Think about it for a second. What do you want to know about working for an [………………………………………………… ]firm?
Student .
Well, there’s the job itself… and salary, of course … and, urn, working […………………………….. ]…
I mean, would I have an office or would I work in a big room with a […………………………………. ]other
employees? And … um … and maybe about opportunities for [………………………….. ]. ..
Administrator
See? Those are all important things to know. After you do some research you II be able to [ ]your questions to the [……………….. ]company you re talking to.
Student
Wow, I’m glad I came by here! So, it looks like I’ve got some work to do. Administrator
And if you plan on attending future career fairs, I […………………………… ]you sign up for one of our
interview […………………………. ].
Student
I’ll do that.
TRACK 43 TRANSCRIPT
Narrator
Why does the student say this:
Student
So, it looks like I’ve got some work to do.
TRACK 44 TRANSCRIPT
Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in an economics class.
Professor
Now, when I mention the terms “[……………………………… ]” and “[…………………………. ],” whet does
that bring to mind?
Male student
The dot-com […………………………. ]of the ’90s!
Professor
The boom in the late [……………………………………………. ]when all those new Internet companies[………………………… ]up and were then sold for huge amounts of money. Then the bust around[………………………… ][……………………………… ]when many of those same Internet companies went out of business. Of course [………………………….. ]aren t always followed by […………………………….. ]-
we’ve certainly seen times when local [………………………………. ]expanded rapidly for a while then
went back to a normal pace of growth. But there’s a type of rapid [………………………………….. ], what
might be called a “hysterical” or […………………………………. ]boom that pretty much always leads to a
bust. See, people often create and […………………………… ]a boom when they get carried away by
some new industry that seems like it’ll make ’em lots of money, fast. You’d think that by the
[………………………… ], people would’ve […………………………. from the past. If they did—well,
look at [………………………… ].
Male student
Tulips …? You mean, like, the flower?
Professor
Exactly. For [ ], do you have any idea where tulips are from? Originally, I
mean.
Male student
Well, the Netherlands, right?
Professor
That’s what most people think—but no, they’re not native to the [………………………………. ], or even
Europe. Tulips actually hail from an area the Chinese call the ” [……………………………… ]Mountains”
in central Asia—a very remote [……………………………. ]region.
It was Turkish [……………………………… ]who first discovered tulips and spread them slowly
[………………………… ]. Now, around the [……………………………. ] century, Europeans were traveling
to […………………………. ]in Turkey as [……………………………. ]and diplomats. And the Turks often
gave the Europeans [……………………………… ]bulbs as gifts, which they would carry home with them.
For the Europeans, tulips were totally [………………………. ]of, a great novelty. The first
[……………………….. ]to show up in the Netherlands, the merchant who received them
[……………………….. ]and ate them—he thought they were a kind of […………………………… ].
It turns out that the Netherlands was an ideal country for growing tulips. It had the right kind of
sandy [………………………… ], for one thing, but also it was a wealthy nation with a growing
[……………………….. ], willing to spend lots of money on new, [……………………………….. ]things—plus
the Dutch had a history of […………………………….. ]. Wealthy people would compete, spending
[……………………….. ]amounts of money to buy the [………………………….. ]flowers for their gardens.
Soon tulips were beginning to show up in different colors as growers tried to
[……………………….. ]them […………………………………… ]for colors which would make them even more
[……………………….. ], but they were never completely sure what they would get. Some of the
most [………………………….. ]tulips were white with [………………………….. ] streaks or red with yellow
streaks on the [………………………. ]—even a dark purple tulip that was very much prized. What
happened then was a craze for these [………………………. ]tulips. We call that craze “tulip mania.”
So—here we’ve got all the conditions for an-an [……………………………………. ] boom: a prospering
economy, so more people had more [………………………. ]income—money to spend on
[……………………….. ]—w they weren’t experienced at investing their new [……………………………….. ].
Then along comes a [……………………………………………… ]new commodity—sure, the first
[……………………….. ]were just plain old red tulips but they could be bred into some
[……………………….. ]variations-like that dark purple tulip And finally, you have an
[……………………….. ]marketplace—no government constraints—where prices could
[……………………….. ]. And explode they did, starting in the […………………………… ].
There was always much more demand for tulips than supply. Tulips didn’t bloom fre-quently like
roses; tulips [………………………….. ]once in the early spring and that was it for the year. Eventually,
specially bred, [………………………. ]tulips became so valuable … Well, […………………………………… ]to
records, one tulip bulb was worth […………………………… ]tons of wheat or a thousand pounds of
cheese. One particular tulip […………………………… ]was sold in exchange for a small ship! In other
words, tulips were […………………………. ]worth their weight in gold.
As demand grew, people began selling […………………………………. ]notes guaranteeing the future
delivery of prized tulip bulbs. The buyers of these pieces of paper would resell the notes at
marked-up prices. These [………………………….. ]notes kept changing hands-from buyer to buyer—
until the tulip was ready for [………………………. ]. But it was all pure
[……………………….. ]because as I said, there was no way to know if the bulb was really going to
produce the [………………………….. ]the color, that was promised. But that didn’t matter to the owner
of the note, the owner only cared about having that piece of paper, so it could be
[……………………….. ]later at a profit And people were borrowing-[……………………………………… ]their
homes, in many cases-to [………………………….. ]those bits of paper because they were sure they’d
found an easy way to make money.
So now you’ve got all the […………………………….. for a huge bust-and bust it did, when one cold
[……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ] morning in [ ], a group of bulb traders got together and
discovered that suddenly there were no [……………………………….. ]-nobody wanted to buy. Panic
spread like wildfire and the tulip market […………………………….. ]totally.
TRACK 45 TRANSPRIPT
Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.
Professor . .
OK, I have an interesting plant species to discuss with you today. Uh, it s a species of a very rare
tree that grows in Australia—Eidothea [………………………….. ]but it s better known as the Nightcap
Oak.
Now, it was discovered only very [………………………………. ], just a few years ago. Uh, it remained
hidden for so long because it’s so rare, there’re only about, oh, two hundred of em in
[………………………… ]. They grow in a rain forest, in a […………………………… ]range in the north part
of New South Wales, which is, uh, a state in Australia. So just two hundred [ ]trees in all.
Now, another interesting thing about the [ ]Oak is that it is … it represents …
a-a very old … type, a kind of a tree that grew… a hundred million years ago. Uh, we found
[………………………… ]that old that bear a remarkable [……………………………. ]to the tree. So, it’s a
primitive tree, a living fossil, you might say. It’s a relic from earlier times, and it has
[………………………… ]all these years without much change. And … it-it’s probably a kind of tree
from which other trees that grow in Australia today [………………………….. ]. Just-just to give you an
idea of what we’re talking about, here’s a picture of the leaves of the tree and its flowers.
I dunno how well you can see the flowers; they’re those little [……………………………… ] sitting at the
base of the leaves.
OK, what have we tried to find out about the tree since we’ve […………………………….. ]it? Hmm well,
how… why is … is it so rare is one of the first questions. Uh, how is it, uh how does it [ ], is another question. Uh, maybe those two questions are actually related?
Jim.
Male student
Hmm, I dunno, but I can imagine that… for instance … uh, seed […………………………….. ] might be a
factor – I mean, if the, uh, y’know if the seeds cannot really [………………………………… ]in a wide area
then you know the tree may not, uh, […………………………….. ]new areas, it-it can’t spread from the
area where it’s growing.
Professor
Right, that’s-that’s actually a very good answer. Uh, of course, you might think there might not be many areas where the tree could spread into, uh, because, uh, well it’s- it’s vefy
[……………………….. ]in terms of the habitat. But that’s not really the case here, uh, the-the
suitable habitat-habitat that is the [………………………….. ]rain forest is much larger than-than the
few […………………………….. ]where the Nightcap Oak grows. Now, this tree is a
[……………………….. ]tree as I showed you, uh, uh, it-it produces a fruit, much like a plum, on the
inside there s a seed with a hard shell. Uh, it-it appears that the shell has to
[……………………….. ]open or break down somewhat to allow the seed to soak up water. If the
Nightcap Oak remains, if their seeds remain locked […………………………… ]their shell, they will not
[……………………….. ]. Now actually the seeds, uh, they don’t retain the power to germinate for
very long, maybe two years, so there’s actually quite a short window of [……………………………….. ]for
the seed to germinate. So the shell somehow has to be broken down before this, uh, germination
ability [………………………… ]. And-and then there’s a kind of rat that likes to feed on the seeds as
well. So, given all these [………………………………. ], not many seeds that the tree produces will
[……………………….. ]germinate. So this is a possible [………………………………… ]for why the tree does
not spread. It doesn’t necessarily explain how it became so rare but it explains why it doesn’t increase.
OK, so it seems to be the case that this species, uh this Nightcap Oak, is not very good at
[……………………….. ]. However, it seems, though we can’t be sure, that it’s very good at
[……………………….. ]as a population. Uh, uh, we, uh, there-there’re some indications to suggest
that the population of the Nightcap Oak has not […………………………….. ]over the last, uh, y’know,
many hundreds of years. So, it’s stayed quite stable; it-it’s not a [……………………………….. ]of some
huge population that has dwindled in the last few hundred years for some reason. It’s not
[……………………….. ]a species in retreat. OK, so it cannot spread very well but it’s good at
maintaining itself. It’s rare but it’s not disappearing. OK, the next thing we might wanna ask
about a plant like that is what chances does it have to [……………………………. ]into the future. Let’s
look at that.
TRACK 47 TRANSPRIPT
Narrator
Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.
Student
Professor Martin?
Professor
Hi, Lisa—what can I do for you?
Student
Well, I’ve been thinking about, you know, what you were saying in class last week? About how we shouldn’t wait until the last minute to find an idea and get started working on our term paper?
Professor
Good, good. And have you come up with anything?
Student
Well, yeah, sort of—see, I’ve never had a [……………………………… ]class before, so I was sort of… I
mean, I was looking over the course [……………….. ], and a lot of the stuff you’ve
[………………………… ]there, I just don’t know what it’s talking about, you know? Or what it means.
But there was one thing that really did jump out at me …
Professor
Yes… ?
Student
The section on dialects? ‘Cause, like, that’s the kind of thing that’s always [ ]me, you know?
Professor
Well, that’s certainly an interesting topic, but you may not realize, I mean, the
[………………………… ]..
Student
Well, especially now, ’cause I’ve got, like, one [……………………………….. ]who’s from the South, and
another one from New York, and we all talk, like, totally different, you know?
Professor
Yes, I understand, but…
BuUhen I was noticing, like, we don’t really get into this till the end of the [……………………………… ],
you know? So I…
Professor
So you want some […………………………………… ]where to go for information on the subject? Well, you
could always start by reading the chapter in the book on […………………… ]; that would give
you a basic understanding of the key issues involved here.
Student
Yeah, that’s what I thought! So I started reading the chapter, you know—about how everyone speaks some dialect of their language? And I’m wondering, like, well, how do we even [ ]to understand each other at all?
Professor
Ah! Yes, an interesting question. You see …
Student
So then I read the part about “[…………………………………. ]accommodation”—you know, the idea that
people tend to adapt their speaking to make it closer to the speech of whoever they’re talking to.
And I’m thinking, yeah, / do that when I talk with my roommates! And w.th- out even thinking about it or anything, you know?
Professor .
OK, all right—”dialect accommodation” is a more […………………………….. ]sort of topic …
Student
So I was thinking, like, I wonder just how much other people do the same thing? I mean, there’s students here from all over the place; does everyone change the way they talk to some degree, depending on who they’re talking to?
Professor
You’d be […………………………. ]!
Student
So anyway, my question is, do you think it’d be OK if I did a project like that for my [ ] paper? You know, find students from different parts of the country, record
them talking to each other in different [ ], report on how they accommodate
their speech or not, that kind of thing?
Professor
Tell you what, Lisa: Write me up a short […………………………… for this project—how you re going
to carry out the experiment and everything, a-a design plan-and I think this’ll work out just fine!
TRACK 49 TRANSCRIPT
Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in a creative writing class.
Professor
All right everybody. The topic for today is, well… we’re gonna take a look at how to start creating the characters for the stories you’re writing. One way of doing that is to come up with
what’s called a character […………………………. ]. I don’t mean a sketch like a [………………………….. ].
guess that’s [ ………………………… ]. It’s, um … a sketch is a way of getting started on defining your characters’ [………………………… ].To begin, how do we create fictional characters? We don’t just pull them from thin air, do we? I mean, we don’t create them out of nothing. We base them—consciously or[……………………………… ]—we base them on real people. Or, we, um,.. blend several people’s traits …
their [………………………… ]… into one character.
But when people think fiction, they may [………………………………… ]the characters come from the
author’s I imagination. But the writer’s [……………………………. ]is influenced by … by real people.
Could be , anyone, so pay attention to the people you meet… someone in class, at the gym, that
guy who’s always sitting in the corner at the […………………………. ]… uh, your cousin who’s always
getting into dangerous [……………………………………… ]. We’re pulling from reality …
[………………………… ]bits and pieces of real people. You use these people … and the bits of
behavior or characteristics as a starting point as you begin to sketch out your characters.
Here’s what you should think about doing first. When you begin to [………………………….. ]a story,
make a list of interesting people you know or have [… ]. Consider why they re
unique … or annoying. Then make notes about their unusual or […………………………….. ]attributes.
As you create fictional characters, you’ll almost always […………………………… Characteristics from
j several different people on your list to form the identity and personality of just one character.
Keeping this kind of character [………………………………. ]can help you solidify your character’s
personality so that it remains [……………………………. ]throughout your story. You need to define
your characters … know their personalities so that you can have them acting in ways that’re
[………………………… ]… consistent with their personalities. Get to know them like a friend. You
know your friends well enough to know how they’ll act in certain […………………………….. ], right?
Say you have three friends, their car runs out of gas on the highway. John get
[………………………… ], Mary [……………………………. ]calm, Teresa takes charge of handling the
situation. And let’s say… both John and Mary defer to her […………………………… ]. They call you to
explain what happened. And when John tells you he got mad, you’re not surprised because he
always gets [………………………….. ]when things go wrong. Then he tells you how Teresa took
charge, calmed him down, […………………………. ]tasks for each person, and got them on their way.
Again you’re not surprised. It’s exactly what you’d […………………………… ]. Well, you need to know
your characters like you know your friends … if you know a lot about a person’s character it’s
easy to […………………………. ]how they’ll behave. So if your characters’ [……………………………….. ]are
well defined, it’ll be easy for you as the writer to […………………………………….. ]them realistically .. .
believably in any given situation.
While writing character sketches, do think about […………………………….. ]. Ask yourself questions,
even if you don’t use the details in your story … uh, what does each character like to eat what setting does each prefer… the mountains? The city? What about educational [ ]? Their reactions to success … or defeat? Write it all down.
But here I need to warn you about a possible […………………………….. ]. Don’t make your character
into a [………………………… ]. Remember, the reader needs to know how your character is different
rom other people who might fall in the same [………………………………. ]. Maybe your character loves
the mountains and has lived in a remote area for years. To make sure he’s not a stereotype, ask yourself how he sees life differently from other people who live in that kind of setting. Be careful not to make him into the [ ]of the rugged mountain [……………………………… ].
Now I’ll throw out a little terminology … it’s easy stuff. Major characters are sometimes called round characters. Minor characters are sometimes called . . . well just the [………………………… ]. Flat A round character is […………………………. ]developed. A flat character isn’t— character development is [……………………………. ]limited. The flat character tends to serve mainly as a um, a [………………………….. factor. For instance, you introduce a flat character who
has experienced some sort of [………………………….. ]… and then your round … your main character,
who loves success and loves to show off, comes and boasts about [……………………………… ]and jokes
about the flat character’s defeat in front of others … [………………………………. ]the other guy. The flat
character is introduced solely for the [ ]of allowing the round character to
show off.
TRACK 51 TRANSCRIPT
Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in an earth science class.
Professor
We’re really just now beginning to understand how quickly [……………………………… ]climate change
can take place. We can see past [………………………….. ]of climate change that took place over just a
few hundred years. Take, uh, the Sahara desert… in Northern Africa.
The Sahara was really different […………………………… ]years ago. I mean, you wouldn’t call it a
tropical […………………………. ]or anything—ah, or maybe you would if you think about how today
in some parts of the Sahara it only rains about once a […………………………….. ]. Um, but basically,
you had greenery and you had water. And what / find particularly interesting, amazing, really
what really […………………………. ]how un-desert-like the Sahara was thousands of years ago, was
something painted on a rock: [……………………………… ]an—[………………… ]. As you know,
hippos need a lot of water, and hence … Hence what?
Female student
They need to live near a large source of water year-round.
Professor That’s right.
Male student
But how’s that proof that the Sahara used to be a lot wetter? I mean, the people who painted those [ ]… well, couldn’t they have seen them on their travels?
Professor
OK, in principle they could, Carl. But the rock paintings aren’t the only evidence.
[……………………….. ]the Sahara are huge [……………………………….. ], basically…. a sea of fresh water
that’s perhaps a million years old, filtered through rock layers. And, ah, and-and then there s
[……………………….. ]pollen from low […………………………………….. ]and grasses that once grew in the
Sahara. In fact these plants still grow ah, but hundreds of miles away in more
[……………………….. ] areas. Anyway, it s this fossilized pollen, along with the
[……………………….. ], and the rock paintings-these three things are all [………………………………. ]that
the Sahara was once much greener than it is today, that there were hippos and probably elephants, and [ ], and so on.
Male student So, what happened?
Professor
Hovv did it happen? Well now we’re so used to hearing about how human activities are affecting
the climate, right; but that takes the focus away from the natural [……………………………….. ]in the
Earth’s climate. Like the Ice Age, right? The planet was practically [……………………………….. ]In ice
just a few thousand years ago. Now, as far as the Sahara goes, there s some recent literature that points to the migration of the [……………………………………………. ]in that area.
Male/Female student
Huh?
Professor
What do I mean? OK. A monsoon is a seasonal wind that can bring in a large amount of
[………………………… ]. Now, if the monsoon […………………………… ], well that means the rams move
to another area, right?
So what caused the monsoon to migrate? Well, the answer is the [……………………………… ]of Earth s
motions—the same thing that caused the Ice Age, by the way. The Earth’s not always the same
[………………………… from the Sun. And it’s not always […………………………….. ]toward the Sun at the
same angle. There’re slight [………………… ]in these two […………………………………. ]. They’re
gradual variations, but their effects can be pretty abrupt, and can cause the climate to change in just a few hundred years.
Female student
That’s [………………………….. ]?
Professor
Well, yeah, considering that other climate shifts take thousands of years, this one s pretty
[………………………… ]. So these changes in the planet’s motions, they caused the climate to
change; but it was also […………………………… ]. What the Sahara experienced was a sort of run
away drying effect.
As I said, the monsoon migrated south-so there was less rain In the Sahara. The land started to
get drier— which in turn caused a huge decrease in the amount of […………………………… ], because
vegetation doesn’t grow as well in dry soil, right? And then, less vegetation means the soil can’t
hold water as well-the soil loses its [……………………………… ]to retam water when it does rain. So
then you have less [………………………… ]to help clouds form … nothing to [……………………………. ]for
cloud formation. And then the cycle continues-less ram, drier soil, less vegetation, fewer clouds, less rain, etcetera, etcetera.
Male student
But what about the people who made the rock paintings?
Professor
Good question. No one really knows. But there might be some connection to ancient
[……………………………………. ]. At about the same time that the Sahara was becoming a desert mmm
[……………………….. ]years ago, Egypt really began to flourish out in the Nile River Valley. And
that not that far away. So it’s only logical to [………………………………….. ]that a lot of these people
miarstJ to the Nile Valley when they realized that this was more than a temporary
[……………………….. ]And some people take this a step further—and that’s OK, that’s science—
and thev ypothesize that this […………………………….. ]actually provided an important impetus in the
development of ancient Egypt. Well, we’ll stay tuned on that.