I help students and business professionals achieve their English language and proficiency goals.
I help students and business professionals achieve their English language and proficiency goals.
When preparing to take an English proficiency test such as the TOEFL, practicing seriously and often is the key to success. On this page, you’ll find links to the sites I use to practice Speaking parts 1-2, along with some of the practice questions for Speaking parts 3-6 I’ve created for my students.
Watch the following video (lecture) and then read an excerpt from a news article on the same subject.
Video: Wendy De La Rosa: 3 Sneaky Tactics That Websites Use To Make You Spend
Excerpt: The Subtle Tricks Shopping Sites Use to Make You Spend More (Wired, Aug 6, 2020)
"Dark patterns" are digital design elements that manipulate users into making decisions they otherwise wouldn’t, often to a corporation’s benefit. They’re found all over the web, but some of the most egregious examples are on shopping sites, where profits are directly at stake.
Arunesh Mathur, a graduate student at Princeton and the lead author of the paper, says the prevalence of dark patterns online is harmful to people. “Design and behavioral science have become weaponized to solely benefit online retailers and to exploit users.”
One variety relies on a sort of peer pressure. Hundreds of the websites researchers looked at used activity notifications, alerting visitors that “Sally just bought this dress,” or “35 people are looking at this item right now.” They found that on some sites, the messages were artificially fabricated—merely lines of code, not indications of real consumers buying things. The goal is to dupe you into believing other people are interested in a product, convincing you it’s worth buying.
Another type of dark pattern takes advantage of “scarcity bias,” people’s tendency to place higher value on items in short supply. Amazon, for instance, often displays to shoppers how many of a certain item it has in stock. Etsy goes so far as to warn people how many other customers already have a product in their carts, implying it might soon be unavailable.
Many retail websites exploit scarcity bias by using countdown timers, which indicate that a sale or special offer will expire after a certain amount of time. Researchers have found deceptive timers on 140 of the shopping websites they've examined. After the allotted time passed, some simply repeated again. On other sites, the discount was still available even after the clock had run out. The timers were there to urge people to impulsively make a purchase, rather than notify them about a sale with a legitimate expiration date.
It’s not always clear whether a dark pattern is intentionally misleading, and experts and users may reasonably disagree—it can be hard to determine the line between clever marketing and outright deception.
Many of the dark patterns found on shopping websites evolved from established tactics used in physical stores, such as psychological pricing. Retailers often set prices at slightly less than a round number, for instance, tricking you into believing that items cost less than they really do.
QUESTION:
What are the three most common tactics listed in the lecture (video) retailers use to make you spend more? Please summarize these and provide two examples from the article.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Watch the following video (lecture) and then read an excerpt from a news article on the same subject.
Video: Marianne Schwartz: What Causes Migraines?
Article: Migraines: from the Mayo Clinic website, July 2, 2021
Excerpt:
Though migraine causes aren't fully understood, genetics and environmental factors appear to play a role.
Changes in the brainstem and its interactions with the trigeminal nerve, a major pain pathway, might be involved. So might imbalances in brain chemicals — including serotonin, which helps regulate pain in your nervous system.
Researchers are studying the role of serotonin in migraines. Other neurotransmitters play a role in the pain of migraine, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).
There are a number of migraine triggers, including:
Hormonal changes in women. Fluctuations in estrogen, such as before or during menstrual periods, pregnancy and menopause, seem to trigger headaches in many women.Hormonal medications, such as oral contraceptives, also can worsen migraines. Some women, however, find that their migraines occur less often when taking these medications.
Drinks. These include alcohol, especially wine, and too much caffeine, such as coffee.
Stress. Stress at work or home can cause migraines.
Sensory stimuli. Bright or flashing lights can induce migraines, as can loud sounds. Strong smells — such as perfume, paint thinner, secondhand smoke and others — trigger migraines in some people.
Sleep changes. Missing sleep or getting too much sleep can trigger migraines in some people.
Physical factors. Intense physical exertion, including sexual activity, might provoke migraines.
Weather changes. A change of weather or barometric pressure can prompt a migraine.
Medications. Oral contraceptives and vasodilators, such as nitroglycerin, can aggravate migraines.
Foods. Aged cheeses and salty and processed foods might trigger migraines. So might skipping meals.
Food additives. These include the sweetener aspartame and the preservative monosodium glutamate (MSG), found in many foods.
Migraines, which affect children and teenagers as well as adults, can progress through four stages: prodrome, aura, attack and post-drome. Not everyone who has migraines goes through all stages.
Several factors make you more prone to having migraines, including:
Family history. If you have a family member with migraines, then you have a good chance of developing them too.
Age. Migraines can begin at any age, though the first often occurs during adolescence. Migraines tend to peak during your 30s, and gradually become less severe and less frequent in the following decades.
Sex. Women are three times more likely than men to have migraines.
Hormonal changes. For women who have migraines, headaches might begin just before or shortly after onset of menstruation. They might also change during pregnancy or menopause. Migraines generally improve after menopause.
Taking painkillers too often can trigger serious medication-overuse headaches. The risk seems to be highest with aspirin, acetaminophen and caffeine combinations. Overuse headaches may also occur if you take aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) for more than 14 days a month or triptans, sumatriptan (Imitrex, Tosymra) or rizatriptan (Maxalt, Maxalt-MLT) for more than nine days a month.
Medication-overuse headaches occur when medications stop relieving pain and begin to cause headaches. You then use more pain medication, which continues the cycle.
QUESTION:
The lecturer mentions some common warning signs, or triggers, of migraines in her talk. Please explain a few of these, using examples from the article excerpt.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Watch the following video (lecture) and then read an excerpt from an article on the same subject.
Video: Rebecca J. Barthelmi and Sara C. Pryor: How Do Wind Turbines Work?
Article: How Do Wind Turbines Work?, from the U.S. Office of ENERGY EFFICIENCY & RENEWABLE ENERGY
EXCERPT:
Wind turbines work on a simple principle: instead of using electricity to make wind—like a fan—wind turbines use wind to make electricity. Wind turns the propeller-like blades of a turbine around a rotor, which spins a generator, which creates electricity.
Wind is a form of solar energy caused by a combination of three concurrent events:
The sun unevenly heating the atmosphere
Irregularities of the earth's surface
The rotation of the earth.
Wind flow patterns and speeds vary greatly across the United States and are modified by bodies of water, vegetation, and differences in terrain. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity.
The terms "wind energy" and "wind power" both describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. This mechanical power can be used for specific tasks (such as grinding grain or pumping water) or a generator can convert this mechanical power into electricity.
A wind turbine turns wind energy into electricity using the aerodynamic force from the rotor blades, which work like an airplane wing or helicopter rotor blade. When wind flows across the blade, the air pressure on one side of the blade decreases. The difference in air pressure across the two sides of the blade creates both lift and drag. The force of the lift is stronger than the drag and this causes the rotor to spin. The rotor connects to the generator, either directly (if it’s a direct drive turbine) or through a shaft and a series of gears (a gearbox) that speed up the rotation and allow for a physically smaller generator. This translation of aerodynamic force to rotation of a generator creates electricity.
The majority of wind turbines fall into two basic types:
Horizontal-axis wind turbines are what many people picture when thinking of wind turbines.
Most commonly, they have three blades and operate "upwind," with the turbine pivoting at the top of the tower so the blades face into the wind.
Vertical-axis wind turbines come in several varieties, including the eggbeater-style Darrieus model, named after its French inventor.
These turbines are omnidirectional, meaning they don’t need to be adjusted to point into the wind to operate.
QUESTION:
The lecturer mentions two different types of wind turbines in her talk. Please explain them, using information from the article excerpt.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Watch the entire video, read the whole article.
Video: Jack Horner: Where Are The Baby Dinosaurs?
Article: These sleek predatory dinosaurs really are teenage T. rex, National Geographic, January 2, 2020
QUESTION:
The lecturer explains how dinosaur bones look different as they age, and how to look at the bones. Please explain how researchers in the article used a similar technique to identify the bones of two juvenile T. Rex specimens.
OR
Explain how the article relates to the lecture.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
“There is no quick and easy way to prepare for the TOEFL test. But practice seriously and often, and you’ll see positive results.”
Video: Matt Cutts: Try Something New For 30 Days!
QUESTION:
Summarize the main points of this talk. Please provide at least two reasons the speaker states for his suggestion to try something new.
OR
In the lecture, the speaker says we should all try something new for 30 days. Please explain the reasons he gives for this using some of the examples he provides to back up his suggestion.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
VIDEO: Celeste Headlee: 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation
QUESTION:
In the lecture, the speaker gives 10 ways that listeners can have better conversations. Please explain three of the ways and provide the reasons she gives for these being helpful for more productive conversations.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Video: Lorenzo Garcia: Why Do We, Like, Hesitate When We, Um, Speak?
QUESTION:
Please summarize the lecture and give examples of why these linguistic fillers or hesitation phenomena occur.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Video: Jacques S. Abramowicz: How Does Ultrasound Work?
QUESTION:
Explain the most common way medical professionals use Ultrasound, and how it works to show viewers something on a screen.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Video: Briana Brownell: How Does Artificial Intelligence Learn?
QUESTION:
The lecturer lists three main ways that AI learns. Please list these and give a brief explanation of each.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
Video: Matt Walker: A Walk Through The Stages of Sleep
The lecturer explains the two different types of sleep. Please explain the two types, and how they differ in their functions using examples from the lecture.
Preparation time: 30 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds
DON’T RUSH.
Success doesn’t come overnight. Start slow!
READ THE QUESTION FIRST.
This way, you can practice focused listening and reading in the task.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT.
Under each TED video (when viewed on a desktop computer or tablet), you can click the transcript button to read the full text of the talk.
REPETITION IS KEY.
To begin, watch each video more than once. Twice, or even three times is fine for beginners. Get used to the rhythm of English, and the order of the words.
LISTEN AND READ.
After watching the video once, read the transcript while you listen to the video. This will help build stronger listening comprehension ability.
ANSWER THE ENTIRE QUESTION.
Keep a clear mind, and don’t get off track! Make sure to answer every part of the question.
WRITE YOUR ANSWERS (TO START).
You can multitask while practicing: listening to the lecture, reading an article and question, and WRITING your answer. In the test, you’ll only be able to use notes. But in practice, writing your answer gives you more practice, and you can have your answer proofread by a trainer.
The more you practice, the easier these types of questions will become. Be patient, review your answers and corrections, and keep going!