ETS Official Guide to iBT— Speaking&CD下载

心悦2006

Thanks a lot for sharing!

IbeatT

INTEGRATED LISTEXING/READING/SPEAKING: QUESTIONS 3 AXD 4

Question 3

Question 3 is the first of the four Integrated Tasks in the Speaking section. For this question, you will read a short reading passage on your computer screen about a topic of campus-related interest. You will then listen to two people (or in some cases, one person) discussing that topic and expressing an opinion about the topic from the reading. Then you will be asked a question based on what you have read and what you have heard. You will have 60 seconds to speak your response. The general areas from which these topics are typically drawn include university policies, rules or procedures; university plans; campus facilities or quality of life on campus. The top­ics are designed to be accessible to all test takers and will be presented to you in a way that does not require that you have prior firsthand experience of college or uni­versity life in North America.

    The reading passage could take various forms. For example, it could be a bulletin from the administration of a university regarding a new parking rule, or a letter to the editor of a campus newspaper responding to a new university policy restricting the use of radios in dormitory rooms, or an article from the campus newspaper discussing a proposal to build a new football stadium. In addition to describing the proposal, the reading passage will usually present two reasons either for or against the proposal. The reading passage is brief, usually between 75 and 100 words long. You will be given sufficient time to read the passage.

    In the dialogue (or monologue) that will be played after you have read the read­ing passage, you will hear one or two speakers—usually students—speaking about the same article (or letter or announcement) that you have just read. If there are two speakers, one of them will have a strong opinion about the proposed change— either in favor of it or against it—and will give reasons to support that opinion. The discussion is brief and typically lasts between 60 and 80 seconds.

    After you have read the passage and then listened to the discussion, you will be asked a question about what you have read and heard. For example, there may be a reading passage that describes plans to make a new university rule and a conversa­tion in which a professor and a student are discussing the rule. If in the conversation the student thinks the new rule is a bad idea, you would be asked to state what the student s opinion is and to explain the reasons the student gives for holding that opin­ion using information from both the reading and the listening.

    This task tests your ability to integrate information from two sources—the read­ing passage and the listening—and to summarize some aspect of what you have heard. The reading passage provides the context that allows you to understand what the speakers are talking about. The speakers will generally refer to the reading pas­sage only indirectly. Therefore, as you read the reading passage, you should pay atten­tion to a number of things: the description of the proposal (what has been proposed, planned, changed, etc.), and the reasons that are given for or against the proposal. This will help you understand what it is that the two speakers are discussing as you listen to their conversation.

    In some cases, a speaker will object to the position taken in the reading and will give information that challenges the reasons offered in the reading for that position. In other cases, a speaker will agree with the position from the reading and will give information that supports those reasons. It is therefore important, as you listen to the discussion, to determine the speaker's opinions toward the proposal and to under­ stand the relationship between what the speakers say and what you have learned from the reading passage.

    To answer question 3, it is important to understand not only what the question asks you to do, but also what the question does not ask you to do. This type of Integrated Speaking task does not ask for your own opinion; rather, it asks you to state the opinion of one of the speakers and to summarize the speaker's reasons for having that opinion.

    You will be given between 40 and 45 seconds to read the passage, depending on its length, after which you will listen to the discussion. Then you will be given 30 seconds to prepare your answer and 60 sec­onds to respond. As with all the other questions, you may take notes while reading, listening, and preparing your answer, and you may refer to your notes while answering the question.

TIP:
Remember that taking notes on the reading and listening material in the integrated Speaking tasks on the TOEFL iBT test is allowed.

Example

The following sample question consists of an announcement of a university's decision to increase tuition and a discussion between students about whether the increase is justified. This example shows how a question of this type will be presented to you on your computer.

[attachimg]47233[/attachimg]

You will then hear:

Narrator
Now listen to two students as they discuss the announcement.

Then the dialogue will begin.

Man
Oh great, now we have to come up with more money for next semester.

Woman
Yeah, I know, but I can see why. When I first started here, classes were so much smaller than they are now. With this many students, it's hard to get the personal attention you need ...

Man
Yeah, I guess you're right. You know, in some classes I can't even get a seat. And I couldn't take the math course I wanted to because it was already full when I signed up.

Woman
And the other thing is, well, I am kind of worried about not being able to get a job after I graduate.

Man
Why? I mean you're doing really well in your classes, aren't you?

Woman
I'm doing ok, but the facilities here are so limited. There are some great new experiments in micro­biology that we can't even do here . . . there isn't enough equipment in the laboratories, and the equipment they have is out of date. How am I going to compete for jobs with people who have prac­tical research experience? I think the extra tuition will be a good investment.

When the dialogue has ended, the picture of the students will be replaced by the following:

Now get ready to answer the question. 

The question will then appear on your computer screen and will also be read aloud by the narrator.

3. The woman expresses her opinion of the announcement by the university president. State her opinion and explain the reasons she gives for holding that opinion.

Preparation Time: 30 Seconds
Response Time: 60 Seconds

    After you hear the question, you will be told when to begin to prepare your response and when to begin speaking. A "Preparation Time" clock will appear below the question and begin to count down from 30 seconds (00:00:30). At the end of 30 seconds you will hear a short beep. After the beep, the clock will change to read "Response Time" and will begin counting down from 60 seconds (00:00:60). When the response time has ended, recording will stop and a new screen will appear alerting you that the response time has ended.

    In giving your response to this question, you should state what the woman's opinion about the tuition increase is, and then explain her reasons for holding that opinion. You will probably have noticed as you listened to the conversation that the woman's reasons are essentially the same as those of the university president but are drawn from her own experience as a student, so in your answer you would probably want to connect information from the two sources. You could perhaps begin by saying that the woman agrees with the announcement and thinks that the university is right to increase its fees. In describing her reasons, you might say that she thinks the tuition increase is necessary because the university can then hire more teachers. She feels that classes are getting too crowded and more teachers are needed. You might also want to mention that she has found it hard to get personal attention from her professors. You could also point out that she agrees that the money should be spent to improve laboratory facilities because they are out of date, and that this has made it hard for her to get the practi­cal laboratory experience she feels she needs to get a good job. Your response should be complete enough that someone listening to your response who has not read the announcement or heard the conversation would understand what the new policy is, what the woman's opinion about it is, and the reasons she has for her opinion. There is a great deal of information in the reading passage and the conversation, and you are not expected to summarize all of the information in giving your response.

 

TIP:
Recognize the attitude of the speaker through intonation, stress, and word choice. This helps you understand his or her point of view and plan an appropriate response.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-5-23 3:44:52编辑过]

tzavb521

楼主你真的是个大大好人

要先扫描下来在传上来给我们分享

真不知道怎么表达对你的敬佩了

努力的学吧

IbeatT

Question 4

Question 4 is the second of the Integrated Speaking Tasks. For this task you will read a short passage about an academic subject and listen to a professor give a brief excerpt from a lecture on that subject. You will then be asked a question which you will answer based on what you have read and heard. You will have 60 seconds in which to give your spoken response.

The topics for this question are drawn from a vari­ety of fields: life science, social science, physical science, and the humanities. Although the topics are are aca­demic in nature, none of the written passages, lectures, or the questions themselves requires prior knowledge of any academic field in particular. The language and con­cepts used are designed to be accessible to you no mat­ter what your academic specialization may be.

The reading passage is usually between 75 and 100 words in length. It provides background or context to help you understand the lecture that will follow. The reading passage will usually treat the topic in some­what general and abstract terms, and the lecture will treat the topic more specifically and concretely, often by providing an extended example, counterexample, or application of the concept presented in the reading. To answer the question that follows the lecture, you will need to draw on the reading as well as the lecture, and integrate and convey key information from both these sources.

For example, some tasks will contain a reading passage that gives the definition of a general principle or process and a lecture that discusses a specific instance and/or counterexample of the principle or process. For a pairing like this, you might be asked to explain the principle or process using the specific information from the listening. Or another pairing might include a reading passage that describes a prob­lem and a lecture that presents the success, failure, or unintended consequences of an attempt to solve the problem, together with a question that asks you to explain the attempt to solve the problem and account for its results.

The sample question 4 task presented below is a typical example. It begins with a reading passage discussing a general concept—the domestication of animal species— by describing two characteristics that make an animal species suitable for domesti­cation. This passage is coupled with a lecture in which the professor talks about the behavior of two species of animals—a familiar domesticated animal that has both of the characteristics and a common, undomesticated species that lacks these charac­teristics. The question asks you to apply the more general information you have learned in the reading to the examples discussed in the lecture, and explain how the behavior of the two species of animals is related to their suitability for domestication.

 

TIP:
Find listening and reading material on a topic that you like. The reading and the listening material can provide similar or different views. Take notes on what you listen to and read and create outlines. Use your notes and outlines to orally summarize the information and ideas from the listening and reading materials. Try to paraphrase what you have heard and read by using different words and grammatical structures.

IbeatT

Example

The following example shows how a question of this type will be presented to you on your computer. Question 4 will be presented visually in the same way as Question 3.

First you will hear the narrator say this:

Narrator
In this question you will read a short passage on an academic subject and then listen to a talk on the same topic. You will then answer a question using information from both the reading passage and the talk. After you hear the question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.                               

Then you will hear this:                                                

Narrator
Now read the passage about animal domestication. You have 45 seconds to read the passage. Begin reading now.

The reading passage will then appear on the screen:

Animal Domestication                              

For thousands of years, humans have been able to domesticate, or tame, many large mammals that in the wild live together in herds. Once tamed, these mammals are used for agricultural work and transportation. Yet some herd mammals are not easily domesticated.

A good indicator of an animal's suitability for domestication is how protective the animal is of its territory. Non-territorial animals are more easily domesticated than territorial animals because they can live close together with animals from other herds. A second indicator is that animals with a hierarchical social structure, in which herd members follow a leader, are easy to domesticate, since a human can function as the "leader."

A clock at the top of your computer screen will count down the time you have to read. When reading time has ended, a picture of a professor in front of a class will appear on the screen:

[attachimg]47234[/attachimg]

And you will hear this:                             

Narrator                                                                                                                                                               
Now listen to a lecture on this topic in an ecology class.

Then you will hear the lecture:      

Professor                                                                                                                             
So we've been discussing the suitability of animals for domestication ... particularly animals that live together in herds. Now, if we take horses, for example ... in the wild, horses live in herds that consist of one male and several females and their young. When a herd moves, the dominant male leads, with the dominant female and her young immediately behind him. The dominant female and her young are then followed immediately by the second most important female and her young, and so on. This is why domesticated horses can be harnessed one after the other in a row. They're “programmed" to follow the lead of another horse. On top of that, you often find different herds of horses in the wild occupying overlapping areas—they don't fight off other herds that enter the same territory.

       But it's exactly the opposite with an animal like the uh, the antelope . . . which . . . well, antelopes are herd animals too. But unlike horses, a male antelope will fight fiercely to prevent another male from entering its territory during the breeding season, OK—very different from the behavior of horses. Try keeping a couple of male antelopes together in a small space and see what happens. Also, antelopes don't have a social hierarchy—they don't instinctively follow any leader. That makes it harder for humans to control their behavior.

When the lecture has ended, the picture of the professor will be replaced by a screen instruct­ing you to get ready to answer the question. Then the question will appear on the screen and will be read aloud by a narrator as well.

4. The professor describes the behavior of horses and antelope in herds. Explain how their behavior is related to their suitability for domestication.
Preparation Time: 30 Seconds
Response Time: 60 Seconds

After you hear the question, you will be told when to begin to prepare your response and when to begin speaking. A "Preparation Time" clock will appear below the question and begin to count down from 30 seconds (00:00:30). At the end of 30 seconds you will hear a short beep. After the beep, the clock will change to read "Response Time" and will begin to count down from 60 seconds (00:00:60). When the response time has ended, recording will stop and a new screen will appear alerting you that the response time has ended.

To answer this question, you would use information from both the reading pas­sage and the lecture, linking the specific information the professor provides in the lecture with the more general concepts introduced in the reading. For example, you could begin your response by saying that herd animals can be easily domesticated if they have a hierarchical social struc­ture and are not territorial, and that this is why it is easier to domesticate horses than antelopes. You would want to provide some details about the behav­ior of horses, pointing out that their hierarchical social structure makes them willing to follow one another and thus allows a human being to act as their leader. You could also say that because horses are not territorial, they can be har­nessed together without fighting. You would probably want to contrast horses' behav­ior with that of antelopes, which are territorial. You could explain that unlike horses, male antelopes fight if they are together, and that because antelopes do not have a social hierarchy, humans can't control them by acting as their leader. Notice that you are not asked to summarize all the information in the reading and in the lecture about animal domestication and horses and antelopes. But you should provide enough information so that even a listener who had not read the passage or listened to the lecture would be able to understand your explanation.

Other question 4 tasks include such pairings as a reading passage about malaria that discusses, in general terms, what is now known about the causes of this disease, how it is spread, and how it can be prevented, coupled with a lecture about the his­tory of malaria research that describes the work of one particular doctor in the 1800s. The question that follows this lecture asks you to describe the doctor’s beliefs about the cause of malaria and the recommendations he made to prevent its spread, and then to explain why his recommendations were effective. To answer this question, you would tell how the doctor's recommendations were in line with what is now known to be true about the disease. Here, as in all speaking questions that are based on academic content, you are provided with all the facts necessary to give your response, and no outside knowledge is assumed.

 

TIP:
Read a short article. Make an outline that includes only the major points of the article. Use the outline to orally summarize the information. Then add detail to the outline and orally summarize it again.

[此贴子已经被作者于2006-5-23 3:46:32编辑过]

lilyljh

真是感谢楼主啊。
不过看来口语reading部分的时间真是45秒，我这阅读速度还得提高啊

IbeatT

刚刚发现书里的例题和置顶的下载贴里的“2005年ETS发布新TOEFL官方正式样题”是一样的，还有图。那就省了我一些扫描的时间了，加快速度继续贴。

IbeatT

INTEGRATED LISTENING/SPEAKING: QUESTIONS 5 AND 6

Question 5

The Integrated Listening/Speaking tasks in questions 5 and 6 do not have a reading passage associated with them. For question 5, you will listen to a short conversation about a campus-related situation and respond to a question based on what you have heard. In the conversation, two people will typically discuss a problem and two pos­sible solutions. The problem is one that concerns one of them or both of them directly. After you listen to the conversation, you will be asked to briefly describe the situation that was discussed in the conversation and to give your own opinion about solutions to the problem. You will have 60 seconds in which to give your spoken response. The topics for this task are based on common, everyday situations or prob­lems that might arise at a college or university.

Typically, the speakers in the conversation will be two students, or a student and a professor, or a student and a university staff member (e.g., a teaching assistant, librarian, administrator, etc.). The problems may involve such issues as scheduling conflicts, unavoidable absences, unavailable resources, student elections, financial difficulties, and so forth. In some cases, the problem is one that affects both speakers equally, and they must decide on a single, common solution. In other cases, the problem may involve only one of the speakers, and in this situation that speaker will present his or her problem and the other speaker (or both of them) will propose the two possible solutions. The conversa­tions are usually between 60 and 90 seconds long.

The question you are asked when the conversation has ended has several parts: you are asked first to describe the problem that the speakers are discussing, then to state which of the two solutions you prefer, and finally to explain why you prefer that solution. The reasons you give for your preference can include information provided by the speakers in their discussion as well as your own experiences. For example, if your own experi­ence with a similar or related problem is relevant to your choice of one solution over the other, you may draw on that experience when explaining your reasons. Here, as in other Speaking tasks in which you are asked to choose between two alternatives and give reasons for your choice, it does not matter which of the two proposed solu­tions you choose, and there is no "right" solution or "wrong" solution. Your response will be rated not on which solution you choose but rather on how well you describe the problem, state the solution you prefer, and explain the reasons for your preference.

The types of problems discussed by the speakers in these conversations will vary. The problem could be that one of the speakers needs to arrange transportation for a class field trip and does not know whom to ask. Or the problem could be that a stu­dent has a doctor's appointment scheduled at the same time as a meeting with job recruiters. Another could be about a student who is not getting along with other members of his or her study group. In the following sample question, the speakers are discussing a problem that you may find very familiar: too much schoolwork and not enough time to do it.

 

TIP:
It is very important to practice your conversational speaking skills as often as possible. One way of doing this might be joining an English language conversation club. If such clubs do not exist in your area, you may want to start your own and, if possible, invite native speakers to join in.

IbeatT

Example

The following example shows how you would hear and see this task on your computer:

You will hear:

Narrator
In this question, you will listen to a conversation. You will then be asked to talk about the informa­tion in the conversation and to give your opinion about the ideas presented. After you hear the question, you will have 20 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.

Then a picture of two students will appear on the screen.

[attachimg]47235[/attachimg]

Then you will hear the conversation:

Student A
Hey Lisa, how’s it going?

Student B
Hi Mark. Uh, I’m OK, I guess, but my schoolwork is really stressing me out.

Student A[sympathetically]
Yeah? What’s wrong?

Student B
Well, I’ve got a paper to write, and two exams to study for. And a bunch of math problems to finish. It’s just so much that I can’t concentrate on any of it. I start concentrating on studying for one of my exams, and then I’m like, how long’s it gonna take to finish that problem set?

Student A
Wow. Sounds like you’ve got a lot more work than you can handle right now. [Not wanting to sound too pushy] Look have you talked to some of your professors...I mean, you know, try to explain the problem. Look, you could probably get an extension on your paper, or on the math assignment...

Student B
You think? It would give me a little more time to prepare for my exams right now.

Student A
Well, I mean another thing that you might do ... I mean have you tried making yourself a schedule? I mean that’s what I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

Student B
What does that do for you?

Student A
Well, I mean it helps you to focus your energies. You know, you make yourself a chart that shows the next few days and the time till your stuff is due and...

Student B
Uh-huh [meaning “I’m listening”]

Student A
I mean think about what you need to do, and when you have to do it by. You know then start filling in your schedule--like, all right 9:00 [nine] to 11:30 [eleven-thirty] A.M., study for exam. 12:00 [twelve] to 3:00 [three], work on problem set. But I mean don’t make the time periods too long. Like, don’t put in eight hours of studying--you know, you’ll get tired, or start worrying about your other work again. But if you keep to your schedule, you know you’ll just have to worry about one thing at a time.

Student B
Yeah, that might work. [somewhat noncommittally]

5. The students discuss two possible solutions to the woman’s problem. Describe the problem. Then state which of the two solutions you prefer and explain why.

Preparation time: 20 seconds
Response time: 60 seconds

 

After you hear the question, you will be told when to begin to prepare your response and when to begin speaking. A "Preparation Time" clock will appear below the question and begin to count down from 20 seconds (00:00:20). At the end of 20 seconds you will hear a short beep. After the beep, the clock will change to read "Response Time" and will begin to count down from 60 seconds (00:00:60). When the response time has ended, recording will stop and a new screen will appear alerting you that the response time has ended.

To answer this question, you should begin by briefly describing the woman's prob­lem, giving just enough details so that someone listening to your response but who has not heard the conversation would know what you are talking about. Then you would state which solution you prefer, and explain why. If you believe the second solution is preferable, you would probably begin by saying that you think it would be better if the woman prepared a schedule, and then you would proceed to explain why. There are any number of reasons you can give: you might say, for example, that the problem of too much work to do is something that the woman is going to confront in the future as well, and that if she learns how to organize a schedule now, this will help her throughout her academic career. You could also speak about the disadvantages of the other solution: for example, even though her professors might be willing to give her an extension, they might somehow penalize her for it by grading her assignments more severely. If your own personal experiences are relevant to your reasons for choosing one solution over the other, you may wish to mention those experiences, but you should keep in mind that the focus of the question is the problem faced by the speaker or speakers, not your own situation. Remember, too, a question like this can be answered in many different ways, and there is no "right" or "wrong" choice.

IbeatT

Question 6

This integrated task, the last of the six Speaking tasks, is based on academic content. For this task you will first listen to a professor present a brief excerpt from a lecture on an academic subject and then you will be asked a question about what you have heard. You will have 60 seconds in which to give your spoken response.

    As with Question 4 (the other Speaking task that is based on academic content), the topics for this question are drawn from a variety of fields within the life sciences, social sciences, physical sciences, and the humanities. Here too, no prior knowledge of any academic field in particular is required for you to understand the lecture or answer the question.

     The lecture excerpt is between 60 and 90 seconds long, and focuses on a single topic. Usually the professor will begin the lecture by defining a concept, by highlight­ing an issue, or by introducing a phenomenon, and will then go on to discuss impor­tant aspects of it or perspectives relating to it. The lecture will contain illustrative examples that help explain or clarify the main concept or issue. The question you are asked after you have heard the lecture will typically ask that you explain the main concept or issue of the lecture, using points and examples that were given in the lecture.

    The lectures can be about processes, methods, the­ories, ideas, or phenomena of any type—natural, social, psychological, etc. If a lecture is about a process, the professor might explain the process by describing some of its functions. In a lecture about a theory, the professor might explain the theory by describing its applications. In a lecture about a phenomenon, the professor might explain it through examples that illustrate its causes or its effects.

     In the sample Question 6 given below, the lecture is about a social phenomenon— the emergence of a national culture in the United States in the early twentieth cen­tury. The professor illustrates this phenomenon by describing two of its causes—radio and the automobile—and how they contributed to it. After you hear the lecture, you are asked to use information from the lecture to explain how the two causes contributed to the formation of a national culture.

TIP:
Find a textbook that includes questions about the material at the end of chapters, etc. Practice answering the questions orally.

Example

The following example shows how a question of this type will be presented to you on your computer.

First you will hear the narrator say this:

Narrator
In this question, you will listen to part of a lecture. You will then be asked to summarize important information from the lecture. After you hear the question, you will have 20 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak.

Then a picture of a professor standing in front of a class of students will appear on your screen, and you will hear the narrator say:

 [attachimg]47236[/attachimg]

Narrator
Now listen to part of a talk in a United States history class.

The professor will then begin the lecture.

Professor
    Because the United States is such a large country, it took time for a common national culture to emerge. One hundred years ago there was very little communication among the different regions of the United States. One result of this lack of communication was that people around the United States had very little in common with one another. People in different parts of the country spoke differently, dressed differently, and behaved differently. But connections among Americans began to increase thanks to two technological innovations: the automobile and the radio.
    Automobiles began to be mass produced in the 1920's, which meant they became less expen­sive and more widely available. Americans in small towns and rural communities now had the abil­ity to travel with ease to nearby cities. They could even take vacations to other parts of the country. The increased mobility provided by automobiles changed people's attitudes and created links that had not existed before. For example, people in small towns began to adopt behaviors, clothes, and speech that were popular in big cities or in other parts of the country.
    As more Americans were purchasing cars, radio ownership was also increasing dramatically. Americans in different regions of the country began to listen to the same popular radio programs and musical artists. People repeated things they heard on the radio—some phrases and speech patterns heard in songs and radio programs began to be used by people all over the United States. People also listened to news reports on the radio. They heard the same news throughout the coun­try, whereas in newspapers much news tended to be local. Radio brought Americans together by offering them shared experiences and information about events around the country.

When the lecture has ended, the picture of the professor will be replaced by a screen instructing you to get ready to answer the question. Then the question will appear on the screen and be read aloud at the same time by the narrator.

6. Using points and examples from the talk, explain how the automobile and the radio contributed to a common culture in the United States.

Preparation time: 20 seconds
Response time:   60 seconds

 

After you hear the question, you will be told when to begin preparing your response and when to begin speaking. A "Preparation Time" clock will appear below the question and begin to count down from 20 seconds (00:00:20). At the end of 20 seconds you will hear a short beep. After the beep, the clock will change to read "Response Time" and will begin to count down from 60 seconds (00:00:60). When the response time has ended, recording will stop and a new screen will appear alerting you that the response time has ended.

To answer this question, you might begin with a little background and mention that the United States did not have a common culture 100 years ago because people in different regions of the country did not communicate much with each other. Then you could say that the automobile and the radio changed this situation, and go on to summarize the information from the lecture that explains how they caused this change. For example, you could say that when automobiles became inexpensive, people from small towns could travel easily to cities or to other parts of the country, and that when they began to do this, they started acting like people from those other regions and started to dress and speak in the same way. As for the role that radio played in the emergence of a national culture, you could point out that when radio became popular, people from different parts of the country began listening to the same programs and the same news reports and began to speak alike and have similar experiences and ideas. If you have time, you could conclude by saying that these similar ways of speaking and dressing and thinking became the national culture of the United States. You should remember that you do not need to repeat all of the details provided in the lecture. There is simply too much information in the lecture to allow you to do that. You should, however, convey enough information so that someone who has not heard the lecture would be able to form a good idea of what the professor was explaining to the class.

Other lectures for question 6 could include such topics as how people learn, and the central concept might be that learning occurs when two events are associated in the brain. The professor would illustrate that concept by describing two different ways that events can be associated in the brain, and you would be asked to use points and examples from the lecture to explain how these two ways of associating events result in learning. Or in a lecture about money, the professor might provide two dif­ferent definitions of the concept and illustrate them with two examples, and you would be asked in your response to explain the two definitions, using the two exam­ples. The question that follows a lecture like this would typically ask you to use points and examples that you heard in the lecture to explain how people learn or what the definitions of money are.