名师解答新托福口语独立任务解题原则

INDEPENDENT SPEAKING TASKS

In the independent speaking portion of the TOEFL iBT test, you will give two short speeches on topics that are familiar to you. For the personal preference task, you will choose and support a preference from a particular category. For the personal choice task, you will make and support a choice between two contrasting options.

An effective speech begins with an introductory statement that tells the listener what the speech is about. The body of the speech is made up of explanations and details. A concluding statement completes the speech.

1. Listen carefully to the task and think about what you must do in your response.

Ask yourself these questions:

What is the topic of the task?

What am I being asked to do?

Then make a mental list of the answers to these questions. For example, look at the following task:

Name a skill you have learned and explain why it is important to you. Include details and examples to support your explanation.

For this task, you would make a mental list like the following:

The topic is about a skill I have learned. I need to:

Name the skill

Define the skill if the listener might not know what it is

Explain its importance

Include details and examples

2. Quickly decide on a topic.

It is easy to run out of preparation time while trying to decide what topic within the given category you will discuss. Quickly choose a topic and start thinking about the examples and details you can include for that particular topic. Remember, examiners are not interested in what the topic is but in how well you can express yourself.