toefl listening astronomy lecture 托福听力听写练习

Original listening material is from toefl test.
Red marked places are the mistakes i made when i recorded it.

Listen to part of a lecture in an astronomy class.

I’m sure you all have been following the news about the Mars. A lot of spacecraft have been visiting the planet recently- some have gone into orbit around it, well, while others have landed on it. And, they’ve sent back a… an abundance of data that’s reshaping our knowledge … our vision of the planet in a lot of ways. Is there anything that you’ve been particularly struck by in all the news reports?

Well, they seem to mention water a lot, which kind of surprised me as I have this picture in my head that Mars is dry… sort of dry and dead.

You are not the only one. You know, for centuries, most of our knowledge of the planet came from what we saw through telescopes. So, obviously, it was pretty limited. And our views of the planet were formed as much by writers… as they were by serious scientists. When the first science-fiction came out, Mars was described as being a lot like Earth except…

I know that the planet was red and, uh, the people are green. I’ve seen some of those old movies. What were they thinking? I mean, really… they…

Well, it seems silly to us now but those ideas were quite imaginative and, occasionally, scary in their time.  Anyway, we began to rethink our image of Mars when the first spacecraft flew by the planet in 1965 and sent some pictures back to earth. Those pictures showed a planet that looked a lot more like our moon than earth- lots of craters and not much else. It was bitterly code. It had a very thin atmosphere. And that atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide. So, the view of Mars after this first flyby mission was that dry, dead planet that Lisa mentioned. But then there were more visitors to the planet in the 1970s - and this time the spacecraft didn’t just fly by, they orbited or landed. This allowed us to receive more detailed images of the planet, and it turned out to be a pretty interesting place. Mars had… has a lot more than craters, it has giant volcanoes and deep canyons. It also showed signs of dried-up riverbeds and plains that had been formed by massive floods. So we can concluded that there must have been water on the planet at one time, billions of years ago. Now, what does it take for water to exist?

You need to have a warm enough temperature so that it doesn’t to freeze.

That’s one thing - and the other is that you need enough atmospheric pressure, thick enough air so that the water doesn’t instantly vaporize. The Mars we see today doesn’t have either of those conditions. It’s too cold and the air is too thin. But a long time ago, there may have been a thicker atmosphere that created a greenhouse effect that raised temperatures – and maybe that combination produced water on the surface of the planet. So, maybe Mars wasn’t just a dead boring rock. Maybe it was a fascinating fossil that once was alive in dynamic – worthy of exploration. Now, let’s jump forward a few decades to the beginning of this century. And a new generation of orbiters and landers that have been sent to Mars. Of course the scientific instruments now surveying Mars are far more sophisticated than the instruments of the 70’s.  So we are getting all kinds of new data for analysis. And not surprisingly, that data is challenging our notions of what Mars is like. Lisa, you mentioned that a lot of the news reporters talked about water. Do you remember any of the details?

Well, they are showing these pictures with these long, uh, cuts in the ground which would be gullies here. I mean, on earth. They say that since, uh, gullies are usually formed by water. It seems like they might be evidence that water still exists on Mars, but I didn’t get how that worked.

I’m not surprised. There are a lot of theories, a lot of that speculation. Some argue that the formations aren’t caused by water at all. But there are some ingenious theories that assume there’s a lot of water right under the planet’s surface that is somehow causing the gullies to form. If only we can get a lander there… but gullies aren’t in places where we can send landers yet. Anyway, if there is some kind of water activity, it may change our view of the planet once again… to something that is not dead, not even a fossil, but rather a planet like Earth, that undergoes cycles. Think of our ice ages- over long periods of time. Maybe Mars can sustain water again at some distant date.

托福听力听写练习 TOEFL LISTENING lecture of biology class

The original listening material is from ETB test.
Red marked places are mistakes i made.

Biology

Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.

We’ve been discussing animal communication. Um, today we are going to talk about dolphins. Now, dolphins make a wide range of communicative sounds, and display something called vocal learning, which is the ability of an animal to modify its vocalizations based on its experience with other animals. There are many types of dolphin vocalizations. We still don’t know their precise meanings – partly, I suppose, because we haven’t really tried that hard to figure out their precise meanings – but we do know that dolphins use vocalizations as a way of communicating with one another. And we’ve categorized their vocalizations into three types: whistles, clicks, and burst pulses. The dolphin whistles are very high frequency sounds, ah partially above the range of human hearing. What’s fascinating is, each dolphin has a signature whistle, which is unique to each individual dolphin.  It allows them to call to and identify each other.  Jennifer?

Kind of like learning someone’s name? So… do dolphin parents choose names for their children?

Well, again, that’s something we don’t know, but we do know that no two signature whistles sound identical. And, members of the same family, their signature whistles have similar elements. Dolphins use them as contact calls – ah they call to each other while travelling and foraging. It helps keep the group together, and helps mother and children find each other. Think of it like …. if you were travelling in the forest with one other person who was just out of sight, you’d call out, “are you there?” and the other person would respond. But if there were several people in the forest, you would have to call that person’s name to call to them. In addition to whistles, dolphins produce clicks which are actually sonar or sound waves. They use clicks to communicate, but, more importantly to navigate and hunt. How?

Well, the sonar clicks bounce off objects, and then dolphins convert the incoming signals into a three dimensional picture… a mental map of what’ around them. Their clicks are extremely sensitive and accurate. Their sonar clicks are also very strong. And there is the theory that one reason dolphins swim side by side is to avoid interference from each other’s sonar clicks. Interference would be confusing… it would prevent them from getting an accurate picture of their surroundings. And what’s interesting is, dolphins will turn off their sonar when another dolphin passes in front. The third category of dolphin’s vocalizations is burst pulses. These are all this other sounds the dolphin makes – suawks, squeals, barks, groans, and so on. Burst pulses are used to display aggression, show dominance and attract mate. But whistles, clicks, burst pulses aren’t the only ways dolphins communicate. Does anyone remember any other ways?

 In the book, it said that they also slap their tails against water. Oh, and … the air that comes out when thye breathe or whistle … the … ah … the bubble streams? They can control how the air bubble streams come out? I thought that was really interesting.

Yes, the bubble streams are very interesting. Dolphins can identify and locate each other by their bubble streams and they can imitate the bubble steam patterns of other dolphins… sort of like saying hello. So as you can see, dolphins use many sounds and behaviors to convey messages to each other. I’d like to tell you about when I was a graduate student … and … I spent one summer on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean studying marine life. One morning, there were about 25 dolphins swimming with the boat. We can hear their whistles and clicks as they called to each other. Now, we were there as impartial scientists, to do research, but… how could we not notice the beauty as the bubble streams made patterns in the water and the dolphins appeared to dance and play? It’s wonderful if you do field work and actually experience something you‘ve been studying in a class room. So if you ever have the opportunity, go for it!

托福听力听写练习 TOEFL LISTENING conversation

Original listening material is from toefl test.
Red marked places are mistakes I made when recording.

Listen to part of a conversation between a student and a university employee.

Oh, hello… can I help you?

Um… yeah… I’m looking for Professor Kirk. Is he here? I mean, is this her office?

Yes, you are in the right place - Professor Kirk’s office is right behind me - but no, she is not here right now.

Uh, do you know when she’ll be back?

Well, she is teaching all morning. She won’t be back until… let me check, she won’t be back until… after launch. That’s when she has her office hours. Perhaps you can come back then?

Oh, unfortunately no. I have class this afternoon, and I was really hoping to talk to her today.

Hey, do you know if … she is still accepting any more students into her introduction to biology class?

You want to know if you can take the class.

Yes, if she is letting any more students sign up, I’d like, I’d like to join the class.

Introduction to biology is a very popular class, especially when she teaches it. A lot of students take it.

Yeah, that’s why the registrar said it was full. I’ve got the form the registrar gave me, um… with me to get her permission to take the class. It’s all filled out except for her signature. I’m hoping she’ll let me in even though the class is full. You see, I’m senior this year and this’ll be my last semester, so it’s my last chance.

Oh, wow, really? I mean, most of the students fulfill the science requirement the first year.

Well, I mean, um… to be honest, I kept putting it off. I’m not really a big fan of science classes in general, and with the labs and everything. I’ve not quite found the time.

Your advisor didn’t see anything?

Well, to tell you the truth, she’s been after me to take a class for a while, but I’m double majoring in art and journalism and so my schedule’s been really tight with all the classes I gotta’ take, so somehow I never…

Well, perhaps you could leave the form with me and I’ll see if she’ll sign it for you?

You know, I appreciate that, but maybe I should explain the problem to her in person? I didn’t want to do it, but… I guess I have to send her an e-mail.

Hmm, you know, not all professors check their emails regularly. I’m not sure whether professor Kirk does it or not? Here is an idea, why don’t you stick a note explaining your situation under her door and ask her to call you if she needs more information?

Hey, that’s a good idea; and then I can leave the form with you- if you still don’t mind…

托福听力听写练习 TOEFL listening anthropology

The Original listening material is from ETS online.
Red marked places are the mistakes I made when recording.

Anthropology

Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.

Okay, I want to start today by talking about calendars. I know, some of you are thinking it’s not all that fascinating, right? But listen; the next time you look at a calendar, I want you to keep something in mind. There are at least tree natural ways to measure the… the passage of time- by day, by month and by year. And these are all pretty easy to see, right? I mean, a day is based on one rotation of earth. A month is how long the moon takes to move around the earth. And a year is the time it takes for Earth to move around the Sun, right? So they are all based on natural events, but the natural clocks of Earth, the Sun, the Moon run on different times, and you can’t divide any one of these time periods by another one without having some messy fraction left over. I mean, one lunar month- that’s the time it takes for Moon to move around the Earth- one month is about 29.5 twenty-nine and a half days, not really a nice round number. And one year is little more than 365 days. So these are obviously numbers don’t divide into each other quite neatly. And this makes it pretty difficult to create some sort of tidy calendar that really works.

Not those different cultures haven’t tried. Have any of you ever been to Stonehenge. No… you know that amazing circle of giant stones in England? Well, if you ever go, and find yourself wondering why this culture way back in prehistory England would go to so much work to construct this monumental ring of enormous stones, …well, keep in mind that a lot of us think it was designed, at least partially as calendar- to mark when the seasons of the year begin, according to the exact day when the sun comes up from a particular direction. I have colleagues who insist it’s a temper, maybe, a tome … but they can’t deny it was also used as a calendar… probably to help figure out, for example, when farmers should begin their planting each year.

The Mayans, in Central America, also invented a calendar, but for a different purpose. The Mayans, especially the royalty and priests, wanted to look at long cycles of history - so the calendar the used had to be able to count far into the future as well as far into the past. And not only were the Mayans keeping track of the natural timekeepers we mentioned before - earth, the sun, and the moon - but another natural timekeeper: the planet Venus.

Venus rises in the sky as the morning star every 584 days, and the Venus cycle was incorporated in the Mayan calendar. So the Mayan kept track of long periods of time, and they did it accurately, in fact, that their calendar is considered about as complicated and sophisticated as any in the world.

Now, the ancient Chinese believed very strongly in astrology- the idea that you can predict the future events based on the positions of the stars and the planets like, say Jupiter. Incidentally, the whole Chinese system of astrology was based on the fact that the planet Jupiter goes around the Sun once every twelve years, so one orbit of Jupiter lasts for 12 of our earth years. Apparently that’s why the Chinese calendar has a cycle of 12 years, you know, like “the year of dragon”, “the year of tiger” and so on… all parts of the twelve year astrological cycle that we get from the orbit of Jupiter.

Calendars based on the orbits of other planets, though, are a lot less common than those based on the cycle of the Moon, the lunar month. I could mention any number of important cultures around the world that have depended on lunar calendars, but there really isn’t time. So, let’s go right to the calendar that’s now used throughout most of the world- a solar calendar- based on the number of days in a year. This calendar is mainly derived from the one of the ancient Romans derived a couple thousand years ago. I mean, the Romans- with more than a little help from the Greeks - realized that a year actually lasts about 365 and a quarter days. And so they decide to round off most years to 365 days but make every fourth year into a leap year. I mean, somehow, you have to account for that extra one fourth of a day each year, so every four years, they made the calendar one day longer. By adding the leap year, the Romans were able to make a calendar that worked so well – that, with a few minor adjustments, this calendar is still widely used today.

托福听力 听写练习 conversation TOEFL LISTENING

The original listening material is from TOEFL IBT online.
Red marked places are the places I made mistakes when I typed it while listening.

Listen to part of a conversation between a student and a professor.

Sandy, how is class been going for you this semester?

Oh, it’s great. I really like your business psychology class, but I have one major concern about the last assignment, you know- the one where we have to interview a local business owner, uh, I mean, entrepreneur?

Are you having trouble coming up with interview questions?

Well, just it is. I mean, I worked on my high school newspaper for years, so I actually have great questions to ask. The thing is… I’m new to the area and I don’t know people off campus. So I was wondering if… well, could you possibly give me the name of someone I could interview?

You don’t know anyone who owns a business?

Well, yeah, back home. My next-door neighbors- they own a shoes store, and they are really successful-but they are not local.

Well, it wouldn’t be fair to the other student if I gave you the name of a contact- but I could help you figure out one way to find someone on your own. Let’s see…Do you read the local newspaper?

Sure, whenever I have the time.

Well, the business section in the newspaper often has stories about local business people, who have been very successful. If you find an article, you could call the person who was profiled.

You mean, just call them up…out of blue, asking them if they’ll talk to me?

Sure, why not?

Well, aren’t people like that awfully busy? Too busy to talk to a random college student?

Many people enjoy telling the story of how they got started. Remember, this is a business psychology class, and for this assignment, I want you to get some real insight about business owners, their personality, what drives them to be become an entrepreneur?

Like how they think?

And what motivates them, why did they start their business? I’m sure they’d talk to you, especially if you tell them you might start a business someday.

I’m not sure I’d have the guts to do that. Opening a business seems so risky, so scary.

Well, you can ask them if they feel that way too.

Now you just need to find someone to interview to see if your instincts are correct.