三、讲座/讲话

1.找准关键词，判断内容主旨大意

本部分为讲座与讲话，涉及的主题主要是教授、专家以及一些学者的学术性成果，题目的类型与托福考试的Lecture部分相似，涉及的学科主题有天文、地质、生物学、文学艺术、历史、社会学及对一些社会与时政热点的评论等。因此若能根据选项判断所给材料的主题，则能在听音过程中胸有成竹，做好关键信息的筛选，提高答题的正确率。具体来讲，关键词主要是指各个选项中的类似词汇，不仅存在于一道题的四个选项中，而且也存在整篇材料里的几道题目中。判断出主旨大意，更容易选出正确选项。

【例】[新题型样卷中的托福听力练习]

【预览选项】

16.A）They investigate the retirement homes in America.

B）They are on issues facing senior citizens in America.

C）They describe the great pleasures of the golden years.

D）They are filled with fond memories of his grandparents.

17.A）The loss of the ability to take care of himself.

B）The feeling of not being important any more.

C）Being unable to find a good retirement home.

D）Leaving the home he had lived in for 60 years.

18.A）The loss of identity and self-worth.

B）Fear of being replaced or discarded.

C）Freedom from pressure and worldly cares.

D）The possession of wealth and high respect.

19.A）The urgency of pension reform.

B）Medical care for senior citizens.

C）Finding meaningful roles for the elderly in society.

D）The development of public facilities for senior citizens.

【预测信息】

本段材料共四道选择题，其中三道题都能明显地划出关键词。retirement，senior citizens，golden years，grandparents，60 years，pension，the elderly，senior citizens等单词短语的重复出现，呈现出关键词的特征，就可以自然而然推测出所给的材料主旨大意是和养老相关的。

【听音验证】

Hello！Ladies and Gentleman！It gives me great pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker for today’s session，Dr.Howard Miller.Dr.Miller，Professor of Sociology at Washington University，has written numerous articles and books on the issues[16]facing older Americans in our graying society forthe past 15 years

Several years ago when my grandparents were well intotheir eighties，they were faced with the reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves.My grandfather spoke of his greatest fear，that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years.

Now，many of the lectures given at this conference havefocused on the issues of pension reform，medical care，and thedevelopment of public facilities for senior citizens.

【答题解析】

该段材料是主持人先介绍了主讲教授的研究方向，向听众直接陈述了主题。

接着，教授在陈述自身的研究成果时，在每个部分的开头都表明了主题重点。

因此，整篇材料的主题在选项中的关键词得到了体现和验证，即养老问题。此时再观察选题，发现最开始的题目，即第16道为与主题直接相关的题目。

16.What does the introduction say about Dr.Howard Miller’s articles and books？

B）材料一开始就介绍了教授的著作方向，B选项中的senior是older的礼貌称谓。

2.根据选项特点，预测提问方式

在把握了听力材料的主题之后，阅读选项过程中对提问问题方式的预测是另一个重要目的。从选项的句法结构、针对的对象以及涉及的相关要素中，去抓取听力材料中的关键信息，推测出问题可能考查的核心内容，从而确定听音时应该重点关注哪些内容。

【例】[新题型样卷中的托福听力练习]

【预览选项】

21.A）They will live longer.

B）They get better pay.

C）They get along well with people.

D）They develop much higher IQs.

【预测信息】

四个选项中都是比较级的形式表明，所提问的问题一定是材料中关于两类对象的比较，要注意听取材料中涉及两者比较的部分，或者出现比较级的词组。

【听音验证】

Says IFPRI’s Marie Ruel，“They will be more likely to perform well in school.They will stay in school longer.And then[21] at adulthood，IFPRI has actually demonstrated that children who were better nourished have higher wages，by a pretty large margin，by 46 percent.”

【答案解析】

21.What does IFPRI’s Marie Ruel say about well-fed children in their adult life？

B）报告材料中提到，营养更容易得到保证的儿童在长大后将获得更高的收入（higher wages）。

【预览选项】

22.A）Appropriated funds to promote research of nutrient-rich foods.

B）Encouraged breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life.

C）Recruited volunteers to teach rural people about health and nutrition.

D）Targeted hunger-relief programs at pregnant women and young children.

【预测信息】

选项均为以动词的过去式为开头的句子，且各个动词各异，这表明问题是关于某种行动的方式，涉及的是对具体行为细节的提问。

【听音验证】

Ruel says[22]in the 1980s Thailand was able to reducechild undernourishment by recruiting a large number of volunteers to travel the countryside teaching about healthand nutrition

【答案解析】

22.What did Thailand do to reduce child undernourishment in the 1980s？

C）材料中提到，20世纪80年代泰国政府通过招募志愿者到农村地区宣传教育健康营养知识的方式来解决农村地区人口的营养不良问题。

3.印象选分，听之选之

在涉及选取细节选项的部门题目中，可以根据此种方法做出选择，即正确答案通常就是材料中原词或者语义的再现。运用此技巧在答题时，答案的印象往往迅速地呈现在脑海中，自然也就能做出正确的选择。

【例】[新题型样卷中的托福听力练习]

【预览选项】

20.A）It seriously impacts their physical and mental development.

B）It has become a problem affecting global economic growth.

C）It is a common problem found in underdeveloped countries.

D）It is an issue often overlooked by parents in many countries.

【预测信息】

题目给出的所有选项中都涉及具体的细节，因此留意听力材料中的相关语义表述有助于获得正确答案的第一印象。

【听音验证】

Undernourishment during this approximately 1，000-day window can seriously check the growth and development of children and render them more likely to get sick and die than well-fed children.Preventing hunger allows children to develop both[20]physically and mentally

【答案解析】

22.Whatistheexperts’conclusionregarding children’sundernourishmentintheirearliest days of life？

A）材料第一小节的末尾揭示了温饱对儿童体力与智力（physically and mentally）的促进作用。尽管问题提问的方式采用反问的形式，但根据材料的两个语义的第一印象不难选出正确选项。

【预览选项】

23.A）The guaranteed quality of its goods.

B）The huge volume of its annual sales.

C）The service it provides to its customers.

D）The high value-to-weight ratio of its goods.

【预测信息】

从所给出的选项中不难判断出问题是关于顾客、商品、服务以及销售之间的细节关系，留意材料中相关语义表述有助于获得对正确答案的第一印象。

【听音验证】

Suitable products generally have a high[23]value-to-weightratio.Items such as CDs and DVDs are obvious examplesClothes and other items that need to be tried on such as diamond rings and gold necklaces are generally not suited to virtual retailing，and，of course，items with a low[23] value-to-weight ratio

【答案解析】

23.What is important to the success of an online store？

D）材料第二小节与结尾处的倒数第二小节各出现 value-to-weight ratio，强调电商的成功与否关键在于货物的价值与质量之比。原词组的两次出现再次验证了根据第一印象选择的正确性。

应对听力的新题型不必过于紧张，不用担心专业术语过多而听不懂材料。其实学术讲座的语言大都易于理解，毕竟不是内部的专业学术会议，设计的考点与所需的相关听力技巧仍然不变。当然，讲座/讲话的听力试题考查更多的是语言的综合运用能力。只有在平时关注和学习各个学科的知识，才能在应对各种听力材料时做到游刃有余。多听多记多想，才能不断提高听力水平，取得高分。