Toefl exam Essentials

Chapter 
2
Listening
Y
ou may think of listening as a passive activity, but becom-
ing a good listener means learning to listen actively—to ask
questions, analyze, and draw conclusions about what you
hear. Because lectures and class discussions are the primary teach-
ing methods at universities, good listening skills are crucial for
your success at college.
The listening section of the TOEFL exam measures your abil-
ity to understand North American English. It uses conversa-
tional language including idiomatic expressions, rather than
formal, written English. The section has 30–50 questions and is
40–60 minutes in length. On the exam, you will hear three types
of recordings:
Dialogues: a brief conversation between two people. In some,
each person speaks only once. In others, one or both 
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