TOEFL iBT Speaking Sample Q & A – FULL Test 5

This is an original TOEFLIBTee speaking practice set written in the style of the pre-2019 six-task Speaking section (see the note above). The current test doesn't use these tasks, so here is how to get value from the set today:

• Prompts 1 and 2: answer each one out loud in about 45 seconds. Describing your own experiences and giving a reasoned opinion is good practice for the kind of personal and opinion questions you may hear in the Take an Interview task.
• Prompts 3 to 6: have someone read the listening script to you (or read it aloud once yourself), take short notes, and then summarize it out loud. This trains the note-taking and academic listening you need for the Listening section.
• Listen and Repeat practice: choose five sentences from the scripts, have someone say them or record them, and repeat each one word for word. Accuracy matters more than speed. Compare your answers with the examples, and notice how each one states a point first and then supports it.

Prompt 1

Describe a teacher who had a strong influence on you. Explain what made this person's teaching effective.

Example answer

The teacher who influenced me most was my high school biology teacher, Ms. Tanaka. What made her effective was that she never started a topic with definitions. She began with a question, like why we feel sleepy after a big lunch, and let us try to work out the answer in small groups before she explained the science. That made us actually want to know the answer. She also gave very specific feedback: instead of writing "good job" on a lab report, she would point out exactly which conclusion was weak and why. Because of her, I learned to ask questions before memorizing facts, and I still study that way in every subject.

Prompt 2

Is it true that students learn more from group projects than from working alone? Explain your view and support it with specific details and examples.

Example answer

I don't think students always learn more from group projects. In my experience, group work often means each person learns only their own part. In a history project last year, our group split the topic into four sections, and I researched only the economic causes of the war. When the exam came, I knew my section well but had to study everything else from scratch. Working alone, I would have had to understand the whole topic. Group projects do teach useful skills, like dividing tasks and communicating, so I think they work best when every member has to be able to present all of the content, not just their own piece.

Prompt 3

Textbook Rental Program Starts This Fall

Beginning this semester, the campus bookstore will offer a rental option for most required textbooks, in addition to the usual option to buy them outright. Students who choose to rent will pay a fraction of the purchase price and return the book at the end of the term in reasonably good condition. The bookstore says the program is meant to reduce the financial burden of textbooks, which many students have identified as one of their biggest unexpected costs each semester. A small number of books, mainly lab manuals and workbooks that students write directly in, will not be eligible for rental and must still be purchased.

Listening script

M: Did you see the bookstore is doing textbook rentals now?

W: I did, and I think it's going to save people a ton of money. My chemistry textbook alone was almost two hundred dollars last semester.

M: Same here. Although I wonder how strict they'll be about the condition of the books when you return them. What if you highlight a few pages or the spine gets a little worn?

W: That's a fair concern. I'd guess normal wear is probably fine, but if you spill coffee on it or rip out pages, that's probably a different story.

M: I guess that makes sense. I'm also curious whether the popular books will run out. If renting is that much cheaper, everyone's going to want to rent instead of buy.

W: True, but the bookstore usually orders extra copies at the start of the semester anyway, so hopefully they've planned for that kind of demand.

Question: Summarize the new program described in the announcement, then explain the concerns the man raises about it.

Example answer

The announcement says that starting this semester, the campus bookstore will let students rent most required textbooks for a fraction of the purchase price, as long as they return them at the end of the term in reasonably good condition. The goal is to reduce textbook costs, although lab manuals and workbooks still have to be bought. The man likes the idea but raises two concerns. First, he isn't sure how strict the bookstore will be about condition, for example if he highlights a few pages or the spine gets worn. Second, he worries that popular books will run out, since so many students will want the cheaper option. The woman thinks normal wear will be fine and that the bookstore has probably ordered extra copies.

Prompt 4

Spaced Repetition

When people study new information, they often review it repeatedly within a single sitting, assuming that concentrated repetition is the most efficient way to make it stick. Research on memory suggests the opposite is often true. Spaced repetition is a learning technique in which review sessions are spread out over increasing intervals of time rather than crammed together, and it reliably produces stronger long-term retention than reviewing the same material back-to-back. The effect appears to work because each review after a gap forces the brain to work slightly harder to retrieve the information, and that extra retrieval effort strengthens the memory more than an easy, immediate repetition would. Even though spaced review often feels less effective in the moment, since some forgetting has usually occurred between sessions, it consistently outperforms concentrated review on tests given weeks or months later.

Listening script

Let me give you a concrete comparison. Say two students are learning the same list of fifty vocabulary words in a foreign language. The first student studies the entire list in one long session the night before the quiz, reviewing each word repeatedly until it feels memorized. The second student studies the same list in four shorter sessions spread across two weeks, reviewing the words again each time after a gap of several days.

On the quiz itself, right after studying, both students might actually perform about the same. The difference shows up later. A month afterward, when researchers test both students again without warning, the first student — the one who crammed — has forgotten a large share of the words. The second student, who spaced out the same amount of total study time across two weeks, retains far more. The total number of minutes spent studying was nearly identical for both students. What differed was the timing, and that timing turned out to matter more than the total effort.

Question: Using the vocabulary-study example, explain how spaced repetition improves long-term memory compared to concentrated review.

Example answer

The reading passage describes a learning technique called spaced repetition, which means spreading review sessions out over time instead of reviewing everything at once. The lecture illustrates this with two students learning the same list of fifty vocabulary words. One crams the entire list the night before a quiz, while the other studies the same words in four shorter sessions spread across two weeks. Right after studying, both students perform similarly on the quiz. But a month later, the student who crammed has forgotten most of the words, while the student who spaced out the same amount of study time remembers far more. Even though both spent about the same total time studying, spacing the sessions out led to much stronger long-term memory than reviewing everything close together.

Prompt 5

Listening script

M: Hey, you sound awful. Are you getting sick?

W: I think I'm losing my voice completely. I've got the regional debate competition on Saturday, and right now I can barely talk above a whisper.

M: That's really bad timing. Have you seen a doctor?

W: Yeah, she said it's laryngitis and it should clear up within a few days if I rest my voice completely, but there's no guarantee it'll be back to normal by Saturday.

M: Could you ask to postpone your round, just push it back a week?

W: I actually asked about that. The coordinator said the schedule is completely fixed because there are too many teams and rooms booked — there's no flexibility at all.

M: What about having your partner argue both sides alone this time? You've prepped together for weeks, so she probably knows your arguments almost as well as you do.

W: That's true, she does know the material really well. I just feel bad leaving her to carry the whole round by herself after we prepared this as a team.

Question: Describe the problem facing the woman in the conversation, then explain which of the two options discussed you would recommend and why.

Example A

The woman in the conversation has lost her voice right before a debate competition on Saturday and can barely speak above a whisper. There are two possible solutions: postponing her round by a week, or having her partner argue both sides of the round alone. I think her partner should take over for this round. Postponing sounds appealing, but the coordinator already said the schedule is completely fixed, so it isn't really a realistic option. Her partner, on the other hand, has prepared with her for weeks and already knows the arguments well, so the round wouldn't fall apart just because the woman can't speak.

Example B

The woman's problem is that she has laryngitis and might not be able to speak clearly by Saturday, when her debate competition is scheduled. Two solutions come up: pushing the round back a week, or letting her partner handle the round alone. I would recommend letting her partner argue both sides. Since the tournament schedule can't be changed, waiting isn't something she can count on. Her partner already knows the material from weeks of shared preparation, so even though it isn't the original plan, it's a far more dependable solution than hoping her voice recovers in time.

Prompt 6

Listening script

Why do some ideas feel obvious once someone explains them, while other problems need a completely fresh way of thinking? Psychologists often describe two styles of thinking that explain this difference.

The first is convergent thinking, which means narrowing down a set of possibilities to find the one correct or best answer to a clearly defined problem. A student solving a math equation is using convergent thinking: there's a single correct answer, and the goal is to work through logical steps until you reach it. Convergent thinking is precise and efficient, but it depends on the problem already having a known, correct solution to converge toward.

The second style is divergent thinking, which means generating as many different ideas or possibilities as you can, without judging them right away. If you asked a group to list every possible use for a brick, someone using divergent thinking might suggest a doorstop, a paperweight, a workout weight, or even a musical instrument if you tap it the right way. There's no single correct answer being sought here — the goal is quantity and variety of ideas first, with evaluation happening only afterward. Creative fields tend to rely heavily on divergent thinking, while fields with clear right answers rely more on convergent thinking.

Question: Drawing on the professor's examples, describe how convergent thinking and divergent thinking differ.

Example A

The professor explains two styles of thinking. The first is convergent thinking, which means narrowing down possibilities to reach one correct answer, like solving a math equation step by step until you arrive at the single right result. The second is divergent thinking, which means generating as many different ideas as possible without judging them immediately, like listing every possible use for a brick, such as a doorstop, a paperweight, or even a musical instrument. Convergent thinking works well when a problem already has a known correct answer, while divergent thinking is more useful for creative problems that don't have one clear solution.

Example B

In the lecture, the professor talks about two kinds of thinking. Convergent thinking is when you narrow down options to find the single correct answer to a problem, such as working through the steps of a math equation. Divergent thinking is the opposite: it means coming up with many different possible ideas without immediately deciding which one is best, like brainstorming several unusual uses for an ordinary brick. The professor points out that convergent thinking suits problems that already have one correct answer, while divergent thinking is more valuable in creative situations where many different ideas could work.