TOEFL Speaking Task 3 Practice Test #19

Instructions

You will read a short academic passage (usually about a concept from psychology, biology, business, etc.), and then listen to part of a lecture in which a professor explains the same concept using one or more examples. After that, you will be asked a question that connects the reading and the lecture. You will have 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak.

The question for TOEFL Speaking Task 3 typically asks you to explain how the example (or examples) from the lecture illustrate the concept described in the reading. In your response, briefly summarize the concept from the reading and explain how the professor’s example helps to clarify or demonstrate it. This format is consistent across tests.

Reading Passage

Agonistic Behavior

In some animal species, individuals may come into conflict with one another over valuable resources like territory or food. To settle these disputes, members of the same species may engage in what is known as agonistic behavior. This is a form of aggressive interaction in which the animals physically compete to determine which one is dominant. Although the competition can be intense, it generally does not result in serious injury, as the primary goal is to establish superiority. Once a winner is determined, that individual is granted access to the resource, while the other retreats.

Listening

Transcript

Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture in a Biology class.

Professor: I know some scientists who were observing snakes in the wild, and they witnessed an encounter of this sort between two rattlesnakes. Ah, as you may know, rattlesnakes eat various kinds of small animals, small animals that live underground in burrows, in little holes in the ground. And what these scientists saw was these two rattlesnakes had found the same hole, and both wanted to eat whatever food was in that hole. So, what happened was the two rattlesnakes faced each other, and then they lifted their bodies into an upright position and made themselves as tall as possible. And then they started pushing each other, kind of wrestling with one another. Each snake tried to gain control of the other snake. And what’s interesting is that during all this pushing and shoving and maneuvering, neither snake ever tried to bite the other snake, neither snake ever tried to injure the other snake. So then, after this went on for a while, one of the snakes finally gained control of the other snake, pushed it to the ground and held it there. At this point, the snake that was on top, could have easily bitten the other snake, but it didn’t. Instead, it just released the other snake. Just let it go. The snake that had lost just slithered away, and the snake that had won went down into the hole to look for food.

TOEFL Speaking Task 3 Sample Questions [Reading Passages & Audio]

OUR TOEFL SHOP

TOEFL Preparation

Vocabulary

Meet Your Tutor Before You Decide

Watch a few of my videos to see how I approach teaching and what you can expect.

Ready to Start Your English IELTS TOEFL SAT Journey?

CHALLENGE YOURSELF.
TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

Leave a CommentCancel reply