TOEFL Listening - Conversation 1

📋 Directions

Listen to conversations and lectures, then answer questions. You can take notes while you listen. Each section has 30 seconds per question with automatic advancement.

Choose a Listening Example:

🎧 Campus Conversation

Listen carefully to the conversation between Carla (student) and her professor.

📝 Important: In the real TOEFL exam, you can only listen to each audio ONCE. Take notes while listening!

📜 Audio Transcript

⚠️ Learning Aid Only: This transcript is provided for educational purposes. In the real TOEFL exam, NO transcript is available!

Carla: Hi, professor. Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?

Professor: Sure, Carla. What's going on?

Carla: Well, as you know, this has been a really difficult class for me, and I'm really, really nervous about the final coming up. I'm scared I'm going to fail this class — but I have to pass, or I'll have to take an extra class next semester, and I know that would be difficult. I was wondering if you could help me prepare, or figure out a way to at least make sure I'll pass.

Professor: Yes, I've noticed this class hasn't been easy for you. I'm glad you came to me, because the last thing I want is for any of my students to fail the course. What have you been doing to prepare for the final?

Carla: Well, I'm studying at the library whenever I can, but I feel like I just don't understand the information. I'm only taking this Intro to Biology class because I need to fulfill my science requirement. I'm a French major, and science just doesn't make sense to me. I'm really scared I'm not going to do well on the final. Is there any way I could do some extra credit to help my grade?

Professor: I'm sorry, Carla, but there will be no opportunities for extra credit. If I let you do something, I would have to let everyone in the class do it.

Carla: Ohh... OK. Well, I understand, I guess.

Professor: Why don't you see if you can study with some other students in the class? I'm sure Martin or Sarah would be willing to help you — they seem to have an excellent grasp on the material.

Carla: I could... I kind of feel bad asking. I know Sarah is in the student government and Martin is on the soccer team, so I feel like they're both really busy.

Professor: Well, if you don't feel comfortable working with them, you could always go to the student center and have them help you find a tutor. You would have to pay, but it's really cheap since they are student leaders and subsidized by the school.

Carla: I guess I could do that. I really can't afford to fail this class, so I think I'm going to have to invest in a tutor.

Professor: I know many students who have done well after working with one of the student tutors. If you decide to go that route, I'm sure you will benefit as well.

Carla: I hope so. Thanks, professor.

Professor: Of course, Carla. Good luck.

🎓 Psychology Lecture

Listen carefully to this psychology class about memory and the famous case of H.M.

📝 Important: In the real TOEFL exam, you can only listen to each audio ONCE. Take notes while listening!

📜 Lecture Transcript

⚠️ Learning Aid Only: This transcript is provided for educational purposes. In the real TOEFL exam, NO transcript is available!

Professor: Now listen. It's part of the talk in the psychology class. Now that we're on the topic of memory, it's a good time to talk about the case of Henry Mollison.

OK, so where to start. Well, Henry Mollison was better known as H.M. in the scientific community. You see, he's probably—no, definitely—the most important patient in the history of neuroscience. Before his death in 2008, Mollison was the subject of over 1,200 research articles.

So what made H.M. so special? Well, a little background about his life. Mollison had epilepsy, which is when you lose control of much of your body and start having seizures. Well, by the age of 27, H.M.'s seizures were getting much worse.

In an attempt to control his seizures, H.M. underwent brain surgery to remove very important pieces of his brain—his hippocampus and his amygdala—and I'll put that on the board here.

So, the doctor in charge of this procedure believed it would cure his epilepsy. Well, he was right in that H.M.'s seizures almost completely stopped. But there was an even more drastic and devastating consequence of this procedure: Mollison lost the ability to create new memories.

This is referred to in medical terminology as severe anterograde amnesia—and I'll put that on the board too. You see, Henry no longer had the ability to make conscious memories of specific facts, like names, dates, and recent happenings.

So if you introduced yourself to Henry at any time after the surgery, within 30 seconds of your introduction he would completely forget ever meeting you. H.M. would wake up every day in the same state of mind he had before the surgery. He could not make any new conscious memories.

In 1952, about 10 years after his surgery, a young surgeon named Suzanne Corkin met H.M. and realized that, while a tragedy in most respects, H.M.'s condition provided her with a unique opportunity to analyze the function of specific areas of the brain and how they relate to learning and memory.

Even though he suffered from amnesia, much of Henry's brain function—besides memory—remained intact. He was a friendly guy. Also, since he had almost no short-term memory ability, he would never get tired of the boring brain activities needed for the research.

Studying H.M.'s brain led to some fascinating discoveries in the field of neuroscience. Up until the 20th century, neuroscience had very little understanding of how the brain worked.

H.M.'s rewired brain quickly proved that memory was not spread throughout the brain. Henry's acute anterograde amnesia had little effect on his self-knowledge or intelligence prior to the age of 25.

Henry's case—and others like it—soon revealed that declarative long-term memories are stored in the area of the brain known as the hippocampus.

Through H.M., researchers discovered that the brain possesses multiple systems for storing and retrieving memories that are dispersed in different but specific locations in the brain.

H.M. could not form any new conscious memories after his surgery, but he could improve on his ability to perform tasks. It soon became clear that the brain had another type of memory system called muscle memory, which did not rely on conscious memories.

In one of her experiments, Corkin would have H.M. sketch a figure through the reflection of a mirror. This is a challenging task that takes time to practice and master.

Mollison had developed new skills subconsciously through repetition, sometimes referred to as motor learning. H.M. confirmed that new skills can be learned through repetition over time, disassociated from conscious memories.

This doesn't mean that skills like playing the piano or drawing a face rely solely on muscle memory; however, it plays a much bigger role in our retention of skills than previously suspected.

While there were some benefits for research, Henry's unique amnesia made it almost impossible for him to remember any new events after the surgery.

For example, the death of his parents occurred later in his life, and he couldn't remember it. Whenever he was reminded of his parents' demise, the pain returned as if he were hearing it again for the first time.

❓ Answer the Questions Based on the Conversation

You have 30 seconds per question. Questions advance automatically.

🎧 TOEFL Listening Practice

📋 Directions

Choose a Listening Example:

🎧 Campus Conversation

🎓 Psychology Lecture

❓ Answer the Questions Based on the Conversation

Question 1 of 5