Beginning READING
Building Skills for the TOEFL
®
iBT
TRANSCRIPTS
Listening Section / Speaking Section / Writing Section
Listening
638
Transcripts
C
hapter
1
Skill A
01 Campus Life
M: I’m worried about my girlfriend.
W: Why is that?
M: She thinks she’s too fat.
W: Is she?
M: No, but she keeps skipping meals. Then, she only eats chips
and drinks cola.
W: I used to do that. It’s called binging. It was no fun!
M: Why did you stop doing it?
W: Well, my doctor told me to eat when I’m hungry. She said, “Eat
till you’re full or you’ll eat too much later.” She said a lot of girls
ruin their health this way.
M: Did she say what to eat?
W: She said, “Eat fruit, vegetables, meats, and grains. Have regular
meals and snacks. Get exercise, too.”
02Music History
M: We know that Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in
Bonn, Germany, but we are uncertain of the month. Beethoven

M: The math textbook says one inch is 2.54 centimeters.
W: OK, so first I need to multiply 3.6 by 2.54.
M: Here! Use my calculator.
W: Thanks! OK... it’s 9.1 centimeters tall and 5 centimeters wide.
Just what I need!
05 Anthropology
W: Track and Field events happened long before they became a
sport. The San people in Africa are one example. They still hold
what’s called a “Persistence” hunt. The men find the tracks of an
antelope herd. They find the antelope and follow them for
several days and nights. During this time, they study the animals
and choose one.
Then, the hunt begins. Only the fastest runner will go after the
chosen animal. He and the animal may run for as long as eight
hours. If the hunter “persists,” the deer will finally get tired and
fall. Then, he’ll slaughter it.
06Business Writing
W: When you’re writing a business letter, it’s important to be specific.
That is, tell the reader exactly what he or she needs to know. If
something is wrong, list what the problem is and what should be
done to fix it. If you need information, state clearly what you want
to know. Next, um, be positive. Say “no” in a good way.
M: How can we do that?
W: Use polite language. For example, “we regret to inform you
that...” or “we’re sorry, but...” Always keep in mind this
golden rule: write the kind of business letter that YOU would
like to receive.
07 Campus Life
M: Come on Holly, we’re going to be late.
W: For what?

continent, but no people live there. There’s a good reason for this.
It’s the coldest, windiest place on Earth. The lowest temperature
ever measured was in Antarctica. Minus 88 degrees celsius!
Ninety-eight percent of the ground is permanently frozen, and the
continent contains 87 percent of the world’s ice. Antarctica’s
only human occupants are scientists. They go there to learn
how Antarctica used to be millions of years ago, when it was
located at the equator. Antarctica used to be connected to
Australia, before all the continents on the planet shifted.
02 Campus Life
W: Hey Joe, where are you going? Are you on your way to class?
M: No. I’m on my way to the recreation center to play basketball.
Want to come?
W: I can’t. I’m not a member.
M: If you’re a full-time student, membership is included in your
tuition. Do you have your student ID card?
W: Yeah. Does that mean I can use any part of the rec center?
M: Yes. You can use the swimming pool, the gym, the weight
room...anything you want. All you need to do is show your ID
card at the door.
W: Hey, cool. I’ll come with you.
03 Literature
M: If a play makes you laugh, it’s a comedy. Comedies have humorous
characters and happy endings. A good example of a comedy is
Shakespeare’s classic Much Ado About Nothing. Another popular
style is called tragedy. Tragedies usually tell how a hero ruins his
life, falling from good fortune to bad fortune because of a
“tragic flaw” in character. One example is the play Ghosts, by
Henrik Ibsen. Um, modern years have produced a third style,
called tragicomedy. In tragicomedies, the play seems as though

Rushing to beat the clock is pointless. You won’t enjoy the reading
or understand it well. You’ll also get a false measure of your
reading speed. When you finish, you should try to see what you
remember.
07 Health
W: We all know that we can get Vitamin D from sunshine. Long
winters make it hard to get enough. People who don’t get
outside often don’t get enough either. Without Vitamin D, we
may develop weak bones and teeth. We can get certain kinds of
cancer more easily, too. Few foods other than fish naturally have
much Vitamin D, so it’s important to get some sunshine every
day. But be careful. Too much can cause skin cancer. Notice what
most animals that live outside all the time do. They are most
active during the hours before sunrise and after sunset.
08 Campus Life
W: Ha ha! Hey Trevor, check this out!
M: I’m trying to study here!
W: Oh, sorry. But this is really funny.
M: What is?
W: This article about strange inventions.
M: Like what?
W: Well, one guy invented a ladder for spiders. It’s a rubber strip
you can put on the side of your bathtub.
M: Ha! Yeah? What else?
W: A portable seat. You carry it around your waist like a big cushion.
M: Ha! That’s really stupid.
W: Here’s the best one: A car license plate that tells if the driver’s
a man or a woman.
M: I like that one. Then I could stay away from women drivers.
W: Yeah... Hey!

W: I really like art! Especially paintings.
M: Really? Do you have a favorite one?
W: Yes, Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
M: What do you like about it?
W: Her smile. If you look closely, it seems she’s not smiling at all.
Look again, she’s smiling! So many artists try to copy that smile.
M: It must be hard to paint something so beautiful.
W: Did you ever notice that she doesn’t have any eyebrows?
M: Really? No! I never noticed. I wonder why?
W: Girls in that time shaved their eyebrows. I just read it in our art
history textbook.
M: Hey! That’s cool. Nowadays, she’d have an eyebrow ring!
04 Anthropology
M: In North America, the best weavers are a group of people called
the Pueblo --- that’s P-U-E-B-L-O. The Pueblo have been weaving
clothes, baskets, and blankets since at least 1000 BC. At first,
they used their fingers to weave together vegetable fibers and
animal hair. In the first century AD, they began growing cotton.
About this time, they also started using a loom --- a kind of, um,
machine that helped them weave the cotton into cloth more
quickly and easily. By the year 1600, the Pueblos had sheep, so
they began weaving wool, using the same methods they had
used for weaving cotton.
05 Campus Life
M: Have you heard about Mexican turtles disappearing?
W
1
: Yes. It’s because they lay their eggs on the beach, right?
M: Yeah, and people eat the eggs. But my professor said there’s a
plan to save them.

need quiet. Thank you!
07 Health
M: Acupuncture is a way of treating sick people. The Chinese
developed it over 2,500 years ago, and it is still used today. In
acupuncture, small metal needles are inserted into spots on the
human body. There are 787 of these spots. Each one is connected
to a special body part or system. If, um, your ear hurts, for
example, the doctor will put needles into all the spots connected
with your ear. The needles don’t hurt because they don’t go in
very far. Sometimes the doctor runs an electric current through
the needles. We don’t understand exactly why this helps people.
08 Math
W: Geometry is the study of points. Now, a point is a small dot, like
a period at the end of a sentence. If we have two points, we
know that there can be other points between them. There can
also be a line. The line is continuous. It has no space between
each point. Part of a line, with points at each end, is called a
line segment. Two line segments can be the same length. We
call these line segments congruent. That just means the line
segments are equal in length.
Chapter 1
S
kill
R
eview
A-C
01 Campus Life
W: What should I do to prepare for my exams? I have some old
exams from last year. Do you think it’s a good way to study?
M: Yes, it can help. Being familiar with the way the test is made up is

newspaper or dry leaves. Then, we carefully place pieces of
wood over it, leaving room for air.
Since fire doesn’t start by itself, we need a spark or heat source
to start it. Matches, lighters, even magnifying glasses can be
used. That’s a glass piece, specially made for seeing small
things. We can make sun shine through it to form a very hot
spot of light.
Wood has to reach about 150 degrees Celsius. Then, something
in the wood changes. Part of the wood turns into gas. We see
this gas as smoke. The parts of the wood that don’t burn
change to ash. This is the soft, white powder left after a fire. A
third part of the wood becomes carbon, or char. This char, or
charcoal, burns slowly and hotly without smoke. This gives us
enough time to cook food.
Skill D
01 Campus Life
M: Hey, Rita, what are you looking at?
W: I’m looking at a Nova Scotia College of Art catalog. I’m going
to transfer there. They have a great lithography program.
M: Oh, yeah? So you’ll have to send them your transcript.
W: I guess so. What exactly is on my transcript?
M: Well, basically all your courses and grades.
W: How do I get it?
M: At the transcript office. It’s $8. It takes the secretary three or
four days to do it for you.
W: Great! I can do this soon. I really want to learn to do lithos!
02 Communications
W: Do you say what you really mean? We learn from listening to
others. It’s a good way to learn. But if we’re not careful, we
learn other people’s mistakes, too. Here’s an example. You often

M: Sorry. I’m just tired today.
W: Our biology professor said when you yawn, it’s because your
lungs need more oxygen. It cleans your blood.
M: Hmm...my blood must be filthy, then.
W: You’re probably not breathing as deeply as you should. Why
don’t you go outside and take a few deep breaths? That’ll give
you lots of oxygen.
M: Yeah, but I’ll still be tired.
W: Maybe a break and some fresh air will give you some energy.
M: I need a break from this boring textbook.
W: If you’re bored, go outside and try doing something interesting.
M: Good idea. I think I’ll go for a bike ride.
06 Geography
M: South America is a large continent, but it has only 12 countries.
The largest country in South America is Brazil. It is almost as big
as the United States! A lot of people don’t realize that from just
looking at a map. Brazil takes up almost half the land in South
America. The smallest country is Surinam. This is smaller than
many US states. South America lies between the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans. The equator crosses the northern part of the
continent. At this point, South America is about 1,500 kilometers
wide. The southern-most point in South America is a narrow tip
called Tierra del Fuego. This is only about 300 kilometers north
of Antarctica.
07 Campus Life
W: Hello, Chad. What’s happening?
M: Not much. What are you doing with that camera?
W: I’m taking pictures for our class photo exhibit next week.
M: Where’s that going to be?
W: In the student center. I need to get three or four good shots of