What exactly happens on D-Day - Listening

1. What exactly happens on D-Day – Listening The listening section is part of the four sections of the TOEFL. It is made up of three to four lectures with each lecture having six questions and two or three conversations, with five questions per conversation. The whole section can last 41 to 57 minutes depending on whether you have an experimental question. Experimental Questions :- Experimental questions are questions that are inside the test that have no actual bearing on the total marks of the exam. Rather, they are just there to make sure a candidate fully understands a concept that is being examined by the test. The tricky part when it comes to these experimental questions is that the examiner does not notify which ones are experimental questions and which ones are not. This makes it important to treat each and every question as important during the exam to avoid losing points unnecessarily thinking a certain question is not important. Source of Lectures :- The lectures can be derived from any academic discipline that can show up on the reading section i.e. any class that freshmen can take a class in, except for math or mathematical sciences like physics. The conversations can be between a student and a professor or an administration member and a student. Usually, the conversations are about topics that help the student become familiar with the language and university structure for example, financial aid and course registration. The reading section consists of academic language whilst the listening section is designed to mimic natural speech. Therefore, this means the speaker will change topics abruptly, pause, occasionally say something incorrect or even forget what they were talking about. The student can be asked about these imperfections, so familiarity with unrehearsed speech is vital to doing well in the listening section. It is essential to do plenty of listening practice as no part of the listening section will ever be transcribed to the students. Questions :- After the recording is finished, the student will see five to six questions on the recording. Five are for the conversation then six for lectures and classroom discussions. The students do not know the questions whilst the recording is being played and they will not be able to listen to the recording again to check if their answer is correct. Good memory and the ability to write down good notes are important. Answers cannot be changed after submission and the only option is to go on forward to the next question. At times, the question will deal with a particular part of the recording and a small part of the recording will be played for the student by the test. This only applies to certain types of questions, usually 0-2 per recording. After a set of five or six questions is finished, the test will play the next recording automatically. Most of the questions asked on the listening section will sound familiar as they will relate to the reading section, but a few questions will deal with the unique ability of speech to pass information without words i.e. through intonation and stress.