Listening to Academic Lectures Flashcards
6 cards from real ITEP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Listening to Academic Lectures flashcards as text
A professor says: 'To put this in perspective, the Amazon rainforest produces approximately 20% of the world's oxygen.' What is the professor doing with this statement?
Answer: Providing a specific statistic to help the audience appreciate the scale and significance of the topic
'To put this in perspective' signals that what follows is a concrete fact or comparison intended to help the audience grasp the magnitude of what is being discussed.
During a lecture on cognitive psychology, the professor says: 'As I alluded to earlier, the brain's capacity for pattern recognition is intrinsically linked to memory formation.' What does 'alluded to' mean?
Answer: Made an indirect or passing reference to without discussing it fully
'Allude to' means to refer to something indirectly without discussing it in full — it is a brief, passing reference.
A professor delivers the following lecture introduction: 'Today we'll be examining the socioeconomic factors that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis.' What does 'precipitated' mean in this context?
Answer: Caused or brought about, especially suddenly or prematurely
'Precipitated' means caused something to happen suddenly or sooner than expected — often used for triggering events.
During a biology lecture, the professor says: 'This mechanism is, in essence, what differentiates prokaryotic cells from eukaryotic ones.' What does 'in essence' mean?
Answer: Fundamentally; at the most basic and important level
'In essence' means fundamentally or at the most basic level — it introduces the core, most important aspect of something.
A professor says: 'The correlation between poverty and educational attainment is well-documented; however, it would be a logical fallacy to assume causation.' What is the professor warning against?
Answer: Incorrectly concluding that poverty causes low educational attainment just because they are statistically related
The professor is warning against the 'correlation does not equal causation' fallacy — two things being related statistically does not mean one causes the other.
A professor ends a lecture with: 'The implications of this research are far-reaching and warrant further investigation.' What does 'warrant' mean here?
Answer: Justify or deserve
'Warrant' as a verb means to justify, deserve, or make appropriate — the research implications justify further investigation.