Speaking & Pronunciation Flashcards
6 cards from real TOEFL practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Speaking & Pronunciation flashcards as text
In TOEFL iBT Speaking, Task 1 (Independent) asks for your opinion on a familiar topic. Which of the following topics is MOST representative of what appears on Task 1?
Answer: Do you prefer living in a big city or a small town? Why?
Task 1 features personal opinion/preference questions on familiar topics like living preferences, personal habits, technology use, or values — no source material is required.
Which of the following MOST accurately describes the role of word stress in TOEFL Speaking comprehensibility?
Answer: Incorrect word stress can cause native English listeners to misunderstand or not recognize a word
Incorrect word stress can cause native English listeners to fail to recognize or misunderstand a word, because English words are identified by their stress patterns as much as by their sounds.
A test-taker finishes their 60-second TOEFL Speaking response in only 35 seconds. How does this MOST likely affect scoring?
Answer: It likely hurts the score by signaling incomplete development of the topic
A response that finishes in 35 seconds almost certainly lacks sufficient development, which directly lowers the Topic Development score, and may also signal lack of fluency to the rater.
Which of the following is the BEST example of intonation signaling a question in English?
Answer: Raising the pitch at the end of a yes/no question
Rising pitch (intonation going up) at the end of a sentence is the standard English signal for a yes/no question.
A TOEFL test-taker is told their Speaking response scored a 2 out of 4. Which of the following feedback MOST likely contributed to this score?
Answer: Response was limited in development, with frequent pauses, repetitive vocabulary, and errors that interfered with comprehension
A score of 2 typically reflects limited development, frequent disfluencies, restricted vocabulary and grammar, and comprehension difficulties — problems across multiple scoring dimensions.
How does linking (connected speech) affect TOEFL Speaking comprehensibility?
Answer: Natural linking — connecting words smoothly across word boundaries — actually improves fluency and sounds more natural to English listeners
Linking words smoothly across word boundaries ('not at all' sounds like 'no-ta-tall') is a feature of natural English speech that improves fluency and makes speech easier for native listeners to process.