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TOEFL 2026 Listening

Academic Talks #7

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Published: 5 Oct 2026
Level 4 (B1+)   |   Time: 3:04
Accent: American
Source: Listen in English

Practice the Listen to an Academic Talk tasks from the new TOEFL Test (2026).


TOEFL
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TOEFL
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Directions 이용안내 Direcciones Instruções Інструкції

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  1. READ the VOCABULARY

    If you find this task difficult, you can check the vocabulary before you take the test.

  2. LISTEN to the AUDIO

    You can either listen to all the questions continuously or play each question individually.

  3. ANSWER the QUESTIONS

    Choose the best response to each sentence or question. You can click SHOW on some question types so that you can see the questions as you listen. Note: This is not how the real test functions.

  4. CHECK the SCRIPT

    You can check the whole script below.

  5. DO the ACTIVITIES

    Review the difficult vocabulary after you finish the test.

  1. LEA el VOCABULARIO

    Si esta tarea te resulta difícil, puedes revisar el vocabulario antes de hacer el examen.

  2. ESCUCHA el AUDIO

    Puedes escuchar todas las preguntas de forma continua o reproducir cada pregunta individualmente.

  3. RESPONDE a las PREGUNTAS

    Elige la mejor respuesta para cada frase o pregunta. Puedes hacer clic en SHOW en algunos tipos de preguntas para ver la pregunta mientras escuchas. Nota: Así no funciona el examen real.

  4. REVISA el GUIÓN

    Puedes revisar el guion completo abajo.

  5. REALIZA las ACTIVIDADES

    Repasa el vocabulario difícil después de terminar el examen.

  1. LEIA o VOCABULÁRIO

    Se você achar esta tarefa difícil, pode revisar o vocabulário antes de fazer o teste.

  2. OUÇA o ÁUDIO

    Você pode ouvir todas as perguntas continuamente ou reproduzir cada pergunta individualmente.

  3. RESPONDA às PERGUNTAS

    Escolha a melhor resposta para cada frase ou pergunta. Você pode clicar em SHOW em alguns tipos de pergunta para ver a pergunta enquanto ouve. Nota: Não é assim que o teste real funciona.

  4. CONFIRA o ROTEIRO

    Você pode conferir o roteiro completo abaixo.

  5. FAÇA as ATIVIDADES

    Revise o vocabulário difícil depois de concluir o teste.

  1. 어휘를 읽어 보세요

    이 과제가 어렵다면, 시험을 보기 전에 어휘를 먼저 확인할 수 있습니다.

  2. 오디오를 들으세요

    모든 문제를 연속으로 들을 수도 있고, 각 문제를 개별적으로 재생할 수도 있습니다.

  3. 문제에 답하세요

    각 문장이나 질문에 가장 알맞은 답을 선택하세요. 일부 문제 유형에서는 SHOW를 클릭하면 듣는 동안 질문을 볼 수 있습니다. 참고: 실제 시험은 이렇게 작동하지 않습니다.

  4. 스크립트를 확인하세요

    아래에서 전체 스크립트를 확인할 수 있습니다.

  5. 활동을 해 보세요

    시험을 마친 후, 어려웠던 어휘를 복습하세요.

  1. ПРОЧИТАЙТЕ СЛОВНИК

    Якщо це завдання здається вам складним, ви можете переглянути словник перед тестом.

  2. ПРОСЛУХАЙТЕ АУДІО

    Ви можете прослухати всі запитання поспіль або відтворювати кожне запитання окремо.

  3. ВІДПОВІДАЙТЕ НА ЗАПИТАННЯ

    Виберіть найкращу відповідь на кожне речення або запитання. У деяких типах запитань можна натиснути SHOW, щоб побачити запитання під час прослуховування. Примітка: реальний тест працює не так.

  4. ПЕРЕВІРТЕ СЦЕНАРІЙ

    Ви можете переглянути весь сценарій нижче.

  5. ВИКОНАЙТЕ ЗАВДАННЯ

    Повторіть складну лексику після завершення тесту.

Vocabulary 어휘 Vocabulário Vocabulario Словник

Check the words you already know. Marca las palabras que ya conoces. Marque as palavras que você já conhece. 이미 아는 단어에 체크하세요. Позначте слова, які ви вже знаєте.

  • ☐ ☐ ☐ deposit v. - put money into a bank account
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a vault n. - a secure room in a bank where money is stored
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a fraction n. - a small part of a whole amount
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ on hand exp. - available for immediate use
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a depositor n. - a person who keeps money in a bank
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ withdraw v. - take money out of a bank account
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ sweep v. - spread quickly through a place
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ deposit insurance n. - a government guarantee that protects money kept in banks
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ guarantee v. - promise officially
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ panic v. - react with sudden fear, without thinking clearly

  • ☐ ☐ ☐ unlock v. - release or make available something hidden
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ appealing adj. - attractive; easy to like
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a myth n. - a popular belief that is not true
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ potential n. - ability that could be developed in the future
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ imaging n. - making pictures of the inside of the body
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ virtually adv. - almost completely
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ evolutionary adj. - relating to how living things develop over very long periods
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ tissue n. - the material that body parts are made of
  • ☐ ☐ ☐ a grain of truth exp. - a small amount of truth

n. - noun,    v. - verb,    adv. - adverb,    adj. - adjective,    exp. - expression


Questions 문제 Questões Preguntas Запитання

Talk 1: Economics

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Questions hidden
Click "Show Questions" to reveal

What is the main topic of the talk?

How banks decide which customers can borrow money

Why so many banks failed in the 1930s

A danger banks face and a way to reduce it

The history of government control over banks


Why does the speaker mention a vault?

To describe how early banks protected money

To introduce a common but mistaken belief

To explain why bank deposits are safe

To show how banks protect customers from losing money


What does the speaker imply about deposit insurance?

It has turned out to be less effective than expected.

It requires banks to keep all deposits on hand.

It protects all deposits regardless of size.

It works mainly by preventing panic.


What will the speaker most likely discuss next?

How the government created deposit insurance in the 1930s

How other countries protect bank deposits

An event that revealed weaknesses in the system

The causes of the economic crisis of the 1930s





Talk 2: Psychology

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Questions hidden
Click "Show Questions" to reveal

What is the main topic of the talk?

Evidence against a popular belief

How the brain changes throughout a person's life

Ways to improve mental performance

The origins of a common saying


According to the speaker, what does the brain's energy use suggest?

The brain works hardest during sleep.

Most of the brain must have a function.

The brain needs more energy as people age.

The brain uses energy in proportion to its size.


Why does the speaker mention brain injuries?

To show that brain damage is usually permanent

To explain how the myth first began

To identify which areas control movement and speech

To show that all brain areas have a purpose


What does the speaker imply about early twentieth-century writers?

Their claim differed from the myth it may have inspired.

They used brain scans to support their ideas.

They believed that most people were geniuses.

They were the first to study brain injuries.





Score:


Vocabulary Review 어휘 검토 Revisão de vocabulário Vocabulario revisión Огляд лексики

Directions: What expressions from the video have the same meaning as the highlighted expressions in the sentences below?

Instrucciones: ¿Qué expresiones del video tienen el mismo significado que las expresiones destacadas en las oraciones siguientes?

Instruções: Quais expressões do vídeo têm o mesmo significado que as expressões destacadas nas frases abaixo?

지시 사항: 아래 문장에서 강조된 표현과 같은 의미를 가진 표현을 영상에서 찾아보세요.

Інструкції: Які вирази з відео мають те саме значення, що й виділені вирази в реченнях нижче?


  1. Banks keep only a small [ part ] of deposits [ available ] and lend out the rest.

    [ fraction ] [ on hand ]



  2. If [ bank customers ] worry that a bank is in trouble, it makes sense for each of them to [ take money out ] before others do.

    [ depositors ] [ withdraw ]



  3. In the early 1930s, bank runs [ spread quickly through ] the United States, and thousands of banks closed.

    [ swept ]



  4. Once people know their deposits are safe, they have no reason to [ react with fear ], so runs rarely start.

    [ panic ]





  5. It's an [ attractive ] idea.

    [ appealing ]



  6. When scientists scan the brain, they see activity in [ almost ] every region over the course of a day, even during sleep.

    [ virtually ]



  7. It would make little [ about species development ] sense to maintain such expensive [ body material ] if most of it did nothing.

    [ evolutionary ] [ tissue ]



  8. Now, there is a [ small bit ] of truth here.

    [ grain ]



Script 대본 Roteiro Guion Сценарій

Talk 1: Bank Runs

Listen to a talk in an economics class.

When you deposit money in a bank, you probably imagine it sitting safely in a vault. But it isn't. Banks keep only a small fraction of deposits on hand and lend out the rest. That works fine, because customers rarely all want their money at once.

The danger comes when they do. If depositors worry that a bank is in trouble, it makes sense for each of them to withdraw before others do. But since the bank can't pay everyone, the rush itself can make it fail, even if it was healthy before. This is called a bank run.

In the early 1930s, bank runs swept the United States, and thousands of banks closed. In response, the government created deposit insurance in 1933, guaranteeing that depositors would get their money back, up to a limit, even if their bank failed.

What's interesting is how this works. Once people know their deposits are safe, they have no reason to panic, so runs rarely start. In other words, the guarantee succeeds mainly by not being needed.

But the system does have limits. Next, let's look at a recent case where those limits were tested.


Talk 2: The Ten Percent Myth

Listen to a talk on a podcast about psychology.

You've probably heard the claim that humans only use ten percent of their brains. It shows up in movies, advertisements, and self-help books, usually with the promise that if we could just unlock the other ninety percent, we'd become geniuses. It's an appealing idea. Unfortunately, it's completely false.

Nobody is quite sure where the myth came from. It may have grown out of early twentieth-century writers who said people rarely reach their full mental potential, which is a very different claim.

So, what does the evidence show? First, brain imaging. When scientists scan the brain, they see activity in virtually every region over the course of a day, even during sleep. Not every area is active at the same moment, but no part sits unused.

Second, think about energy. The brain makes up only about two percent of body weight, yet it uses around twenty percent of the body's energy. It would make little evolutionary sense to maintain such expensive tissue if most of it did nothing.

And third, brain injuries. If ninety percent of the brain were unused, damage to most areas would have no effect. In reality, however, damage to almost any region causes some kind of problem, with movement, speech, memory, or emotion.

Now, there is a grain of truth here. Your brain can change and strengthen its connections throughout your life. But that's about using it better, not unlocking a hidden ninety percent.

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