2015年12月5日托福口语真题及答案解析

Task 1
　　Which one of the following jobs deserves a higher salary? Teacher, policeman or nurse?
　　Personally speaking, I think policemen should get paid more money than the others for two reasons. Firstly, policemen face higher risks when at work. Police officers today are confronted with all sorts of problems, from petty theft to horrifying homicides. When we read newspapers or watch TV today, we can see police officers get hurt or even get killed in a lot of extreme cases. Just last month, 3 French policemen were fatally wounded in the terrorist attack. So it's only fair and naturally policemen get paid more. Plus, policemen usually work way much harder. My neighbor used to be a policeman before he retired. It seemed like he was always at work. He always arrived home late and sometimes he was on call for 48 hours in a row. That's why I think policemen deserve a higher salary.
　　Task 2
　　Should students be required to do volunteer work?
　　I think students should be required to do volunteer for the following reasons. Firstly, it's important for students to learn to give back to the community at an early age. I first started volunteering when I was only 8 years old, I remember it was right before Christmas and my parents signed us up for volunteering in the soup kitchen in my neighborhood. I was the youngest volunteer there that day and I used a big ladle to serve hot soup to the homeless. That was kind of a milestone in my life because that was when I understood the importance of sharing what we have with the less fortunate and I also realized how good it feels when we know we are capable of helping others. Today volunteer work has become a big part of who I am and I think all students should learn the meaning of volunteering from an early stage of life. Plus, it's a good chance for students to sharpen their communication skills. In volunteer work, more often than not, you will have to work with others in a group, that's a good opportunity for students to learn to be great listeners while getting their own voices heard at the same time.
　　Task 3
　　The university is planning to move the theater off-campus due to two reasons. The first reason is that the theater now is way too small to accommodate the increasing number of students. And the second reason is that much better facilities can be offered in the new theater. In the conversation, the student disagrees with the plan. His first reason is that the location of the theater is extremely important for students. Most of them are reluctant to go downtown because it's so inconvenient. As for the second reason, the student points out that students are already used to deal with the equipment they have now, they're not trained to cope with fancier facilities, and it may not work out that well as expected in the end.
　　Task 4
　　In the lecture, the professor talks about the concept of information cascade which means people tend to follow others and make the same choice as them in spite of their own opinions when having to make a decision. He offers us an example to illustrate it. Once he went to a city he had never been to and he had to make a decision about where to have dinner. At first he wanted to go to an Italian place which was highly recommended by his guide book. But he noticed that one of the French restaurants was full of customers, so he decided to give it a try. Unfortunately it was not a very good experience, the food was worse than he expected and the restaurant couldn't be compared to the Italian restaurant he wanted to go at first. It was full of customers probably because they all thought it was good because others chose to go there.
　　Task 5
　　The woman's problem is that she got injured last week and she can't perform in the dance. There are two possible solutions. The first one is to dance anyway and the second solution is to find someone to replace her. If I were in her shoes, I would go for the second solution because Beck is a great dancer, even though she's not in the class and there's little time to learn, I'm sure she can grasp the moves pretty quickly. I personally don't recommend the other solution because the choreography will look weird and it may compromise the whole performance. That's why in this case, I think the second solution is a better option.
　　Task 6
　　In the lecture, the professor talks about fish's abilities to avoid predators. He offers us to examples to illustrate it. The first example is about zebrafish. Zebrafish have small hair cells under their membrane to help them detect predators in water. They can sense where the predator is by the water flow. The second example is about trout. Trout can stay still in flowing water. They can keep breathing while hiding under water. That's how the professor uses these two examples to illustrate it.