TOEFL Listen and Repeat Practice Questions

Sentence: The camera faces the marked tabletop.

Two groups: “The camera faces” / “the marked tabletop”. The -ed of “marked” runs into the t- of “tabletop”, so learners often say “mark tabletop”; also keep the extra syllable in “faces”. Stress falls on CAMera, FACes, MARKED and TABletop.

Sentence: The model begins inside the square.

Two groups: “The model begins” / “inside the square”. Learners often drop the -s of “begins” or shorten “inside” to “in”. Stress falls on MODel, beGINS and SQUARE.

Sentence: Take the first frame without moving it.

Two groups: “Take the first frame” / “without moving it”. The st + fr sounds in “first frame” tempt learners to skip “first”, and the small unstressed “it” at the end is easy to lose, so link it to “moving”. Stress falls on TAKE, FIRST, FRAME and MOVing.

Sentence: Move the model a small distance before taking another frame.

Three groups: “Move the model” / “a small distance” / “before taking another frame”. The weak “a” before “small” and the -ing of “taking” (not “before take”) are the pieces most often dropped or changed. Stress falls on MOVE, MODel, SMALL, DIStance, TAKing and FRAME.

Sentence: Keep hands outside the camera view when each frame is captured.

Two groups: “Keep hands outside the camera view” / “when each frame is captured”. There is no “your” before “hands”, though learners often add one, and in the passive “is captured” the weak “is” and the final -d are easily lost. Stress falls on KEEP, HANDS, CAMera, VIEW, EACH, FRAME and CAPtured.

Sentence: The preview plays the still frames together so you can check whether the movement appears smooth.

Three groups: “The preview plays the still frames together” / “so you can check” / “whether the movement appears smooth”. “Can” is weak and very short here, and learners often swap “whether” for “if” or drop the -s of “plays” and “appears”. Stress falls on PREview, PLAYS, STILL, FRAMES, toGETHer, CHECK, MOVEment and SMOOTH.

Sentence: Save the short practice sequence before clearing the table, and leave the camera in its marked position for the next group.

Two halves: “Save the short practice sequence before clearing the table” / “and leave the camera in its marked position for the next group”. The small modifiers “short” and “marked” are the words most often dropped, “its” tends to become “the”, and the t of “next” is barely said before “group”. Stress falls on SAVE, SHORT, SEquence, CLEARing, TAble, LEAVE, CAMera, MARKED, poSItion, NEXT and GROUP.

Sentence: The demonstration vault contains sample accounts.

Two groups: “The demonstration vault” / “contains sample accounts”. The long word “demonstration” tempts learners to say “demo”, and the -nts at the end of “accounts” often loses its -s. Stress falls on demonSTRAtion, VAULT, conTAINS, SAMple and acCOUNTS.

Sentence: Open the entry marked training website.

Two groups: “Open the entry” / “marked training website”. “Marked” is a shortened “that is marked”, so learners add “that is” or say “mark”; its -ed also blends into the t- of “training”, and there is no “the” before “training website”. Stress falls on Open, ENtry, MARKED, TRAINing and WEBsite.

Sentence: The hidden field stores a practice password.

Two groups: “The hidden field” / “stores a practice password”. The weak “a” before “practice” is the word most often dropped, and the -s of “stores” can vanish after “field”. Stress falls on HIDden, FIELD, STORES, PRACtice and PASSword.

Sentence: Use the copy button instead of reading the password aloud.

Two groups: “Use the copy button” / “instead of reading the password aloud”. “Of” is weak and easy to skip (“instead reading”), and “aloud” is often dropped or changed to “loudly”. Stress falls on USE, COPy, inSTEAD, READing, PASSword and aLOUD.

Sentence: The tutor has set the clipboard to clear after this practice interval.

Three groups: “The tutor has set the clipboard” / “to clear” / “after this practice interval”. The weak “has” is easy to drop, which turns the sentence into “The tutor set”, and “this” often becomes “the”. Stress falls on TUtor, SET, CLIPboard, CLEAR, PRACtice and INterval.

Sentence: Only add a new sample entry after the tutor confirms the vault is open.

Three groups: “Only add a new sample entry” / “after the tutor confirms” / “the vault is open”. Learners tend to move “Only” (“Add only …”), drop the -s of “confirms”, or shorten “the vault is open” to “the vault's open”. Stress falls on ONly, ADD, NEW, SAMple, ENtry, TUtor, conFIRMS, VAULT and Open.

Sentence: Never enter your real account details in this vault, because it's shown on the screen.

Two halves: “Never enter your real account details in this vault” / “because it's shown on the screen”. The contraction “it's” is easily dropped (“because shown”), “because” is said fast and weak, and the small adjective “real” is often left out. Stress falls on NEVer, ENter, REAL, acCOUNT, VAULT, SHOWN and SCREEN.

Sentence: The guide is measuring our walking route.

Two groups: “The guide is measuring” / “our walking route”. The weak “is” blends into “guide” and often disappears, and “our” is reduced so much that learners hear “a” or “are”. Stress falls on GUIDE, MEAsuring, WALKing and ROUTE.

Sentence: The distance wheel has a small counter.

Two groups: “The distance wheel” / “has a small counter”. “Has a” runs together into one short sound, so the “a” is often lost. Stress falls on DIStance, SMALL and COUNTer, with “wheel” lighter than “distance”.

Sentence: Watch its reading change along the path.

Two groups: “Watch its reading change” / “along the path”. The little word “its” disappears after “Watch” or turns into “the”, and “change” is the bare verb after “Watch its reading”: no -s, and no -ing in this sentence. Stress falls on WATCH, READing, CHANGE and PATH.

Sentence: A partner writes each displayed number beside the matching landmark.

Three groups: “A partner writes” / “each displayed number” / “beside the matching landmark”. The -ed of “displayed” is easy to drop before “number”, and “beside” is often changed to “by” or “besides”. Stress falls on PARTner, WRITES, disPLAYED, NUMber, MATCHing and LANDmark.

Sentence: The worksheet already shows the direct distance between the two endpoints.

Three groups: “The worksheet already shows” / “the direct distance” / “between the two endpoints”. Learners often drop or move “already”, and the -ct d- join in “direct distance” and the final -nts of “endpoints” are hard to keep. Stress falls on WORKsheet, alREADy, SHOWS, diRECT, DIStance, TWO and ENDpoints.

Sentence: Compare that number with the route total recorded by the guide at the final marker.

Four groups: “Compare that number” / “with the route total” / “recorded by the guide” / “at the final marker”. “Recorded by” is a shortened “that was recorded by”, so learners add words or drop the -ed, and “that number” often becomes “the number”. Stress falls on comPARE, THAT, NUMber, ROUTE, TOtal, reCORDed, GUIDE, FInal and MARKer.

Sentence: The bends on the map show why our path is longer than the direct line.

Three groups: “The bends on the map” / “show why our path is longer” / “than the direct line”. Keep statement order after “why” (not “why is our path longer”), and keep “show” without -s, because its subject is “bends”, not “map”. Stress falls on BENDS, MAP, SHOW, WHY, PATH, LONGer, diRECT and LINE.

Sentence: The cupboard opens beside the door.

Two groups: “The cupboard opens” / “beside the door”. “Cupboard” is said KUB-erd, with a silent p, and the -s of “opens” is easy to drop. Stress falls on CUPboard, Opens, beSIDE and DOOR.

Sentence: The top shelf holds spare tablecloths.

Two groups: “The top shelf” / “holds spare tablecloths”. The -lds of “holds” and the -ths of “tablecloths” are the hardest sounds, so learners drop the final -s or say “table clothes”. Stress falls on TOP, SHELF, HOLDS, SPARE and TABlecloths.

Sentence: The middle shelf contains simple repair supplies.

Two groups: “The middle shelf” / “contains simple repair supplies”. Two describing words come in a row before “supplies”, and learners usually drop “simple” or “repair”. Stress falls on MIDdle, SHELF, conTAINS, SIMple, rePAIR and supPLIES.

Sentence: Small repair items always stay inside the labeled trays.

Three groups: “Small repair items” / “always stay” / “inside the labeled trays”. “Always” is the word most often dropped or moved, and the -ed of “labeled” merges with “trays”, so learners say “label trays”. Stress falls on SMALL, rePAIR, Items, ALways, STAY, LAbeled and TRAYS.

Sentence: The bottom compartment stores empty boxes for temporary group activities.

Three groups: “The bottom compartment” / “stores empty boxes” / “for temporary group activities”. “Temporary” is long and easy to blur, and the plural endings of “boxes” and “activities” are easy to lose. Stress falls on BOTtom, comPARTment, STORES, EMPty, BOXes, TEMporary, GROUP and acTIVities.

Sentence: Write the borrowed tray name on the card before taking supplies to another room.

Three groups: “Write the borrowed tray name on the card” / “before taking supplies” / “to another room”. The -ed of “borrowed” blends into “tray”, and “taking” is often changed to “take”. Stress falls on WRITE, BORrowed, TRAY, NAME, CARD, TAKing, supPLIES, aNOTHer and ROOM.

Sentence: Return the whole tray when you're done, and tell the helper if anything's run out.

Two halves: “Return the whole tray when you're done” / “and tell the helper if anything's run out”. “Anything's” means “anything has”, so learners drop the 's or change it to “anything is”; “whole” is also easy to lose. Stress falls on reTURN, WHOLE, TRAY, DONE, TELL, HELPer, ANything, RUN and OUT.

Sentence: The tray starts on the counter edge.

Two groups: “The tray starts” / “on the counter edge”. The -rts of “starts” often loses its -s, and learners add words to make “the edge of the counter”. Stress falls on TRAY, STARTS, COUNter and EDGE.

Sentence: Place the largest plate near its center.

Two groups: “Place the largest plate” / “near its center”. The -st of “largest” runs into the pl- of “plate”, so learners say “large plate”, and “its” often becomes “the”. Stress falls on PLACE, LARgest, PLATE, NEAR and CENter.

Sentence: The cup sits away from the outer corner.

Two groups: “The cup sits” / “away from the outer corner”. “Outer” is easily heard as “other” or dropped, and the -s of “sits” is easy to lose. Stress falls on CUP, SITS, aWAY, OUTer and CORner.

Sentence: Lift the tray with both hands before stepping away.

Two groups: “Lift the tray with both hands” / “before stepping away”. “Both hands” is a hard th + h join, and “stepping” is often changed to “step”; link “stepping away” smoothly. Stress falls on LIFT, TRAY, BOTH, HANDS, STEPping and aWAY.

Sentence: Keep the tray level as you walk around the marked practice cone.

Three groups: “Keep the tray level” / “as you walk around” / “the marked practice cone”. “Level” describes the tray, so there is no “the” before it; the weak “as” is often changed to “when”, and “marked” loses its -ed. Stress falls on KEEP, TRAY, LEVel, WALK, aROUND, MARKED, PRACtice and CONE.

Sentence: A partner watches for movement in the empty dishes during the first attempt.

Three groups: “A partner watches for movement” / “in the empty dishes” / “during the first attempt”. “Watches” has an extra syllable that learners drop, and the t of “first” links onto “attempt”. Stress falls on PARTner, WATCHes, MOVEment, EMPty, DISHes, FIRST and atTEMPT.

Sentence: Put the tray back on the counter before you move any of the dishes around.

Three groups: “Put the tray back on the counter” / “before you move” / “any of the dishes around”. The verb “move … around” is split, so learners often drop “around” or move it forward, and “back” is easy to lose. Stress falls on PUT, TRAY, BACK, COUNter, MOVE, ANy, DISHes and aROUND.

Sentence: The first bar measures file transfer.

Two groups: “The first bar” / “measures file transfer”. The -st b- in “first bar” is easy to blur, and there is no “the” before “file transfer”. Stress falls on FIRST, BAR, MEAsures, FILE and TRANSfer.

Sentence: The second bar measures video processing.

Two groups: “The second bar” / “measures video processing”. It mirrors the sentence before it, so learners slip back into the earlier words; keep “second”, “video processing” and the -s of “measures”. Stress falls on SECond, BAR, MEAsures, VIDeo and PROcessing.

Sentence: A completed transfer does not finish processing.

Two groups: “A completed transfer” / “does not finish processing”. Say “does not” in full, not “doesn't”, and keep the -ed syllable of “completed”. Stress falls on comPLETed, TRANSfer, NOT, FINish and PROcessing.

Sentence: Wait until the preview image appears before testing the uploaded video.

Two groups: “Wait until the preview image appears” / “before testing the uploaded video”. The -s of “appears” and the -ed of “uploaded” are easy to drop, and “testing” often becomes “test”. Stress falls on WAIT, PREview, IMage, apPEARS, TESTing, upLOADed and VIDeo.

Sentence: The sharing button becomes available only after the processing check is complete.

Three groups: “The sharing button becomes available” / “only after” / “the processing check is complete”. Learners often move “only” or say “is completed” instead of “is complete”. Stress falls on SHARing, beCOMES, aVAILable, ONly, AFter, PROcessing, CHECK and comPLETE.

Sentence: Keep the original file until you've watched the start and end of the upload.

Three groups: “Keep the original file” / “until you've watched” / “the start and end of the upload”. The weak 've in “you've watched” is often dropped (“until you watched”), and “start and end” runs together with a very short “and”. Stress falls on KEEP, oRIGinal, FILE, WATCHED, START, END and UPload.

Sentence: If the preview fails, write down the job number before you try the upload again.

Three groups: “If the preview fails” / “write down the job number” / “before you try the upload again”. The -s of “fails” is easy to lose, and “the upload” is a noun here, stressed on UP-, not like the verb upLOAD. Stress falls on PREview, FAILS, WRITE, DOWN, JOB, NUMber, TRY, UPload and aGAIN.