新托福机考口语的难点和突破点
　　新托福在取代之前的旧托福考试之后，机考口语一直是很多同学感到陌生和不适应的地方。新托福口语考试需要考生基于个人经历、校园环境和学术性材料提出的各种问题用英语表述、并回答。一共6道题。前两道题是独立口语任务，考生需要依据自己的观念、简介或经历来回答问题。相对后面的题，回答起来比较自由、简单。 另外四道题是综合口语任务。综合任务是因为它听说兼顾，或者听、读和说结合。考生需要听一段对话或节选的讲座片段，或读一篇文章然后听一个简短的讨论或讲座的节选，最后答题。
　　新托福口语考试具有一定的难度。比如，前两道独立口语任务是以一问一答的形式展开，考生在了解问题后只有十五秒的准备时间，然后用四十五秒钟将回答通过麦克风录入电脑头脑中。如果对考试内容很陌生，考生一定会很乱，不知道该从何说起，可能会东一句，西一句的，毫无条理性。建议考生把自己的思路、想法落实到书面上，用笔记来帮助整理你的思路。平时练习的时候也可以将自己的回答像写作文一样，一字一句的把写下来、修改语病。然后大声读熟，再重新回答问题。这样把一套题目练熟之后，再进行下一套题目的练习。另外，独立口语任务也可以拿作文题目当口语练。
　　综合口语任务的难点在于理解、记录听力内容，并用自己的话做口语复述。可以先锻炼自己听抄、听记的能力。然后练习将记录的信息用口语自然的表述。每道题按此方法反复练习几遍，必会提高听力和口语表达能力。平时练习是要注重日常、校园生活场景以及学术场景。考生可以就现有的托福口语教材为依据，直接对口语题目中的文稿做出总结归纳、口语复述。
　  Useful tips: (suitable for all questions)
　　l Make it NATURAL, pauses, such as "well", "urn", and "you know", are advisable, but don't do it too much。
　　l CORRECT your mistakes as soon as you find out, for example, "... I really like standing in, I mean, ON the mountain,"(I know it's a bad example. What I'm trying to clarify is that it is OK to make mistakes, but you gotta correct it once you made it。) so the examiner would not count down your score。
　　l There is NO NEED to use freaking words, like "exonerate", which means absolve, and "flamboyant", which means showy. But those words are good to use in your essay。
　　l "The FIRST way, the LAST way, the NEVER FAILING way to develop self-confidence in speaking is-TO SPEAK." -Dale Carnegie
　　Independent speaking (Question 1 & 2)
　　In this section, you are asked to present your own opinion and provide examples to support your ideas。
　　Useful tips:
　　l Your answer should he as SPECIFIC as possible. You need to stick to a point UNTIL you finish it, have done with it, and need never return to it again。
　　l The key to score high is to make each point WELL-DEVELOPED, and that DOES NOT mean you need to make as much points as you can, two would be great。
　　l Truth and REASONABLE LIES are totally acceptable。
　　l "DO NOT say "I have three (or whatever) reasons to support my idea", or some thing like that after you state your opinion. There is no guarantee that you are able to finish your answer within 45 seconds. Instead, you can say "I have a couple of reasons to say."
　　Question 1
　　Your answer can go like this:
　　"Personally, I would have to say that, um, my favorite ... is .... And there are a couple of reasons to name. The most important thing is that, you know,.... What's more,.... So that's why...."
　　Question 2
　　Your answer can go like this:
　　"Well, in my opinion, I would definitely agree with the point that, um,.... The first reason that I wanna say is that.... More importantly,.... So, uh, that's why I choose ... for the two reasons listed above."
　　Integrated speaking (Question 3, 4, 5 & 6)
　　In this part, you are asked to paraphrase the man/woman's attitude first, and then list the reasons s/he gives. In QUESTION 3, you are NOT asked to present your opinion towards this problem. However, in QUESTION 5, you REALLY need to make a choice between the solutions that the man/woman gives。
　　Question 3
　　Your answer could go like this:
　　"The school has implemented a new policy that... due to .... And the man/woman holds a positive/negative view towards the announcement. The first reason s/he gives is that.... And the second one is based on the fact that...."
　　Useful tips:
　　l "In the reading part, DO NOT waste your time on taking notes, it is unnecessary. Just figure out what the announcement is mainly talking about, you do not need to say anything about it after all。
　　l When listening, just write down THREE major points-attitude, reason 1 ＆ reason 2. You can use "+" and "-" to represent positive attitude and negative attitude。
　　l Make sure that you get ALL the reasons that the man/woman gives. Any thing missed will lower your score。
　　l DO NOT spend too much time explaining why the school has pull out the policy, simple words would be fine。
　　l DO NOT spend too much time retelling the first reason, you should finish talking about it in 20 seconds。
　　Question 4
　　Your answer can go like this:
　　"In the lecture, the professor mainly talked about the theory that.... To reinforce the theory, the professor gave two reasons in his speech. The first one is that.... The other one is that.... And that's the two reasons the speaker presented to explain his idea。(The conclusion is optional)"
　　Useful tips:
　　l Find the KEY words as soon as possible and then write them down. This is to make sure that you will know what the professor is gonna talk about。
　　l Pay attention to the JARGONS in order to get familiar with the words that you don't know before。
　　l Do not panic if you don't know anything about the subject, because your opinion is NOT included。
　　Question 5
　　In question 5, you are asked to paraphrase the man/woman's problem and then retell the solutions that the woman/man comes up with. And for this time, you should make a choice between the two。
　　Your answer can go like this:
　　"In this conversation, the man/woman is having a hard time dealing with the problem that.... And the woman/man offers him/ her two possible solutions. One is .... The other is .... And if it were my choice, I would choose the former/latter one, because ...."
　　Useful tips:
　　l The OPTIMAL time allotment is: 10 seconds for the problem, 17 seconds for each solution, and 10 seconds for your choice and why, and about 6 seconds pausing throughout your answer。
　　l DO REMEMBER that you HAVE TO state your opinion in your answer. BUT do not spend too much time on that。
　　l Make your answer as SIMPLE as it can be, you really don't have enough time to cover everything mentioned in the conversation。
　　l DO say "the man/woman offers her/him TWO (or THREE) solutions." This is to ensure that you get all the solutions even if you can't finish you answer in time, so the examiner will still give you a good score。
　　Question 6
　　In question 6, the speaker usually gives two examples to explain a theory or a phenomenon. So your main job is to find what the theory or the phenomenon is, and jot down the examples that the professor presents in the lecture。
　　"In the lecture, the professor provides two examples to illustrate the phenomenon/theory that.... The first one is that.... Another example Is that.... And that's the two examples the speaker presented to explain the theory/phenomenon. (Still, the conclusion is optional)". (You can make adjustments on this style according to different lectures)
　　Useful tips:
　　l The OPTIMAL time allotment is: 15 seconds for the theory/ phenomenon, SO seconds for each example, and about 5 seconds pausing throughout you answer。
　　l Question 6, to a certain extent, is quite similar to question 4. However, Q6 is even HARDER because you don't have the chance to read anything about the lecture. So, stay ALERT while you are listening。
　　l Take as many details as you can, it HASN'T to be written in English, CHINESE is fine! Choose whatever the EASIEST way for you。
　　l You should catch the TRANSITIONAL WORDS, such as "what's more" and "moreover", which indicate that the professor is gonna talk about another point。
　　托福机考口语的评分是人评分，内容的逻辑展开和具体细节的表述最重要，其次是流利，发音能明白就可以，因为托福考的是母语非英语的人的英语水平。美国人评分是比较公平公正公道的，他们会根据全球母语非英语的平均水平确定的。要练就好的发音，平时可以多看美国电影，听多了，也就对外国人的发音和表达以及表达逻辑更为敏感。这种潜移默化的影响对学生的听力、口语、甚至是写作都有积极的帮助。
　　优秀口语答案必备的七大要素
　　提示1
　　Practice wherever you can and whenever you can. Any practice is good, whether you speak to someone who is a native English speaker or not.
　　随时随地练习口语。
　　提示2
　　It's important to build your confidence. If possible, use simple English sentence structure that you know is correct, so that you can concentrate on getting your message across.
　　以表达清晰为主，句型多样化为次。
　　提示3
　　Try to experiment with the English you know. Use words and phrases you know in new situations. Native English speakers are more likely to correct you if you use the wrong word than if you use the wrong grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is a really good way of getting feedback.
　　大胆运用所掌握的词汇，不要过分拘泥于语法。
　　提示4
　　Try to respond to what people say to you. You can often get clues to what people think by looking at their body language. Respond to them in a natural way.
　　透过身体语言理解对方意思并作出回应。
　　提示5
　　Try not to translate from or into your own language. This takes too much time and will make you more hesitant.
　　尽量避免翻译。
　　提示6
　　If you forget a word, do what native English speakers do all the time, and say things that "fill" the conversation. This is better than being completely silent. Try using um or er, if you forget the word.
　　遇到不知该如何表达的时候，用一些常用词表示自己正在思考。
　　提示7
　　Don't speak too fast. It's important to use a natural rhythm when speaking English. But if you speak too fast, it will be difficult for people to understand you.
　　语速不要过快。
　　提示8
　　Try to relax when you speak. When you speak English at anormal speed, you will discover that most of the pronunciation skills, such as linking between words, will happen automatically.
　　说话时尽量放松，让发音流利顺畅。
　　最后温情提示：
　　Don't be shy to speak! The more you practise, the more confident you'll become.