A TOEFL Academic Talk Sample

This TOEFL academic talk sample is one original script and three questions: the claim, a relationship inside the talk, and why an example is there. Public materials describe academic talks of about 100–250 words. A solo practice talk on this site asks three questions and costs 1 credit when the exam starts. Public samples of the task sometimes use four. Count the questions on the attempt you took. The script is printed so the keys can be checked. The scored task is audio you hear once. None of these marks is an official ETS score.

In this guide

1. What the three questions want
2. The talk
3. The three questions
4. A true detail that still fails
5. Try this yourself
6. Frequently asked questions

What this TOEFL academic talk sample asks

The claim is usually in the opening, and a limit follows it. A relationship question asks how two parts fit: cause, contrast, or example. A purpose question asks why the speaker brought an example in, not whether the example is true.

The practice guide teaches that shape on a different topic. This page writes the options. How Listening is scored gives 0 or 1. Outside knowledge about bees does not score, even if it is correct in a biology class.

The talk

“Urban gardeners sometimes assume that more flowers always mean more pollinators. A city study looked at small rooftop plots and found a narrower result. Plots with two or three native species received more bee visits than plots with a long list of ornamental flowers. The researchers do not claim that every ornamental is useless. They claim that a short list of natives outperformed variety for its own sake on these roofs.

The clearest illustration was a plot that added petunias for color. Bee visits did not rise. A nearby plot that added a native herb instead did see more visits. The petunias were not a failure of gardening taste. They were a check on the idea that any extra flower is an extra invitation. The team also noted that the pattern was measured on roofs, not in large parks, so they are not telling park managers to rip out ornamental beds.”

Claim: on these roofs, a few native species drew more bee visits than a long ornamental list. Limit: not a rule for every park, and not a ban on ornamentals. Example: petunias added color and not visits; a native herb added visits.

The three questions

1. What is the talk mainly claiming?
A. Ornamental flowers should be banned in cities.
B. On the roofs studied, a few native species drew more bee visits than a long list of ornamentals.
C. Petunias are the best flower for rooftop gardens.
D. Park managers should redesign large parks around native herbs.

Key: B. It keeps the comparison and the place. A and D drop the limit the speaker stated. C makes the petunia plot the hero, and that plot did not gain visits.

2. How does the native-herb plot relate to the petunia plot?
A. Both plots increased bee visits.
B. The herb plot is the contrast: it gained visits when the petunia plot did not.
C. The herb plot proves petunias harm bees.
D. The two plots were in a large park.

Key: B. The speaker sets them side by side so one rises and one does not. A is false. C invents harm. D contradicts “roofs, not in large parks.”

3. Why does the speaker mention petunias?
A. To recommend them for color.
B. To show that an extra flower is not automatically an extra invitation to bees.
C. To explain how to water a roof.
D. To argue that taste in gardening does not matter at all.

Key: B. The sentence after the petunias says they were a check on that idea. A recommends the flower the result did not support. C imports watering. D overreads “not a failure of gardening taste” into a lecture against taste. The speaker’s point is narrower: taste was not what the count measured.

Question	Note that is enough	Note that misleads
Main claim	few natives > long ornamental list, on these roofs	“ban ornamentals”
Relationship	petunia visits flat; herb visits up	“petunias bad”
Purpose	petunias check the “any flower” idea	“petunias = color tips”

A true detail that still fails

Petunias were added for color. That sentence is true. It does not answer the purpose question. If you choose “to recommend them for color,” you used a real motive of the gardener and missed the motive of the speaker. The report’s rationale will point at the check, not at the color.

This is the listening version of a reading trap, and it needs its own drill because you cannot look back at a paragraph. Academic talk notes shows a two-line note for this shape: claim, then example’s job. A transcript of flower names will not save the purpose item.

If the purpose item is the one you miss and the claim is fine, the next credit is another talk. A Choose a Response set will not teach example jobs. The Listening section guide is when you want all four listening tasks in two modules, at 3 credits. Stay at 1 credit until the purpose line in your note is a job, not a noun.

Try this yourself

Cover the keys. Hear or read the talk once. Answer the three questions. If you recommended the petunias, write “example’s job, not the gardener’s motive” before the next talk. That line is the purpose note. A flower name is not a purpose note, and it will not score the item.

Start an academic talk so the audio is new. TOEFL Listening practice is the hub if you are choosing. Match your note to the rationale, and keep the note that names a job.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions does a practice talk ask?

Three on this solo task. Some public samples use four. The section as a whole is about 47 items. Do not revise your pacing because one drill had three.

Can I use what I know about bees?

Only to follow the words. The key has to come from the talk. A textbook fact about petunias that the speaker did not say scores 0.

Is a high practice band an official result?

No. The indicative 1.0–6.0 figure maps the count. It is not an ETS score.

Next steps

Hear a new talk and write the example’s job in four words before you answer the purpose item. Then read Listening in 2026 versus the old format if your notes are still built for a five-minute lecture.