托福听力中如何判断信息价值

说到托福听力材料，大家可能会首先想到托福听力真题或者官方真题Official，但是其实除了这些练习材料外，我们还可以利用一些其他的资料来提升，下面小编就和大家分享托福听力如何利用好视频听力资料，来欣赏一下吧。

托福听力如何利用好视频听力资料?

托福听力提升视频素材之 TED

TED，全名Technology, Entertainment, and Design,是一台在全世界范围内展开的演讲栏目。演讲嘉宾为各行各业的顶尖人物，从维基百科创始人，到非洲女性作家，到触屏技术的创新者，到思考数学教育方法的高中教师，到研究集体行动的经济学家。他们代表了人类挑战自我的前沿，内容包括教育文化科技艺术所有领域的创新。

如此五花八门的题材，正符合了托福听力中千变万化的题目。常常有考生担心一旦遇上自己并不熟悉的领域，比如文科生遇上分子结构或者计算机，理科生遇上欧洲史或者英语文学。因为每个人的兴趣点不尽相同，一旦遇上了平时不甚关注的话题，其实用中文解释也只能一知半解。所以即使听力中的生词只是专有名词，还是会十分影响考生对于通篇的理解，从头到尾三五分钟都是迷迷糊糊。

针对托福听力涵盖面甚广的情况，考生想要面面俱到其实是强人所难，况且这也并非托福考试的本意。考试内容其实只是常识领域(common sense)，所以考生大可不必抱起百科全书的大部头从地壳形成、恐龙诞生一直看到后现代艺术。

TED本身多样的题材正好为大家提供了简单涉猎各个领域的机会。同时演讲一般不超过15分钟，短的只有5分钟，这恰好训练了考生在短时间内理解，进而掌握和思考一个全新领域的能力。笔者建议每一集TED至少要看两遍，其中遍不开字幕，只求尽力听一个囫囵，看自己能够不借助字幕了解多少，无需在生词上计较，更多的是联系整体语感;第二遍则要打开中英字幕，一一解读自己听不明白的生僻词和本领域的专有名词。日积月累，生僻领域也就不再生僻。

此外，各个方面略知一二也为托福阅读打好基础。试想如果一开篇就发现阅读讨论的话题自己其实已经有了背景知识，那么无论从答题的把握，还是对手的心理，都有很大帮助。

托福听力提升视频素材之 网络公开课

托福听力中一半是课堂场景的还原，老师提供一个新的名词或者图片，边向同学们解读边与大家互动。尽管使用英文进行，整个模式其实与大家平时的课堂并无区别。但是这样全英文的授课场景去哪里找呢?

各大高校的免费网络公开课给大家提供了这样一个机会，无论老师的发音用词还是具体的授课内容，都能再现原汁原味的欧美课堂教学场景。而且全部资源都来自名师名校，内容涵盖数学、文学、工程、生物、历史、经济、环境等等，正是大家滋润自己兴趣爱好的好时机。

因为公开课一般较长，更多的是帮助考生熟悉全英课堂的氛围，对于老师上课的用词难度、语速、口音等等提前熟悉，从而在托福听力考场上见招拆招。笔者就曾经在国外留学过一年时间。临走之前听公开课还处在依赖字幕的阶段，常常一个词错过后面一整段都理解慢半拍;然而一年留学的摸爬滚打的确让我有了极为明显的进步，无需开字幕就可以轻松理解，托福听力也得到了满分。身在国内的各位考生也可以通过公开课和我有一样的收获。

2020托福听力练习：能喷射甲烷的生物

The first life on Earth appeared about four billion years ago. One place these pioneering organisms may have emerged is at hydrothermal vents, deep underwater. Where unusual chemistry provided energy for primitive life-forms to survive. Life-forms like the methane-belching microbes found at the vents today.

Now, for the first time, researchers have found evidence of methane-producing life in similarly extreme conditions, but at the surface of the Earth — at a spring in northern California, called The Cedars. The water there is extremely basic — with a pH of 11.6. And it contains no oxygen. Not an easy place to survive.

Researchers tested water and sediment at the Cedars. Some samples got dosed with mercuric chloride to kill any life present. Those dosed samples produced no methane. But the samples in which microbes were allowed to survive did put out methane. Confirming that at least some of the methane at the springs is indeed biological in origin. The findings appear in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.

The finding has implications for climate change alleviation. A geologically similar spring in Oman has been proposed as a site for carbon storage—pumping CO2 underground, where it gets incorporated in stone. But the extremophiles at The Cedars can use CO2 to make methane—an even more potent greenhouse gas. "So imagine pumping CO2 into the ground and having it come back up as methane." Penny Morrill, a biogeochemist at Memorial University of Newfoundland. "This will not necessarily happen, but it is something to be tested for before fully implementing a carbon capture and storage technology at one of these types of sites."

Morrill says the study's also a reminder that life is tenacious. "We should not let our biases prevent us from looking for evidence of life in what we would otherwise consider an unexpected place." Including other planets and moons.

地球上的第一个生命出现在约40亿年以前。这些先驱生物出现的其中一个地方是深海热泉和深海。那里不寻常的化学物质为原始生命形态提供了生存下去的能量。现在深海热泉发现了能喷射甲烷的微生物。

研究人员首次发现了能产生甲烷的生物生活在类似极端环境的证据，而这个地方位于地球表面，那就是加利福尼亚州北部的雪松泉。这里的水很普通，酸碱值为11.6。但是水里没有氧气。这可不是一个容易生存的地方。

研究人员对雪松泉里的水和沉积物进行了检测。一些样本里含有氯化汞，可以致死任何生命。这类样本不能产生甲烷。而可以让微生物生存的样本会释放出甲烷。这表明，至少该泉水里的一些甲烷的确是生物起源。这一发现刊登在《地球物理学研究杂志：生物地球科学》上。

这一研究对减缓气候变化有启示意义。安曼一处具有类似地质的泉水被推荐作为碳储存地，输送被注入地下岩石储存的二氧化碳。但是雪松泉的极端微生物可以利用二氧化碳制造甲烷，甲烷是一种更强的温室气体。“想象一下，将二氧化碳输送至地下，然后再把它变成甲烷。”纽芬兰纪念大学的生物化学家佩妮·莫里尔表示，“这不一定会发生，但是这是在这类地方完全实现碳捕捉和储存技术之前要进行的测试。”

莫里尔表示，这项研究还提醒人们生命是顽强的。“我们不应该因为偏见而停止在意想不到的地方寻找生命证据的脚步”。这些地方包括其他星球和月球。

重点讲解：

1. for the first time 首次;第一次;

例句：For the first time luck hooked onto me.

运气第一次降临到我头上。

2. at least 至少，起码;

例句：At least this second meeting had helped to thaw the atmosphere.

这第二次会议至少起到了缓和气氛的作用。

3. prevent sb. from doing sth. 阻止;制止;阻碍;

例句：Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face.

棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。

4. look for 寻找，寻求，谋求(解决方案或新的方法);

例句：The working group will be looking for practical solutions to the problems faced by doctors.

工作小组将寻求切实可行的方案，以解决医生们遇到的难题。

2020托福听力练习：晚年开始健康饮食习惯

Let's say your diet has been not so great.

Maybe too much red meat, especially processed meat.

Maybe too many sugary soft drinks.

And maybe you've been eating like that for decades.

So what's the point of trying to make some healthful changes now, after the damage has presumably been done?

“It is impressive that changes even very late in life,such as even being older and having a heart attack, a dietary change can within a matter of a few months drop our risk greatly of a recurrent heart attack or death.”

Walter Willett. He chairs the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

He spoke at a January 15th forum on Cancer and Diet that wound up touching on diet and health in general.

“So it's never too late to make important changes.

For diabetes also, if we change our diet almost immediately our risk of diabetes goes down.

But that's not to say you just should just wait till you're old to start living a healthy life.

We're seeing in some studies now that what women ate as adolescents, especially if they ate a lot more red meat, that affected breast cancer risk later in their life.

So it's definitely important if you want the healthiest overall life is to start a healthy lifestyle early.

But if you've sort of ignored things it's never too late to still get some benefit.”

The entire hour-long forum featuring Willett and other researchers discussing diet and health is archived on line.

Just google “Harvard public health forum”.

Let's say your diet has been not so great. 我们假设你的饮食习惯不是特别好的状况。

Maybe too much red meat, especially processed meat. 也许摄取太多的红肉，尤其是那些加工过的肉类。

Maybe too many sugary soft drinks. 也许还有很多含糖软饮料。

And maybe you've been eating like that for decades. 可能几十年来你一直都是这样的饮食习惯。

So what's the point of trying to make some healthful changes now, after the damage has presumably been done? 因此既然无形中已经养成这样的坏习惯对身体造成伤害，那现在尝试健康饮食的改变意义在哪里呢?

It is impressive that changes even very late in life, such as even being older and having a heart attack, 这样的改变在进入晚年后会产生重大的影响，比如随着岁月流逝身体负担越来越重并且有心脏病困扰，

a dietary change can within a matter of a few months drop our risk greatly of a recurrent heart attack or death. 改善饮食可以在数个月内大大降低心脏病复发或死亡的风险。

Walter Willett. He chairs the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. 哈佛大学公共卫生学院营养系主任沃尔特·维莱特说道。

He spoke at a January 15th forum on Cancer and Diet that wound up touching on diet and health in general. 在1月15日关注饮食与健康的癌症与饮食 论坛上他这样说道。

So it's never too late to make important changes.For diabetes also, if we change our diet almost immediately our risk of diabetes goes down. 因此亡羊补牢永远不晚。对于糖尿病而言也是如此，如果改变自己的饮食习惯，我们罹患糖尿病的风险会即刻降低。

But that's not to say you just should just wait till you're old to start living a healthy life. 但这并不表明你要等待老年后才要开始健康生活。

We're seeing in some studies now that what women ate as adolescents, especially if they ate a lot more red meat, that affected breast cancer risk later in their life. 通过一些研究，我们了解到一些女性在年轻时食用大量红肉，到了晚年就会增加患乳腺癌的风险。

So it's definitely important if you want the healthiest overall life is to start a healthy lifestyle early. 因此如果你想要健康，尽早开始健康的生活方式是绝对重要的。

But if you've sort of ignored things it's never too late to still get some benefit. 但如果你经常忽视，现在开始也不晚!

The entire hour-long forum featuring Willett and other researchers discussing diet and health is archived on line. 如想浏览维莱特和其他研究人员就饮食与健康方面的完整讨论内容，

Just google Harvard public health forum. 请在搜索引擎当中搜索关键字哈佛公共健康论坛即可。