口语

　　7点30 分左右，经历了两个半小时的紧张战斗，终于到了10分钟的强制性Break。在洗手间洗了洗脸，头脑清醒了许多。一想到一会儿还要再鏖战近2小时，我开始怀疑ETS是在故意把托福变成一种体力活，以此来检验大家到美国之后的生存能力。也许他们是对的。

　　记得在哥大读研的一个学期，我担任一门自己也没有学过的公共政策课程的助教，同时又有几门大课要选。在三个月里，经常是刚上完12：00点到凌晨4：00点的“早自习”，睡几个小时又要上第二天上午的课。而半夜里图书馆也很热闹，夜战的人很多，有时Computer Room居然找不到位子。我的几个学化学和建筑的朋友更加玩命。因此，奉劝计划到国外读书的同学们在国内抓紧锻炼身体吧。

　　7点40分，重新走进考场，这时离开始时间还有一分钟，我听到有几个同学已在做Speaking部分的题了， 因此也大致了解了将考的口语题的内容。因为口语部分有听力材料，我重新戴上耳机，仍感到周围的答题声干扰比较大，就急中生智，迅速把耳机音量放大-----整个世界清净多了！

　　口语部分从内容到形式都是No Surprise。

　　第一题要求Choose an important invention since the 20th century and talk about how it affected¹ your life.

　　第二题是Discuss if college education is necessary for one’s successful career.

　　第三题要求先读一份学校computer lab雇佣student worker政策变化的Statement, 然后是男女两人的评论对话，要求概括对话主角男生的观点和他的理由。(To ensure the quality of students working in the computer lab, the new policy requires that only the students taking introductory computer courses can work there. But the male student holds that it does not work. A requirement on the grades is also needed. In addition, a student worker can only deal with some minor² issues. When some problems such as computer viruses occur, a professional technician is still necessary. )

　　第四题是关于Political Economy中著名的“外部性”问题。(“Positive externality” can be simply referred to as a situation in which people without direct dealings with a company benefit from its activities. Sometimes, the government should assist a business company to make “positive externality” possible. For example, a local government may financially assist a bus company to buy new buses causing less air pollution so that the average residents in that area will enjoy cleaner air.) 本题要求应用讲座材料解释 “外部性”的概念。

　　第五题是二人对话。 (The male student tells the female student that he's often been late for a psychology³ class whose instructor⁴ is his favorite professor because he takes a job on night shift. The female student suggests that he change his job but he does not want to do that because he is well-paid for his current job to cover his daily expenditures⁵. But he has another option which is to switch to a different class with the same course content but a different professor. Which option should the male student take? )

　　第六题的学术讲座是关于 photographers' change of attitudes toward industrialism in the 19th and 20th century.

　　口语部分的六题都不出学术和校园生活两方面，但加入了阅读和听力的要求，考察的是运用英语的综合能力。由于准备和答题时间都比较少，平时的针对性强化训练就显得重要了