PRACTICE SET 3 SCRIPT AND ANSWERS
Track 5 Listening Script Narrator
Ideomotor action is an activity that occurs without our noticing it, without our being aware of it. I’ll give you one simple example. If you think of locations, there tends to be eye movement that occurs with your thinking about that location. In particular, from where we’re sitting, imagine that you’re asked to think of our university library. Well, if you close your eyes and think of the library, and if you’re sitting directly facing me, then according to this notion, your eyeballs will move slightly to the left, to your left, ’cause the library’s in that general direction.
James and others said that this is an idea leading to a motor action, and that’s why it’s called “ideomotor action”—an idea leads to motor activity. If you wish to impress your friends and relatives, you can change this simple process into a magic trick. Ask people to do something such as I’ve just described: think of something on their left; think of some- thing on their right. You get them to think about two things on either side with their eyes closed, and you watch their eyes very carefully. And if you do that, you’ll discover that you can see rather clearly the eye movement—that is, you can see the movement of the eye- balls. Now, then you say, “Think of either one and I’ll tell which you’re thinking of.”
OK. Well, Watson makes the assumption that muscular activity is equivalent to thinking.
But given everything we’ve been talking about here, one has to ask: are there alternatives to this motor theory—this claim that muscular activities are equivalent to thinking? Is there anything else that might account for this change in muscular activity, other than saying that it is thinking? And the answer is clearly yes. Is there any way to answer the question definitively? I think the answer is no.
Listening Section
Answers and Explanations
1. C This is a Gist-Content question. The professor discusses two types of mus- cular activities: laryngeal habits and ideomotor activity, and how they are related to thinking. The correct answer is choice C, “A theory about the rela- tionship between muscle activity and thinking.” The other choices are men- tioned by the professor, but they are not the main topic of the discussion.
2. C This is a Detail question. The professor responds to a student who asks a question about people who use sign language. He says that “they have mus- cular changes in their hands . . . just like the muscular changes going on in the throat region for speaking individuals.” The correct answer is choice C.
This Detail question is related to the main idea of the passage, as both are concerned with the relationship between muscular changes and thinking.
3. C This is an Understanding Organization question. The professor talks about muscular activity in the eyes that will occur if the students think about the location of the library. The question asks for the conclusion of that example.
The correct answer is choice C, “Students’ eyes will turn toward it if they think about it.”
4. A This is a Connecting Content question. Answering the question correctly requires you to understand that the magic trick the professor is describing is an “ideomotor activity” and that this type of activity “occurs without our noticing it, without our being aware of it.” The correct answer to this ques- tion is choice A.
5. D Questions like this one that ask for the professor’s opinion require you to Understand the Speaker’s Attitude. The professor’s opinion can be found at the end of the lecture. He says that there may be alternative theories, but there is no way to answer the question definitively. The correct answer to this question is choice D, “It cannot be completely proved or disproved.”
6. B This question requires you to Understand the Function of What Is Said.
The professor introduces an unusual term, “laryngeal habits.” He then says,
“you know, from larynx; in other words, related to the voice box.” His brief explanation is meant to help the students understand the term “laryngeal habits.” Choice B is the correct answer to this question.
Listening Section
PRACTICE SET 4
Now listen to Track 7.
Listening Section
Listening Section
Questions
Directions: Mark your answer by filling in the oval or square next to your choice.
1. What is Bode’s Law?
A A law of gravitation
B An estimate of the distance between Mars and Jupiter
C A prediction of how many asteroids there are
D A pattern in the spacing of planets
2. Why does the professor explain Bode’s Law to the class?
A To describe the size of the asteroids
B To explain how the asteroid belt was discovered
C To explain how gravitational forces influence the planets
D To describe the impact of telescopes on astronomy 3. How does the professor introduce Bode’s Law?
A By demonstrating how it is derived mathematically
B By describing the discovery of Uranus
C By drawing attention to the inaccuracy of a certain pattern
D By telling the names of several of the asteroids
4. According to the professor, what two factors contributed to the discovery of the asteroid Ceres?
Choose 2 answers.
A Improved telescopes
B Advances in mathematics
C The discovery of a new star
D The position of Uranus in a pattern
Listening Section
5. What does the professor imply about the asteroid belt?
A It is farther from the Sun than Uranus.
B Bode believed it was made up of small stars.
C It is located where people expected to find a planet.
D Ceres is the only one of the asteroids that can be seen without a telescope.
6. Listen again to part of the lecture by playing Track 8.
Then answer the question.
A B C D
Listening Section
Why does the professor say this?
To introduce an alternative application of Bode’s Law To give an example of what Bode’s Law cannot explain To describe the limitations of gravitational theory To contrast Bode’s Law with a real scientific law