TOEFL スピーキングといっても、integrated task と呼ばれる統合型タスクでは、リスニングの力がかなり問われます。大学の教養課程レベルに照準を合わせた講義を聞き、そのポイントを口頭でまとめることが求められます。
Using points and examples
from the lecture,
explain the two major factors
of product quality and
how their role
in consumer decision making
has changed.
というような問題が出され、
You would have 20 seconds to prepare
and 60 seconds to speak.
と言われます。
解答は60秒で吹き込むことが要求されます。ちょうどニュースキャスターやお天気レポーターになったつもりで、必要事項を 60 秒でレコーディングします。何かのレコーディングオーディションのような試験。それが TOEFL のスピーキングです。
それでは出題元の ETS が公表している例題を解いてみましょう。本番では次の講義が聞こえてきます。講義を聞き終わった後にポイントをまとめるように求める設問が必ず来ますから、ポイントを皆様の短期記憶に入れるか、メモを取ります。
Female Professor
If a consumer has to choose
between two products,
what determines the choice?
Assume that someone, a purchaser,
is choosing between two products
that cost the same. OK?
If people have a choice between
two identically priced products,
which one will they choose?
They choose the one they think
is of higher quality, of course.
But what does it mean
for a product
to be a high-quality product?
Well, business analysts
usually speak of
two major factors of quality
—one factor is reliability,
and the other is what we call
features.
So, reliability. What’s reliability?
Well, a product is reliable
if it works the way we expect it to work,
if it can go a reasonable amount of time
without needing repairs.
If a product, a car for example,
doesn’t work the way it should
and needs repairs too soon,
we say it’s
[stress on the first syllable] unreliable.
So, product reliability means, basically,
the absence of defects or problems
that you weren’t expecting.
[pause] It used to be that
when people thought
about product quality,
they thought mainly about reliability.
Today it’s different.
People do still care about reliability,
don’t get me wrong.
It’s just that manufacturing standards
are so now so high that,
take cars for example, today,
today’s cars all very reliable.
So reliability is important,
but it’s not gonna be
the deciding factor.
So, if reliability
isn’t the deciding factor any more,
what is? Features— all those extras,
the things a product has
that aren’t really necessary
but that make it easier to use
or that make it cool: for example,
new cars today are loaded
with features like
electric windows,
sun roofs,
air conditioning,
stereos,
and so forth.
When people are comparing products
today, they look at features—because
reliability’s pretty much equal
cross the board.
And that’s why manufacturers include
so many features in their products.
本番では上記の内容が音声で聞こえてきます。頭の中には何が残るでしょうか。上記の英文の要点を太字にして以下に示します。この太字の部分が頭に残れば、満点答案を作成できます。
Female Professor
If a consumer has to choose
between two products,
what determines the choice?
Assume that someone, a purchaser,
is choosing between two products
that cost the same. OK?
If people have a choice between
two identically priced products,
which one will they choose?
They choose the one they think
is of higher quality, of course.
But what does it mean
for a product to be
a high-quality product?
Well, business analysts usually speak
of two major factors of quality
—one factor is reliability,
and the other is what we call
features.
So, reliability.
What’s reliability?
Well, a product is reliable
if it works the way
we expect it to work,
if it can go
a reasonable amount of time
without needing repairs.
If a product, a car for example,
doesn’t work the way it should
and needs repairs too soon,
we say it’s
[stress on the first syllable] unreliable.
So, product reliability means, basically,
the absence of defects or problems
that you weren’t expecting.
[pause] It used to be that
when people thought about
product quality,
they thought mainly about reliability.
Today it’s different.
People do still care about reliability,
don’t get me wrong.
It’s just that manufacturing standards
are so now so high that,
take cars for example,
today, today’s cars all very reliable.
So reliability is important,
but it’s not gonna be the deciding factor.
商品の品質を決定する２大要素。
それは
reliability (信頼性)
と
feature (特徴)
です。
reliability とは、
the absence of
defects or problems
(欠陥や問題がないこと)
です。しかし、今どき商品が reliable であることは当たり前。
そこで次の要素
feature
が差別化のポイントになってきます。
では featureとは何でしょう？
So,
if reliability isn’t the deciding factor
any more, what is?
Features
— all those extras,
the things a product has
that aren’t really necessary
but that make it easier to use
or that make it cool: for example,
new cars today
are loaded with features like
electric windows,
sun roofs,
air conditioning,
stereos,
and so forth.
When people are comparing products
today, they look at features
—because reliability’s
pretty much equal
cross the board.
And that’s why manufacturers
include so many features
in their products.
クルマで例えれば安定的に走行ができて当たり前。そこでパワーウィンドウやサンルーフ、エアコン、ステレオ等の付属的な便利グッズや機能。それが
feature です。それが今どきの差別化ポイントだと教授は述べています。
頭の中、または目の前のスクラッチペーパーには以下のようなメモができていれば OK です。
Reliability & Feature:
two major factors
to decide product quality.
本番ではメモを手で書いているとそちらに気を取られて肝心の講義を聞き逃す可能性があります。そこで頭文字だけを使ったメモも有効です。
R & F
これでいかがでしょう？
R ＝ the absence of
defects or problems (信頼性)
F ＝ extras that
make the product cool
(商品をよりよくする特徴)
60 秒で説明することが求められていることは以下の２つでした。
Using points and examples
from the lecture,
explain
1) the two major factors
of product quality
and
2) how their role
in consumer decision making
has changed.
1) は簡単です。
R ＝ the absence
of defects or problems
F ＝ extras
that make the product cool
をそのまま言えばいいだけ。
2) も簡単。今や R は当たり前なので、F が差別化のポイントになってきた、という変化を述べれば良いのです。
では、やってみましょう。
Question:
Using points and examples
from the lecture,
explain
1) the two major factors
of product quality
and
2) how their role
in consumer decision making
has changed.
Response:
1) The two major factors
of product quality
were called
"reliability"
and
"feature"
in the lecture.
Reliability
means
the absence of defects or problems:
you can use the product
for a reasonable amount of time
without troubles.
If a product works well
as it is expected,
then the product is reliable.
Feature
means
all these extras
that make a product cool and attractive.
For example,
- electric windows,
- sun roofs,
- air conditioning,
- stereos,
and so forth.
2) The role
of reliability and feature
has changed
in consumer decision making.
When people
are comparing products today,
they look at features
because most products are reliable.
And that’s why manufacturers
include so many features
in their products.
あまりペラペラとたくさん話す必要はありません。仮に機械採点が導入されているとしても満点がもらえるように上記の内容をゆっくり、はっきり話します。
あとは練習あるのみ。個別指導が必要な場合は以下からどうぞ。
