TOEFL LISTENING : ANSWERING OVERVIEW QUESTIONS ABOUT MINI-TALKS 16.2 Br

Focus: Answering detailed questions about complete Part C talks.
Directions: You will hear a number of Part C Mini-Talks. After each talk, there will be a number of questions based on that part of the talk. Mark the best answer choice-(A), (B), or (C)-for each question. The first one is done as an example.
Now start the audio.

Questions 1-5: Listen to a talk given on a university radio station.
F1: Hello, this is Dana Lockwood with the campus news at noon. Yesterday the Board of Regents voted to raise tuition here at Hambleton University for the third year in a row. As in the previous two years, there will also be increases in the student fees and the room and board charges at the dormitories. This five percent increase makes Hambleton the second most expensive school to attend in the state. Only Babcock University charges more. Penny Chang, co-executive of the Student Council, told us today that there should be some corresponding increase in student services, such as longer hours at the library, more contact time with faculty, and improved lab facilities. However, a spokesperson for the administration said that the additional money has already been earmarked to pay for the higher insurance premiums that the university is being charged and for the construction of a new dormitory.

1. For how many consecutive years has tuition at Hambleton University gone up?

F2: Wouldn't it be wonderful if a person who had lost a hand or a leg in an accident could simply grow another in its place? Humans can't do this, of course, nor can any other mammal. But there are creatures who can do this and more. The champions at regeneration are starfish and some types of worms. If only a small piece of one of these creatures remains alive, it can regenerate an entire new body. Imagine that! Then there are animals such as salamanders or insects that can regenerate entire limbs. When these creatures grow a new limb, here's what happens: a regeneration "bud" forms at the surface of the wound. It is usually cone-shaped and contains the same kind of embryonic cells that were present at the birth of the creature. These develop into specialized cells as they grow, and a new organ is gradually formed.
Unfortunately, the more complex a creature, the less it is able to regenerate. Snakes can replace their skin when they shed it; birds replace lost feathers. Even humans have certain powers of regeneration. When our top layer of skin wears off, day by day, it is continually replaced. Our nails and hair are constantly being replenished. Even our second set of teeth represents a kind of regeneration. And we are able to repair damage such as bone fractures and injuries to the skin and muscles.
Some scientists are studying the process of regeneration in lower animals to try to learn more about it so that, someday, they will be able to apply the lessons they learn to humans. Although it's doubtful that humans will ever be able to do what salamanders or insects do, this research may in the future help doctors heal wounds more quickly.

6. Which of the following is best able to regenerate lost body tissues?

M1: Today I'm going to talk a little about Noah Webster and the impact he had on American English. Webster was born in Connecticut in 1758 and graduated from Yale University in 1778. This was during the time of the American Revolution, and Webster joined George Washington's army to fight against the British. The end of  the war brought independence, but political independence didn't satisfy Webster. He wanted the former Colonies to be intellectually independent from Britain as well.
In 1783, Webster published a spelling book which would become known to generations of schoolchildren as the "blue-backed book" because of its blue cover. A couple of years later, he published his dictionary. It is for his dictionary that Webster is chiefly remembered today. The Webster's dictionary popular today is a direct descendant of that book published in the 1780's.
In his dictionary, Webster made many changes in the way English was used in the United States. He suggested new ways of pronouncing words and added words used only in the former Colonies to the language. Most of the changes, though, involved spelling. Today, most people in the United States spell words differently from people in Britain because of Webster's original dictionary. Let me just give you a couple of examples-in Britain, words like a center end in r-e. In the United States, these words end in e-r. He also took the letter u from words like color. In the British spelling, that word ends with the letters o-u-r, but in the American spelling, it ends with o-r.
Still, Webster did not go as far in revising spelling as his friend Benjamin Franklin wanted him to. Franklin wanted to drop all silent letters from words. The word wrong would have been spelled r-o-n-g, and the word love would have been spelled l-o-v.

10. According to the speaker, when did Webster graduate from Yale University?