今天来说说托福听力难在哪儿？
省流：托福是一个语言考试，意味着必是要考查语言功能，就听力这个科目来看，难在会把主要观点藏起来（让步）和把信息链做长（并列）。
同学们可以花一分钟时间阅读下面这一段托福听力原文，试图找出这段话说了一件什么事情，并且0一下接下来教授要说什么。（只能一分钟喔，因为如果放录音留给你的反应时间只会更少）
听力原文
As you know, portrait artists often position their subjects so that their heads is turned a little to one side. Thereby presenting the artist with a semi-side view, a semi-profile view. And for some reason, Western European artist have historically tended to show the left-side of the subject’s face more than the right. A while back, some researchers examined about 1,500 portraits painted from the 16th to the 20th century in Western Europe, and in the majority of them it’s the left side of the face that’s most prominently displayed. Why is that? And interestingly enough, this tendency to show the left side has diminished over time, especially in the 20th century, in fact, the left/right ratio is now about one to one, 50% left, 50% right. Why is that?
来看一下笔者的思路：
As you know,（明显让步，这一句可以直接跳过。） portrait artists often position their subjects so that their heads is turned a little to one side. Thereby presenting the artist with a semi-side view, a semi-profile view. And for some reason,（观点）Western European artist have historically tended to show the left-side of the subject’s face more than the right. A while back, （举例解释刚才那句，因为a while back和historically是一个意思。）some researchers examined about 1,500 portraits painted from the 16th to the 20th century in Western Europe, and in the majority of them it’s the left side of the face that’s most prominently displayed. Why is that? （抛出的第一个问题）And interestingly enough, （强调语气，并列观点）this tendency to show the left side has diminished over time, especially in the 20th century, in fact, the left/right ratio is now about one to one, 50% left, 50% right. Why is that? （抛出第二个问题）
讲了一件事情：很早以前，人像绘画中左脸比右脸多。
0接下来：
1.教授要通过举例解释为什么那时候主要画左脸。
2.教授还要通过举例解释为什么后来绘画中的左右脸出现比例趋近相等。
回顾一下笔者一开始说的：托福听力难在会把主要观点藏起来（让步）和把信息链做长（并列）。如果考生没有意识主动寻找关键信息，或者进入一种“自我感动的盲记”模式，直接结局就是：
1.听完像没听一样，看着自己洋洋洒洒的听力笔记只能回忆起interesting / 1500 / Europe…这种毫无意义的信息碎片。
2.听的时候头昏脑胀，随便一个完全没听过的概念就能直接把CPU干爆，然后心态全面崩盘，甚至开始在页面上寻找进度条。
3.0错过所有重点，设题信息完全没记到，看到题目甚至怀疑刚才文中出现这个信息了吗？
如果上面三条是现在在看这篇文章的读者，你需要再次感受一下“重要信息会被隐藏起来（让步）。
难度变大最简单的方法就是把信息链做长（并列）”。我们再来试一次，阅读下面一段，找到重点信息，但只能看一分钟喔！
听力原文
(A)We do know that for many artists, the choice of left side, right side is very important. There is an image by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh called The Potato Eaters that shows the profile of a group of farmers. It’s a lithograph, which is a print made from images drawn on a stone. When you print something that way, what you get is a mirror image of the original picture, the exact same image EXCEPT that left and right are reversed, and Van Gogh was so dissatisfied with the print that he wrote to his brother —— “the figures, I’m sorry to say, are now turned the wrong way.” Anyway, why do you think so many painters in the past chose to depict the left side of their subjects’ face? Nancy.
(B)Female Student
Could it have to do with whether the artists were left-handed or right-handed? Like, maybe most of them were right-handed, and maybe for some reason they feel more comfortable painting the left side?
(C)Professor
OK, many right-handed artists do find it easier to paint left profiles, and many art historians think that’s the reason for the directional bias. But if that hypothesis, let’s call it the right- handed hypothesis, was correct, you’d expect that left-handed artists would find it easier to paint right profiles. But research suggests that left-handed artists find it just as easy to paint left profiles as right. So any other ideas?
(D)Well, another theory is known as the parental imprinting hypothesis, which propose that people are more used to seen left profiles, because supposedly, right-handed parents are more likely to hold their baby in their left arm.
来看看笔者的思路：
A段没有重要信息，但是会设题。“没有重要信息”体现在：第一句“We do know…”是让步关系，且后面没有转折，证明一整段都在让步。“但是会设题”体现在出现了具体名字“Van Gogh”和“The Potato Eaters”且出了态度“dissatisfied”证明待会儿势必要出功能题“why does the professor mention …?”往后记一条信息就够：“wrong way”（因为在具体说哪儿dissatisfied）
B段和C段是一个女生在猜测“左脸出现更多”会不会跟“右撇子”(right-handed)有关系？教授的回答我提炼一下：many right-handed artists do find it …是个让步不用管，等后面转折：but if … correct, …, but …你都不用听具体内容，就这几个词你就知道教授否定了女生的猜测，记第二个but后面一条信息就够：“as easy as”（因为在具体说为什么她的猜测不对），那么也就证明教授接下来马上就要说那究竟是什么原因。（对比：不是…而是…）
果然D段上来就有一个明明显显的“another theory”，至于是什么不重要，还记得教授这一整个部分其实都在解释“为什么之前的人像绘画中左脸比右脸多”吗，所以because后面“爸妈经常左手抱小孩。”是这三段中0一个有用的信息。
看一下刚才这几段出了哪些题：
1.What is the lecture mainly about?
2.According to the professor, what changeoccurred in portrait paintings over time? “左脸多”到“左右一样多”
3.What point does the professor emphasize by his discussion of the lithograph “The Potato Eaters”? “wrong way”
4.According to the professor, what is the problem with the “right-handed” hypothesis? “as easy as”
总结一下：
1.“老师我无法边记笔记边理解文章内容。” “老师我来不及记笔记。” “老师我在笔记中找不到答案。”这三种同学都是还没有理解【语言功能】这件事情，希望看完这篇文章你能感觉到：其实是你没记对地方，你被让步信息干扰了。你的听力意识还要加强，主动寻找等待重要的信息。
2.“老师我听力不好是因为词汇量不好。”这样的同学希望看完这篇文章能感觉到：托福是语言考试，不是知识储备测试，题一定设在【语言功能】上，不然托福听力中有这么多不一样的主题，每个人都有自己擅长和不擅长的领域，考试的公平性何在？个别设题句的词汇难度能到B2都属于比较高比较难了。
3.提一个思考题：“老师，我觉得我托福口语后面3道题说的还行啊，和我朋友一个流利度，为什么我的分总没ta高？”
