32 original questions in the format of the TOEFL iBT Listening section since January 2026: Listen and Choose a Response, conversations, announcements and academic talks, with a transcript of every recording and every answer explained. In the test each recording is played once, so listen only once here too. This set is shorter than the real section, takes about 20 minutes and does not adapt to your answers.
All names, places, dates and facts are invented for practice. TOEFL and TOEFL iBT are registered trademarks of ETS. FreeExamPath is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by ETS. These exercises are not official material, and your result is a raw practice score, not a TOEFL iBT score on the 1–6 scale. The recordings are read by your browser voice in one accent; the real test uses its own audio, with several English accents.
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You hear one person say something. You hear it only once. Choose the best response from the four replies.
You hear a classmate speaking to you on campus.
Classmate: Do you happen to know if the library's open late tonight?
Correct answer: A — I think it closes at ten during exams.
Why? The classmate asks whether the library is open late. Only the reply about its closing time answers this; the others pick up words like 'late' or talk about where something is.
You hear your roommate speaking to you at home.
Roommate: I can't believe the heating's broken again.
Correct answer: C — Want me to call maintenance this time?
Why? The roommate is complaining that the heating has stopped working. Offering to report it to maintenance is a natural response.
You hear a professor speaking to you about your essay.
Professor: Your draft was a good start, but the conclusion needs more work.
Correct answer: D — Thanks. How could I make it stronger?
Why? The professor says the conclusion needs improving. Asking how to improve it shows you understood; 'That's great, so I don't need to change anything' wrongly treats the comment as pure praise.
You hear an academic advisor speaking to you in her office.
Advisor: Have you decided which courses you're taking next semester?
Correct answer: B — Not yet. Maybe biology or chemistry.
Why? The advisor asks about course choices. Saying you are still choosing between two subjects answers the question; the others misuse 'taking' or 'semester'.
You hear a classmate speaking to you after a lecture.
Classmate: Would you mind if I borrowed your notes from Monday's lecture?
Correct answer: D — Not at all, but they're a bit messy.
Why? 'Would you mind if...?' is a polite request; 'Not at all' means you do not mind, so it is a yes.
You hear a coworker at the campus café speaking to you.
Coworker: The new manager wants us to start at six on Saturdays.
Correct answer: C — Six? That's tough without an early bus.
Why? The coworker reports a new early start time. Reacting to how hard it will be to arrive at six is the only reply that fits.
You hear a student speaking to you. You are the teaching assistant for the course.
Student: I was hoping to get an extension on the lab report.
Correct answer: B — You can have until Thursday, but no later.
Why? An 'extension' here is extra time to hand in work. Offering a new deadline answers the request; the extension cord is a word trap.
You hear a friend speaking to you on Saturday morning.
Friend: Weren't you supposed to be at the conference this weekend?
Correct answer: B — It got postponed until the middle of next month.
Why? The friend is surprised to see you because you were meant to be at a conference. Explaining that it was postponed answers the implied question.
You hear a conversation about campus life. You hear it only once. Then answer the questions: for each one, choose the best answer.
You hear a conversation between a student and an employee at the university housing office.
Housing officer: Hi, welcome to the housing office. How can I help?
Student: Hi. I'm living in Carver Hall right now, and I wanted to ask about moving to a different room.
Housing officer: Okay. Is there a problem with your roommate?
Student: No, not at all. We get along really well, actually. It's more the location. I joined the rowing team this semester, and practice starts at five thirty in the morning down at the boathouse. From Carver it's almost a half-hour walk, and the buses don't start running until six.
Housing officer: I see. Well, the closest residence to the boathouse is Linden House. But I should tell you, Linden only has single rooms, and they cost a bit more. It's about two hundred dollars extra per semester.
Student: Hmm. That's more than I was expecting. Is there any other option?
Housing officer: There is one thing. The university runs an early shuttle for athletes. It's not very well advertised, but if your coach puts your name on the list, it'll pick you up outside Carver at five past five.
Student: Really? Nobody told me about that.
Housing officer: A lot of students don't know. I'd talk to your coach first. If the shuttle works for you, you can stay where you are and save the money. If not, come back and we'll fill out a transfer request for Linden.
Student: That sounds like a plan. Thanks so much.
Correct answer: D — To ask about moving closer to where she trains
Why? She wants to change rooms because of 'the location': rowing practice starts early at the boathouse, a long walk from Carver Hall. She says her roommate is not the problem.
Correct answer: B — They get along well with each other.
Why? When asked about her roommate, she says 'We get along really well, actually.'
Correct answer: D — It costs more per semester than she expected.
Why? The officer says rooms in Linden cost about two hundred dollars extra per semester, and she replies that this is more than she was expecting.
Correct answer: A — Ask her coach about getting on a shuttle list
Why? He tells her to talk to her coach first, because the coach can put her name on the list for the early shuttle. A transfer request is only the backup plan.
You hear a conversation between two students who are preparing a group presentation.
Owen: Hey, Priya, do you have a minute? It's about our presentation for Environmental Policy.
Priya: Sure. Is something wrong? I thought we were in pretty good shape.
Owen: Mostly, yeah. Your section on water pricing looks great. But I still haven't heard anything from Jordan, and he's supposed to be doing the case study. The presentation's on Thursday.
Priya: Oh, I actually ran into him yesterday. He's been sick most of the week, so he's behind. He said he'd send his slides tonight.
Owen: Okay, that's a relief. I was starting to think we'd have to do his part ourselves.
Priya: Let's give him until tomorrow morning. If nothing shows up by then, I can put together a short version of the case study. I've read most of the background material anyway.
Owen: Are you sure? That's a lot on top of your own section.
Priya: It's fine, it'd only be two or three slides. What I'm more worried about is the timing. When we practiced last week, we went almost five minutes over, and Professor Adler is really strict about the fifteen-minute limit.
Owen: Right. Maybe I could cut some of the history from my introduction. Honestly, most of the class probably knows it already.
Priya: Good idea. Why don't we meet on Wednesday afternoon and run through the whole thing with a timer?
Owen: Works for me. I'll book a study room in the library.
Correct answer: A — How to get their presentation ready in time
Why? They talk about Jordan's missing slides, a backup plan and a practice run because the presentation is too long; all of this is about being ready for Thursday.
Correct answer: C — He has been ill for most of the past week.
Why? Priya says Jordan has been sick most of the week, so he is behind.
Correct answer: C — Prepare a short case study herself
Why? She says that if nothing arrives by the next morning, she can put together a short version of the case study.
Correct answer: D — The class probably won't need to hear it.
Why? He suggests cutting it because 'most of the class probably knows it already', so leaving it out loses little.
You hear an announcement on campus or in class. You hear it only once. Then answer the questions: for each one, choose the best answer.
You hear an announcement in a university science building.
Good morning. This is an announcement for everyone in the Hartley Science Building. Because of urgent repairs to a water pipe, the water supply in the building will be turned off this afternoon from one o'clock until approximately four. During that time, the restrooms on all floors will be closed, and the drinking fountains will not work. The restrooms in the student center, right across the courtyard, will remain open. Please also note that laboratory sessions scheduled for this afternoon will go ahead as planned, but any experiments that require running water have been moved to Thursday. Your instructors will contact you directly with the details. We're sorry for the inconvenience, and we expect normal service to return by the end of the day.
Correct answer: A — To say that the water will be off for a few hours today
Why? The announcement explains that the water supply will be turned off from one until about four this afternoon and what this means for people in the building.
Correct answer: B — In a nearby building across the courtyard
Why? All restrooms in the science building will be closed, but those in the student center across the courtyard remain open.
Correct answer: B — They will take place later in the week.
Why? Lab sessions go ahead, but experiments that require running water 'have been moved to Thursday', a later day.
You hear a professor making announcements at the start of a class.
Professor: Before we get started today, a couple of quick announcements. First, as some of you may have heard, our guest speaker for next Tuesday, a city planner who was going to talk about public transportation, has had to cancel. Instead, we'll use that class for a review session before the midterm, so bring any questions you have. Second, about the midterm itself. It'll still be on the twenty-first, but it'll be held in Room two fourteen of the Baxter Building, not here, because this room is being used for another exam. And finally, the reading response that was due this Friday is now due on Monday at noon. A few of you pointed out that the library only has two copies of the article, so I've posted a digital version on the course website. Okay, let's begin.
Correct answer: D — Students will review for the midterm.
Why? The guest speaker has cancelled, so the class will be used 'for a review session before the midterm'.
Correct answer: A — It will be held in another room.
Why? The date stays the same, but the exam will be held in Room two fourteen of the Baxter Building, not in the usual classroom.
Correct answer: C — Students had trouble getting a copy of the article.
Why? Students pointed out that the library has only two copies of the article, so the professor posted it online and moved the deadline to Monday.
You hear part of a talk in a university class. You hear it only once. Then answer the questions: for each one, choose the best answer.
You hear part of a talk in an astronomy class.
Professor: Okay, so last time we talked about how the Moon orbits Earth. Today I want to answer a question that students ask me every year: why do we always see the same side of the Moon? A lot of people assume this means the Moon doesn't spin at all. But actually, it does. It rotates on its axis exactly once for every trip it makes around Earth. Because those two movements take the same amount of time, about four weeks, the same half of the Moon always faces us. Astronomers call this tidal locking. So how did it happen? Well, billions of years ago, the Moon spun much faster. But Earth's gravity pulled on the Moon and stretched it very slightly, creating a small bulge. As the Moon rotated, Earth kept pulling on that bulge, and that pull acted a little like a brake. Over a very long time, it slowed the Moon's spin until it matched its orbit. Now, here's something interesting. The Moon isn't the only example. Many moons in our solar system, including most of the large moons of Jupiter and Saturn, are tidally locked to their planets. In fact, it's so common that when astronomers discover a new moon close to its planet, they generally expect it to be locked as well.
Correct answer: D — Why one side of the Moon always faces Earth
Why? The professor sets out to answer why we always see the same side of the Moon and then explains tidal locking.
Correct answer: C — That the Moon does not rotate on its axis at all
Why? Many people think the Moon does not spin, but the professor says 'But actually, it does.'
Correct answer: A — Its spin and its orbit take the same time.
Why? The Moon spins once per trip around Earth, and 'those two movements take the same amount of time'.
Correct answer: B — To explain how the Moon's spin gradually slowed down
Why? Earth's pull on the bulge 'acted a little like a brake' and, over a very long time, slowed the Moon's spin until it matched its orbit.
Correct answer: D — It is likely to show the same side to its planet.
Why? Tidal locking is so common that astronomers 'generally expect it to be locked as well', meaning the same side faces the planet.
You hear part of a talk in a linguistics class.
Professor: Let's turn now to borrowing, which is one of the main ways languages gain new words. When speakers of one language come into regular contact with speakers of another, through trade, travel or technology, they often adopt words from each other. English, for instance, has borrowed thousands of words over the centuries. Now, borrowed words rarely stay exactly as they were. They usually change to fit the sound patterns of the new language. If a language doesn't allow certain combinations of consonants, speakers might add a vowel to make the word easier to pronounce. Meanings can shift too. A word that refers to a general category in the original language sometimes ends up with a narrower meaning in the borrowing language, or the other way around. So why do languages borrow at all, when they could just invent new words? One reason is simple convenience. When a new object or idea arrives from another culture, the easiest thing to do is take the name along with it. But there's also a social side. In some periods, using words from a particular language was seen as fashionable or sophisticated, so people borrowed words even when their own language already had a perfectly good one. For your next assignment, I'd like you to find three borrowed words in a language you know and describe how each one changed.
Correct answer: B — How and why languages borrow words
Why? The professor explains how borrowed words change and why languages borrow words at all.
Correct answer: C — It is adapted to the sounds of the new language.
Why? Borrowed words 'usually change to fit the sound patterns of the new language'.
Correct answer: D — To make the word easier to say
Why? If the new language does not allow certain consonant combinations, speakers 'might add a vowel to make the word easier to pronounce'.
Correct answer: C — People sometimes borrowed words because it seemed stylish.
Why? In some periods, using words from a particular language was 'fashionable or sophisticated', so people borrowed words even when they already had one.
Correct answer: A — Explain how three borrowed words changed
Why? For the assignment, students find three borrowed words in a language they know and 'describe how each one changed'.