在托福听力当中例子是高频考点，通常会考察举例子的作用或者是例子的细节，较多的情况考察例子的作用，较少考察例子的内容。有些情况下会给出一些信号词，需要同学能够识别出来，及时去回想在提到例子之前，说了什么，有些情况没有给出信号词，但是分析出例子和前面内容的内在联系，就可以选出正确的选项。

　　举例子前给出信号词

　　当同学听到信号词的时候，需要非常注意，要能够掌握举例子为了说明什么，以及例子的内容。 常见的举例子的信号词有 for example, for instance, such as, like。例子如下：

　　e.g. What does the woman imply about incident that occurred in her sociology class?

　　（TPO 5 Conversation 1）

　　A. She was embarrassed because she gave an incorrect answer

　　B. She was upset because the professor seemed to ignore her

　　C. She was confused by the organization of the professor’ s lecture

　　D. She was surprised by the comments of the other students

　　Student：No, in fact I got an A on my first economics paper. It’s just that, it’s so impersonal, I’m not used to it.

　　Counselor：Are all your classes impersonal?

　　Student：No, it’s just that…for example, in sociology yesterday, the professor asked a question, so I raised my hand, several of us raised our hands. And I kept my hand up because I did the reading and knew the answer. But the professor just answered his own question and continued with the lecture.

　　在这一题中，学生认为课堂是没有人情味的，所以举了上社会学课的一件事情来说明，老师提了一个问题，学生和别的几个同学就举了手，但是老师并没有让她们回答问题。在这里有明显的举例信号词 “for example”，识别例子较为容易。

　　答案：B

　　e.g. What mistakes does the professor imply the woman has made while working on a project?

　　（TPO4 Conversation 2）

　　Click on 2 answers

　　A. Finding sources for her group partners.

　　B. Writing the weekly progress reports for her group.

　　C. Forgetting to pay attention to the project’s deadlines.

　　D. Failing to involve the group members in the selection of a topic.

　　Student：Yes, but I feel like I’m doing 90% of the work. I hate to sound so negative here, but honestly, they are taking credit for things they shouldn’t take credit for. Like last week in the library, we decided to split up the research into 3 parts and then each of us was supposed to find sources in the library for our parts. I went off to the stack and found some really good material for my part, but when I got back to our table, they were just goofing off and talking. So I went and got materials for their sections as well.

　　Professor：Um…you know you shouldn’t do that.

　　这一题考查了对于例子内容的理解。学生为了说明小组成员什么事也不做，说到了一件事情，就是在图书馆找资料，小组成员闲聊不去找资料，然后她就帮小组成员找好资料的事情。在这里信号词是like。

　　答案：AD

　　e.g. What the point does the professor make when he refers to the university library?

　　(TPO2-Lecture1)

　　A. A study on problem solving took place there.

　　B. Students should go there to read more about behaviorism

　　C. Students’ eyes will turn toward it if they think about it.

　　D. He learned about William James’s concept of thinking there.

　　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.

　　这一题也是考察例子。提到大学图书馆是想说明，“If you think of locations, there tends to be eye movement that occurs with your thinking about that location.” 当你想某个地方时，你的眼球会随着你的思绪进行运动。在这里信号词是“one simple example”。

　　答案：C

　　举例子前没有给出信号词

　　这一类题相对有信号词的题目来说，相对难一些。但是只要分析出例子和前面内容的内在联系和逻辑，就能够做出来。例子如下：

　　e.g. Why does the professor mention a mountain road?

　　（TPO 33 Lecture 1）

　　A. To illustrate an alternative to a steep ramp

　　B. To emphasize the effort needed to move large stone blocks

　　C. To imply that progresses on the Great Pyramid was slow

　　D. To describe the shape of the road leading to the Giza Plateau

　　Well, if you've ever driven on a mountain road, you'd know that it has a lot of twists and turns and bends in it because that's how engineers keep the road from having to be too steep.

　　So why not wrap the ramp around the Pyramid?

　　这篇lecture讨论的是金字塔是如何建成的，然而为什么会说到在山路呢？同学需要能够分析出工程师为了使道路不那么陡峭，所以设计了很多迂回曲折的弯路，那么同样用来建造金字塔的坡道也可以。

　　答案：A

　　e.g. In his discussion of O’Keeffe’s style, why does the professor describe Large Dark Red Leaves on White?

　　（TPO 48 Lecture 1）

　　A. To give an example of a painting that was copied from a photograph

　　B. To give an example of an abstract interpretation of real objects

　　C. To point out that some of O’Keeffe’s subjects were represented in their natural setting

　　D. To point out the similarities between O’Keeffe’s works and works of other artists

　　O’ Keeffe liked to create abstract interpretations of real objects.

　　In the painting Jennifer mentioned, Large Dark Red Leaves on White, in addition to exaggerating the size of the leaf, O’ Keeffe juxtaposes it against a silver or whitish background, so that’s more of an abstract setting for it, and so on.

　　首先说到O’ Keeffe喜欢创作出对真实物体的抽象诠释，然后说到了她的作品Large Dark Red Leaves on White，通过对于这幅作品的描述，就能分析出这是她对真实物体抽象诠释的例子。

　　答案：B

　　e.g.What point does the professor emphasize by his discussion of the lithograph The Potato Eaters?

　　（TPO 46 Lecture 2）

　　A.Profiles are more difficult to create than head-on portraits.

　　B.Some artists consider the direction of the profile a key element in a portrait.

　　C.Most group portraits include both left and right profiles.

　　D.The direction of a profile is usually determined by the characteristics of the subject.

　　We do know that for many artists, the choice of left side, right side was very important.

　　There is an image by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh called the Potato Eaters that shows the profiles 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.” .

　　首先说到了对于很多艺术家来说左右脸的选择是很重要的。然后说到了Potato Eaters的印板画中，农民的左右脸弄反了，梵高很不高兴，所以可以证实对于艺术家来说，左右脸的选择是重要的。

　　答案：B

　　综上所述,举例子是托福听力高频的考点，有时候会给出信号词，也有很多时候不会给出信号词，但是只要能够准确地识别例子，对做题会很有帮助。此外，有时同学可能会漏听例子前面的内容，这个时候也不要放弃，将例子完整地听下来，还有很大的可能可以推理出来，所以例子的细节也是很有用的。托福听力还有哪些技巧？快来新航道托福考试频道看看吧~