TOEFL100点以上を目指す社会人の方のための集中勉強会のご案内です。

5月25日に東京で集中勉強会に参加されたSさん(25才、社会人）から得点ゲットのお知らせが届きました。

いままでの最高点が
Ｒ２２ Ｌ１７ Ｓ１４ Ｗ２２ 計７５

今回が
Ｒ２６ Ｌ２３ Ｓ１８ Ｗ２４ 計９１

なんと+16点、全分野で記録更新です。

おめでとうございます。

短期間でこれだけ伸びたのは本当に素晴らしいです。勉強会のあと必死に勉強されたのだと思います。

よく頑張った。

ご本人の感覚ではあと＋5点くらいは行けそうとのことなので、今後とも勉強を続けていただき、次のレベルを目指してください。

ご報告有難うございました。

うれしいーーーーーーーーーーーーー。

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集中勉強会に出ていただいて、その後、韓流本で勉強していただくと効率的に得点アップが期待できます。全国のTOEFL学習者の皆さん、ぜひ集中勉強会に一度出ていただいて、その後、韓流本に必死で取り組み、ご自分の目標を達成してください。自分で思い悩むより、私の声を聴きに来てください。惰性で受験を続けて時間とお金を無駄にしておられる方が結構いると思うので、私の門をたたいてほしいです。

USHER Q6　自分の解答

Strategy：
The professor explains two reasons for the success of the Roman Empire.
First, they had far more advanced technologies than others. Take the use of concrete, for example. This made possible to construct arches and large structures like bridges connecting all roads leading to Rome.
Second, they had the underground water systems called aqueducts. They provided the Romans with the constant supply of uncontaminated water, which was protected from enemies.
These examples explain two reasons for the success of the Roman Empire.

Aqueducts 水路
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Test 1
The professor explains how animals can adapt to high altitudes by giving two examples.
First, mountain goats have two-layer fur coat to protect from cold temperature and strong winds. They shed the outer layer during summer. They also have strong front legs to aid climbing steep slopes.
Second, big horn sheep has cloven hoof or separated foot that help them live in steep cliffs to escape from predators. In addition, their feet have soft and spongy structure which enables them to live on slippery surfaces of mountain cliffs.
These examples demonstrate how animals survive in high altitudes.

Hoof ひづめ
Cloven hoof割れたひづめ
Forelimbs 前足
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Test 2
The professor explains how play behaviors help young animals survive in the wild by giving two examples.
First, a baby bird practices picking up a feather over and over again, so that they can prey on foods in the future when it becomes an adult.
Second, a baby monkey practice moving from one tree to another, so that they can build up muscle and speed to be able to move quickly and possibly escape from predators.
These are good examples of how baby animals’ play behaviors help their survival in the future.

Nestlings ひな
Inconspicuously　眼にははっきり見えないが、目立たないが
This motion accustoms monkeys to ~ 慣れさせる
Agility敏しょう性
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Test 3
The professor explains two types of feathers of loons and their functions.
First, contour feathers are outer layer feathers, and they are tightly packed and coated with special oil, so they never get wet and lose body temperature by evaporation.
Second, down feathers between the skin and contour feathers are like cotton, containing a lot of air inside and function as insulating material to protect from cold temperatures. They also aid loons to float in the water.

Plumage 羽根
Preventing water from seeping through
But the structure does not do justice to its significant benefits. 構造だけではその良さを十分説明できない。
We should do justice to his effort 彼の努力を正当に評価するべきである。
Buoyancy 浮力buoyancy buoy ブイ
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Test 4
The professor explains how animals cooperate to defend against predators by giving two examples.
First, muskoxen form a line against a single predator to intimidate. Against multiple predators, males form a circle facing enemies with babies and females inside the circle.
Second, when a mocking bird spots a fox, it alerts other birds and intimidate the fox. In the meantime, other birds attack the fox from behind. The mocking birds have other ways of offending off predators as well.

Muskoxen ジャコウウシ
Bovines ウシ科の動物
To increase survivability and the chances of warding off, 追い払う
Ward off colds, ward off creditors,
The goal of mobbing is to fend off the predator.
While the fox is preoccupied, 気を取られている間に
Defecating ウンチを落とす
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Test 5
The professor explains two examples of group huntings.

First, several lions encircle a herd of zebras and attack the one closest to them. As lions do not have stamina, they try to hunt quickly.
Second, honey guide bees are too weak to break a bee hive, while badgers cannot see well. Honey guide bees lead a badger to a honey hive. The badger breaks the bee hive and eat honeycomb and the birds eat the remaining. This is called mutualism, meaning two different species help each other.

この問題は本番ででました。
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Test 6
The professor explains two ways to make sculptures, subtractive and additive sculpturing.

Subtractive sculptures are made by chipping away solid materials such as woods and marbles. This is more difficult process, because once pieces are chipped away, it is not possible to put them back. Pieta by Michelangelo is a famous example of subtractive sculpting.
Additive sculptures are made by molding or shaping softer materials such as cement and clay. Artists have more freedom, because the shape can be changeable. A famous example is LOVE by Robert Indiana.

Sculptures come in a variety of forms.
This exemplified by Greek and Roman statues.
Modern art installation
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Test 7
The professor explains why animals change fur color by using two examples.
Arctic foxes change their fur color to white during winter and to brown during summer to be able to approach preys without being noticed.
Snow shoe hares change their fur color to hide from foxes, but unlike foxes, white fur grows from different locations of the skin and they are hollow and function as heat insulator.

Biochrome 生体色素
Follicle毛包
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Test 8
The professor explains two advantages of subsurface locomotion, that is, swimming in the sand. He uses a lizard called sandfish as an example.
First, Sandfish can control its body temperatures by submerging into the sand. The hotter the temperature, the deeper they dive into the ground.
Second, they can easily catch preys. In the desert, as there are no high vantage points in the desert, they cannot use eyes to find insects. Instead, they hide under the ground, sense vibrations from insect, and catch them.


This impediment becomes even worse when your prey is tiny insects which are hard to notice in the first place.
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Test 9
The professor explains the intelligence of ants by giving two food harvesting techniques.
First, worker ants, when they find a food source, they release pheromone so that other ants can locate it. If the food is found by another species, they release another kind of pheromone to confuse them or call warrior ants to fight with them.
Second, ants place small stones around entrances of rival colonies. This gives two advantages. While rivals are fixing the entrances, ants can secure more foods, and also they can avoid fighting with rivals.

Pheromone
Pheromone
Hormone
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Test 10
The professor explains two reasons why bats hang upside down.
First, bats hide themselves from predators. During day, bats sleep in a secluded area such as caves, so that predators cannot reach them.
Second, they hang to take off easily. Bats cannot take off from the ground because their front legs are too weak. Being hang upside down, they are ready to fly and escape from predators.


Bats cannot take off from the ground because wings do not produce enough lift to launch them from a dead stop.
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メモをしっかり取って、20秒の間に、言う必要のないメモにバツ印をつけ、残ったメモをもとに冷静に60秒喋る。リスニング能力、まとめ能力がないとTask6に対応できない。
Task 4 & 6は本当に素晴らしいテストだと思う。
Task 4 & 6にしっかり対応できる人はかなりの英語の達人と思って間違いない。

Test 11
The professor explains two benefits of eco-travel.
The first benefit is to reduce impact on environment. For example, participants try to walk or ride on animals instead of using cars. They also do other beneficial activities such as planting trees, protecting animal habitats, and giving financial support to local people.
The second benefit is to raise awareness of participants to environmental issues. They learn how to respect nature, culture and local people, what is good or bad for nature and take measures so that future generations can experience nature without being touched by humans.
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Test 12
The professor explains two types of information based on which customers decide which products to purchase.
The first one is intrinsic or direct information of products. Take the color of a fruit juice, for example. Consumers assume that one juice with a good color would be tasty. Often, expected quality matches experienced quality.
The second type is extrinsic information or indirect information of products such as reputation, price and packaging of products. In this case, expected quality does not necessarily match experienced quality.


Consumers would buy fruit juice in fancy bottles because they assume the one in pretty bottles to be of better quality.
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これでUsherの12問が終了。Usherの解答例のまとめ方はすばらしい。なかなかこれほどすっきりとまとめられる人はいないと思う。このレベルを目標に、練習を続けたい。

USHER Q4　私の答え

Test 1
According to the reading, plants in rainforests make adaptations to limited sun light and excessive amount of water. The professor discusses two examples of adaptations of urn plants.

First, he describes that urn plants have ring-shaped leaves with holes in the center. This allows plants to store water for a long time. Also, water directly goes to the root to protect branches and leaves.

Second, he describes that urn plants have dark-color leaves in spiral form to gather sun light as much as possible for photosynthesis.

These examples demonstrate adaptation of urn plants in rainforests. (45 seconds)

Test 2
According to the reading, exaptation is a feature of an animal that provides unintended functions. The professor discusses an example of herons.

First, he describes herons have wings to fly as the original function.

Second, he describes that herons use long wings to block the sun light to be able to see fish in water and catch them easily.

The use of wings in this unintended purpose of catching fish is a good example of exaptation.

Thanks for listening and your patience. Hope you have a great day. (42 seconds)

Test 3
According to the reading, optimal foraging is a way an animal maximizes a food source while minimizing consumed energy. The professor describes an example of Northwestern crows dropping welks.

First, he describes that a crow lifts a welk into air and drop it to break the shell and eats the meat.

Second, he describes that the bird calculates an optimum height just enough to break the shell with a minimum energy consumption. If the bird flies too high, it wastes too much energy, while if the bird flies too low, the shell will not break.

This example demonstrates how a northwestern crow utilizes a minimum foraging technique.

Thanks for listening and your patience. Hope you have a great day. (50 seconds)

Test 4
According to the reading, mental accounting is how people encode, categorize and evaluate economic outcomes. The professor describes her own experience to explain this.

She had two jobs, an office job on weekdays and a waitress job on weekends. She saved the income from the office job in a saving account for buying a house, while she spent money from the waitress job without any constraints.

She managed two income sources separately. However, if she had saved the salary from the waitress job, she could have bought a house earlier.

This example demonstrates mental accounting.

Thanks for listening and your patience. Hope you have a great day. (45 seconds)
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Test 5
According to the reading, selling techniques are the ways to motivate consumers to buy products. The professor describes two examples to explain them.

First, the professor explains a producer developing a new product based on existing technologies. For example, an established electronics company can develop a new TV monitor without much design work and can sell them easily using the established brand image.
Second, the professor explains a company developing complimentary products. For example, a well established snowboard maker can produce related products such jackets and gloves easily using the established brand loyalty.

These examples demonstrate selling techniques. (50 seconds)

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Test 6
According to the reading, environmental disturbances cause changes that have impact on the plants living there and their way of growing. The professor explains an example of bluegrass to describe this.

First, he describes that bluegrass when fully grown becomes two or three feet tall and blocks the sunlight for other shorter plants.

Second, he explains that to solve this problem, cows are released in the area to eradicate the bluegrass, so that other shorter plants can survive through photosynthesis.

This example demonstrates environmental disturbances caused by nature.

Thanks for listening and your patience. Hope you have a great day. Good bye now. (52 seconds)
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Test 7

According to the reading, bait pricing is a marketing technique used by a shop to lure customers into the shop by using extremely low price bait products. The professor explains two examples to describe this.

First, the professor describes a Christmas sales. He received a flyer for a DVD player for 20 dollars, but he ended up buying a 50 dollar model at the shop as the bait product was already sold out.

Second, the professor describes selling a new product at an extremely low introductory price. Customers tend to buy the product, becomes familiar with the product and buy it again later at a higher price.

These examples demonstrate bait pricing.

(52 seconds)

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Test 8
According to the reading, evolution in action is for a plant to make rapid changes in its structure or functions to adjust to changes in environment created by human intervention. The professor describes mint plants to explain this.

First, the professor describes that mint plants once grown in woods moved to residential areas after people cutting trees in woods.

Second, the professor describes that after lawn mowers were invented, mint plants changed their growing direction from vertical to horizontal to survive the attack of lawn mowers.

These examples demonstrate evolution in action.

Thanks for listening and your patience. Hope you have a great day. Good bye now. (52 seconds)
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Test 9

According to the reading, prenatal learning is the ability of embryos to learn by listening during the pregnant period. The professor uses an example of murres to explain this.

Murres are sea-dwelling birds and make huge colonies. When mother birds come back to their nests, it is very difficult to locate their babies among a large number of other birds. To solve this problem, mother birds speak to eggs so that their voices are imprinted on the brains of chicks before hatching. After hatching, babies can respond to the chirping of mothers and mothers can easily locate their babies in the colony.

This is a good example of prenatal learning.

Thanks for listening and you have a great day. (52 seconds)
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Test 10
According to the reading, choice-supportive bias is our behavior to focus on positive aspects of a decision already made and forget negative feathers of those options that were not selected. This is done to justify the decision and not to regret the decision. The professor uses an example of her friend to explain this.

Her friend wanted to buy a house and had difficult time deciding because of pros and cons. The house was close to her job, but it was too small. At the end she bought it.

A few years later, her friend talked about her house and emphasized how convenient the house was because of proximity to the job, but never mentioned the small size of the house.

This is a good example of choice supportive bias.

Thanks for listening. Have a great day.
(53 seconds)
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Test 11
According to the reading, specialist species are those animals that live in limited areas and eat only limited foods. The professor explains an example of Koalas.

Koalas primarily eat eucalyptus leaves that can be toxic to other animals. So, Koalas have no competition over food and they live in areas without being threatened by other animals.

However, when eucalyptus trees are cut down by humans, koalas lose their habitats, and they are recognized as a threatened species.

In summary, this example demonstrates special species.

Thanks for listening and have a great day. Bye bye now. (50 seconds)

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Test 12

According to the reading, an employer may hire a test customer, a third party person hired by the employer, to evaluate the performance of employees without prejudice. The professor uses an example of a restaurant manager to explain this.

First, the manager tried to evaluate his waiters and waitresses by himself, but this was of no use. The staff, knowing they were being monitored by the manager, they sort of acted to be good performers.

So, the manager hired an outside person to disguise as a customer to evaluate his employees. As the staff acted normally, the test customer was able to evaluate the employees correctly and fairly and reported the result to the manager.

So, this example demonstrates test customer.
Thanks.
(55 seconds)

USHER Q1Q2 私の答え

Strategies:
What is an interesting book you have not read yet?

以前作っておいたあなたが好きな本は？の作文を活用。
My friend recommended me to read "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. My friend enjoyed reading this book because difficult concepts in astrophysics were presented by using easy to understand terms. Although he had no prior knowledge of astrophysics, he was able to understand clearly some of the most difficult concepts such as quantum physics, theory of relativity, worm holes, black holes, big bang, etc. He really enjoyed reading this book and strongly recommended me to read it.
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Do you prefer a friend who has the same thoughts or a friend who has different thoughts?

すでに同様な問題あり。
I do not mind at all having friends who have different opinions than mine. Actually I have many friends who always disagree with my opinions, but we have maintained great and long-term friendships. I feel it is intellectually stimulating to exchange our ideas and opinions on a subject. For example, my best friend has totally different political views from mine. When it is voting time, we always have different opinions as to which party we should be supporting. But these arguments are always purely logical and constructive from which both of us can learn and benefit.
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Day 1
Describe what kind of group activity you want to participate.
以前やった問題の変形。
I would like to participate in a volunteer work to help those victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami for two reasons. First, my heart goes to those who were killed by this unprecedented natural disaster and those who were left with no houses, no money, no relatives and friends and above all no hope to live the rest of their lives. Second, as I plan to retire soon, I want to spend my remaining life to help those who are suffering. As God gave me a chance to live in this world, I feel obligated to help those suffering in the worst condition and suffering alone.
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Some people say that it is better for children to go on a field trip. Others say that it is better for them to study in classroom.
以前やった問題の変形。
This depends on which subjects they study. For example, if they study mathematics or foreign languages, the best place to study would be in a classroom with a qualified teacher, a whiteboard, and a pointer. However, if they study subjects such as botany or zoology, they should go on a field trip to a museum or a zoo, because they can actually see and touch plants and animals, which is more interesting than reading many pages of a textbook. In a nutshell, it relies on which subjects they study.
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Day 2

What is something you tried hard but have never accomplished before?
新しい題材。

I tried to break 90 in my golf game but never accomplished it.

First, I changed my golf clubs many times. This did not work because every time I bought a new club, it messed up my swing and worsened my scores.
Second, I took lessons from a pro. This did not work, either, because he tried to drastically change my golf swing and I ended up with shooting my worst score.
In the end, none of these measures was instrumental to achieving my goal.
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When students study abroad, should they stay with a family already living there?
既出問題。

It depends on how long I stay in a foreign country. If my stay is relatively a short time, like one month or so, I would prefer to stay with a local family. This is because I can learn the new language and culture from my host family. (For example, when I participated in a 4 week summer Spanish program in Spain, I stayed in a host family, which was a great learning experience of the Spanish culture.) In contrast, if I stay in a country for a long time, I would definitely live alone, because my privacy takes precedence over any other benefits of living with a local family or friends.
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Day 3

Describe a social or political event in your country and how it influenced your nation.
難問。この種の問題は事前に予習しておかないと本番では絶対アイディアが出てこない。

Every August 6, the city of Hiroshima holds a ceremony to console the victims of the atomic bomb and to pray for the lasting peace of the world. This ceremony reminds us of two things.
First, we should learn a lesson from the mistake made in the past and make every effort to prevent the recurrence of this tragic event.
Second, Japan, being the only country attacked by atomic bombs, should take the leading role to eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.
May all the victims of the atomic bomb rest in peace.
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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Students learn more by participating in class discussions.
既出問題。

I agree with the statement for two reasons.
First, discussions stimulate my thinking process. To be specific, in a physics class, we discussed why the sky is blue. I really enjoyed this thinking process.

Second, through discussions, I can learn opinions of other students. For example, in a history class, we debated on the reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire. Other students suggested numerous theories, and I learned a great deal from them.

So, I agree that students learn more from discussions.
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Day 4
Explain how cell phones influenced people’s lives.
既出問題。

As far as I am concerned, my cell phone greatly improved my life in two ways. First, as my job requires me to travel extensively, my cell phone helps me to communicate with my family members. I usually talk with my wife and kids at least three times a day. Second, my cell-phone entertains me when I travel; I can listen to music, watch movies, surf the internet, book a hotel, read an electronic book, you name it. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without my cell phone.
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Advertising junk food or candy bars should be prohibited for children.

It depends on the extent of the risk to children.
First, if the risk of the junk foods is not proven, companies selling the junk foods have constitutional right, or freedom of speech to advertise their products. The government may recommend them to stop advertising, but legally they are not bound to comply.
However, if the risk is scientifically proven to be significant, then the government should intervene and restrict such messages directed at children.
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Day 5
Who is a musician or an artist you do not respect?
これは難問。嫌いな歌手なんていないぞ。作り話しかない。
I hate a heavy metal band called KISS for two reasons.
First of all, their music is too loud. For example, I was in a bar. The music was so loud that I had to practically yell at someone two inches away from me.
Second, their music is very depressing and difficult to understand. For example, all they talk about are death, Satan, demons, and devils and I just do not get the message behind the music.
So, I do not appreciate Kiss.
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Some people say that in-born talent is the most important to become an artist. Others say hard work is more important.

I think hard work is more important. I will use two contrasting examples.

First, my friend is a violinist and he was called a prodigy, but he was lazy and did not practice. As a result, he ended up with a mediocre violinist.
In contrast, Midori, an internationally famous violinist, for example. She was also born with an exceptional talent, but what made her different from my friend was she practiced extremely hard. According to her, she practiced on average 7 hours a day in her childhood.
In sum, genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work.
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Day 6
Describe a benefit you have got from using the internet.
類似問題。

There are two benefits.
First, I can communicate with my family with ease and less cost. Specifically, as my job requires me to travel extensively, I used to spend a lot of money making long distance calls to my family. Now, thanks to the software called Skype, I can communicate with my family free of charge. Second, internet makes my travel very easy. For example, I can make reservations for my transportation and accommodation very easily.

So, these are two benefits of internet.
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Some people say it is better to take long but relaxed course in college. Others say it is better to take short but intensive course.

Intensive courses are better. I will use two contrasting examples.

First, in college, I had to take a Spanish class where we met only once a week for four months. The problem was I forgot everything I learned in the previous week and had to start all over again.
In contrast, I took a summer intensive Spanish program where I studied 5 hours every day for four weeks. At the end of 4 weeks, I made a significant improvement in my command of Spanish.
So, I recommend intensive classes.
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Day 7

What do you and your family do for enjoyment?

My family enjoys watching NHL hockey games on TV for two reasons.

First, the game of ice hockey is exciting. Specifically, every two or three minutes, some players get excited, remove gloves, and start a fist fighting. It is interesting that referees let them fight for a while before intervening.
Second, it is a great stress relieving activity. We drink a lot of beer, I mean a lot and yell and cheer at the TV. Go for it Penguins! I feel so good after watching a game especially when my team wins.
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It is important to get dressed up and stay fashionable.

I do not care about the latest fashion for two reasons.

First, it costs too much money. Basically, I purchase all my clothing at a Target or Wal-Mart. A pair of jeans and a T-shirt are all I need. It is a waste of money to buy fashionable clothes.
Second, I do not have to impress others. As I am an established businessman, I really do not need to impress others with my fancy suites or watches. Steve Jobs did not wear expensive suits.
So, I do not care about fashion.
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I agree with this statement for two reasons.

First, when I started to work, I wore an old worn out suit. Nobody took my opinion seriously in meetingｓ and nobody in conferences approached me.
Later, I invested 2000 dollars on a suit and a watch. Then, my colleagues started to pay more attention to my presentation and more people wanted to exchange name cards in conferences.
My expensive suit and watch made a big difference in my career.
So, I believe we should be dressed up.

神戸の勉強会に参加されたMさん85点ゲットのお知らせをいただきました。

最後まで熱心に勉強会に参加されました。有難うございました。

前回の77点から8点アップ。Wの27点はすごいです。私が教わりたいくらいです。

RLでかなり伸び代があるので、RLを頑張るとすごい点数が出そうです。

引き続き韓流で頑張ってください。

フレーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー、
フレーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー、Mさん
頑張れ、がんばれ、ガンバレ、がんばれ　Mさん

拍手喝采。

有難うございました。

大阪のYさんと同じ学習会で最後まで熱心にご参加いただいたTさんから100点ゲットのお知らせをいただきました。この方は本当に熱心な勉強態度でこちらの頭が下がる思いでした。現在はUsher本に取り組んでおられるとのこと、間違いなく次の得点目標を達成されると信じています。
留学の目標を達成されますよう心から祈っています。

フレーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー、
フレーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー、Tさん
頑張れ、がんばれ、ガンバレ、がんばれ　Tさん

拍手喝采。

有難うございました。

祐天寺の集中勉強会に参加いただいたYさんから高得点の報告をいただきました。

104(R29,L27,S20,W28)

前回は92点だったので、一挙に12点アップ。

大阪から参加され、二日目の最後まで熱心に勉強された方です。

Speakingがとても上手な方なので本来の実力は最低でも23点です。

目標は109点。きっと行けると思います。

Speakingは点が出るのに少し時間がかかるので、日々練習をお願いします。

頑張れー、Yさん。

良い知らせ、有難う。