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Sylvia Plath - TOEFL Listening Practice Test with Answers (

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Sylvia Plath - TOEFL Listening Practice Test with Answers

Smruti Das

7 min read

Updated On July 31, 2024

The TOEFL Listening section is designed to test your ability to understand and analyze academic English through a variety of lectures and conversations. This part of the test presents multiple-choice questions where you must select the correct answer from four options based on what you hear.

Struggling with time management or feeling unsure about your listening skills? Don’t fret! Success in this section comes with practice and strategic preparation. To support your study efforts, we’ve created a specialized listening practice set featuring content related to the renowned poet and writer Sylvia Plath. This practice set offers a series of engaging listening exercises along with comprehensive explanations to help you tackle TOEFL Listening questions with confidence. Let’s get started!

Listening Instructions

You can listen to each conversation and lecture only once.
You have approximately 8 minutes to listen to the conversation/lecture and respond to the questions.
Each question generally carries one point unless otherwise specified in the instructions, which will explicitly state the assigned points for specific questions.
After listening to the Lecture, respond to questions related to the topic based on explicit or implicit statements made by the speakers.
Feel free to make notes as you listen. You can refer to your notes to aid in answering the questions.
We recommend practicing note-taking with a pen and paper, similar to what you'll do during the TOEFL Exam.

Lecture on Sylvia Plath

Now listen to the audio.

Conversation on Sylvia Plath - TOEFL Listening Practice Test

Questions

Directions: Mark your answer by selecting your choice.

1. What was Sylvia Plath's main source of achieving her father’s approval during her childhood?
1. A. Her academic success
2. B. Her ability to make friends
3. C. Her achievements in sports
4. D. Her talent for drawing

2. According to the lecture, what was the significance of Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar and her poetry collection Ariel at the time of her death?
1. A. They marked the beginning of her critical recognition
2. B. They were the main reasons for her depression
3. C. They were commercially unsuccessful but well-received critically
4. D. They were rejected by publishers just before her death

3. What was one of the key themes in Sylvia Plath’s poetry according to the lecture?
1. A. Her personal trauma and struggles
2. B. Her fascination with nature
3. C. Her academic achievements
4. D. Her relationship with other poets

4. What does Susan Bassnett's quote in the lecture reveal about Sylvia Plath's impact on women writers?
1. A. Plath’s work was initially rejected by the feminist community
2. B. Plath’s work anticipated future debates on women’s writing
3. C. Plath’s ideas were quickly accepted by her contemporaries
4. D. Plath was recognized only posthumously for her contributions to women’s writing

5. What was the nature of Sylvia Plath's scholarship experience at Smith College according to the lecture?
1. A. She struggled with balancing high academic expectations and social life
2. B. She found the experience to be financially very supportive
3. C. She was offered immediate professional opportunities after graduation
4. D. She faced no challenges during her time at Smith College

Transcript of the Audio Lecture on Sylvia Plath

Narrator: Listen to a lecture by a Professor on the life of Sylvia Plath, then proceed to answer the subsequent questions.

Professor John: Today, we delve into the life and work of one of America's most celebrated modern female poets, Sylvia Plath. By the time of her tragic death in 1963, Plath was on the brink of achieving the critical acclaim she had long sought. Her debut novel, The Bell Jar, had just been published, and the release of her poetry collection Ariel was imminent.

These poems, largely composed during the final year of her life, reflect the intense personal struggles Plath experienced and established her as a significant literary figure. However, it wasn’t until 1982, nearly two decades after her death, that her posthumously published Collected Poems earned the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Since then, interest in her work has only intensified, with Plath captivating readers and scholars alike. Her profound impact was further highlighted in 2003 with the release of a film about her tumultuous life and her complex relationship with her husband, fellow poet Ted Hughes.

To understand why Sylvia Plath’s work continues to resonate, we must examine the themes she addressed and the issues she championed. As Susan Bassnett notes in her book on women writers, "Dying as she did in 1963, Sylvia Plath never knew that so soon afterward the problems of what and how women write was to become such a crucial matter and was to be debated by so many other women." Plath was a trailblazer in exploring women's issues at a time when they were not widely acknowledged.

Sylvia Plath was born on October 27, 1932, at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Boston. As the first child of Otto and Aurelia Plath, both well-educated academics, she faced a complex family dynamic. Her father, a biology professor at Boston University, was displeased with the birth of a daughter and pressured his wife to have a son, which she did almost exactly two years later. This domineering paternal figure became a recurring theme in Plath’s work, as she strived for his approval through academic success.

When Plath’s father passed away in 1940, the family faced severe financial hardship. They moved from their beloved seaside home to a suburb of Boston, and her mother had to take a part-time job to support the family. Despite these challenges, Plath excelled academically and in 1950 won a scholarship to Smith College. During this time, she published her first short story, And Summer Will Not Come Again, and a poem titled Bitter Strawberries.

Plath’s years at Smith College were marked by intense personal pressure. She aimed for perfection in her studies while also striving to fit in socially, despite the constraints of a limited scholarship. Her efforts to balance academic excellence with social acceptance were stressful and demanding.

In 1953, Plath won a fiction contest sponsored by Mademoiselle magazine, which led to an opportunity to work as a guest editor in New York. Although she relished this professional experience, the exhaustion from the month-long stint and the rejection of her application to a creative writing course plunged her into one of the many depressions that would shape her life and work.

Through these experiences, Sylvia Plath’s writing captured the complexities of her personal struggles and offered a poignant exploration of issues that were ahead of her time. Her legacy as a poet and writer continues to influence and inspire new generations.

Wait a moment! Before you review your answers, take a look at our Top 5 Strategies to Crack TOEFL iBT in First Attempt. These tips will guide you towards achieving your dream school admission!

Answers and Explanations of the Lecture on Sylvia Plath

1. Answer: A
Explanation: The correct answer is A. The lecture highlights that Sylvia Plath's relationship with her father was strained, and she struggled to gain his approval. After her father’s illness and eventual death, Plath focused on excelling academically as a way to seek his approval. Her father’s early preference for a son and the subsequent emotional distance from her only intensified her desire to prove herself through academic achievements.

2. Answer: A
Explanation: The correct answer is A. The lecture explains that at the time of Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, her novel The Bell Jar had just been released and her poetry collection Ariel was set to be published. These works represented the beginning of her journey toward critical acclaim and recognition. The Bell Jar was Plath’s first novel, and Ariel was her final major collection of poetry, which later became instrumental in establishing her as a significant literary figure.

3. Answer: A
Explanation: The correct answer is A. The lecture discusses how Plath’s poetry, especially in Ariel, captures the intense personal trauma and emotional struggles she faced in her life. This theme of personal anguish and internal conflict is a central aspect of her work, reflecting her experiences of depression, personal crises, and the search for identity.

4. Answer: B
Explanation: The correct answer is B. Susan Bassnett’s quote reflects that Sylvia Plath was ahead of her time in addressing issues related to women’s experiences and writing. The quote suggests that Plath’s work prefigured later discussions and debates about women's roles in literature and the significance of women's voices in writing, which became prominent topics in the years following her death.

5. Answer: A
Explanation: The correct answer is A. The lecture describes Sylvia Plath’s challenging experience at Smith College, where she was under immense pressure to maintain high academic standards while also trying to fit in socially. The scholarship required her to keep up excellent grades to continue receiving financial support, which made it difficult for her to manage both her academic responsibilities and her desire to be socially accepted and popular among her peers.

Congratulations on finishing this TOEFL Listening practice test! If you’re ready to build on your success, we offer more practice tests that replicate the TOEFL exam format. Keep up the great work and continue improving your listening skills!