RHETORICIAN (n.)

An eloquent writer or speaker; a master of RHETORIC (the art of speaking and writing)



Frederick Douglass, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan were all charismatic (magnetic and inspiring) leaders and superb RHETORICIANS whose eloquent speeches inspired millions of people. For example, in his inaugural address, President Kennedy challenged Americans by proclaiming, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -ask what you can do for your country.”



Quick Quiz:

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a fiery rhetorician, owes his winning the election by a landslide to —--------.

A. a fluky change in rich people’s positive attitude

B. his ability to deliver persuasive speeches

C. his reputation among the only minority group in society



Answer: B

Word of the Day:
NEGLIGIBLE
(NEG-li-ji-bul)
Unimportant, trifling, of little consequence.
That which is negligible can be neglected. A negligible concern can be
disregarded; it is so trivial and insignificant that it warrants little or no
attention.

A Test taker's experience:
امتحان من صبح بیست و یکم نوامبر در موسسه امیربهادر بود.ریدینگ متن های طولانی داشت و نیاز به تمرکز و تسلط بالا برای پاسخگویی در زمان مناسب داشت. لیسنینگ لانگ بود همونی که خانومه کارت شناسایی و غذاش رو گم کرده. بقیه لیسنینگ ها هم عینا لیسنینگ هایی بود که استاد سر کلاس برامون گذاشته بودن در مورد اون جزایر آتشفشانی بالای ژاپن و ....برای قسمت اسپیکینگ پرسیده بود استراتژی شما برای اینکه بتوانید تمرین یا پروژه کاریتون انجام بشه چیه و سوال سوم در مورد این بود که آدمهای بیرون دانشگاه با پرداخت پول در باشگاه دانشگاه ورزش کنن که هم با پولشون و بدون اینکه دانشجوها و کارمندان دانشگاه پول بدن لوازم ورزشی باشگاه جدید بشن چون در وضع خوبی نیستن و هم اینکه دانشگاهشون توی شهر کوچیکیه و تعداد زیادی آدم نمیان که شلوغ بشه و باشگاه به اندازه کافی جای خالی داره..سوال چهارم تعریف Generalization
بود که مثال زده بود که بچه استاد وقتی سه سالش بوده بهش اولین قطارشو دادن بهش گفتن این اسمش قطاره ولی یه روز که سوار ماشین بودن و جلوی تقاطع ریل توقف کرده بودن تا قطار عبور کنه به بچه گفتن که این قطاره بچه گیج شده بود ولی بعدا که 4 سالش شده بود خودش کاملا متوجه بود که یک واژه میتونه به بیشتر از یه شئ خاص مربوط باشه.سوال پنجم هم تکراری بود پسره میخواست با همکلاسی های کلاس فرانسه اش بره ونکوور که اونجا بتونن فرانسه حرف بزنن ولی پول بلیط قطار نداشت یا باید یه هفته 10 ساعت اضافه کار میکرد که چون نزدیک امتحانات بودن سخت میشد یا باید یه چیزی میفروخت به یکی از بچه های دانشگاه که گفت مثلا گیتارمو میفروشم که میتونم اینجوری توی ونکوور پول داشته باشم خرج کنم ولی از طرفی دیگه گیتار نخواهم داشت.سوال ششم هم تکراری بود فواید مشتری رو گفت که از طرفی وقتی راضی باشن به بقیه هم میگن راضی بودن از کیفیت بالا مثلا اگه از مکانیکشون راضی باشن ماشین دوستشون خراب بشه بهش میگن برو پیش این مکانیک که خوبه و اون دوستشونم به دوستاش میگه و مشتری ها اینجوری زیاد میشن و از سوی دیگه مشتری وقتی راضی باشه میتونه کمک کنه به کار فروشنده مثلا استاد خودش رفته بوده کتابفروشی که همیشه میره و یه زوج دیده بوده که آقا داشته به خانم میگفته نمیدونم اینحا کتاب تاریخی میفروشن یا نه و استاد میشنوه اینو و میره جلو بهشون میگه بله کتاب تاریخی هم دارن.
رایتینگ اول در مورد فواید روغن پالم بود که در لیسنینگ رد شده بود.ریدینگ گفته بود روغن پالم ازش یه نوع سوخت درست میکنن که کمتر باعث گرمایش زمین میشه تا سوخت فسیلیو برای ایجاد روغن پالم باید درخت پالم بکارن پس به جنگلسازی کمک میکنه و به کشاورزای کوچیک کمک میکنه به لحاظ اقتصادی. اما لیسنینگ میگفت برای کاشتن درخای پالم باید گیاهای موجود رو از بین ببرن و این جنگلسازی نیست بلکه عکس این هست با افزایش تقاضای پالم داره
Deforestation
بیشتر میشه و کشاورزای بزرگ برای شود بیشتر در حال بیشتر کاشتن هستند و کشاورزهای کوچیک دارن سود خیلی کمی میبرن و برای کاشتن درختان پالم باید اول زمین
Clear
بشه که با سوختی به نام
peat
میسوزونن که این خودش بیشتر از سوخت فسیلی دی اکسید کربن آزاد میکنه.و موشصوع

رایتینگ آخر این بود آیا موافق هستید با این جمله کهمهمترین درسهای زندگی رو از اعضای خانواده میگیرید

NEOPHYTE, NOVICE, GREENHORN (n)

All three are beginners



In October 2008, Justin Bieber was an unknown NEOPHYTE who had never professionally recorded a song. However, Usher recognized that although Bieber was NOVICE, he was a musical prodigy who had the potential to become a superstar. With Usher as his mentor, the angelic-looking Bieber soon developed a “streetwise" look that included baseball caps, hoodies, hip hop chains, and flashy sneakers. Usher quickly transformed Bieber from a GREENHORN to a global sensation. In July 2010, JB's music video Baby supplanted Lady Gaga's Bad Romance video as the most viewed You Tube video ever.



Quick Quiz:

The Eiger is a difficult mountain to climb. Novices —--------.

A) have already climbed it

B) should not attempt it

C) need to training to attempt it



Answer: B

Please find below update to speaking questions: Some changes to part 1 and 2 topics

A popular topic on TOEFL Test especially in the reading section: It is recommended you take a cursory glance at the information presented on the following page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt

BENEFICIARY (n.)

The recipient of funds, titles, property, and other benefits



Nicholas Sparks has achieved international fame by writing romance novels such as The Notebook and A Walk to Remember· that are often set in New Bern, North Carolina. Residents of New Bern also know Sparks as a generous BENEFACTOR and PATRON who has donated nearly $1 million dollars to build a state-of-the-art track and field facility for New Bern High School. As the BENEFICIARIES of this MUNIFICENT gift the New Bern Bears have become one of North Carolina's top track and field teams. Note that both BENEFACTOR and BENEFICIARY begin with the Latin prefix bene, which means "good." So a BENEFACTOR, like Nicholas Sparks, gives good gifts, and a BENEFICIARY, like New Bern High School, receives good gifts.



Quick Quiz:

Because he was the chief beneficiary of his father's will, he —----------.

A) was as despondent as ever

B) received the bulk of his father’s wealth

C) did not receive as much money as the other beneficiaries



Answer: B

ICONOCLAST (n.)

A person who attacks and ridicules cherished figures, ideas, and institutions


What do the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton and the modern filmmaker Michael Moore have in common? Both are ICONOCLASTS. Akhenaton challenged ancient Egypt's longstanding belief in a large number of gods by rejecting polytheism and insisting that Aton was the universal or only god. Michael Moore is a modern ICONOCLAST whose documentary films have attacked the Iraq War, the American health care system, Wall Street bankers, and Washington politicians. Like a true ICONOCLAST, Moore ridiculed Congress, saying that most of its members are scoundrels who deserve to be “removed and replaced.”


Quick Quiz:


Some iconoclasts in the field of education believe that the present education system —--------.

A. can be no more effective than it is under the current circumstances

B. is to revert to educational doctrines that used to cater to people of the antiquity

C. should be replaced with a new one designed to meet the needs of modern society




Answer: C

Word of the Day:
VANGUARD
(VAN-gahrd)
The forefront of an action or movement, leading position or persons in a
movement: “They were in the vanguard of the war on poverty.”
In its strict military sense, vanguard means the troops moving at the head
of an army, the part of the army that goes ahead of the main body, an
advance guard.

PARTISAN (n.)

A person with strong and therefore biased beliefs


Are you pro-life or pro-choice? Do you favor staying the course in Afghanistan or withdrawing the troops? Do you think bailing out the big Wall Street banks was a good or a bad policy? If you have a strong view on these issues, you are a PARTISAN. Remember a PARTISAN speaks up and welcomes controversy. In contrast, NONPARTISAN issues enjoy widespread public support. For example, during the Cold War, most Americans supported the policy of containing Soviet expansion.


Quick Quiz:


At first the young poet was an eager partisan of the movement —----------.

A) criticizing the policies adopted by the movement leaders

B) simply composing poetry that had nothing to do with the advocates of the

movement

C) acting just like a blind person, closing his eyes on the weaknesses inherent in the

ideology on which the movement was based



Answer: C

Word of the Day:
CONCUR
(kun-KUR)
To agree, be in accord with, unite in opinion.
Concur comes from the Latin con-, together, and currere, to run, flow,
and means literally to run or flow together, go along with. That derivation has
led to three slightly different meanings of the word.
First, concur may be used to mean to act together, combine in having an
effect, as “Time and chance concurred in our success.”
Second, concur may be used to mean happen together, occur at the
same time, coincide, as “His pay raise concurred with his promotion.”
The third and most common meaning of concur is to agree, as “Your
story concurs with theirs”; “We concurred on almost every point of negotiation.”

PUNDIT (n.)

An expert commentator; an authority who expresses his or her opinion, usually on political issues



From CNN's News Center to ESPN's Sports Center, television programs are filled with PUNDITS who offer their "expert" commentary on issues ranging from political campaigns to March Madness brackets. The PUNDITS almost always sound authoritative and convincing. But it is wise to maintain a healthy skepticism.



Quick Quiz:

—----------------, we'll all be wearing pink this year.

A. if you believe the fashion pundits

B. when you are a pundit

C. to be pundits



Answer: A

Reading Passage: Make sure you look up the new words! @aalaeeTOEFLiBT
Wegener and his predecessors
The hypothesis that the continents had once formed a single landmass before breaking apart and drifting to their present locations was first presented by Alfred Wegener to the German Geological Society on 6 January 1912.Although Wegener's theory was formed independently and was more complete than those of his predecessors, Wegener later credited a number of past authors with similar ideas: Franklin Coxworthy (between 1848 and 1890), Roberto Mantovani (between 1889 and 1909), William Henry Pickering (1907) and Frank Bursley Taylor (1908).
Evidence that continents 'drift'
Evidence for the movement of continents on tectonic plates is now extensive. Similar plant and animal fossils are found around different continent shores, suggesting that they were once joined. The fossils of Mesosaurus, a freshwater reptile rather like a small crocodile, found both in Brazil and South Africa, are one example; another is the discovery of fossils of the land reptile Lystrosaurus from rocks of the same age from locations in South America, Africa, and Antarctica. There is also living evidence-the same animals being found on two continents. Some earthworm families (e.g.: Ocnerodrilidae, Acanthodrilidae, Octochaetidae) are found in South America and Africa, for instance.
@aalaeeTOEFLiBT

The complementary arrangement of the facing sides of South America and Africa is obvious, but is a temporary coincidence. In millions of years, slab pull and ridge-push, and other forces of tectonophysics will further separate and rotate those two continents. It was this temporary feature which inspired Wegener to study what he defined as continental drift, although he did not live to see his hypothesis become generally accepted.
@aalaeeTOEFLiBT
Widespread distribution of Permo-Carboniferous glacial sediments in South America, Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, Antarctica and Australia was one of the major pieces of evidence for the theory of continental drift. The continuity of glaciers, inferred from oriented glacial striations and deposits called tillites, suggested the existence of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which became a central element of the concept of continental drift. Striations indicated glacial flow away from the equator and toward the poles, in modern coordinates, and supported the idea that the southern continents had previously been in dramatically different locations, as well as contiguous with each other.

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DISSEMBLER and PREVARICATOR (n.)

Both are liars and deceivers



In Mean Girls, Regina George was a cunning DISSEMBLER who deliberately lied to her friends and to her enemies. In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Captain Barbarossa was a PREVARICATOR who repeatedly lied to Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, and Will Turner.



Quick Quiz:



As Ted was notorious for being a dissembler, —---------.

A) he always told the truth

B) no one doubted his words

C) his words were not taken seriously



Answer: C

TOEFL iBT November 28, 2015 Writing Topic:
@aalaeeTOEFLiBT
Is it more important for the government to spend money on art and music museums than on facilities like playgrounds, public swimming pool?

PROPONENT (n.)

One who argues in support of something; an ADVOCATE; a champion of a cause



Although America has faced a number of challenging social problems, our nation has always produced leaders who were strong PROPONENTS of reform . For example, during the 19th century, Jane Addams was an outspoken PROPONENT for urban settlement houses. Today, former Vice-President A1 Gore is a vigorous ADVOCATE of implementing measures that will reduce global warming. One way to remember PROPONENT is to note that the prefix pro means to be for something.


Quick Quiz:


While the proponents of the theory tout its simplicity, there are others —--------.

A. who do not think otherwise

B. viewing the same as its liability

C. first proposing its tenets



Answer: B

TOEFL iBT November 28, 2015: Speaking Question 1
@aalaeeTOEFLiBT
Your friend is going to a new school to study, what suggestions would you give him to help him blend in.

TOEFL iBT November 28, 2015: Speaking Question 2
@aalaeeTOEFLiBT
Do you think scientists should be required to study certain fields or to study whatever that interests them?