Mastering Skills for the TOEFL iBT 2nd - Speaking

TranscriptsQ6 Practice 1Step 1 - LectureW: Today, we enjoy tales where an unexpectedperson becomes the hero of the story . . . but thisisn’t true of Classical literature. Classicism is theperiod of Western literature that started duringthe time of the ancient Greeks and continued untilabout 1800 BCE. All Western literature writtenduring this time has one characteristic in common:the heroes of the tale are never common orunexpected like today’s heroes, but are alwaysnoble and of aristocratic birth. This is known asthe aristocratic hero. We see the aristocratic heroportrayed again and again in Classical literature.Perhaps one of the first and foremost examplesof the aristocratic hero in Western literature isOdysseus from Homer’s The Odyssey. Odysseusis the perfect example of the aristocratic hero. He’sa legendary Greek king who spends ten yearstrying to get back home to reclaim his throne. Wecan clearly see that despite the trials Odysseusundergoes, his noble nature is never questioned.In fact, Odysseus is favored by the Greek gods,and the gods of Greek literature hardly ever favoranyone that is not of noble birth. Only aristocraticpeople like Odysseus could become great Greekheroes.Twenty-four centuries and several cultures later,we see the exact same type of aristocratic herowritten about in plays by William Shakespeare.The heroes of the plays that Shakespeare wroteabout include people like Julius Caesar and theEnglish kings Richard III and Henry VI, but rarelyis the main hero ever of common birth. What I’mtrying to say here is that even though the views ofthe world had changed drastically since Greektimes, the view of the literary hero remained thesame: he had to be of noble birth. Even theheroes of Shakespeare’s light comedies weremembers of England’s high society.Step 3 - Sample ResponseThe professor says that all Western Classical literaturehas people of noble birth as its heroes. This is knownas the aristocratic hero. The professor says this ideaof the aristocratic hero lasted for the entire classicalera. She mentions the Greek hero Odysseus as thefirst example of the aristocratic hero. He is a legendaryking that is favored by the gods. The professor mentionsthat the Greek gods rarely favor characters thatare not noble. The professor then says that thischaracteristic of the aristocratic hero persisted forthousands of years. She mentions Shakespeare, wholived twenty-four centuries later, but who still focusedlargely on noble people as his heroes. Even thecharacters of Shakespeare’s comedies were fromEngland’s high society.Q6 Practice 2Step 1 - LectureM: There are several theories as to why certainancient cities became prosperous, but one factorthat cannot be disputed is the importance ofwater. The success of ancient cities depended ontheir water sources, and for this reason, many ofthe greatest ancient cities that we know of werelocated near prominent sources of water. Thinkabout the great civilizations of Greece and Rome,both settled along the Mediterranean Sea.Historians suggest that water contributed to thesuccess of ancient cities in two ways.First off, water allowed certain cities to flourishbecause of its agricultural use. Having close accessto fresh water allowed societies to grow their ownfood. The Sumerians, one of the earliest knowncivilizations, were able to settle down and formcities because they built irrigation ditches thattransported water from the Tigris and Euphratesrivers to their crop fields. Living near a source ofwater, therefore, made agriculture possible. Andhaving an agricultural system meant that theSumerians didn’t have to travel long distances tohunt and forage for food, giving them more timeto develop arts and culture. It was their closeproximity to water that allowed many of theseancient cities to thrive.Living near water also allowed ancient peoples todevelop trade. This was a critical component ofcivilizations like Greece and Rome because thistrade made these cities prosperous. The AncientEgyptians, for example, used the Nile River tocarry valuable cargo, or material goods, from oneend of their empire to the other. Eventually,extensive trade networks developed along suchwater highways and were used to import andexport goods between civilizations. In order toparticipate in and prosper from this trade, it wastherefore incredibly important for ancient peoplesto build their cities along water routes.Transcripts 13