相信大多数同学都有这样的体会：当我们在听文章的过程中，听到一个不太懂的单词或句子时，会把思维停留在这个词或句子上，同时漏听了接下来的信息，等回过神儿来才发现已经不知道文章说到哪儿去了。
其实在托福听力考试中，当出现重要的信息或者生僻的单词的时候，讲话者绝大部分情况下都会加以解释，甚至是反复解释这个信息或单词。所以我们需要做的就是听到生词的时候忍住回想的冲动，硬着头皮往下听，听懂生词后面的解释之后，在笔记中记下主要的信息。
而且，我们需要注意的是，托福听力中反复出现、解释的信息一定是重要信息，极有可能是考点，因此也是需要我们重点记笔记的地方。
下面给大家举一个例子。来看看你能分辨出下面的段落说了几个重要信息吗?
Ok,a lot of people think of earth's orbit around the sun as being perfectly circular,as smooth and as regular as,say,the way that hands move on a well-made watch,but it just doesn't work that way.You are probably aware that the earth's orbit around the sun,it is not shaped like a perfect circle.It is more of an oval,it is elliptical.But the shape of this orbit isn't consistent;it varies over time,over a period of about a thousand years.Sometimes it is a little more circular,sometimes it is more elliptical.And when earth's orbit is more elliptical,earth is actually closer to the sun during part of the year.Which makes earth,and in particular,the northern hemisphere,warmer.And why is that important?Well,because most of the planet's glaciers are in the northern hemisphere,and if it gets too warm,then glaciers will stop forming.And we've already talked about how that affects earth's over all temperature.
其实别看这个段落这么长，其实它只传达了三个重要信息，也就是说归纳起来只有三个重点，其余的部分都是对重点的解释。
*个信息：地球绕太阳的轨道是椭圆形的。原文用了5句话来反复解释这个信息，而且虽然出现了相对生僻的单词oval，但出题者怕考生听不懂又用了一个比较常见的elliptical来解释。如下：
Ok,a lot of people think of earth's orbit around the sun as being perfectly circular,as smooth and as regular as,say,the way that hands move on a well-made watch,but it just doesn't work that way.You are probably aware that the earth's orbit around the sun,it is not shaped like a perfect circle.It is more of an oval,it is elliptical.
第二个信息：这个轨道形状会变。这里又用了5句话来反复解释，其中出现了一个稍微有些难度的单词consistent，而且防止有些考生不认识这个词出题者又苦口婆心的给你解释了这个现象。有时候这个轨道形状圆点儿，有时候更椭圆点儿，更椭圆点儿的时候，地球更接近太阳。这里说的就是我们中学地理知识中的近日点这个概念。
But the shape of this orbit isn't consistent;it varies overtime,over a period of about a thousand years.Sometimes it is a little more circular,sometimes it is more elliptical.And when earth's orbit is more elliptical,earth is actually closer to the sun during part of the year.
第三个信息：形状的变化会影响地球上冰川的形成。说话者再一次用了5句话来解释这个信息，并且怕你不知道这里要出考点，还用了反问句提醒你。
Which makes earth,and in particular,the northern hemisphere,warmer.And why is that important?Well,because most of the planet's glaciers are in the northern hemisphere,and if it gets too warm,then glaciers will stop forming.And we've already talked about how that affects earth's overall temperature.
所以，虽然你听到了这么多词汇和句子，但其实你的笔记上需要记的只是这三个主要信息。由此可知，ETS是一个很人性化的机构。当你遇到听不懂的信息的时候，你要勇敢坚决地继续往下听，你的思维要同时跟着说话人走，绝不能出现自己的思维断层。
