托福聽力考試經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)加試題，通常這樣的情況下考試時間會延長。雖然說加試成績不計入總分，但是大家還是會很緊張，因為畢竟我們不知道哪些是加試題。如果可以事前知道哪些是加試題，我們就不用那么緊張了。托福聽力加試題的位置不固定，考生很難分辨哪一道是加試題，只能通過日常積累來判斷。大家盡量不要憑空揣測，以免影響自己的托福成績。
Ragtime music
Ragtime介紹了一種流行于美國十九世紀(jì)左右名為ragtime的音樂，能夠表現(xiàn)年青人的活力(spiritof youth)之類的，此樂流行是由于piano的關(guān)系，因為兩者真是太搭配了。在那個年代，在各種場合都用鋼琴。此樂當(dāng)時流行程度，(like Rock & Roll在某一時期一樣)。這里出現(xiàn)考點，女學(xué)生說了一堆后，來了一句 I just don't get it，意思是要教授explain，還說piano 之所以當(dāng)時那么受歡迎，一是因為它能與音律產(chǎn)生和諧，另一是因為當(dāng)時它算一種財富地位的象征什么的symbol of wealth and status。再加上，那個年代，大家都沒錢，就去public concert or restaurant什么的聽音樂，而piano聲音夠響亮，又和ragtime music rhythm搭配的天衣無縫，所以，兩者相得益彰這個音樂年輕人很喜歡，因為很有激情。除了到處演出啊，park演出等不用鋼琴，因為難搬(出現(xiàn)考點)because of transportationproblem。
同時，此樂也是 jazz的前身，因為演奏者不按牌理出牌，一首曲七個人彈，彈出七種調(diào)。
這種regtime音樂影響很遠啊，例如現(xiàn)在的jazz就是從那發(fā)展來的。
Ragtime 拉格泰姆音樂(1890-1915期間在美國流行的一種音樂)
Ragtime is an Americanmusical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1899 and 1918. It hashad several periods of revival since then and is still being composed today.Ragtime was the first truly American musical genre, predating jazz. It began as dance musicin popular music settings years before being published as popular sheet musicfor piano. Being a modification of the then popular march,it was usually written in 2/4 or 4/4 time(meter) with a predominant left hand pattern of bass notes on odd-numberedbeats and chords on even-numbered beats accompanying a syncopatedmelody in the right hand. A composition in this style is called a"rag". A rag written in 3/4 time is a "ragtime waltz".
Ragtime is not a"time" (meter) in the same sense that march time is 2/4meter and waltz time is 3/4 meter; it is rather a musical genre that uses aneffect that can be applied to any meter. The defining characteristic of ragtimemusic is a specific type of syncopation in which melodicaccents fall between metrical beats. This results in a melody that seems to beavoiding some metrical beats of the accompaniment by emphasizing notes thateither anticipate or follow the beat. The ultimate (and intended) effect on thelistener is actually to accentuate the beat, thereby inducing the listener tomove to the music. Scott Joplin, the composer/pianist known as the"King of Ragtime", called the effect "weird andintoxicating". He also used the term "swing" in describing howto play ragtime music: "Play slowly until you catch the swing...".[1]The name swing later came to be applied to an earlygenre of jazz that developed from ragtime. Converting a non-ragtime piece ofmusic into ragtime by changing the time values of melody notes is known as"ragging" the piece. Original ragtime pieces usually contain severaldistinct themes, four being the most common number.