首先，在第四题的reading部分，我们最重要也是的主旨就是要找到题目中给出的学术话题的definition，Official Guide里面是这样描述阅读的意义的：Reading passage broadly defines a term, process, or idea from an academic subject。由于托福考试当中只有45S的阅读时间，我们只需要用信号词寻觅的方法找到拥有定义的那句话并且吵在草稿纸上就可以了。
经常出现的信号词包括：
……(Definition)is known as ……
……(Definition) is called ……
……(Definition) is often referred to as ……
…… is a form of (Definition)……
…… is a term used to describe (Definition)……
……occurs when (Definition)……
One way……(Definition) is by ……
找到了Definition，接下来就要进入听力的部分了，
第四题其实也是对未来的留学生活当中最有帮助的一道题目，Official Guide里面对听力的描述是An excerpt from a lecture provides examples and specific information to illustrate the term, process, or idea from the reading passage。也就是说听力部分是讲课当中的一处节选，提供了阅读部分中对于学术话题定义的举例说明。因此在听力当中，考生只需要听到教授举出的一个或两个例子并且与阅读当中的定义做一个连结就可以了。听力当中的例子基本上都是与我们的生活息息相关，因此用词文法较为简单，考生不必担心听不懂的情况。在听懂例子的前提下需要按顺序记下事件发展的关键词。
听力与阅读的连结方法有二：
一是点对点的方法，也就是说在阅读和听力的同一句话里表达同一个意思，只是用词不同而已。例如：
Work in isolation from other artists = Kept his work completely private.
Outsider artists must invent their own ways of doing things you notice how unique it is and not at all like traditional art . = It doesn"t remind you of anything you’ve ever seen before. It"s very much his own.
这两句话均出自TPO11，阅读当中用isolation和unique这些词来形容outsider artists的作品风格，听力当中又用private和very much his own这些表达方式来形容Henry Darger的作品，不同的词组和单词，但是是一样的意思。
另外就是点对面的方式，By observing the results, or consequences, of another’s behavior, people tend to imitate the behavior of another when they see that it leads to a desirable consequence---hoping to repeat it for themselves. = The sister starts crying and screaming and mom buys the girl the toy. The little brother is there and he is watching all this. What do you think he is going to start doing when he wants something from Mom? He will probably cry and scream. If the girl was punished to be forbidden to watch her favorite TV program, the boy will not do that next time because the result us undesirable.
TPO 19 的这道题在阅读当中形容social learning定义是人们会根据观察别人所做事情的结果的合意程度来决定要不要模仿这种做法，而听力当中有举出了一个姐弟和妈妈去超市的例子，假设姐姐的哭闹可以得到想买的玩具，弟弟未来就会模仿;假设姐姐没有得到玩具，还被限制了看最喜欢的电视节目，弟弟就不会模仿。
