TOEFL  - Speaking
Question 4
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Directions: In this question, you will read a short passage and then listen to a talk on the same academic topic. You will then answer a question about them. After you hear the question, you will have 30 seconds to prepare your response and 60 seconds to speak. You have 45 seconds to read the passage.

  

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Erik Erikson

In 1956, German psychologist Erikson used the term “identity crisis,” as being an important conflict human beings face in life. Erikson describes the identity crisis as first happening during ages 13 to 19. Overcoming the crisis in those teen years will help overcome identity crises later in their life. Today, the complexities of modern life create many stressful situations. People may experience identity crises more often now than in the time of Erikson.

 

 Narrator: Now listen to part of a talk in a psychology class.

 

 Professor: Today’s discussion will be about the human stages of identity crisis, developed by psychiatrist Erik Erikson. Let’s look at those stages, beginning with infancy. Up to 18 months of age, with the mother’s loving care and contact, an infant will learn to trust. The second stage is from 18 months to 3 years, when the child learns to master skills. Children learn to walk, talk and feed themselves, and become more independent. During the ages of 3 to 5 years old, children experience a desire to copy the adults around them. They also begin to use that wonderful word for exploring the world—"WHY?” During the fourth stage, 6 to 12 years of age, children are capable of learning, creating, and accomplishing many new skills and knowledge. This is the stage when human beings develop confidence and self-esteem. According to Erikson, during the fifth stage is when we establish a philosophy of life. During this time, teenagers begin to struggle with the question, “Who am I?” A teenager is neither a child nor an adult, and life is definitely getting more complex as we attempt to find our own identity. During the stages of adulthood, the issues of crisis are intimacy, raising children, being successful in a career, and finding wisdom from our experiences. From here to late adulthood, development depends primarily upon what we do.

 

Narrator: Now get ready to answer the question.

 

Narrator: How is the identity crisis reflected in the life stages defined by Erikson?

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The psychiatrist Erikson developed the idea that human beings go through life in 8 stages. The first stage is during infancy, when how you are treated by your parents affects the development of a sense of trust. During the second stage, humans learn how to walk and talk, and become independent. The third stage, we begin to ask the question “Why.” The fourth stage, according to Erikson, is when we develop our confidence and self-esteem. When we are between 13 and 19 years in the fifth stage, Erikson believes that this is when many people experience identity crisis because they are no longer children, but they aren’t adults yet either.