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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According to Maslow, we strive to reach the top of the pyramid, self-actualization, in living our lives. Maslow states that no one has really reached self-actualization. When the body has reached its maximum potential, there is no reason to continue living.

 

The Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow developed the theory of the human being’s “Hierarchy of Needs.” He created a pyramid of basic human needs. At the lowest level are basic survival needs such as food and shelter. If a person satisfies that level, then the individual can climb to the next level of safety, love/belonging, esteem and the highest level of self-actualization. An individual will feel anxious if they do not meet the needs of a lower level, and cannot climb to the next level.

 

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

 

Professor: As a humanistic psychologist, Maslow developed the theory that as humans meet basic needs, they seek to satisfy successively higher needs that occupy a set hierarchy. Maslow took this idea that some needs take precedence over others, and created his now famous “hierarchy of needs.” Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, he laid out five broader layers—the physiological needs, the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the self, in that order. Others, such as Freud and Hull, have developed motivational theories; however, people find Maslow’s theory more appealing. Maslow's theory is a common sense approach to human behavior. His research shows there is a motivator for each need, and it is these motivators that push one through the hierarchy of needs pyramid. For example, the hierarchy can be applied in the advertising of a product by creating an ad that compels consumers to buy their products. Maslow’s hierarchy can be applied to many professions in business, education, retail sales, advertising, and entertainment.

 

Narrator: Now get ready to answer the question.

 

Narrator: Combine points from the reading and the talk to explain the general appeal of Maslow’s theory.