新托福口語考試大約30分鐘，共有6道題目，一般稱作Speaking Tasks 1-6。如果把它們進行分組的話，正好兩兩每組：Speaking Task 1 and Speaking Task 2為一組，解題關鍵詞是characteristics(特性、特質);Speaking Task 3 and Speaking Task 5為一組，解題關鍵詞是campus(校園);而Speaking Task 4 and Speaking Task 6歸入最后一組，解題關鍵詞是class(課堂)。
Characteristics: Speaking Task 1
第一題和第二題除了都是關于一些familiar topics以外，它們另一個共通之處就是涉及到人或事物的characteristics。比如在Speaking Task 1里面，you will be asked to describe an important book. 具體題目見下：
Talk about a book you have read that was important to you for some reason.
Explain why the book was important to you. Give specific details and examples to explain your answer.
________________________________________________________________________
Preparation Time: 15 seconds
Response Time: 45 seconds
針對這樣的題目，你談什么樣的書其實并不重要。關鍵在于你說出了這本書之后，給出怎樣的合理解釋，即題目要求中的specific details and examples，而這些東西就是我們所說的characteristics。換言之，你把這本書的三大特性描述出來，就等于給出了相應的細節(jié)和例證。請看下面的列表：
The reasons why the book was important
Reason 1 = Characteristic 1: It gave me a lot of practical guidance
Reason 2 = Characteristic 2: It had a lot of illustrations to help me understand
Reason 3 = Characteristic 3: There was an interesting theoretical framework in the book
在三大理由(或三大特性)中，我們分別給其中的核心要點加了斜體和下劃線，這就是考生們必須在15秒鐘的準備時間內記下的最簡單的筆記。沒有這三點，想要在后面的45秒鐘回答時間內進行良好的發(fā)揮，是一件異常困難的事情。
09年中國大陸地區(qū)的第一場考試發(fā)生在2009年1月10日。其中第一題的大意是：When it comes to choosing friends, which characteristic do you think is the most important: honesty, loyalty or sense of humor? 回答這個問題有兩種策略：一個是老實人的辦法，一個是聰明人的招數。我們先看題目在問什么，很明顯，題目要求我們從三種特性中選出一種，是在擇友過程中最重要的。老實人的辦法就是老老實實地選一個，比如honesty(誠實)，然后根據honesty再來展開三個論據(或舉例或抽象描述)：
Plan A
Honesty is the most important characteristic in choosing friends
Reason 1: True friends should never lie to each other
Reason 2: Being honest to your friends is the best way to maintain a long-term relationship
Reason 3: A dishonest person will eventually hurt you and your family