Toefl Tips Reading

About the TOEFL • The TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) measures the level of English language proficiency of non-native speakers of English. • The PAPER TEST (Institutional) has three sections: Listening Comprehension, Structure and Written Expression and Reading Comprehension.

General TOEFL Strategies • Use your time wisely. • Get familiar with the instructions before taking the TOEFL so that you will not have to waste time reading them. • If you do not know the answer to a question, guess. There is no penalty for guessing. Unmarked answers will be counted as wrong. • Mark your answer sheet very carefully. • Do not write in your test booklet.

Section One: Listening Comprehension • Time: 30 to 40 minutes • Questions: 50 questions divided in three parts. • Part A: Mini-Dialogues. You choose the correct written answer to a spoken question based on a short spoken dialogue. • Part B: Longer Conversations. You choose the correct answers to a series of questions about a longer spoken dialogue between two speakers. • Part C: Short Talks. You choose the correct answers to series of questions about a talk given by one speaker.

Section Two: Structure and Written Expressions • Time: 25 minutes • 40 questions in two subsections • Structure (15 questions). You choose grammatically correct sentence completions for sentences with missing parts. • Written Expressions (25 questions). You choose the incorrect segments in complete sentences.

Section Three: Reading Comprehension • • • •

Time: 55 minutes 50 questions Five or six reading passages Usually the first reading passage is the shortest and the last one is the longest and most difficult one.

General Tips for the READING SECTION  Read the first and last sentence of the passage to establish the topic and main idea. Skim the passage for the key concepts and vocabulary.  Read the questions following the passage to find out what information your are looking for. DO NOT read the answer choices at this time; just read the questions.

 Read the passage carefully, keeping in mind the questions you will have to answer.  Answer the questions. Use key words and phrases in the questions to scan the passage for th correct answer. When you find the answer in the passage match it with one of the answer choices.

 Guess if you do not know the correct answer. Use any clues in the question ad passage to make your best guest. If you finish the reading comprehension section before the time is up, you can go back to questions that you were not sure about.

Build Good Reading Skills: Skim and Scan Skimming means reading quickly for general meaning. Scanning means knowing what information you need to find before you read.

Vocabulary in Context When you answer this type of question about a word in the passage, you need to scan to find the sentence that the word is in, read it carefully, and reason logically. How to make use of context in reading passages: Most writers try hard to help their readers to understand the information in a reading passage. They do this by providing “cues” or “aids” in their writing to clarify, define, and explain difficult concepts and key words and expressions in the passages.

TEXTUAL CUES Readers also depend on TEXTUAL CUES such as the following to figure out the meanings of words and expressions:  The comma (,) is often used to set off context cues.  The semicolon (;) introduces a clause that provides information related to the previous statement.  The colon (:) is used to introduce a list which might served as a definition or as examples.  Dashes or parenthesis – ( ) - set off additional comments about a statement that define or explain.  Italics is a special type of print that often defines or explains specialized vocabulary.  Abbreviations commonly use for clarification are e.g. (for example) and i.e. (in other words)

Check the topic and main ideas of the passage To answer questions on the TOEFL about the topic and the main ideas of a passage, follow these steps: 1. Read the first sentences for the topic and main ideas. 2. Read the last sentences for the conclusion and a possible restatement of the topic and main ideas .

3. Skim the rest of the passage for the key words that will confirm the topic and the main ideas and show the organization of the passage . 4. Read the first question about a passage and answer it. 5. Read the answer choices.Eliminate any answers that are definitely wrong,and choose the best answer from the remaining ones .

Read about Main Ideas The main ideas of a passage are statements about the topic which indicate a point of view about the topic.While the topic is stated as an answer to the question “What is the passage about?,the main ideas answer the question “What is important about the topic ?” A main idea is most often a full sentence which contains a statement about the topic.

To identify main ideas, look for key words that show a relationship to the topic and are repeated throughout the passage .The main idea is often restated in the conclusion of the passage.

Check Purpose and Organizational Patterns Some TOEFL Reading Comprehension questions ask about the author´s purpose for the passage or about the organization of the passage. The purpose of a passage is the reason the author wrote the passage ,or the intent of the author in wrting the passage.

The orgaizational pattern of a reading passage is the way that the author arranges the information to carry out his or her purpose or intent in writing the passage.TOEFL questions about the general organizational pattern of a passage ask you about the style the author uses in his or her writing rather than the purpose of the whole passage.

Answer choices for questions about pupose and organizational pattern often require students to: 1. Distinguish between the overall purpose of a passage and the purpose of specific parts of a passage. 2. Identify statements that are not true about the passage or are to general for the purpose of a passage.

3. Identify category words that restate the purpose of a passage. 4. Identify the organizational pattern of the passage by recognizing relationships between points made in the passage and recognize signal words in the passage and identify the organizational patterns they represent.

Check Reference Words Reference words are those words in a passage that refer back to concepts (words or phrases) mentioned earlier in the passage or refer forward to words or phrases that will be introduced.We use reference words in English to avoid repeating the same words.

Reference words also help to tie together the whole passage so that it is easier to understand.Refernce words are usually pronouns ,but may also be possessive adjectives or specified items.

Check Details and Factual Information A large number of questions on the Reading Comprehension Section of the TOEFL ask about the details and facts in reading passages.These questions are usually asked in the order that the information appears in the passage.Your understandin of the topic and main idea

The questions about details and facts are usually asked in THE ORDER THAT THE INFORMATION APPEARS in the passage. There are two types of fact and details questions on the TOEFL: 1) Questions about what IS TRUE according to the information 2) Questions about what IS NOT TRUE.

Questions about details and facts are often worded in the following ways: About information that IS in the passage: According to the passage, who why where when how, etc. ? According to the author,… The author states in the passage that… The author indicates that… The author refers to which of the following as… It is stated in the passage that…

About information that IS NOT in the passage: All of the following are mentioned in the passage as … EXCEPT … According to the passage all of the following are true about … EXCEPT … Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as…? Which of the following is NOT stated in the passage?

To answer questions about facts and details follow these steps: 1. Read the question and identify the key words and controlling idea. REMEMBER that the questions will be in order of the information in the passage. 2. Scan the passage for the key words and controlling ideas. REMEMBER that you should look for synonyms and related words as well as exact words. 3. Carefully read this part of the passage to answer the question. 4. Scan the answer choices to match the information in the passage the correct answer choice. 5. Be careful to look for the information that is not true in a TOEFL question worded with NOT and EXCEPT.

Answer choices for questions about facts and details may use the exact words of the passage ,but more often they are restatements of the information and require that you know synonyms and related words. In quetions that ask what is Not in the passage ,information that is true is not the correct answer.

Check to Make Inferences Questions on the TOEFL often ask you to use your understanding of facts and details which are directly stated in a reading passage to make an inference (a prediction or conclusion) about the passage. Questions about implied information may be about a part of the passage or about what came before or will come after the passage. You may be asked to draw conclusions about the passage itself, or to make predictions about another related situation.

To answer this kind of questions: 1. Remember that they are usually in order according to the information in the passage. 2. Skim and scan to locate the information in the passage that you are asked to understand. 3. Look for relationships in the stated information. 4. Use your understanding of the author’s purpose and organization of the passage. 5. Use logical reasoning to draw conclusions and make predictions

This kind of questions are often worded in the following ways: It can be inferred from the passage that… Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? The author implies in the passage that… Which of the following is the most likely …? Which of the following generalizations is supported by the passage? Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage? (In this type of question, true answers are NOT correct).

Check the Attitude of the Author and the Tone of the Passage A question that asks you about the attitude of the author or the tone of the passage requires that you think about the whole passage. In some passages the author may express how he or she feels about the topic he/she has written about. In these passages you should LOOK FOR WORDS THAT SHOW AN EMOTION OR A STRONG POINT OF VIEW.

References Mahnke, K. & Duffy, Carolyn. “The Heinemann TOEFL Preparation Course”, Heineman, Revised Edition, 2000. Presentation prepared by: - Verónica Noriega Fernández - Gloria Elvira García Valdés