TOEFL PRACTICE GUIDE

READING:

Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own. These activities are
based on the tips presented in the Inside the TOEFL® Test videos.

1. Do an online search to find a list of common Greek and Latin roots, such as 60+
Greek and Latin Prefixes Arranged by Meaning(opens new window). Pick 5 roots,
and find the definitions of at least 3 words that use each root

2. Select an article such as "The Heartbreak That May Have Inspired the
Telegraph"(opens new window) about Samuel Morse, and outline the main points
using one of the outline formats shown at the end of the Prose Summary/Fill in a
Table video.

3. Using "The Heartbreak That May Have Inspired the Telegraph"(opens new

window), find all of the pronouns that aren’t "he" (since most of those obviously
refer to Samuel Morse), and determine what nouns they refer to.

LISTENING:

Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own. Most of these
activities are based on the tips presented in the Inside the TOEFL® Test videos (the links
will take you outside of the course and the edX platform).

1.    Find a friend or study partner, and listen to a short audio clip, like this one about
butterflies(opens new window) from Smithsonian.com. When it’s finished, each of you
should write down as much as you can remember about what you heard. Then compare
notes to see who remembered more of the important points and supporting details.

2.    Listen to a podcast that has several speakers, like those from the TED® Radio
Hour(opens new window). Ask yourself what each speaker is really trying to accomplish
by saying certain things. The speaker may be trying to do things like:
·         Direct
·         Recommend
·         Complain
·         Agree/Disagree
·         Question
·         Confirm

3.    Listen to a recording of a classic story from English literature, like this excerpt from a
Sherlock Holmes mystery story(opens new window). Stop the recording at various points,
and try to summarize what has been said. Then try to predict what will be said next.

4.    Find academic lectures in introductory online university courses, like the courses
offered by edX(opens new window). Listen to 3 or 4 lectures of increasing length, starting
with topics that you are familiar with, and building up to longer ones on topics that are
not familiar to you. Listen to them multiple times if you need to, and identify the main idea
and the speaker’s purpose for each.
5.    When you listen to conversations or lectures, try to predict what kinds of questions
will be asked, as well as what the answers to those questions will be. The more you
practice predicting what questions will be asked, the better you will get at predicting and
the better you will get at listening for important information. This will help you improve
your confidence about taking the Listening section of the test, as you realize you know
what to expect, and what to listen for!

SPEAKING:

Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own.

1. Practice speaking in conversations using our spoken dialogue system on the next tab.

Each conversation is something you might encounter as a student. The system
will use speech recognition to listen to what you say and speak back to you.

2. Think for 20 seconds about what you did yesterday, then record yourself talking
about it for 45 seconds. Remember to use verbs in the past tense. You can do the
same thing to talk about what you will do tomorrow, using verbs in the future
tense. Share your response with other learners in the course by uploading your
audio file to a global video or audio sharing website such as Google Drive,
SoundCloud, YouTube or YouKu, then post the link in the Discussion Forum.(opens
new window)

3. (opens new window) Collect pictures from magazines, newspapers or the Internet.

Look at each picture, and describe it in one minute. Try describing the same
picture more than once, using different adjectives and adding details.

4. Think about a problem that has more than one possible solution. Talk about which
solution you think is best. Make a recommendation on how a person should
proceed with handling the problem.

5. Find an online newspaper from an English-speaking university. Look for topics like
admissions, housing, student activities, registering for classes, school-improvement
plans, sports, and more. Then choose an article to discuss with a speaking partner
or study group.

6. Find listening and reading material that are both about the same topic. The
material can contain similar or different views. Then prepare an outline for a one-
minute talk that includes your opinion, two points to support your opinion, and one
detail or reason to support each point.

7. Read a short news article, and record yourself summarizing it. Then create a
transcript of the recording by writing down exactly what you said. Review the
transcript, and think of other ways of saying the same thing.

8. Find textbooks in English that include study questions at the end of each chapter,
and practice answering the questions out loud. Start with subjects you’re familiar
with, then move on to less familiar subjects.
WRITTING:

Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own. 

1. Keep a vocabulary journal that includes synonyms of useful words. Type in a word
at www.thesaurus.com(opens new window) to find synonyms and explore how
words with similar meanings relate to one another. Share a few new words and
their synonyms with your fellow learners in the Discussion Forum.(opens new
window)

2. Find a short news article from a news website like cnn.com, bbc.com, or
reuters.com. Practice paraphrasing by rewriting the article in your own words.

3. Find a recorded lecture from an online course website, such as edx.org. Listen to
the lecture and write down what the main points are. This is a great activity to do
with a study partner, because you can both do it separately and compare notes.

4. Read two articles on the same topic, and write a summary of each. Then explain
the ways in which they are similar and the ways in which they are different.

5. Find an essay in a news magazine or on a website that expresses an opinion. Read

it and write about why you agree or disagree. Give yourself 30 minutes to plan,
write, and revise the essay.

Dates to take the test

- Setember 19/ 26 (Saturday)