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1. ORIENTATION
2. CORE CONCEPTS- The basic skills necessary to
complete the exam.
3. CRACKING- The appropriate strategies to crack
each question type in the exam.
4. DRILLS AND FULL LENGTH PRACTICE TEST- After
working on your strategies and drills, you will get
the chance to practice under real testing
conditions.
WHAT IS THE TOEFL?
Review coverage
The challenge!
When you are listening to a conversation in the Toefl ibt you
need to focus your note taking skills to do the following:
1. Meaning questions: “ What does the man/ woman mean”? The first
speaker sets up the conversation with a direct or indirect question or
a general statement to which the second speaker responds . The
second speaker holds the answer to the question. Example:
Ana: Have you heard about the new periodical wing that the
administration wants to add on the to the south side of the library?
Jim: Yeah, I can barely wait until it is finished
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
Question:
For meaning question on the TOEFL ibt, ask yourself what did the
second speaker say? Concentrate on how the second speaker
responds to what the first speaker said.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
2. Infer / Imply questions: these questions are easy to recognize because you
will read the word infer/ imply in the question.
What can be inferred about the woman?
What does the woman imply?
What can be inferred about the conversation
Jim: I have to stop at the bank before dinner. I’m down to my last few dollars.
Ana: why bother? I thought we’d use the gift certificate I got from my
graduation present
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
Question:
The best answer correctly paraphrases “ Why bother? I’d thought we’d
use the gift certificates I got for my graduation present.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
3. Action questions: Some typical action questions are:
These are questions that center on the “Action word” in the conversation.
Again listen closely to the speakers for clues as to what will happen next.
Example
Jim: I’m just about sick of all this chemistry homework. I don’t even have a
spare minute to cook.
Woman: Well, if it would help at all, I could run to the cafeteria and pick
something up for you.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
Question:
Action questions are either about what the second speaker will do or
what the second speaker recommends.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
4. Detail Questions: Detail questions may appear in several forms, yet it
is easy to recognize them because they refer to specific items
mentioned in the conversation. Some typical detail questions are:
What does the man want to know? What do the speakers say about?
What happened to the…….? What is the man’s problem?
Action questions are either about what the second speaker will do or
what the second speaker recommends.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
FOUR POE (PROCESS OF ELIMINATION TECHNIQUES)
Let’s say you are taking the TOEFL ibt and you are experiencing a lot of
trouble understanding the words on the recording and hears
something like this..
Woman: Will Mary bbebebebbblalaa Sunday?
Man: Sunday blalal bebebeb blah Mary’s
Now look at the answer choices. Remember, the only words you
understood were Sunday and Mary.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
THREE POE (PROCESS OF ELIMINATION TECHNIQUES)
Question:
WHAT DOES THE MAN MEAN?
a. Sunday is a day Mary often works.
b. Mary rarely works on Sunday
c. Some days Mary’s work is awful.
d. Mary has had a terrible cough last Sunday.
Opposites: TOEFL often tries to trap test takers by giving one wrong
answer choice which look pretty similar to the correct answer but
will mean the opposite.
In the TOEFL if there is pair of OPPOSITES in the answer choice one of
them is likely the correct answer!
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
THREE POE (PROCESS OF ELIMINATION TECHNIQUES)
Extremes: Always remember that the TOEFL ibt talks will not contain anything controversial, violent
passionate or silly.
Question:
Use common sense and process of elimination to eliminate any answer choice that are too extreme.
The answer choice containing the word AWFUL is too extreme. Any answer choice that might contain
negative connotations and extreme words are automatically wrong.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
THREE POE (PROCESS OF ELIMINATION TECHNIQUES)
I n this case you can eliminate any answer choice that gives a literal
translation
Ana: How did rob perform in the production of Romeo and Juliet last
night?
Jim: You wouldn’t believe it! He performed head and shoulders above
the rest of the cast.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
Question:
Now, let us use the POE techniques we learned from our previous
discussions and make your choice of answer.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Understanding predictable test patterns
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
Answers:
Question 1: C
Question 2: A
Question 3: B
Question 4: D
Question 5: D
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
The Academic Lecture
These picture flips occur during the lectures. You must pay close
attention and take notes to what is being said about the word,
diagram, graph or picture that appears on the screen.
100% sure that TOEFL will ask you a question about that word,
diagram or picture.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
The Academic Lecture
GENERAL STRATEGY
TOEFL will only ask 4 to 6 questions about each long conversation
or lecture; therefore you only need to remember 4 to 6 pieces of
information. Your short term memory plus your systematic note
taking will be most helpful here.
INTRODUCTION: In the first part of the lecture the narrator will say
several introductory sentences. Listen for any key words that gives
you clues as to the main topic. For example, you might hear:
Narrator: Listen to a professor discuss the side effects of an experimental drug being
tested on cancer patients
The question type associated in the Introductory part of the lecture
Is the Main idea question. Main idea questions test how well you
understand and interpret the general content of the talk. This type of
question are usually asked in the following forms:
What is the purpose of the talk?
What is the main purpose of the talk?
What is the professor mainly discussing?
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
The Academic Lecture
GENERAL STRATEGY
Questions/ Definitions: If at any time during the conversations or lectures the students
pose rhetorical questions listen closely for the answer of the professor. Also, if the
professor at any time define vocabulary words or if a word appears on the screen listen
closely and take notes!
The question type associated in the Question/ Definition part of the lecture is the Detail
question. Detail questions ask for specific facts mentioned in the lectures. These
question types do not involve pictures. Detail questions will appear on the test as
follows:
What does the professor say about the way steamer ships sail?
According to the speaker, why do ants live in colonies?
How does the students manage to take so many courses?
According to the professor , what is a monologue?
Note:
The answer choices in a detail question on the Academic lecture part; three of the four
answer choices simply were not mentioned in the passage or were mentioned in
association with a topic other than the one asked about.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
The Academic Lecture
GENERAL STRATEGY
List and Examples: The speakers will frequently give list of items to
illustrate or clearly provide details about what they are discussing.
They also provide examples to support their claims. If you hear lists
or words or examples; listen for and take notes of specific details or
unusual details that surround them.
The question type associated in the List and example part of the lecture
is the Clicking on One of four letters and Multiple answer
questions.
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
The Academic Lecture
Clicking on One of four letters may come in two different forms; Clicking on one of four
letters in a picture or clicking on one of four pictures. These question types always refer to
a picture, map or diagram.
Click on the letter that indicates the location of the first site where
West Point is located
THE LISTENING SECTION ON THE TOEFL
The Academic Lecture
GENERAL STRATEGY
Multiple answer questions: Multiple answer questions asks for specific facts
mentioned in the conversation or lectures. However they ask you to click on
two choices rather than ovals. These questions do not involve pictures.
Multiple questions may appear in the exam as follows.
What security procedures does the librarian tell the man he must follow?
Review coverage
Here you can see how the screen will look like in the exam. You’ll notice that some words
Appear in gray boxes . These words have a special type of question associated with
them. Remember if you prefer you are free to skip questions within this section.
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
Reading Strategy
The reading section is LINEAR. This means that the questions do not
disappear once you have answered them. You can skip the hard
questions and answer them later.
For every passage there are eight to twelve questions that follows, the
first skill you need to learn is to how to distinguish the easy questions
from the hard ones.
There are nine different types of questions in the Reading section of the
TOEFL ibt. These questions are categorized as FIRST PASS (EASY)
SECOND PASS (MEDIUM) THIRD PASS (HARD)
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
Pass means to systematically work through or pass through
the passage. As the various question types are introduced,
The general rule is to pass all questions that are hard and to answer all
easy questions first! Through practice you will be able to work more
confidently and the correct answers will be easier to anticipate.
First- Pass questions Second-Pass questions Third-Pass questions
Vocabulary in context Main idea questions Essential information
Reference questions Paraphrase questions Except/not questions
Detail questions Black square sentence Summary Questions
insertion questions a. Prose summary
questions
b. Fill in table questions
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
One essential strategy for the TOEFL ibt is learning to analyze the
biggest and most obvious test pattern in the exam.
The TOEFl reading passage in both the Computer based and internet
based test arranges the questions in the order in which they appear
in the test.
Always remember where you found the answer to the previous question
to help you locate the next question . In other words the answer to
question 5 will be found in the text after the line where you found
the answer to question 4!
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
PACING
Pacing is crucial in the reading test. You want to avoid going too fast or
too slow. TOEFL arranges the passages in loose order of progressive
difficulty. Always expect the last passage to be more difficult than
the first.
Due to this progression, it is logical to start at the beginning of the
reading section answer the easy questions first, the second pass
second, and third pas questions third.
If at any time a question is too difficult, skip it and come back at the very
end of the test.
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
Vocabulary in Context: For VIC questions, you have to select the best
synonym in the passage. In other words, a VIC question is about the
definition of a word. Look at the example on the following page
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
look at the word highlighted in
All animal life on the planet earth the text. Click on the answer
depends on a sufficient supply of choice that is closest in meaning
oxygen for its day to day survival. to the word blanketed
The trees that now just decorated
sporadically dot our landscape , hid
but once heavily blanketed the warmed
earth’s surface, still are able to
covered
provide a large portion of the
oxygen supply. For VIC question such as this one,
you’ll need to two sentences: the one
in which the word is contained and the
other one that comes before it. Then
eliminate any choice that doesn’t
mean the same.
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
Vocabulary in context 2
TOEFL has another method of testing, VIC words. On the left side of the
computer screen, you will see several sentences in bold text with the
VIC word being tested highlighted. Look at the example on the
following page.
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
passage. Click on the word or
Lighting, fire, volcanoes and phrase in the bold text that has
earthquakes occur without the same meaning
warning and not only rapidly
destroy many square miles of old
growth forest in a matter of
hours, but may also permanently
prevent new trees from growing.
Likewise disease causing fungi
and insect pests can either
eradicate certain types of
Rather than clicking on one of the
four answer choices that TOEFL has
provided you must click on the word
that greedy is synonymous or
antonymous
Look at the word eradicate in the
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
On the left side of the computer screen, you will see several sentences
in bold text with the VIC reference word being tested highlighted.
Reference questions are easy to spot. Simply look for the questions that
use the word refer . Look at the following example on the next page.
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
All species of trees have evolved look at the word highlighted word
from plants that flourished many in the passage. Click on the word
centuries ago in warm and wet or phrase in the bold text that it
tropical regions of the planet . As refers to.
the distribution of trees has spread
to other regions, the differing
climates of these regions have
effectively limited the type of trees
For reference questions , First read
that can live there. The greater the range the sentences in bold and find
whether the noun being tested is
of temperature and rainfall that a certain
singular or plural . In this case it is a
specie of tree can withstand, the more singular pronoun. Search for other
singular nouns in the bold text.
adaptable it is and therefore the wider the
range of distribution.
• James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins are the Nobel prize-
winning molecular biologists credited with the discovery of the double
helix shape of DNA. DNA, the enzymes that make up the chromosomes
and therefore the cells of the body, are linked together in two parallel
strands of billions of enzymes which coil around the one another. This
pattern resembles curled train rails intertwined and twisted around
each other to form an overlapping and spiraled strand of genetic
information. This discovery is one of the most significant in the entire
field of molecular biology.
Detail questions : Ask for specific facts contained in the passage. You’ll
need to see what information is required , then go to the passage to
find it.
There are at least two detail questions for each passage. The strategy to
finding the answer is the same: use chronological order and lead
words.
• Some recent investigations have uncovered evidence that Watson, Radiation from world war II
Crick, and Wilkins were not the sole specialists researching the
properties of DNA. A British scientist, Rosalind Franklin, may have Faulty and inadequate equipment
contributed to crucial experimental work which led to the discovery of
the DNA strand. Franklin spent the first half of her professional career in Genetic Inheritance
England where she researched how rodents responded to
interbreeding. She later relocated to France soon after the Second Overexposure to dangerous chemicals
World War. Under the guidance of French crystallographer Jacques
Mering, who is credited with the first mapping of crystal scaffolding, she
learned to design complex models of various chemical compositions. In
addition, she perfected a technique for diffracting X-rays. After
returning to England in 1951, she began conducting experiments in
molecular genetics at King’s College Cambridge under the critical
supervision of James Randal.
Main idea questions: Main idea questions almost always appear first!
This is a trap that TOEFL uses to force you to read the entire passage.
If you answer this question first, not only you will lose an incredible
amount of time reading and re-reading the whole passage, but you
will also most likely to answer incorrectly!
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
• Some recent investigations have uncovered evidence that Watson, How Rosalind franklin was instrumental in the
Crick, and Wilkins were not the sole specialists researching the discovery of the shape of DNA
properties of DNA. A British scientist, Rosalind Franklin, may have
contributed to crucial experimental work which led to the discovery of Whether Watson, Crick and Wilkins were
the DNA strand. Franklin spent the first half of her professional career in students of the physicist Rosalind Franklin
England where she researched how rodents responded to
interbreeding. She later relocated to France soon after the Second How the double Helix shape of the DNA
World War. Under the guidance of French crystallographer Jacques molecule radically altered genetics
Mering, who is credited with the first mapping of crystal scaffolding, she
learned to design complex models of various chemical compositions. In
The dangers of using potentially substandard x-
addition, she perfected a technique for diffracting X-rays. After
ray equipment
returning to England in 1951, she began conducting experiments in
molecular genetics at King’s College Cambridge under the critical
supervision of James Randal. USE
Where would the sentence best fit in the passage? Click on the
square to add the sentence to the passage. When you point and
click the mouse on a black square, the designated sentence will
appear in place of it.
• Part of a passage: Their demise also
resulted in the extinction of a half-dozen
Look at the four squares that
species of forest insects and the severe
indicate where the following
crippling of other animal populations such
sentence could be added to the
as the wild turkey: these all relied on the
passage.
American Chestnut as a source of habitat
and food. Affected wildlife attempted to
adapt to their disrupted environment by
looking to other species of trees, such as In fact, is it widely believed that the
the A corn, and seed-bearing plants for scope of its devastation far eclipses
food. This placed great ecological even that of the fungal disease, also
pressure on those species, as none could accidentally introduced, that
equal the American Chestnut in its ability to ravaged Dutch Elm trees across
provide a consistently abundant crop of Europe and North America, from
nuts. The problems the American 1910 to 1928.
Chestnut blight engendered thus show the
ripple effects that can occur within any
ecosystem when new elements are
introduced in an unsound manner. The easiest way to answer black square
questions is to use Chronology
technique. Then after inserting read he
sentences before and after you just
inserted
• Use l long man drills / inferences passage 3 question 8 as example
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
Third pass questions: Third pass questions should be left until last
because they almost always use paraphrases and synonyms. They
take longer to answer and can’t be answered by reading only one or
two sentences.
Except/ not questions: Except not questions are the easiest of the
third pass questions, but they can require a lot of time. The correct
answer to an except / not is always the choice that does not answer
the question.
Their demise also resulted in the
Question: According to paragraph 3, all of the
extinction of a half-dozen species of forest following were results of the wide disappearance of
American Chestnut trees EXCEPT:
insects and the severe crippling of other
animal populations such as the wild A. The loss of creatures who required the
tree's resources for their survival.
turkey: these all relied on the American
Chestnut as a source of habitat and food. B. Overuse of other types of trees by wildlife
Affected wildlife attempted to adapt to attempting to compensate for the change.
There is increasing evidence that the impacts of meteorites have had important effects on
Earth, particularly in the field of biological evolution. Such impacts continue to pose a
natural hazard to life on Earth. Twice in the twentieth century, large meteorite objects are
known to have collided with Earth.
If an impact is large enough, it can disturb the environment of the entire Earth and cause
an ecological catastrophe. The best-documented such impact took place 65 million years
ago at the end of the Cretaceous period of geological history. This break in Earth’s
history is marked by a mass extinction, when as many as half the species on the planet became
extinct. While there are a dozen or more mass extinctions in the geological
record, the Cretaceous mass extinction has always intrigued paleontologists because it
marks the end of the age of the dinosaurs. For tens of millions of years, those great
creatures had flourished. Then, suddenly, they disappeared.
The body that impacted Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period was a meteorite with a mass
of more than a trillion tons and a diameter of at least 10 kilometers. Scientists first identified this
impact in 1980 from the worldwide layer of sediment deposited from the
dust cloud that enveloped the planet after the impact. This sediment layer is enriched in
the rare metal iridium and other elements that are relatively abundant in a meteorite but
very rare in the crust of Earth.
This impact released an enormous amount of energy, excavating a crater about twice as
large as the lunar crater Tycho. The explosion lifted about 100 trillion tons of dust into
the atmosphere, as can be determined by measuring the thickness of the sediment layer
formed when this dust settled to the surface. Such a quantity of material would have
blocked the sunlight completely from reaching the surface, plunging Earth into a period
of cold and darkness that lasted at least several months. The explosion is also calculated
to have produced vast quantities of nitric acid and melted rock that sprayed out over
much of Earth, starting widespread fires that must have consumed most terrestrial forests
and grassland. Presumably, those environmental disasters could have been responsible for
the mass extinction, including the death of the dinosaurs.
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
Several other mass extinctions in the geological record have been tentatively identified
with large impacts, but none is so dramatic as the Cretaceous event. But even without
such specific documentation, it is clear that impacts of this size do occur and that their
results can be catastrophic.
What is a catastrophe for one group of living things, however, may create opportunities
for another group. Following each mass extinction, there is a sudden evolutionary burst
as new species develop to fill the ecological niches opened by the event.Impacts by
meteorites represent one mechanism that could cause global catastrophes and
seriously influence the evolution of life all over the planet.
According to some estimates, the majority of all extinctions of species may be due to
such impacts. Such a perspective fundamentally changes our view of biological
evolution. The standard criterion for the survival of a species is its success in competing
with other species and adapting to slowly changing environments. Yet an equally
important criterion is the ability of a species to survive random global ecological
catastrophes due to impacts.
Earth is a target in a cosmic shooting gallery, subject to random violent events that were
unsuspected a few decades ago. In 1991 the United States Congress asked NASA to
investigate the hazard posed today by large impacts on Earth. The group conducting the
study concluded from a detailed analysis that impacts from meteorites can indeed be
hazardous. Although there is always some risk that a large impact could occur, careful
study shows that this risk is quite small.
An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the
summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the
passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not
presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Scientists have linked the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous with a
meteorite impact on Earth.
Answer choices
(1) Scientists had believed for centuries that meteorite activity (5) Large meteorite impacts, such as one at the end of the Cretaceous
influenced evolution on Earth. period, can seriously affect climate, ecological niches, plants, and
animals.
(2) The site of the large meteorite impact at the end of the
Cretaceous period was identified in 1990 (6) Meteorite impacts can be advantageous for some species, which
thrive, and disastrous for other species, which become extinct.
(3) There have also been large meteorite impacts on the surface of
the Moon, leaving craters like Tycho.
Answer :4,5,6
THE READING SECTION ON THE TOEFL IBT
The Speaking Section of the
TOEFL IBT
Two independent Tasks, with one question asking
about a personal preference and another asking you
to choose an option. Here’s the time breakdown to
complete these tasks.