READING SECTION:





In reading section you will be provide with three or four passage.
The time limit will be 54 or 72 minutes respectively.
Most questions are worth one point but the last questions in each set is worth more than one point.

 

Before you register for the TOEFL, read academic books, magazines and Newspapers.
You should also go through the soft copy or PDF versions of the academic text.

  

Practice for smart reading:

 

While reading, follow these three steps to know the gist of passage.

1.      Find the purpose

The majority of passage on the TOEFL will either explain or Resolve or convince.

  •       Explain: When the passage explains, it gives information on specific topic and contain facts.
  •       Resolve: When the passage resolves, it is having some short of dilemma, debate or question.
  •       Convince: When the passage convinces, it will validate a certain viewpoint with some evidence.

2.      Understand the structure

On the TOEFL, the passages will all follow a very similar structure. It is having introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion.
  •      An Introduction paragraph contains the basic topic of the passage.
  •      Four or five Body paragraph provides more information about the topic.
  •      A conclusion brings the passage to a close with a final statement.

3.      Know about main idea

After reading the title of the passage, follow these three steps:
  •      Read the first two lines of the first paragraph.
  •      Read the first line of each body paragraph.
  •      Read the first and last line of final paragraph.

 

Cracking the TOEFL reading section:

 

In TOEFL there is several type of reading question. Let’s talk about one by one

1.      Vocabulary in context question:

For vocabulary in context questions, do the following.
  •      Go back to the passage and read a few lines before and after the word in question.
  •    Come up with your own the word for the shaded word based on the clues in the sentence.
  •    Return to the answer choice and eliminate any choice which are not supported by words or phrases for the passage or dictionary definition of the word but are not in the context of the passage.

2.      POE strategies for reference question:

  •       Eliminate answer that mention words or phrases that showed only after the reference.
  •      Eliminate those, whose use words or phrases that are not mentioned at all in the two or three sentences before the reference.

3.      Lead word question:

  •      Find the lead word in the respective passage.
  •      If not found, take other lead word from question and find in the passage.

4.      Detail question: (Same as lead word question)

  •       The correct answers to lead word and detail questions are generally within four or six lines of the lead word or detail.
  •       Eliminate the word or phrase which is beyond the six-to-eight line range.

5.      Paraphrase question:

  •      Eliminate any answer that brings new information.
  •      Try to identify the subject of the sentence.
  •      One of the choices will usually have a different subject, eliminate this choice.

 6.      Definition question:

This type of question asks about definition in bold face sentence.
  •      Definitions frequently are introduced using the words which, that or means. Look for the sentence in which the author uses these words.
  •    Trim away propositional phrases. These are phrases beginning with words such as of, on, and in. A definition will NOT be propositional phrases.
  •      Watch out the sentence that merely last or introduce examples. Remember you need a phrases that tells you what a word or concept means, not an example of the word or concept.

7.      Before/After question

The key to this question is to stay as close as possible to the main idea of the first or last paragraph depending on whether you are doing before or an after question.
Eliminate those:
  •      Which introduce new information
  •      Interrupt the structure
  •      Repeat the information

8.      Sentence insertion question:

  •      Eliminate which does not match.
  •     Make sure the added structure matches ideas with both sentence before and after it. Wrong answers are only partial matches.

9.      Except/not/least question

  •       Rephrase the question.
  •       Use answer choice as checklist and find each one in passage.
  •       Number it TRUE or FALSE
  •       Choose the answer different from other three.
  •       Use POE (Eliminate which is in the passage)
  •       Chose which have extreme language (only for this question).

10.  Inference question:

  •        Read carefully the passage and answer choices.
  •        The choice must able to support the truth with the passage.
  •     Extreme wording (Always, never, impossible, all, none, best, worst) used means  wrong answer.
  •        Eliminate which is beyond the information.
  •        The right answer is usually a cleaver paraphrase of information in the passage.

11.  Summary questions:

  •      Eliminate examples.
  •      Eliminate the choice which is cleverly worded or not in passage
Before summary question, we should know the main idea, purpose and gist of the passage.


  

MAIN POINTS:

 

  • Smartly read the passage, find the purpose, structure and main idea.
  •  Attack the question based on question type.
  • Find the answer to the question in the passage.
  • Use POE (process of elimination) to eliminate wrong answer; correct answer does not  contain strong language generally.



Recommendation for reading practice:-

 


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