Improving Your Reading Skill for TOEFL Test

As you know, there are four parts to the TOEFL test and one of those parts is a reading test. TOEFL iBT has 3-5 texts. Most of these are around 700 words long. They are followed by 12-15 questions based on the text. There is 20 minutes allocated to each text/questions section.

(Practice you reading skills. Source : giphy)

1. Fatcs About Reading Sections.

• There are 3-5 reading passages, but usually 3.
• You have 60-100 minutes for this test, but usually 60.
• There are about 39-56 questions, but usually 39.
• Most questions are worth 1 point and some questions are worth more than 1 point.
• The questions test your ability to understand main idea, details, inference, sequence and vocabulary.
• You do not need to know about the topics in the reading section before you take the test.

2. Preparations.

• Read as much and as often as possible. Make sure to include academic texts on a variety of topics written in different genres as part of your reading. For example : Read major newspapers, such as The New York Times or Science Times or Use the websites of National Public Radio (NPR) or the BBC to get transcripts of shows and study the content and new vocabulary you encounter.
• Practice reading faster to increase your reading speed. Use a timer and choose passages that are about 700 words.
• Learn and practice “skimming”. Read the first line of each paragraph carefully.  Then quickly “skim” through the rest of the paragraph to pick up a few details and the main idea.  You don’t have to understand everything and you don’t have to understand every word.  When you answer the questions, you will go back to these paragraphs and read more carefully to find the answer.
• Increase your advanced vocabulary. You may not see vocabulary words you have studied on the test, but knowing more vocabulary will help you to figure out the prefixes and suffixes of words and this will help you answer the vocabulary questions.

For example, if you know that anti- is a prefix that means “against something or not something” and you see the word “antisocial”, you will understand that this probably means not social, or someone who does not enjoy going out with friends or to parties.

3. Some Strategies.

• If you have 60 minutes to read three passages, divide your time into 16-18 minutes for each passage. That comes to about 38-54 minutes.  That will leave you 6-12 minutes to go back and look at your answers again and answer any questions that you skipped.

• Don’t worry if you don’t have time to read the passage carefully before answering the questions. Most students don’t have time to do this.  As I wrote before, learning how to “skim” through the material is very important so that you will have time to answer the questions
• Make quick notes after your first or second reading to save time when looking back for the answers to the questions.
•  Increase your vocabulary and understanding of idioms – this will help your overall understanding of passages in your TOEFL® reading exam
• In order to really capture the meaning of a text, you need to be relaxed so that you can focus on it completely. If you are very nervous you might miss important, and maybe obvious, points. Develop relaxation techniques like deep breathing during the test or even a yoga session before it! Whatever keeps you calm and works for you should not be ignored.

4. Example and Exercise

Sample Passage and Questions

The railroad was not the first institution to impose

                regularity on society, or to draw attention to the

                importance of precise timekeeping. For as long as

Line        merchants have set out their wares at daybreak and

(5)          communal festivities have been celebrated, people have

                been in rough agreement with their neighbors as to the

                time of day. The value of this tradition is today more

                apparent than ever. Were it not for public acceptance of

                a single yardstick of time, social life would be unbearably

(10)        chaotic: the massive daily transfers of goods, services,

                and information would proceed in fits and starts; the

                very fabric of modern society would begin to unravel.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

     A. In modern society we must make more time for our neighbors.

     B. The traditions of society are timeless.

     C. An accepted way of measuring time is essential for the smooth functioning of society.

     D. Society judges people by the times at which they conduct certain activities.

The main idea of the passage is that societies need to agree about how time is measured in order to function smoothly. Therefore, you should choose answer C.

Practice Passage

The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the

                Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest

                and northernmost state in the United States, ending at

Line        a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from

(5)          where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely

                complicated to operate.

                The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless

                miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground. It

                weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer

(10)        mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way

                through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds

                of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and

                up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude

                oil can be pumped through it daily.

(15)        Resting on H-shaped steel racks called "bents," long

                sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high

                above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of

                sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the

                surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's up-and-

(20)        down route is determined by the often harsh demands

                of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of

                the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or

                permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more

                than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground.

(25)        The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet,

                depending largely upon the type of terrain and the

                properties of the soil.

                One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost

                approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest

(30)        and most expensive construction project ever

                undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single

                business could raise that much money, so eight major oil

                companies formed a consortium in order to share

                the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to

(35)        particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid

                into the pipeline-construction fund according to the

                size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous

                problems of climate, supply shortages, equipment

                breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous

(40)        terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and

                even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed

                and is operating.

Practice Questions

1. The passage primarily discusses the pipeline's

      A. operating costs

      B. employees

      C. consumers

      D. construction

2. The word "it" in line 5 refers to

      A. pipeline

      B. ocean

      C. state

      D. village

3. According to the passage, 84 million gallons of oil can travel through the pipeline each

     A. day

     B. week

     C. month

     D. year

4. The phrase "Resting on" in line 15 is closest in meaning to

     A. consisting of

     B. supported by

     C. passing under

     D. protected with

5. The author mentions all of the following as important in determining the pipeline's route EXCEPT the

     A. climate

     B. lay of the land itself

     C. local vegetation

     D. kind of soil and rock

Answer Key for Reading Comprehension

D, A, A, B, C

Sources:

Passing the TOEFL Reading Test

10 Easy TOEFL Reading Tips to Help You Prepare for the Exam

Top 10 Reading Tips for the TOEFL iBT® and Paper English Language Tests
SECTION 3 — READING COMPREHENSION

Little tips for answering TOEFL Structure and Written Expression Questions

What is Structure and Written Expression in TOEFL Test?

Structure and Written Expression is part of writing test in TOEFL

(Source : giphy.com)

Structure and Written Expression is the second part to be tested in the TOEFL exam. This section is intended to determine your competence or ability in Grammar in English. Problems contained in this session as much as 40 questions with a duration of time given 30 minutes.

In the Structure section, participants will be given a sentence that is incomplete and then asked to choose the right word or phrase to complete the sentence.

Furthermore, in the Written Expression section, participants will be given a matter of sentence with some marked sections (underlined). On this type of question participants is expected to  determine which part is not correct in the sentence.

General Strategy

choosing a strategy 

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• Understand and learn about Subject & Verb Agreement.
• Understand and learn about Phrase, Clause (dependent & independent clause, noun cluase, adjective clause & appositive, sentence (compound & complex sentence).
• Understand and learn about Part of Speech.
• Understand and learn about Irregular Verbs.
• Understand and Learn Singular and Plural forms.
• Notice the subject and verb in the main sentence. If there is no complete verb subject or phrase, then you should find it in the answer option.
• To help view the main subject and verb, simplify the sentence by eliminating prepositional phrases, adjectives, and or nouns.
• Determine what structure the sentence requires.
• Read the sentence to see if the sentence makes sense and looks right.

From a series of existing TOEFL tests, the Structure and Written Expression section is a part or session that is somewhat easier to work on than any other session. This is because the problem in this session is not too complicated and just fill in the blank part of the sentence and identify the wrong sentence.Nevertheless, never look at this session with just one eye or even underestimated. Because the questions in this session can be tricky and if not prepared everything before the test, then you may be difficult in answering the questions given. Here I will give some special tips in doing TOEFL session Structure and Written Expression.

Tips on Working on Structure test

• Notice the questionable sentence in the question. Identify which component of the sentence is the subject, predicate, object, adverb, etc.
• Look at each of the available answers together, so you will quickly find out which option is appropriate to fill the deficiencies in the sentence in question. Here needed a capable grammar skills.
• Do not go in to eliminate a choice of answers without looking at the sentence, because a choice of answers will be known to be true or wrong after being included in the sentence.

Tips on Working on Written Expressions test

• Notice the underlined word or group of words and quickly find the wrong part. For example, in this case can be identified only by looking at a word or group of words.

Ex: The final class presentation is the importantest

Without reading the full sentence and just looking underlined, you can identify which one is not right. Final anwer: Importantest. Because the superlative form of important is not importantest, but most important.

• Furthermore, if the problem you meet can not be identified by just looking at the word or group of underlined words, then immediately read the full sentence.

Those are some tips that you can use to make it easier to answer Structure and Written Expression. Now is the example of the questions and the answer from structure and written expression 

Structure

Directions: These questions are incomplete sentences. Beneath each sentence you will see four words or phrases, marked (A), (B), (C), and (D). Choose the one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen.

Look at the following examples.

Example 1

The president_________ the election by a landslide.

(A) won

(B) he won

(C) yesterday

(D) fortunately

The sentence should read, “The president won the election by a landslide.” Therefore, you should choose answer (A).

Let's begin the structure test

1. _____ lived on Earth for nearly 150 million years.

    (A) Dinosaurs

    (B) Dinosaurs who

    (C) If dinosaurs

     (D) Since dinosaurs

2. Early printers arranged type into _____ a small, flat composing stick.

    (A) words

    (B) are words on

    (C) words on

    (D) the words are on

3. ____ along most of its length into an upper chamber and a lower chamber.

     (A) The divided cochlea

     (B) Dividing the cochlea

     (C) The cochlea is divided

      (D) With a divided cochlea

4. Yeast is an organic catalyst _____ known to prehistoric humanity.

     (A) was

     (B) which was

      (C) which it

     (D) which

5. Many communities _____ a complex system of linguistic levels in order to show respect.

    (A) useful

    (B) use already made

    (C) making it useful

    (D) make use of

6. A three-foot octopus can crawl through a hole  ------ in diameter.

  (A) than one inch less

  (B) less than one inch

  (C) one less inch than

  (D) tan less one inch

7. ------adopted the decimal system of coinage in 1867.

(A) Canada

  (B) When Canada

  (C) Canada, which

  (D) There was Canada

8. Generally, the representatives ------ a legislature  are constitutionally elected by a broad spectrum of the population.

  (A) who they compose

  (B) who compose

  (C) had compose

  (D) compose

9. The Actor’s Studio, a professional actors’ workshop in New York City, provides  ------where actors can work together without the  pressure of commercial production.

(A) a place and

  (B) a place

  (C) so that a place

  (D) a place is

10. ------ that life began billions of years ago in the  water.

(A) It is believed

  (B) In the belief

  (C) The belief

  (D) Believing

11. Refrigerating meats ________ the spread of bacteria.

A. retards

B. retarding

C. to retard

D. is retarded

12. Throughout the animal kingdom, ________ bigger than the elephant.

A. whale is only the

B. only the whale is

C. is the whale only

D. only whale is the

13. The fact ________ money orders can usually be easily cashed has made them a popular form of payment.

A. of

B. that

C. is that

D. which is

14. The first article of the United States Constitution gives Congress ________ to pass laws.

A. the power

B. has the power

C. the power is

D. of the power

15. _____ the demands of aerospace, medicine, and agriculture, aengineers, are creating exotic new metallic substances.

    (A) Meet

    (B) Being met are

    (C) To meet

    (D) They are meeting

Written Expression

Directions: In questions 5–10, each sentence has four underlined words or phrases. The four underlined parts of the sentence are marked A, B, C and D. Identify the one underlined word or phrase that must be changed in order for the sentence to be correct. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen.

examples :

The sentence should read, "Guppies are sometimes called rainbow fish because of the males' bright colors." Therefore, you should choose answer A.

16. On Ellesmere Island in the Arctic one fossil forest consist of a nearly hundred

                                                                                                   A                 B

      large stumps scattered on an exposed coal bed.

                                    C                       D

17. The surface conditions on the planet Mars are the more like the Earth’s than are

                                A                                                               B                                     C

       those of any other planet in the solar system.

                                D

18. The midnight sun is a phenomenon in which the Sun visible remains in the sky

                                        A                                                                           B                   C

       for twenty-four hours or longer.

                                               D 

19. The Humber River and its valley form a major salmon-fishing, lumbering, hunting,

                                                   A              B          C

       and farmer region in western Newfoundland, Canada.

                 D

20. Copper was the first metallic used by humans and is second only to iron in its utility through

                                                A                                           B                                  C

    the ages.

      D

21. Despite the fact that lemurs are general nocturnal, the ring-tailed lemur travels by day in bands of

     A                                                               B                                                                   C

   four to twelve individuals.

            D

22. The Western world is beset with the range of problem that characterize mature, postindustrial

                                                            A                                B                                            C

   societies.

     D

23. Acrylic paints are either applied using a knife or diluted and spreading with a paintbrush.

                         A                  B                      C                                              D

24. Some marine invertebrates, such as the sea urchin and the starfish, migrates from deep water to

                                                                  A                                                                B

   shallow during spring and early summer to spawn.

     C                                                                         D

25. Marshes, wetland areas characterized by plant grassy growth, are distinguished from swamps,

                                                            A                            B                                                            C    

   wetlands where trees grown.

                         D

26. Wampum, beads used as a form of exchange by some Native Americans, was made of bits of

                                                          A                               B                                                                         C

   seashells cut, drill, and strung into belts.

                              D

27. Kangaroos use their long and powerful tails for balance themselves when sitting upright or

                                      A                              B               C                                           D

    jumping.

28. Proper city planning provides for the distribution of public utilities, public buildings, parks, and

                                                   A                                   B 

   recreation centers, and for adequate and the inexpensive housing.

           C                                                                               D

29. Most traditional dances are made up of a prearranged series of steps and movements, but modern

         A                                                       B                                                                      

   dancers are generally free to move as they choice.

                                              C                                    D

30. A variation of collodion photography was the tintype, which captured images on a black or dark

                A                                                                                           B                                                      C

   brown metal plate instead from on glass. 

                                         D    

you can find the answer in this link

references:

http://www.eduers.com/toeflibt/Sample-TOEFL-Structure-and-Written-Expression-Questions.htm

http://www.geniustoefl.com/artikel-ilmu-kunci-toefl/artikel/structure-and-written-expression/contoh-soal-toefl-structure-and-written-expression

http://www.drillpal.com/docs/toefl-structure-and-written-expression-test-1-section-2

http://www.toeflskill.com/2011/09/structure-and-written-expression-post.html

https://www.yec.co.id/toefl/tips-tricks-mengerjakan-toefl-itp-structure-and-written-expression-section/

https://peacekampunginggris.com/structure-written-expression-toefl/

https://www.etsglobal.org/Tests-Preparation/The-TOEFL-Family-of-Assessments/TOEFL-Sample-Tests/TOEFL-ITP-Sample-Test-Questions/Section-2-Structure-and-Written-Expression

Little Tips For TOEFL Listening Section

Listening section can be hard

(Source : https://giphy.com)

At first glance, TOEFL Listening may seem like an easy section: all you have to do is pay attention to some short conversations and answer a few questions on them. Should be easy for anyone who has watched a movie or listened to music in English, right? As a matter of fact, the TOEFL Listening section is often challenging because it requires test takers to remember facts and information from several-minute long recordings and then answer questions on specific information mentioned in the recording. 

To really ace the TOEFL Listening test, you need to know exactly what types of questions you’ll be seeing, how you should be studying, and how to take great notes on test day. I gathered some useful tips from several websites that can be helpful to deal with TOEFL Listening Sections.

TOEFL Listening Section Overview

Listening is the second of four sections on the TOEFL. The entire section lasts 60 to 90 minutes and includes four to six lectures and two to three conversations. Each lecture lasts about three to five minutes and is followed by six questions, and each conversation lasts about three minutes and is followed by five questions.

First things first, are you allowed to take notes on the TOEFL? The answer is yes — you may take notes on every section of the TOEFL. According to ETS (the creators of the TOEFL)

“You can take notes throughout the entire test, using the paper provided by the test administrator. At the end of testing, all paper is collected and destroyed at the test center to ensure test security. Do not tear or remove part of any piece of scratch paper.”

Your test center will give you scratch (blank) paper to use during the test. If you run out of paper at any time, you may ask a staff member to give you more. At the end of the test, your notes will be collected and destroyed for security purposes. In other words, you may not remove your TOEFL notes from the test center, even once you’ve completed the test.

Listening to music helps a lot

(Source : https://giphy.com)

 TOEFL Listening Tips For Studying

Listen to Spoken English Regularly

The number one TOEFL Listening tip is, unsurprisingly, to listen to English regularly. The more you hear English, the better your listening skills will become and the easier you’ll find the Listening section. You want to listen to spoken English, so music sung in English won’t be as useful since English sounds different when it’s sung compared to when it’s spoken.

Talk radio, news stations, movies, tv shows, and podcasts are all great options (as long as they’re in English, obviously). Try to listen to some English with background noise, such as an interview conducted outside or in front of a large crowd. TOEFL Listening recordings purposely include background noises, so you’ll want to be used to that.

Listen to Different English Accents

It will also help you down the line if you practice listening to different accents while you’re studying. The TOEFL Listening test will include at least one native-speaker English accent outside of North American accents. This is done to help prepare you for the variety of English accents you’ll likely come across in the real world. These accents will come from the U.K., Australia, or New Zealand.

Even native English speakers can struggle to understand different English accents, so be sure to get some exposure to different accents before exam day. Try listening to news clips or radio stations from these countries if you’re wondering how you can hear more accents.

Build your vocabulary

While listening, try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from context. It is very important since there is a big chance to come across words you don't know at the real test. Then, you should guess their meaning. Write down every word you don't know and include it in your wordlist. Try to memorize it and use it in your speaking and writing. Flashcards could be a great way to improve your vocabulary.

Get in the Habit of Taking Notes

Even if you have great English skills and usually remember the things you hear in English, you should still takes notes during the Listening section. Each of the recordings is several minutes long and contains a lot of information. If you don’t take notes, it can be easy to forget some of points made and therefore miss questions on the test. Read the next section for tips on how to take great notes.

Taking notes is important

(Source: https://giphy.com/)

How to Take Great TOEFL Listening Notes

The notes you take on TOEFL Listening will often be key to how high a score you get on this section. It’s important that they are clear and contain the information you’ll be tested on. Below are some tips  you should follow to take great Listening notes.

Make the Most Of Your Scratch Paper

On the TOEFL, it’s important to use the space on your scratch paper wisely. One reason is so you don’t have to constantly flip to a new page or turn a page over to continue your notes. You also don’t want to have to ask a staff member for additional scratch paper, as this can waste valuable test time.

So as you take the TOEFL, try to save as much space as you possibly can on your scratch paper — but in such a way that you’re still able to read what you’ve written and can easily make sense of where each note begins and ends. I suggest beginning your TOEFL notes in the top-left corner of each page and working your way down as you fill up space. Taking notes in this manner ensures that you won’t have tons of extra blank space in the margins and that you aren’t overlooking any valuable space you can use.

On a related note, remember to use both sides of your paper, too!

Write While Listening

Some TOEFL test-takers try to listen intently while the audio recording is playing and only begin writing notes once it’s finished. This is a bad idea for two reasons. First, the audio recordings are each several minutes long, so you’ll likely forget some key points when you’re trying to write all your notes at once. Second, not writing your notes until after the recording has ended means you’ll be writing them during your time to answer questions, which can make you more rushed during the answer portion of the section.

Instead, write notes throughout the recording. Keep them short (see below), and try to work out a pattern where you listen for a brief period of time, write down some short notes, then go back to listening. Practicing will help you get better at this.

Focus on Main Ideas

Don’t try to write down everything you hear. You won’t be able to, and you’ll likely miss some important points because you’re trying to copy every word. Instead, focus on the main ideas in the recording.

If you’re listening to a lecture, think about (and take notes on) what the professor is trying to accomplish. Is he/she trying to explain a new topic? Make something clearer? Explain two different opinions? If another person, such as a student speaks, what are they trying to learn or show? You may want to make a column in your notes for each speaker and write the main points of what they say under the appropriate column to make it easier to remember who said what.

It can be easy to get bogged down in all the details of a recording and miss out on what’s really being discussed. The majority of TOEFL Listening questions will focus on major points as opposed to minor details, so focus your notes on the former.

Here’s an example of a chart you could make for a listening clip centering on a conversation between a student and a professor:

Avoid Full Sentences — Use Symbols and Abbreviations

You should also aim to take notes concisely and quickly. In short, always avoid writing full sentences — doing this will only slow you down in the end and result in your having a lot of extra information you don’t actually need for answering the questions. So instead of writing down every detail and word, employ an easy-to-understand system of symbols and abbreviations.

Here are some examples of symbols and abbreviations you could use in your TOEFL notes:

Don’t be afraid to come up with your own symbols, either. Just make sure the symbols and abbreviations you use are easy to write, short, and clear in meaning to you. (In other words, their meanings don’t need to be obvious to other people — just you!)

Pinpoint the Main Idea Right Away

As soon as the audio clip begins playing, try to recognize what the overarching topic of the conversation or lecture is. Doing this will help you predict what the rest of the audio clip is likely to focus on and what types of details you may hear. With most audio clips, you should be able to catch the main idea of the conversation or lecture within the first few sentences.

When You Get The Main Idea, Take Notes !!

(Source : https://giphy.com)

Review: How to Do Well on TOEFL Listening

You’ll need strong listening skills, as well as good concentration skills, in order to ace the TOEFL Listening test. Besides knowing what types of recordings and questions to expect on this section, you’ll need to do some studying as well.

The most important TOEFL Listening tips for studying include listening to spoken English regularly, listening to different English accents, take complete practice TOEFL Listening tests, and get in the habit of taking notes. During the TOEFL Listening, you should stay focused when the recordings are being played, write while listening, and focus on main ideas when taking notes.

Refferences :

Strategies for TOEFL iBT Listening Section

How to Ace the TOEFL Listening Test: 7 Expert Tips

17 TOEFL Note-Taking Tips for Listening, Speaking and Writing