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