Name : Erni Rismayana (22211475)
Class : 3eb24
Strategies for TOEFL Reading Section
The first component
you will have to do when you sit for the TOEFL iBT exam is the Reading. The
Reading Section measures your ability to read and understand academic texts
(passages) in English. Reading is a critical skill in academic environment.
Students have to read a lot and comprehend the information presented in their
textbooks or other reading materials. As we discussed in TOEFL iBT Format
Section on i-Courses.org, three are the main purposes for academic
reading in TOEFL iBT:
1.
Reading to find
information
2.
Basic comprehension
3.
Reading to learn
The Reading Section
in TOEFL iBT consists of 3-5 texts; each text is about 700 words long. Each
Reading text is followed by 12 - 14 questions related to the text. The first
passage stands alone for a time of 20 minutes and the 2nd and 3rd passages
share a total time of 40 minutes for reading and answering the questions. The
system will cut you off right after the time ends. Therefore, you must be not
only good at reading but also very fast. To the end of this document we will
provide some important guidelines on how to prepare for the TOEFL iBT Reading
and how to behave at the reading test in order to improve your final score.
Preparation Strategies
Read, Read, Read. Read in English
regularly. Focus on academic texts from university textbooks or other
materials. Do not stick to one or two topics that you are interested in. Read
from variety of subjects - science, social science, business, arts, geography,
history, economics, and others. Academic texts, apart from textbooks, could be
found in variety of articles and academic publications on the Internet or
university libraries.
Find the purpose of the passage. Knowing the purpose of the reading you may easily find what the
writer is trying to accomplish. The purpose of the passage in most of the
readings is embedded in the introductory paragraph which is one of the most important
paragraphs in the text. Most of the passages in TOEFL iBT will try to do the
following:
- To Explain - to present the information on a specific topic in explanatory manner. These texts contain mostly factual information.
- To Resolve - it aims at finding solution for some sort of dilemmas or questions that need answers. Usually there would be a debate.
- To convince - to persuade the reader of the validity of certain viewpoint or idea. There would be opinions and support with evidence in those type of passages.
Increase vocabulary. When reading wide
variety of texts on different subjects you should make a word list. Organize
your list in topics for better results. Example topics could be business,
geography, science and others. Make flashcards to help you learn those word
lists. Use the words learned in your writings and speaking.
Take notes. During all
sections of TOEFL iBT note taking is allowed. It is a crucial component for
success. It is difficult to remember all facts and details from a reading text
in order to answer the questions. You also don't have enough time to search for
those again in the text. So, the solution is called note taking. When skimming
and reading the texts you should write down all important facts and details in
order to find them fast and easily when you need them. See also our effective
note taking strategies.
Learn how to skim the text. Skimming means reading the text quickly to obtain very first
general impression on what the text is about, what its main idea is. Skimming
corresponds with Reading to find information objective in TOEFL iBT. You should
develop your ability to skim quickly but at the same time to identify all major
points in the passage. Take notes. See also our skimming strategies.
Read after skimming. Only skimming is
not enough. Read the passage again. This time read it more carefully, but don't
forget that you have limited time. Take notes. Identify the passage type -
classification, cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, etc.
Try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words in the passages, the context can help to do that. After that,
check those words in the dictionary. Guessing the words from the context brings
great advantages - you save time and it doesn't disturb your comprehension of
the texts.
Highlight some of the pronouns (he, him, they, them, etc.) in the
texts. Identify to which nouns
in the particular text the highlighted pronouns refer.
Practice making general inferences and conclusions based on what is implied in the text.
Learn to organize the data presented in the passage in charts and tables. Create charts with categories and place the
important data from the passage in the appropriate category. In TOEFL iBT you
are not asked to create charts. Rather, charts are provided and you are asked
to categorize the information in pre-defined categories.
At the exam strategies
Relax! You don't have to be familiar with the topic of the TOEFL
iBT Reading passage. All the
information needed to provide correct answers is in the text. The definition of
some of the subject-specific words is available during the test. Those words
are colored and underlined.
Be fast but try to avoid
thinking about the clock. Concentrate on what you read and what exactly the
questions ask for.
Take a guess. There is no
penalty for an incorrect answer in TOEFL iBT. Do not leave blank answers. In
each case they don't bring you points. If you see you are running out of time,
just take a guess and mark answers for all remaining questions. There is 25 %
chances to guess the right answer.
Stop thinking about Reading. When your section time is over, just stop thinking about the
Reading section. Prepare for the Listening section. If you have not done well
in the Reading, you may compensate it with the next components. So, stop
thinking about the Reading.
TOEFL Reading Tips
Invaluable Tips for TOEFL Reading Test
In order to get college/university admission in an English-speaking country, you have to score well in the TOEFL test and prove that you have adequate or above-average skills for reading, listening, speaking and writing English in an academic environment.
The first section of
the iBT exam is the Reading test. The main purpose of this section is to assess
how well you can read and understand English text passages. Improving your
English reading skills and preparing well will help you achieve a very good
score in the Reading test and will eventually put an impact on your overall
scores. This article gives a few invaluable tips for the iBT Reading test. You
can achieve high scores in the iBT Reading test if you follow the tips
given below:
Understand the TOEFL iBT Reading Test Format
One of the most vital Reading pointers
that you must follow is to make yourself clear about the number of questions,
the time limit and the format of the Reading test. You must also be clear with
the task you have to do in the Reading section.
You will be asked 36 to 56 questions based
on three to four academic text passages in this section. You will have to
answer these questions after reading three to four academic text passages. The
time duration of the iBT Reading test is 60 to 80 minutes.
Develop your English Reading Proficiency
It is very important
to develop your English reading skills in general. You can do this by improving
your English vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and fluency skills with the
help of the Skill-building tools found at the ETS website http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/prepare/
or through other sources. You must improve your English understanding skills.
You must also practice to read fast. You can improve your reading skills
required for effectively taking the iBT Reading test through Lexile®
Measures that is a free service accessible from the ETS website (http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/prepare/).
To know more details about the Lexile® Measures, you canvisit the
website www.lexile.com/toefl.
Prepare Effectively for the TOEFL iBT Reading Test
You can achieve an
above-average score in the Reading test only through effective preparation.
This is one of the best must-to-follow Reading tips. You must use the
best study materials and practice questions, and take as many practice tests as
possible. You can get useful study materials from the Educational Testing
Service (ETS) website and preparing well for the Reading test. The TOEFL®
Resources: An Overview for Students (Flash), The TOEFL® Practice Online,
The Official Guide to the TOEFL® Test, Third Edition, The TOEFL®
Value Packs, skill-building tools, free test preparation materials and
practice tests offered at the ETS website (http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/prepare/)
can definitely help you a lot.
Tips for Effectively Answering the TOEFL iBT Reading Test
In order to answer the questions asked in
the iBT Reading test properly, you have to follow a few Reading tips and
strategies. Those given below will be very helpful for you:
- You have to answer the questions in the Reading test only on the basis of what you understand from the given reading passages. Hence, read the given text passages carefully with full concentration.
- When reading each text passage, first give a quick glance through the complete passage and then read it again slowly.
- Understand and note down the main idea and the important points when reading the passages, and use your notes for answering the questions.
- Avoid spending too much of time on questions for which you do not know sure answers. However, remember that you have the answer for all the questions in the information provided in the given text passages. Try to answer these questions using what you have understood from the read passages.
If you want to prepare well and get an
excellent score in the Reading test of TOEFL, make sure that you follow the
above listed tips.
Practice Passage
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The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the
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Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the
largest
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and northernmost state in the United States, ending
at
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Line
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a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles
from
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(5)
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where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely
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complicated to operate.
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The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless
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miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen
ground. It
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weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer
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(10)
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mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way
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through thick forests, and passes over or under
hundreds
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of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in
diameter, and
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up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of
crude
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oil can be pumped through it daily.
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(15)
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Resting on H-shaped steel racks called
"bents," long
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sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high
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above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out
of
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sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to
the
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surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's
up-and-
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(20)
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down route is determined by the often harsh demands
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of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous
lay of
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the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock,
or
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permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little
more
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than half of the pipeline is elevated above the
ground.
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(25)
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The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet,
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depending largely upon the type of terrain and the
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properties of the soil.
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One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost
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approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest
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(30)
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and most expensive construction project ever
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undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single
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business could raise that much money, so eight major
oil
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companies formed a consortium in order to share
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the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to
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(35)
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particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid
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into the pipeline-construction fund according to the
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size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous
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problems of climate, supply shortages, equipment
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breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous
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(40)
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terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and
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even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed
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and is operating.
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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 it self
C.
local vegetation
D.
kind of soil and rock
1. D
2. A
3. A
4. B
5. C
Read the following passage. Then
answer the questions and check your answers.
Most people can remember a phone
number for up to thirty seconds. When this short amount of time elapses,
however, the numbers are erased from the memory. How did the information get
there in the first place? Information that makes its way to the short term
memory (STM) does so via the sensory storage area. The brain has a filter which
only allows stimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also
known as the working memory.
There is much debate about the
capacity and duration of the short term memory. The most accepted theory comes
from George A. Miller, a cognitive psychologist who suggested that humans can
remember approximately seven chunks of information. A chunk is defined as a
meaningful unit of information, such as a word or name rather than just a
letter or number. Modern theorists suggest that one can increase the capacity
of the short term memory by chunking, or classifying similar information
together. By organizing information, one can optimize the STM, and improve the
chances of a memory being passed on to long term storage.
When making a conscious effort
to memorize something, such as information for an exam, many people engage in
"rote rehearsal". By repeating something over and over again, one is
able to keep a memory alive. Unfortunately, this type of memory maintenance
only succeeds if there are no interruptions. As soon as a person stops
rehearsing the information, it has the tendency to disappear. When a pen and
paper are not handy, people often attempt to remember a phone number by
repeating it aloud. If the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before a
person has the opportunity to make a phone call, he will likely forget the
number instantly.* Therefore, rote rehearsal is not an efficient way to pass
information from the short term to long term memory.* A better way is to
practice "elaborate rehearsal". *This involves assigning semantic
meaning to a piece of information so that it can be filed along with other
pre-existing long term memories.*
Encoding information
semantically also makes it more retrievable. Retrieving information can be done
by recognition or recall. Humans can easily recall memories that are stored in
the long term memory and used often; however, if a memory seems to be
forgotten, it may eventually be retrieved by prompting. The more cues a person
is given (such as pictures), the more likely a memory can be retrieved. This is
why multiple choice tests are often used for subjects that require a lot of
memorization.
Glossary:
semantic: relating to the
meaning of something
Reading Comprehension questions:
1. According
to the passage, how do memories get transferred to the STM?
a. They
revert from the long term memory.
b. They
are filtered from the sensory storage area.
c. They
get chunked when they enter the brain.
d. They
enter via the nervous system.
Explanation:
Choice A is
the opposite of what happens.
Choice C is
what a person should try to do when memorizing something.
Choice D is
not mentioned.
The correct answer is B. This is a factual
question.
2.
How do theorists believe a person can remember more information
in a short time?
a. By
organizing it
b. By repeating
it
c. By giving it
a name
d. By drawing
it
Explanation:
Choice B
is what regular people think is true.
Choice C
is not mentioned.
Choice D
is a type of cue for retrieval.
The correct answer is A.
This is a factual question.
3. All
of the following are mentioned as places in which memories are stored EXCEPT
the:
a. STM
b. long
term memory
c. sensory
storage area
d. maintenance
area
Explanation:
Choice A is
mentioned in the first paragraph.
Choice B is
mentioned in the second paragraph.
Choice C is
mentioned in the first paragraph.
The correct answer is D. This is a negative
factual question.
4. Why
does the author mention a dog's bark?
a.
To give an example of a type of memory
b.
To provide a type of interruption
c.
To prove that dogs have better memories than humans
d.
To compare another sound that is loud like a doorbell
Explanation:
Choice A is
incorrect because it is not the "reason" the author mentions it.
Choice C is
not mentioned.
Choice D
distracts you because both are mentioned as examples.
The correct answer is B. This is an author
purpose question.
5.
The author believes that rote rotation is:
a. the best way
to remember something
b. more efficient than chunking
c. ineffective
in the long run
d. an
unnecessary interruption
Explanation:
Choice A
is contradicted by "not an efficient way".
Choice B
is incorrect because these two terms are not compared.
Choice D
is illogical.
The correct answer is C.
This is a factual question.
Source:
