Senin, 30 Juni 2014

Strategies for TOEFL Reading Section



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


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 it self
C.     local vegetation
D.    kind of soil and rock

Answer Key for TOEFL ITP Reading Comprehension
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.

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