Toefl vs our test

1. TOEFL vs OUR TEST

TOEFL VS OUR TEST
AIDARBEKOVA GAUKHAR, BEKTAS ASSEM TFL-4A

2. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)…

TOEFL (TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE)…
• is a standardized test to measure the English language
ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in
American universities. The test is accepted by many
English-speaking academic and professional institutions.
TOEFL is one of the two major English-language tests in
the world, the other being the IELTS.

3. Reading (TOEFL)

READING (TOEFL)

4.

• The TOEFL test is multiple choice only!
• If you like multiple choice then TOEFL might be the
test for you but other people really don’t like them
and feel that a range of question types gives them
a better chance of getting a high score.
• TOEFL has only academic texts available
• Students have remarked that the TOEFL paper is
much longer than in the other tests and it requires
greater levels of concentration and mental
stamina.

5. For example:

FOR EXAMPLE:
Deep in the Sierra Nevada, the famous General Grant giant sequoia tree is suffering its loss of stature in silence.
What once was the world's No. 2 biggest tree has been supplanted thanks to the most comprehensive
measurements taken of the largest living things on Earth.
The new No. 2 is The President, a 54,000-cubic-foot gargantuan not far from the Grant in Sequoia National Park.
After 3,240 years, the giant sequoia still is growing wider at a consistent rate, which may be what most surprised
the scientists examining how the sequoias and coastal redwoods will be affected by climate change and whether
these trees have a role to play in combating it.
"I consider it to be the greatest tree in all of the mountains of the world," said Stephen Sillett, a redwood
researcher whose team from Humboldt State University is seeking to mathematically assess the potential of
California's iconic trees to absorb planet-warming carbon dioxide.
The researchers are a part of the 10-year Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative funded by the Save the
Redwoods League in San Francisco. The measurements of The President, reported in the current National
Geographic, dispelled the previous notion that the big trees grow more slowly in old age.
It means, the experts say, the amount of carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis continues to increase
over their lifetimes.
In addition to painstaking measurements of every branch and twig, the team took 15 half-centimeter-wide core
samples of The President to determine its growth rate, which they learned was stunted in the abnormally cold
year of 1580 when temperatures in the Sierra hovered near freezing even in the summer and the trees remained
dormant.
But that was an anomaly, Sillett said. The President adds about one cubic meter of wood a year during its short
six-month growing season, making it one of the fastest-growing trees in the world. Its 2 billion leaves are thought
to be the most of any tree on the planet, which would also make it one of the most efficient at transforming carbon
dioxide into nourishing sugars during photosynthesis.
"We're not going to save the world with any one strategy, but part of the value of these great trees is this
contribution and we're trying to get a handle on the math behind that," Sillett said.
After the equivalent of 32 working days dangling from ropes in The President, Sillett's team is closer to having a
mathematical equation to determine its carbon conversion potential, as it has done with some less famous coastal
redwoods. The team has analyzed a representative sample that can be used to model the capacity of the state's
signature trees.

6.

• More immediately, however, the new measurements could lead to a changing of the
guard in the land of giant sequoias. The park would have to update signs and brochures and someone is going to have to correct the Wikipedia entry for "List of largest giant
sequoias," which still has The President at No. 3.
Now at 93 feet in circumference and with 45,000 cubic feet of trunk volume and another
9,000 cubic feet in its branches, the tree named for President Warren G. Harding is about
15 percent larger than Grant, also known as America's Christmas Tree. Sliced into onefoot by one-foot cubes, The President would cover a football field.
Giant sequoias grow so big and for so long because their wood is resistant to the pests
and disease that dwarf the lifespan of other trees, and their thick bark makes them
impervious to fast-moving fire.
It's that resiliency that makes sequoias and their taller coastal redwood cousin worthy of
intensive protections - and even candidates for cultivation to pull carbon from an
increasingly warming atmosphere, Sillett said. Unlike white firs, which easily die and decay
to send decomposing carbon back into the air, rot-resistant redwoods stay solid for
hundreds of years after they fall.
Though sequoias are native to California, early settlers traveled with seedlings
• back to the British Isles and New Zealand, where a 15-foot diameter sequoia that is the
world's biggest planted tree took root in 1850. Part of Sillett's studies involves modeling the
potential growth rate of cultivated sequoia forests to determine over time how much
carbon sequestering might increase.
All of that led him to a spot 7,000 feet high in the Sierra and to The President, which he
calls "the ultimate example of a giant sequoia." Compared to the other giants whose

7.

• 1. The word "supplanted" in paragraph 1
A) inquisitive
B) Has a double-meaning both as a pun on the topic of plants and a literal
meaning of "to replace"
C) Is a synonym for "to plant again"
D) Has the same meaning as "to plant," with extra emphasis
2. One common myth about trees that The President helps disprove is
A) That giant sequoias are more resilient than other tree species
B) That old trees are as productive at photosynthesis as younger ones
C) That only giant sequoias may be named after historical figures
D) That large trees grow more slowly as they age
3. What is the primary benefit that Sillett and other researchers suggest that giant
sequoias may have?
A) Their natural beauty can have health benefits for those who travel to wildlife
preserves to see them
B) They represent centuries of natural history that no other living things do
C) Because of their size, they are able to process more carbon dioxide than other
trees, which can have significant benefits for the atmosphere
D) Their resilient bark may have eventual uses in human medicine.

8.

• 4. The giant sequoias are compared to white firs to demonstrate that?
A) Even when the sequoias fall, they do not decay and so send less carbon into the
air
B) White firs are more plentiful because they grow and decay more quickly than
sequoias
C) The giant sequoias are completely resistant to death
D) White firs are essential because when they decompose they emit necessary
nutrients
5. The President has grown every year EXCEPT
A) 1850
B) 2012
C) 1580
D) The President has grown every year of its life
6. All of the following contribute to the lifespan of the giant sequoia EXCEPT
A) They are resistant to diseases that can affect other tree species
B) Their size makes them less vulnerable to animal attacks
C) They are resistant to pests that commonly inhabit trees
D) Their thick bark protects them from wildfires.

9. Reading ( our test)

READING ( OUR TEST)
• 1. Robert Capa is a name that has for many years been synonymous with war
photography.
2. Born in Hungary in 1913 as Friedmann Endre Ernő, Capa was forced to leave his
native country after his involvement in anti government protests. Capa had
originally wanted to become a writer, but after his arrival in Berlin had first found
work as a photographer. He later left Germany and moved to France due to the rise
in Nazism. He tried to find work as a freelance journalist and it was here that he
changed his name to Robert Capa, mainly because he thought it would sound more
American.
3. In 1936, after the breakout of the Spanish Civil war, Capa went to Spain and it was
here over the next three years that he built his reputation as a war photographer. It
was here too in 1936 that he took one of his most famous pictures, The Death of a
Loyalist Soldier. One of Capa’s most famous quotes was 'If your pictures aren't good
enough, you're not close enough.' And he took his attitude of getting close to the
action to an extreme. His photograph, The Death of a Loyalist Soldier is a prime
example of this as Capa captures the very moment the soldier falls. However, many
have questioned the authenticity of this photograph, claiming that it was staged.
4. When World war II broke out, Capa was in New York, but he was soon back in
Europe covering the war for Life magazine. Some of his most famous work was
created on 6th June 1944 when he swam ashore with the first assault on Omaha
Beach in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Capa, armed only with two cameras, took
more than one hundred photographs in the first hour of the landing, but a mistake in
the darkroom during the drying of the film destroyed all but eight frames. It was the
images from these frames however that inspired the visual style of Steven Spielberg's
Oscar winning movie ‘Saving Private Ryan’. When Life magazine published the
photographs, they claimed that they were slightly out of focus, and Capa later used
this as the title of his autobiographical account of the war.

10.

• 5. Capa’s private life was no less dramatic. He was friend to many of Hollywood’s
directors, actors and actresses. In 1943 he fell in love with the wife of actor John Austin. His
affair with her lasted until the end of the war and became the subject of his war memoirs.
He was at one time lover to actress Ingrid Bergman. Their relationship finally ended in
1946 when he refused to settle in Hollywood and went off to Turkey.
6. In 1947 Capa was among a group of photojournalists who founded Magnum Photos.
This was a co-operative organisation set up to support photographers and help them to
retain ownership of the copyright to their work.
7. Capa went on to document many other wars. He never attempted to glamorise war
though, but to record the horror. He once said, "The desire of any war photographer is to
be put out of business."
8. Capa died as he had lived. After promising not to photograph any more wars, he
accepted an assignment to go to Indochina to cover the first Indochina war. On May 25th
1954 Capa was accompanying a French regiment when he left his jeep to take some
photographs of the advance and stepped on a land mine. He was taken to a nearby
hospital, still clutching his camera, but was pronounced dead on arrival. He left behind
him a testament to the horrors of war and a standard for photojournalism that few others
have been able to reach.
9. Capa’s legacy has lived on though and in 1966 his brother Cornell founded the
International Fund for Concerned Photography in his honor. There is also a Robert Capa
Gold Medal, which is given to the photographer who publishes the best photographic
reporting from abroad with evidence of exceptional courage. But perhaps his greatest
legacy of all are the haunting images of the human struggles that he captured.

11.

Main idea of 1 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 2 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 3 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 4 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 5 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 6 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 7 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 8 paragraph__________________
Main idea of 9 paragraph__________________

12. Speaking( TOEFL)

SPEAKING( TOEFL)
• In the TOEFL test you will be asked 6 questions and it
lasts around 20 minutes. You will be asked two
questions on familiar topics, such as your home
town or family. You will also be asked to summarise
information from a text or conversation and to give
your opinion. Finally, you will be asked to summarise
information from a short conversation.
• TOEFL test you will speak to a computer! students
have commented that they find the TOEFL test
more of a challenge because it feels very unnatural
talking to a computer.
• You can not ask to repeat a question.

13. Speaking (Our TEST)

SPEAKING (OUR TEST)
• The interlocutor asks you questions about yourselves.
You may be asked about things like your home town,
your interests, your studies, etc. Part 2 (4 minutes) 2)The
interlocutor gives you two photographs and asks you to
talk about them for 1 minute. The interlocutor then asks
a question about your photographs and you will answer
for them (up to 30 seconds).

14. Writing (TOEFL)

WRITING (TOEFL)

15.

• For TOEFL you will type everything on a keyboard
(Not paper)
• In the TOEFL writing test you have to first read a text
and then listen to a 2 minute lecture on the same
topic. You must then write a short response to a
specific question on that topic.

16. Writing( our test)

WRITING( OUR TEST)
• Essay on specific topic
• Use structure
• Handwriting is not so important, but should be
understandable
• Use quotes, sayings, phrasal verbs, conjunctions.

17. Listening ( TOEFL)

LISTENING ( TOEFL)
• The TOEFL test is 60 minutes long
• Most of the students have never listened to English
for more than a few minutes at a time and find the
TOEFL test very long and this results in them losing
concentration and missing answers.
• The TOEFL test is all in an academic context
• The TOEFL test is multiple choice only
• TOEFL test will always be standard American English.

18. Listening ( our test)

LISTENING ( OUR TEST)
• Test 20 minutes
• Test is half academic and half social
• Test has a range of different questions including
sentence completion, matching headings and True,
False or Not Given.
• Test will always be in standard American English.