TOEFL reading

1. TOEFL

READING

2. Reading excerpts from university-level textbooks, a range of different subjects

• 3 or 4 passages: 60 – 80 minutes
• 20 minutes for each passage
• Each passage: 550 - 700 words long, 12 – 14
questions

3.

Strategies:
Strategy 1: “skimming” or fast-reading the passage
Advantage: gives you the idea of the whole text (necessary for Reading
to Learn questions)
Disadvantage: scientific passages with a multitude of new words and
unusual sentence structure
Strategy 2: skipping the first reading of the text and going for the
questions right away
Advantage: time-saving
Disadvantage: suitable for only solving factual questions

4. How to go about reading. General tips:

HOW TO GO ABOUT READING.
GENERAL TIPS:
• 1. Actively read the passage, looking for the purpose, structure,
and main idea.
• 2. Attack the questions based on question type.
• 3. Find the answer to the question in the passage.
• 4. Use the process of elimination (POE) to eliminate bad
answers.

5.

6. Q-type 1: Vocabulary questions

Q-TYPE 1:VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
• 2-4 questions for each passage
• What they ask the meanings of individual words and phrases as they occur
in the reading passage
• Jour job: to decide which of the four words or phrases is closest in
meaning
• How to recognize: The word X in the passage is closest in meaning to
In stating X, the author means that (X is usually a phrase)

7. Example1. PASSAGE EXCERPT: “In the animal world the task of moving about is fulfilled in many ways. For some animals locomotion is accomplished by changes in body shape . . .”

EXAMPLE1. PASSAGE EXCERPT:
“In the animal world the task of moving about is fulfilled
in many ways. For some animals locomotion is
accomplished by changes in body shape . . .”
The word locomotion in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) evolution
b) movement
c) survival
d) escape

8.

Correct answer: movement
Locomotion - movement or
the ability to move
Context clue: “the task of
moving about”

9. Example 2: “some poisonous snake bites need to be treated immediately or the victim will suffer paralysis . . .”

In stating that the victim will suffer paralysis the author means that
the victim will:
a) lose the ability to move
b) become unconscious
c) undergo shock
d) feel great pain

10.

Correct answer: lose the ability to
move
Paralysis - the loss of the ability to move
all or part of your body or feel things in it

11. Tips and Tricks for vocabulary questions

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
• Read the sentence with the word (or 2).You DO NOT NEED to read the whole
paragraph
• CONTEXT usually gives a clue.
• You are asked about the meaning of a word as it is used in the passage
• Options:
• Divide words in parts
• Read “in Russian”
• Reread the sentence with the option you have chosen. Does it make sense? Is
the meaning the same?
• Do these questions first: less time-consuming

12. TASK 1: Although the sensory receptors and brain pathways for taste and smell are independent, the two senses do interact. A great deal of what we consider taste is actually smell. If the sense of smell is obstructed, as by a heat cold, the perception of

TASK 1: Although the sensory receptors and brain pathways for taste and smell
are independent, the two senses do interact. A great deal of what we consider
taste is actually smell. If the sense of smell is obstructed, as by a heat cold, the
perception of taste is sharply reduced.
The word obstructed in the passage is closest in meaning to:
a) involved
b) increased
c) developed
d) blocked

13.

Correct answer: Blocked
Obstruct - to block a road, passage etc. SYN block
Context clue: “…the two senses do interact”, “If
the sense of smell is _________ , the perception
of taste is sharply reduced”

14. Task 2: A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms attached to a singe, larger oxygen atom. The angle between the two is 120 degrees – the same as the angles of a hexagon – which accounts for the characteristic six-sided structure of ice crystals

Task 2: A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms attached to a
singe, larger oxygen atom. The angle between the two is 120 degrees – the
same as the angles of a hexagon – which accounts for the characteristic
six-sided structure of ice crystals.
The phrase accounts for in the passage means:
a) explains
b) decreases
c) connects
d) summarizes

15.

Correct answer: explains
Account for -to be the reason why something
happens SYN explain

16.

Task 3: Reports on an organization’s projects may fill several major
functions at the same tome. A report can be used to educate and gain
support from key people and groups, to facilitate and inform decisionmaking about current and future projects, and to provide
documentation for the organization’s records. The employees who
are responsible for preparing the report must have a clear
understanding of how the report will be used before they compile it
The word compile in the passage is closest in meaning to:
a) agree with
b) put together
c) ask about
d) look forward to

17.

Correct answer: put together
Context clue: “the employees who are
responsible for preparing the report …”. Is
there any similar word in Russian?
Compile - to make a book, list, record etc,
using different pieces of information, music etc

18.

Task 4: The evolutionary origins of music are wrapped in mystery.
There is ample concrete evidence of musical instruments dating back
to the Stone Age and much presumptive evidence of the role of music
in organizing work groups, hunting parties, and religious rites. Many
scholars suspect that musical and linguistic expression had common
origins but then split off from one another several hundred years ago
The phrase split off in the passage is closest in meaning to:
a) separated
b) borrowed
c) evolved
d) learned

19.

Correct answer: separated
Context clue: “ musical and linguistic expression
had common origins but then ______”
Split off from sb / sth – become separate

20. Q-type 2: reference questions

Q-TYPE 2: REFERENCE QUESTIONS
• Your job: to determine the referent for a noun or noun phrase
• How to recognize: The word X in the passage refers to …
Referent word – a noun or noun phrase from the passage
Reference word – a pronoun or another determiner that stands for the referent word
Things to remember:
- The referent word almost always comes before the reference word in the passage
- The referent is NOT ALWAYS the noun that is closest to the reference word

21.

22. Passage excerpt: “. . . these laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If pots have no bottoms or have large openings in their sides, they could hardly be considered containers in any traditional se

Passage excerpt: “. . . these laws are universal in their application, regardless of
cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If pots have no bottoms or have large
openings in their sides, they could hardly be considered containers in any
traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have
determined the general form of applied-art objects, they follow basic patterns, so
much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits . . . “
The word they in the passage refers to
• applied-art objects
• the laws of physics
• containers
• the sides of pots

23.

Passage excerpt: “. . . the first weekly newspaper in the colonies was the Boston
gazette, established in 1719, the same year that marked the appearance of
Philadelphia’s first newspaper, the American Mercury, where the young Benjamin
Franklin worked. By 1760 Boston had 4 newspapers and 5 other printing
establishments; Philadelphia, 2 newspapers and 3 other presses; and New York, 3
newspapers. The distribution, if not the sale, of newspapers was assisted by the
establishment of a postal service in 1710, which had a network of some 65 offices
by 1770, serving all 13 colonies . . .”
The word which in the passage refers to
A. distribution
B. Sale
C. newspaper
D. postal service

24. Strategies:

STRATEGIES:
• 1. Locate the highlighted pronoun or adjective
• 2. Look before the highlighted word that for nouns that
agree with the highlighted word
• 3. Try each of the choices in the context around the
highlighted word
• 4. Eliminate definitely wrong answers

25.

Passage excerpt: “. . . roots anchor the plant in one of two ways or sometimes by
a combination of the two. The first is by occupying a large volume of shallow soil
around the plant’s base with a fibrous root system, one consisting of many thin,
profusely branched roots. Since these kinds of roots grow relatively close to the
soil surface, they effectively control soil erosion. Grass roots are especially well
suited to this purpose. Fibrous roots capture water as it begins to percolate into
the ground and so must draw their mineral supplies from the surface soil before
the nutrients are leached to lower levels . . .”
The phrase this purpose in the passage refers to
A. combining two root systems
B. feeding the plant
C. preventing soil erosion
D. leaching nutrients

26.

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with those
conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish
move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in
herds.The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it
provides. A large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given
point than in a small one, and a predator may think twice before taking on such a
group; if a predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely
encounter a confusing mass of moving bodies and possibly may not succeed in its
primary goal.
1. The word those in the passage refers to
A) Types
B) Animals
C)Advantages
D)Groups

27.

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with
those conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in
hives; some fish move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs;
deer associate in herds. The main advantage of membership in a mass
community is the safety that it provides. A large group of prey may be easier
for a predator to find at any given point than in a small one, and a predator
may think twice before taking on such a group; if a predator does decide to
challenge a large group, it may merely encounter a confusing mass of moving
bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.
2. The word it in line 5 refers to
A) Advantage
B) Membership
C)Community
D)Safety

28.

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with those
conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish
move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in herds.
The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it
provides. A large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given
point than in a small one, and a predator may think twice before taking on such a
group; if a predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely encounter
a confusing mass of moving bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.
3. The word one in the passage refers to
A) Group
B) Prey
C)Predator
D)Point

29.

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with
those conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in
hives; some fish move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs;
deer associate in herds. The main advantage of membership in a mass
community is the safety that it provides. A large group of prey may be easier
for a predator to find at any given point than in a small one, and a predator
may think twice before taking on such a group; if a predator does decide to
challenge a large group, it may merely encounter a confusing mass of moving
bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.
4. The word it in line 7 refers to
A) Predator
B) Group
C)Mass
D)Goal