INTRODUCTION

SECTION ONE:

LISTENING COMPREHENSION The first section on the TOEFL test is called Listening Comprehension. This consists of fifty questions. The listening Comprehension section tests your ability to understand spoken English. You will listen to recorded materials and respond to multiple choice questions about the material. You must listen carefully because you will hear the recording one time only and the material on the recording is not written in your test book. This section is divided into three parts: Part A: Short Conversations There are 30 two-line dialogues between two speakers. After each dialogue, a third voice, the narrator, asks a question. Part B: Longer Conversations This part contains eight to twelve questions based on two 60-90 second conversations between two people. Part C: Talks This part contains three 60-90 second talks, each followed by a number of multiple-choice questions. The talks and the 8-12 questions that accompany them make up Part C of the TOEFL test.

THE STRATEGIES The following tips can help you successfully answer the questions in the Listening Comprehension section. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Skim the answer choices first. Try to imagine what type of question will be asked. Listen carefully to the passages. You should concentrate fully on what the speakers are saying on the recording because you will hear the recording one time only. Be familiar with the pacing of the test. You have 12 seconds between each question on the recording. Never leave any answers blank on your answer sheet. Even if you are not sure of the correct response, you should answer each question. Use any remaining time to look ahead at the answers to the questions that follow. PREPARATION The Listening Comprehension section requires you to have a good ear for English. This can only be obtained with a great deal of practice. You must be able to distinguish between words that sound similar and be able to comprehend entire sentences, not just single words or phrases. Besides methods and techniques mentioned here, there is actually no way to study for listening comprehension. It is necessary to tune your ear to English. Speak to native English speakers as often as possible.

SECTION TWO:

STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION The second section on the TOEFL test is called Structure and Written Expression. This consists of forty questions. You have twenty-five minutes to complete the forty questions in this section. There are two types of questions in the Structure and Written Expression section of the paper TOEFL test. 1. Structure (questions 1-15) tests sentence completion. The sentences in this part are not complete. One or more words are left out of each sentence. The sentence is followed by four answer choices. You must choose the answer that completes the sentence in a grammatically correct way. Example I Birds make nests in trees _______ hide their young in the leaves and branches. (A) can where they (B) where they can (C) where can they (D) where can The best answer is (B). The sentence should read, Birds make nests where they can hide their young in the leaves and branches. Example II Seismographs are used to locate oil, to determine ocean depth, and _______ and measure earthquakes. (A) detect (B) be detecting (C) to detect (D) are detecting The best answer is (C). The sentence should read, Seismographs are used to locate oil, to determine ocean depth, and to detect and measure earthquakes. 2. Written Expression (questions 16-40) tests error identification. Each sentence in this part has four underlined words or phrases. Choose the one word or phrase that must be changed for the sentence to be correct. Example I Aspirin is recommend to many people for its ability to thin the 0blood. A B C D The best answer is (A). The sentence should read, Aspirin is recommended to many people for its ability to thin the blood. Example II Navajo Indians are far more numerous today as they were in the past. A B C D The best answer is (C). The sentence should read, Navajo Indians are far more numerous today than they were in the past.

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THE STRATEGIES Strategies for Structure: 1. 2. 3. Look for the main subject and verb of the sentence. If there is no complete subject or verb phrase, you know that you need to find these in the answer choices. Decide what kind of structure the sentence needs. Use the testing points in this book to help you decide what is needed. Read the sentence to see if it makes sense and sounds correct.

Strategies for Written Expression: 1. 2. 3. 4. Read the complete sentence quickly to look for the main subject and verb of the sentence. Do not read just the underlined words or phrases. Look at the underlined words to see what part of speech they are and how they relate to the main subject and verb. Use the testing points in this book to help you identify possible errors. If you cannot find the error, eliminate the parts that seem correct, and then take a guess from your remaining options.

WORD CLASSES (PARTS OF SPEECH) The basic grammar of sentences consists of the kinds of words that compose them and the functions of those words. Understanding basic grammar can help you understand sentences in English that you will encounter in Section 2, Structure and Written Expression, of the TOEFL test. WORD CLASS NOUNS Nancy, pen, memory, traits, bottle, news, etc 1. 2. Nouns name people, places, things, ideas, etc. Nouns function as the subject of a sentence. They also function as objects, complements, appositives, or adjectives. There are two types of nouns: countable nouns (book, orange, car, etc.) and uncountable nouns (water, information, money, etc.) Nouns can be preceded by articles (a or the) or other determiners (my, some, much, that/those, etc.) EXAMPLES Edwin always comes late. (subject) We love Edwin. (object) Edwin is a professional musician. (Edwin = subject; musician = complement) Edwin, my brother, is a musician. (brother = appositive) Edwins wife is very beautiful. (Edwins = modifier; wife = subject)

3.

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PRONOUNS I, you, our, herself, mine, whose, etc. 1. 2. Pronouns take the place of nouns. Pronouns function as subjects, objects, complements, or adjectives.

He always comes late. (subject) It was he who helped me out. (complement) The people love him. (object) His wife is so beautiful. (adjective) He looks so happy. He does not look happy. He looked so happy. He did not look so happy. He is a great father. He does everything he can. He has much money. He is writing his second novel this year. He has been here since three hours ago. He could do it. He could have done it.

VERBS take, get, run, love, etc. 1. 2. Verbs express an action (bring, change, grow) or a state of being (be, seem). Verbs have 5 forms: 3. Base form: be, cry, decide, take Present form: is/am/are, cry/cries, decide/decides, take/takes Past form: was/were, cried, decided, took Present participle form: being, crying, deciding, taking Past participle form: been, cried, decided, taken do verbs: do, does, did be verbs: be, is, am, are, was, were, being, been have: have, has, had modals: can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must

Verbs can combine with helping verbs:

ADJECTIVES Descriptive: polite, blue, big, etc. Determiner: my, our, some, two, etc. Adjectives modify or describe nouns. They usually come before the nouns or after the verb be or other linking verbs (look, become, feel, taste, etc).

She is beautiful and smart. Linda is an excellent girl. The food tastes so sweet.

ADVERBS quickly, politely, beautifully, very, fast, hard, etc. Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, or adverbs.

The cat ran quickly. He is an extremely quick runner. The cat ran very quickly.

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PREPOSITIONS in, on, at, out, of, by, to, from, through, with(out), above, over, under, below, between, among, but, except, for, during, before, after, etc. Prepositions are words that clarify a relationship between their words that follow them (always nouns) and the words that come before them. The relationship can be one of time, place, manner, direction. CONJUNCTIONS/CONNECTORS Coordinate: and, but, so, or Correlative: either ... or, neither ... nor, both ... and, not only ... but also A conjunction serves as a connector between words, phrases, or clauses.

We walked on the beach for several hours last night. In 1856 the Civil War finally ended. Jack sat beside Jill on the bus.

Andrew is smart, handsome, and rich. He has much money, but nobody loves him. Sharon is not only beautiful but also smart.

ARTICLES Definite article: the Indefinite articles: a, an An article is used before a noun and functions as an adjective.

The sun is shinning. A broad expanse of sea with a large number of islands is called an archipelago

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PHRASES AND CLAUSES

TERMS PHRASES a phrase is a meaningful group of words without a subject and a verb.

EXAMPLES on the hill, a surprising gift, the girl wearing sunglasses, etc.

CLAUSES A clause is a group of words consisting of a subject and a verb

We saw a beautiful house on the hill. Sydney got a surprising gift on her birthday. The girl wearing sunglasses over there is my friend.

SENTENCES A group of meaningful words consisting of at least one independent clause.

The telephone was ringing. (1 clause) Jill made the coffee, and Frank scrambled the eggs. (2 clauses) By the time I got out of the shower, the caller had hung up. (2 clauses) When I moved to Chicago, I first applied for a job, and then I looked for an apartment. (3 clauses)

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SECTION THREE:

READING COMPREHENSION
THE TEST The third section on the TOEFL test is called Reading Comprehension. This consists of five passengers, each followed by 9 to 11 questions, for a total of 50 questions. You have fifty-minutes to complete the fifty questions in this section. The passages are not long, about 150 and 300 words, and the topics and style of writing are similar to those that students might find at North American universities and colleges. In other words, the style is quite formal, while topics range from general science to biography, American heritage, and so on. However, the topics are presented so that they do not give an advantage to experts in related fields and you can find all of the answer in the relevant text. There is only one type of question in the Reading Comprehension section of the paper TOEFL test: Multiple-choice question. The questions ask you to select the best answer to questions about what is stated or implied in the passage. The questions on the test are presented in linear order. The passages progress from easy to difficult, and the questions are presented in the order in which they appear in the passage. There are ten testing points that frequently appear on TOEFL tests: main idea, organizational pattern, stated and unstated details, line focus, referents, vocabulary, implied details, conclusions, predictions, questions on purpose, tone, and context. The following is a sample reading passage followed by some sample questions. The passage: Obsidian is a distinctive type of igneous rock that forms as a result of the melting of deep crystal granite rocks into magma. Because of the speed at which the magma cools, crystallization does not occur, and a solid, shiny, volcanic, glass-like rock results. Most commonly a solid, shiny black in color, obsidian can also take on a golden or silvery sheen or be striped in a rainbow of hues. Obsidian is generally found in small outcrops, though large masses of it can be found in a few notable locations. Two such sites are the giant Valles Caldera in New Mexico, where the obsidian flows are hundreds of feet thick, and the Glass Butters in Oregon, which are composed entirely of obsidian. Because of its properties, obsidian was prized in many ancient cultures. Obsidian is easily worked into shapes with razor-sharp edges even sharper than the edges formed from flint and was thus used in the production of simple hunting weapons. It can also be polished to an extremely high luster and was thus held in a high regard in a number of cultures as a semiprecious stone in jewelry and other embellishments.

Line (5)

(10)

The questions: 1. What is stated in the passage about obsidian? (A) It results from rapidly cooling magma (B) It is crystalline (C) It is a sedimentary rock (D) It has a dull finish 2. The word sites in line 7 is closest in meaning to (A) pieces (B) layers

(C) places (D) distances

3. It can be inferred from the passage that obsidian would least likely have been used to make (A) a spear (B) an arrowhead

(C) a ring (D) a belt

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The answers: The first question is a stated detail question. To answer this question, you should find the part of the passage that states that because of the speed at which the magma cools, crystallization does not occur, and a solid, shiny, volcanic, glass-like rock results. From this, it can be determined that obsidian results from rapidly cooling magma. Answer (A) is therefore the best answer to this question. The second question is a vocabulary question. To answer this question, you should find the word sites in line 7 in the passage and read the context around it. The passage mentions a few notable locations and two such sites. From this context, you can determine that sites is closest in meaning to locations, or place. The best answer to this question is therefore answer (C). The third question is an implied detail question. The answer to this type of question is not explicitly stated in the passage, so you must draw conclusion from what is stated in the passage. The passage states that obsidian was .... used in the production of simple hunting weapons and that it was held in high regard in a number of cultures as semiprecious stone in jewelry . From this it can be inferred that obsidian would likely have been used to make a spear or an arrowhead, which are types of weapons, or a ring, which is a type of jewelry, and that obsidian, which is a rock, would have been least likely to have been used to make a belt, which is an article of clothing. The best answer to this question is therefore answer (D).

THE STRATEGIES There are some points that you have to remember to successfully answer the questions in the Reading Comprehension section. 1. 2. 3. Skim the reading passage to determine the main idea and the overall organization of ideas in the passage. You do not need to understand every detail in each passage to answer the questions correctly. Look ahead at the questions to determine what language skills are being tested in the questions. Find the section of the passage that deals with each question. The language skill tells you exactly where to look in the passage to find correct answers. For example, for main idea questions, look at the first line of each paragraph. Read the part of the passage that contains the answer carefully. Choose the best answer to each question from the four choices listed in your test book.

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