a | READING COMPREHENSION ——— The third section of the TOEFL testis the Reading Comprehension section. This section consists of fifty questions (some tests may be longer). Yoru have fifty-five minutes to com- Plete the fifty questions in this section, In this part of the test you will be given reading Passages, and you will be asked two ‘Pes of questions about the reading passages 1. Reading Comprehension questions ask you to answer questions about the infor: mation given in the reading passages. There will be a variety of questions about cach reading passage, including main idea questions, dirent), answered detail questions, and implied detail questions. 2 Vocabulary questions ask you to identify the meanings of vocabulary words in the cra Passages. To answer these questions, you may have to kevn the meanings Of the words. You can also identify the meanings‘of some cf the words by under- standing the context surrounding the words, by using structural clues to identify the meanings of the words, or by breaking down the ymknonn words into known word parts in order to identify ther | GENERAL STRATEGIES ¥ with the directions. The directions on every TOEFL test are the same, so ivis should be cert :Pand time reading the directions careill when you take the Gar eae should be completely familiar with the directions before the day of re race Pe Seas r the main idea before starting on the questions, Other sedan prefer to ‘move directly to the questions without reading the passages free, wre net worry if reading passage is on a topic that you are unfamiliar with. All of the information that you need to answer the questions is included in ae passages. You do ‘not need any background knowledge to answer the questions Peewee eee erie ects [__soretepon thud aner eh usonTneseee ie250 READING COMPREHENSION —THE READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS The Reading Comprehension section of the TOEFL test consists of five reading passages, cach followed by a number of reading comprehension and vocabulary questions. Topics of the reading passage are varied, but they are often informational subjects that might be Studied in an American university: American history, lt ‘ature, art, architecture, geology, Seography, and astronomy, for example. Time is definitely a factor in the Reading Comprehension section Many students who take the TOEFL test note that they are unable ta finch sn the questions in this sec- tion. Therefore, you need to make the most efficiens ner of your time in this section to Set the highest score. The following method is the best way or attacking a reading passage ‘0 get the most questions correct in a limited amount of time, — STRATEGIES FOR THE READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS "Skim the reading passage to determine the main idea and the overall pakanization of ideas in the passage, You do not need to understand every detail in each » coer ecth Ils therefore a waste of time to read the passage '0 answer the questions. Look ahead at the questions to determine what types of questions you must answer. Each type of question is answered ina diferent way, Find the section of the passage that deals with each question. The question-type ‘ells you exacty where to look in the passage to find correct anemone * For main idea questions, look at the first line of each Paragraph, * For rect andindrecty answered detail questons, choose a key word in the question, and skim for that key word (or a related idea) in order in the passage, + For vocabulary questions, the question wil tll you where the word is located in the passage, * For overall review questions, the answers are found anywhere in the passage Read the part of the passage that contains the answer carefully. The answer will Probably be in the same sentence (or one sentence before or after) the key word or idea. - Choose the best answer to each best answer according to what is given in the Feess orang action ofthe passage eliminate definitely wrong answers, ed nang your best ‘guess on the answer sheet. The following skills will help you to implement these strategies in the Reading Compre- hension section of the TOEFL test.READING COMPREHENSION How many modern coelacanths have been found? (A) Only one (B) Only two (©) Only afew (D) Quitea few Which paragraph describes the earlier version of the coelacanth? (A) The first paragraph (B) The second paragraph (C) The third paragraph (D) The fourth paragraph What is NOT true about the prehistoric coelacanth, according to the passage? (A) twas smaller than the modern coelacanth. (B) Iemeasured as much as six feet in length. (©) Ttweighed less than 150 pounds. (D) Ithad a hollow spine and distinctive fins, VOCABULARY QUESTIONS. In the Reading Comprehension section of the TOEFL test, there will be a number of vo- cabulary questions. To answer this type of question, it is of course helpful if you know the meaning of the word that the the TOEFL testis testing. However, itis not always necessary for you to know the meaning of the word; often there are skills that you can use to help you find the correct answer to the question: (1) finding definitions from structural clues, (2) determining meanings from word parts, and (3) using context clues to determine meanings. Ski 8: FIND DEFINITIONS FROM STRUCTURAL CLUES When you are asked to determine the meaning of a word in the Reading Comprehension section of the TOEFL test, itis possible (1) that the passage provides information about the meaning of the word and (2) that there are structural clues to tell you that the defini- tion of a word is included in the passage.