What is special about the Reading Section in TOEFL iBT?

There are many international exams in English, and most of them, if not all, include Reading as a tested skill. Multiple choice, True/False/Not Given, Matching (e.g. headings to paragraphs, or people to their opinions) – those are typical types of questions a candidate may expect. However, TOEFL iBT may surprise even an experienced test-taker.

You never know how many questions there will be

The test will contain 3 or 4 passages from academic texts, and you will have to answer 36-56 questions and spend around 20 min on one passage, thus total 60-80 min for the whole Reading section. Normally, there are 12-14 questions for every passage. Good news – you see how many questions there are for the given passage once you start working on it, and how much time – 60 or 80 min – you have to complete the Reading section, so you can manage your time accordingly. The reason why the number of passages and, therefore, the number of questions are a mystery is that one passage is actually being tested against all the test validity criteria for its future use. The problem is, you’ll never know which one ☺

Some words will be explained

If you see a word or phrase in the TOEFL iBT text underlined in blue – go ahead and click on it. A dictionary definition will appear on the page for your reference. Usually, those are technical words and field-specific terminology. Nice, isn’t it? Too bad there are very few of such clickable words.

Almost all questions in the Reading section are Multiple Choice questions

Although the nature of the choice may be very different, you practically always have to choose from four options – A, B, С and D, which in turn means that you always have a chance just to guess.

The Reading section is where Vocabulary is tested too

Almost every passage will be accompanied with questions asking you to choose a synonym for a word in the passage. Make sure you read the context even if you know the word – you are expected to choose what it means specifically in the context of the passage.

The word intentional in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to

A) deliberate

B) estimated

C) forbidden

D) intermittent

Grammar and Discourse are there too

The word they in paragraph 1 refers to

A) chromium compounds

B) brightly colored hues

C) coloring agents

D) pigments

Ещё один популярный тип вопросов — это вопросы на определение контекста, где вас просят указать, к чему относится определённое местоимение (оно, они, оба, другой и т. д.). Опять же, практически всё, что вам нужно, — это контекст и ваши знания грамматики и грамматики.

Эти знания снова пригодятся в вопросах типа «Вставка», где нужно выбрать лучшее место в тексте (из четырех вариантов) для вставки заданного предложения. Здесь очень помогает технология – вы буквально щелкаете по нужному месту в тексте, и там появляется нужное предложение. Очень удобно читать контекст до и после предложения!

Ability to paraphrase is tested quite directly

Очевидно, что навык перефразирования полезен во всех разделах теста, но здесь, в разделе «Чтение», он проверяется в том виде, в котором он есть: нужно выбрать предложение, наиболее близкое по смыслу к предложению в тексте.

James Flynn, who collected similar data on other countries, found that «massive» gains in the IQ scores of the population in fourteen nations have occurred during the twentieth century. These improvements, according to Flynn’s analysis, largely stemmed not from genetic improvement in the population but from environmental changes that led to gains in the kinds of skills assessed by IQ tests. Torsten Husen and his colleagues also have concluded after reviewing large amounts of data, that improvements in economic and social conditions, and particularly in the availability of schooling, can produce substantial gains in average IQ from one generation to the next. in general, educators committed to improving the performance of low-achieving students find these studies encouraging.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the information in the highlighted statement in the passage? The other choices change the meaning or leave out important information.

A) Changes in the environment rather than genetic progress caused an increase in IQ cores, according to studies by Flynn.

B) Flynn’s studies were not conclusive in identifying the skills that resulted in improvements on IQ tests.

C) IQ test results in research by Flynn did not improve because of genetics and environment.

D) The reason that gains in IQ tests occurred was because of the changes in skills that were tested.

You can find exercises to practise different types of question in the book “Longman Preparation Course”.

В целом, убедитесь, что вы тщательно подготовились к разделу «Чтение» теста TOEFL iBT и знакомы с форматом и типами вопросов, иначе могут возникнуть некоторые неожиданности, а это совсем не то, чего вы хотите в день экзамена.