Some notes of An Insider's Guide to TOEFL iBT

尽早把托福这个坑填上方是正道，在正式上托福课之前阅读了这本Guide，颇受启发——只要是考试，总是有固定的方法的= =

An Insider's Guide to TOEFL iBT

It is NOT a test of grammar skills, so do not go into the TOEFL expecting to fill in blanks with the correct verb or vocabulary word. You will need to have a solid grasp of grammar and vocabulary to do well on the TOEFL, but those skills are not what the test is testing.Rather, the TOEFL is testing your English fluency much more than your accuracy.

=====[READING]=====

When you are reading in your second language it is very tempting to try to read slowly and carefully in order to understand every word. However, this won’t help you prepare for the TOEFL. In fact, it will hurt your TOEFL score because you will run out of time.

Read the first and last line of the final paragraph (this is the conclusion) and pay attention to how the author ends the passage.

Your goal is to get a high score, not answer every single question. Since some questions are easier than others you should skip difficult questions and focus on answering the easy questions first.

Another difficulty that you will encounter in the Reading section is the use of trick answers. A trick answer is one that is very close to the right answer, but is not actually correct. In order to avoid falling for trick answers you should always use a process of elimination to narrow down your answer choices.

A) Main Idea Questions

What’s the MOST IMPORTANT idea in the passage? Look for the answer in the first paragraph of the passage.
Make sure you choose the main idea, the passage’s clear thesis, and not a supporting detail.

B) Tone/Attitude Questions

Often, the author will state his or her attitude towards the subject either directly or implicitly at both the beginning and the end of the passage.

C) “Refers to” Questions

Replace the “refers to” word with each answer choice and test if the sentence makes sense.

D) “Closest in meaning to” Questions

Remember that this is asking you to choose the best synonym for this word depending on context, not on the dictionary definition. Oftentimes the answer choices will try to trick you by offering words that are very similar to the dictionary definition of the word, but not similar to its meaning in the context of the sentence.

E) Connecting Information Questions

The question and the answer choices should be very close together in the passage. If an answer choice is a sentence or idea in the passage located very far from the sentence or idea in the question, then this answer choice is probably incorrect.

F) Highlighted Sentence Questions

You need to choose the sentence that is closest in meaning to the sentence in the passage. Be very careful because all of the answer choices will contain similar wording to the sentence in the passage. These are often hard questions, and should be skipped your first time through the section.

G) “Except” Questions

These are often very hard because the answer is not found in the passage. Because of this you should do these questions on your second pass, after having answered the easiest questions first. Find a specific sentence in the passage to support your answer. These questions can be very tricky.

H) “Infer” Questions

These questions will ask you to infer something from the passage. The question will refer to a specific area of the passage, and the answer choices will all be concepts or ideas that can be suggested or implied from reading that section of the passage.

I) Add a Sentence

Practice cutting up paragraphs and putting them back together in order to get a feel for how sentences are connected.

J) Summary Questions

They will give you one sentence that sums up a main idea from the passage, and ask you to choose three more sentences from five answer choices. Most of these questions try to trick you by providing specific details from the passage instead of main ideas. Do not choose specific details.

=====[LISTENING]=====

However, there is one big difference between the Reading section and the Listening section. In the Listening section of the TOEFL you will NOT be allowed to skip questions and then go back to them later.

You should also note that, while most questions will be displayed on the screen, some questions will be auditory (you must listen to the question).

Your full attention should be focused on the lecture or conversation, and NOT on trying to take notes.

If you feel unfomfortable hearing native speakers talk quickly using a lot of filler words (“um”, “eh” and “uh”), then you should try watching American movies and television shows in order to familiarize yourself with this kind of speech.

1. Main Idea: This is exactly like the Main Idea from the Reading section. It tells us what the lecture is going to be about. Usually this will directly follow a greeting by the professor.
2. Purpose: This answers the question WHY the professor is talking about this.
3. Examples: The rest of the lecture will be filled with examples that clearly demonstrate the purpose of the lecture.
4. Conclusion: This is where the professor will summarize what was discussed in the lecture. They will probably repeat the Purpose of the lecture and its Main Idea when making their conclusion.

[Pay attention to the professor’s tone and her attitude towards her subject.]

[Listen carefully for the main idea in the first paragraph of the lecture.]
Do not be fooled by answer choices that focus on supporting details or ideas that the professor mentions in the last minute of the lecture. Choose an idea that is mentioned at the beginning of the lecture and is consistent throughout the lecture.

[Learn how to connect information.]

[Pay careful attention whenever the professor uses a metaphor to explain a concept.]
For example, “photosynthesis is like cooking”. There are often questions about why the professor uses a certain metaphor.

[Pay close attention whenever the professor gives examples.]

[Listen carefully for reasons and explanations.]
Train your ear to be very sensitive to words like “because”, “therefore”, “the reason for this is...”, “this caused” and “the effect of this was...”. Listen very carefully for these kinds of transition words because they will show you the relationships between ideas.

[Learn how to figure out meaning from context and tone.]
Some questions will only ask you to listen to one particular section of the lecture. These questions are asking you to listen carefully to the professor’s tone of voice and also to pay careful attention to the context of a particular part of the lecture.

[Think about implied meaning, not literal meaning.]

A Listening Conversation will almost always include the following parts:
1. Introduction: The two people talking will greet one another.
2. Problem/Subject: As mentioned above a student will normally have an issue that they need to solve.
3. Answer/Reaction: The second person will usually respond to the first person and give them advice or present a solution to the problem.
4. Solution: The conversation will end with a closing that clearly states what the solution to the problem.

[Pay attention to both speakers’ tone of voice and to the way they respond to one another.]

[Listen carefully for the student’s problem or issue.]
Within the first 5 sentences the student should have identified the reason for the conversation. Oftentimes, questions will try to trick you by offering three or four supporting details from the middle or end of the conversation as answer choices.

[Listen carefully for reasons and explanations.]

[Listen carefully for possible solutions.]

[Decide if the student likes the proposed solutions or not.]

[Identify the final decision the student and the other speaker decide on.]

[Become familiar with colloquial expressions.]

[Think about the speaker’s purpose in order to decide what he/she means.]

=====[SPEAKING]=====

The speaking section contains two types of speaking tasks, Independent and Integrated. You will perform two independent tasks, and four integrated tasks.

Remember, you DON’T have to sound like a native speaker to score well. Your organization and how understandable your speech is are more important than what you sound like. The more natural and confident your speech sounds the better you will score.

Learn the structure for each task and use it for your response.

1. Avoid speaking in a rehersed or “computer” voice.
2. Avoid frequent pauses or using filler words like um and uh.

[Speaking Independent: Task 1]
One type of task will ask you to answer a question about your life, interests, and/or personality.

The most important thing to remember here is to make sure your response is organized. No matter how clearly and fluently you speak, if you ramble with no organization it will be very difficult to get more than a 2.

When you are listing these reasons, remember to always transition from general to specific. Also, make sure you use transition words to help your response flow more smoothly.

Main point > Transition Word > Reason > Details > Transition Word > Reason > Details > Transition Word > Conclusion

Remember that you have 45 seconds to respond to the speaking independent prompts, so do not spend too much time on only one reason.

[Speaking Independent: Task 2]
The other type of speaking independent task will ask you to state your opinion about a particular debate or issue.

It would be even better if the speaker could contrast his point with the opposite point.

[Speaking Integrated: Reading and Listening]
There are four speaking integrated tasks. Two of these tasks will ask you to read a passage, listen to a conversation or lecture, and then give your responses.

The first thing you need to ask before you respond is: Does the listening support or contradict the lecture? In every speaking integrated task like this the listening will very clearly either support or contradict the reading.

Your response should follow this format:
1. State whether the listening supports or contradicts the reading.
2. List reasons and specific details from the listening and the reading passages.

[Speaking Integrated: Listening Only]

The other two types of speaking integrated tasks will ask you to listen to a conversation and a lecture and then contrast the two.

The first task will ask you to listen to a conversation. In every one of these conversation passages, one of the speakers will have a problem, and the other speaker will propose several solutions. The speaker with the problem will either choose one of the proposed solutions or come up with a different solution.

The single most important thing you need to do is identify the speaker’s problem, the proposed solutions, and the speaker’s decision.

In the other type of listening task, you will hear a lecture about an academic subject.

The single most important thing you need to do here is list the main points from the lecture. Make sure you summarize the main points from the lecture, and most importantly, make sure you complete the task set forward in the prompt. Many people make the mistake of getting too rushed and simply listing points from the lecture without being careful to clearly complete the task in the prompt.

=====[WRITING]=====

Does not copy any content directly from the reading or lecture.

Of course, you should have clear ideas and good grammar and vocabulary. But most importantly, your writing should very well organized. If your ideas are not well organized, you will not get a 3 even if you have excellent grammar and vocabulary.

They are: Main Idea, Purpose, and Structure.
We learned that the Main Idea is what the passage is about, the Purpose is why the passage is being written, and the Structure is how the passage is organized.

Main Idea -> Reasons/Details/Examples (Purpose) -> Conclusion

1. Organize your essay before you start writing.
2. Remeber to include certain words and grammatical structures that the TOEFL graders are looking for.
3. PRACTICE! You only have 20 or 30 minutes to write a great essay. Practicing will help you efficiently use your time.

[Writing Independent]

The most important things to remember are:
1. Have clear organization (Structure)
2. Have an original idea and support it with strong points, examples and details (Main Idea and Purpose)

Your essay should follow a very simple and direct five-paragraph format.
-->>> Introduction > 3 Paragraph Body > Conclusion <<<--

Introduction: Present thesis and an overview of main ideas
Body paragraph: Topic sentence + supporting details
Body paragraph: Topic sentence + supporting details
Body paragraph: Topic sentence + supporting details
Conclusion: Summarize thesis and main ideas

PS: Your introduction should have a thesis with your personal opinion and two or three points that support it.

The best essays will have these characteristics:
1. Clear organization - Make your essay as clear and direct as possible.
2. Good flow (transition words and connections between ideas)
3. Clear grammar and ideas - Do not try to make your essay too complicated! Do not try and use complex grammar and vocabulary. Make your essay as clear and direct as possible.

[Writing Integrated Task]

The most important thing to remember here is that the listening will always contradict the reading! Always, always, always!! Even if you do not understand anything you hear in the lecture, you should at least make it clear that you understand that the lecture contradicts the reading. Some students make the mistake of comparing the two, thinking they make similar points: don’t make this mistake!

Make sure you know the meaning of “cast doubt” before you take the exam: it means to contradict, question, or debunk.

First Essay Structure: One side/Other side
You can present one side of the argument in two paragraphs, and then the other side of the argument in the next two paragraphs.
.....
As you can see, this essay puts all of the points from the reading in the first half of the essay, and all of the points from the lecture in the second half. This is called a one side/other side essay since it presents all the points for one side and then all the points for the other.

Second Essay Structure: Point by Point

You can also structure your essay point by point. This means that instead of listing all the points for one side, you will list one point and then show the reading and the listening passages’ perspectives on that point.
....
As you can see, this type of essay focuses on one particular point in each paragraph and shows both sides of the argument for that point. This essay will probably have three paragraphs whereas the other type of essay might have more, since it needs to present at least two points from the reading and two points from the lecture.

Contrasting Essay Vocabulary:
Progression Words:
First Second Third Then Next Before After Finally
Connection Words:
Because And So Also Additionally Therefore Thus
Contradiction Words:
But Despite However Although Rather