TOEFL TEST STRATEGIES

OEFL

TEST STRATEGIE
with Practice

Third E

n

Tests

Eli Hinkel, Ph.D.

METHODS

YOU CAN MASTER

* to strengthen your skills in understanding spoken English

* to understand structure and the rules of written English
* to improve your reading comprehension
© to expand your vocabulary

s to enhance your writing skills

And to do your best on the Test of English as a Foreign Language

SPECIAL FEATURES
List of idioms and preparation for the

Test of Written English

Eight TOEFL practice tests with answer keys

A tutorial for the Computer-Based TOEFL

'®TOEFL is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service. This publication has been
neither reviewed nor endorsed by Educational Testing Service,


'© Copyright 2004, 1998, 1994 by Eli Hinkel

All rights reserved,
No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography,
or any other means, or incorporated into any
information retrieval system, electronic or
mechanical, without the written permission
of the copyright owner.
All inquiries should be addressed to:
Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
250 Wireless Boulevard
Hauppauge, New York 11788
hup://eww.barronseduc.com

‘TOEFL answer sheets are reprinted by permission of
Educational Testing Service, the copyright owner. No
endorsement of this publication by Educational Testing
Service should be inferred,
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 2003060506
ISBN-13:

ISBN-10:
ISBN-13:
ISBN-10;

978-0-7641-7745-3 (Book and 5 CDs Package)
0-7641-7745-1 (Book and 5 CDs Package)
978-0-7641-2342-9 (Book only)
0-7641-2342-4 (Book only)

brary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hinkel, Bl
TOEFL strategies / Eli Hinkel. — 3rd ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-7641-2342-4 — ISBN 0-7641-7745-1 (book with Audio CDs)
1. Test of English as a Foreign Language-—Study guides. 2. English language—Textbooks
for foreign speakers. 3. English language—Examinations—Study guides. 1. Tile.
PE1128.H46 2004
428',0076—de22
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
9876

2003060506


Contents

1

About the TOEFL

1

2

About the Computer TOEFL

5

3. Strategies for Listening Comprehension
4

15

Practice for Listening Comprehension 35
Supplement to Listening Practice 43
Idioms in Daily Conversation 43
List of Idioms and Two- or Three-Word Verbs Frequently Used on the
TOEFL

43

5 Strategies for Structure and Written Expression
6

Practice for Structure and Written Expression

7

Strategies for Reading Comprehension

8

Practice

for Reading Comprehension

9 Test of Written English
Practice TOEFL 1

165

Practice TOEFL 2

191

Practice TOEFL 3.

215

Practice TOEFL 4

239

Practice TOEFL 5

263

Practice TOEFL 6

287

Practice TOEFL 7

313

Practice TOEFL 8

339

51
71

103
117

143

Appendix

moo

‘A. Tapescript for Chapter 4:
Listening Comprehension 365
‘Tapescripts for Practice TOEFL Tests 1-8 375
Scoring Practice Tests 435
Answer Keys 440
Answer Sheets 455

Thie

one

III
IIII
IIII
IIII
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KTLK-280-O6RD


Preface
TOEFL Strategies is intended for students who are preparing for the TOEFL as it is adminis-

tered in the United States or at international sites. Teachers of TOEFL preparation courses will
also find this book an invaluable asset in addressing students’ needs and providing realistic
exercises for practice
This book is based on research on the TOEFL between 1980 and 2003. It provides the most
up-to-date test information available on the market today. ‘The questions, sentences, vocabulary, and texts from dozens of tests were classified according to the linguistic categories the
questions were designed to test, the correct responses, the distractors, and the topics. Most
TOEFL technical reports and other materials published by Educational Testing Service (ETS)
were examined and applied to the research. TOEFL Strategies provides updated information on
these changes as well as computations of the frequency with which certain structures and reading selections appear on the test.
Furthermore, this book includes strategies and practice for all three required TOEFL sections:
Listening Comprehension, Structure and Written Expression, and Reading Comprehension.

The exercises differ from the practice tests in an important way. The exercises contain
TOEFL-like questions focusing on one structure or question type at a time. For example, one
exercise centers on sentences that test active/passive voice discrimination. On the other hand,
in the practice tests all structures tested on the TOEFL are included in the same proportions as

on the actual test.
In addition to the computed frequencies of the various TOEFL questions, Chapter 5,
“Strategies for Structure and Written Expression,” also incorporates linguistic sentence analysis that allows both students and teachers to utilize the regularities of English syntax to their
best advantage. The long-term benefits of sentence and phrase analysis can extend beyond
preparation for the TOEFL. Heightened awareness of English syntax and phrase structure can
raise students’ overall proficiency in reading, writing, and aural comprehension.
Chapter 1, “About the TOEFL,” provides a brief description of the test and general strategies
for taking the TOEFL. Chapter 2 provides a tutorial with strategies specifically for the ComputerBased Test (CBT). Chapters 3 and 7, “Strategies for Listening Comprehension” and “Strategies
for Reading Comprehension,” include both TOEFL-specific tasks and methods of sentence and
text analysis to improve aural comprehension and reading skills. The text analysis method of
preparing for the TOEFL relies on discrimination between the primary and secondary information contained in a text, and the ways in which such elements as negations, comparisons, and
conditionals affect the meaning of a sentence or passage.
The book contains a strategies and a practice chapter for each of the TOEFL sections:
Listening Comprehension, Structure and Written Expression, and Reading Comprehension. As

for the Test of Written English (TWE), Chapter 9 includes an analysis of topics used on the TWE
in the past, examples of good and poor essays, and strategies for obtaining the best possible
score on this portion of the test
The eight practice tests provide students with ample test-taking and learning experience. The
exercises for the three TOEFL sections and the sizable number of model tests allow the students
and/or the teacher to choose the particular types of work that can best meet diverse student
training needs and expectations. If the teacher wishes, some of the exercises and practice tests
can be assigned as homework or as independent study to supplement the course text.
This resource of sufficient training materials offers teachers flexibility in meeting the test
preparation requirements of a student audience whose test-preparation and language learning
v


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ABOUT THE TOEFL

3

time thinking about it, Many students who take the TOEFL lose time on questions in the
Listening Comprehension section and do not finish their Structure and Writen Expression
and Reading Comprehension sections,
2. Use your knowledge of English and your understanding of the TOEFL to make the best
guesses possible. It is very important to remember that in all three sections the choices
(B) and (C) are correct 60-65 percent of the time, Answer (A) is correct only about 15-20
percent of the time and (D) about 20-25 percent. This book provides you with man

effective strategies for guessing the answers on the test.
Test Differences

Although the TOEFL designers try to make all tests of equal difficulty, this is not always possible. However, differences in test difficulty are eliminated statistically by means of complica
ed mathematical operations, so that a given test score indicates a specific level of proficiency
regardless of the difficulty of the test.
Tests can differ in length, as well. Some contain 150 questions, and others 200 questions
For all tests, only 150 questions count in the score. The other 50 questions are administered
by ETS to uy out new materials before including them in future tests. However, since te
takers do not know which questions count and which do not, they have to try their best on
all of them. The disadvantage of taking a 200-question test is that test-takers tend to get tired
during a longer test and may not do as well as on the shorter version, The 150-question tests
take approximately 3 hours; the 200-question tests take about 4 hours,
The TOEFL Now and in the Future

Currently, the TOEFL is required by almost alll colleges and universities in the United States
and some Canadian institutions. In addition, the TOEFL is required by many state and government agencies that license foreign professionals, such as medical doctors, dentists, and
nurses, These institutions use TOEFL scores to evaluate your English language proficiency and
to determine whether your language skills are sufficient for you to do well in American academic and professional settings.
In the past few years, many professionals in American education have expressed concerns
as to whether a TOEFL score can provide a good indication of one's success in academic institutions in the United States. To deal with these concerns, ETS has added another section to the
traditional TO!

format: the Test of Written

English.

Although

the TWE

is not included as a

part of every TOEFL administration, the number of tests that include the TWE has been increa

ing over the years, Chapter 9 explains how the TWE is administered. It also suggests strategies
for successful preparation for this part of the TOEFL, analyzes good and poor sample essays,
and offers writing topics for practice.
Because simply

adding the TWE to the basic TOEFL did not satisfy

a large number of pro-

fessionals in the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) and in universities where
many foreign students pursue their studies, ETS has initiated a program to revise the test. The
goal of this program, which is called New Generation TOEFL, is to change the test layout and.
the materials included in the test by the end of the year 2005,

ETS plans to continue to make changes in the TOEFL in the next few years. Beginning in

2001, ETS introduced computer-based TOEFL tests. These tests are currently offered in North
America, some countries in Latin America and Europe, some centers in Australia, and a few
Asian countries. By the year 2005, ETS plans for most TOEFL testing to be computer-based.
The New Generation TOEFL will continue to test Listening Comprehension, Structure and
Written Expression, and Reading Comprehension, although the form of the questions may


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ABOUT THE COMPUTER TOEFL

7

Answering Questions

To answer each question, you must click the mouse at least three times on each screen.

1. Click to select the answer in the question area. This may mean clicking an oval, an underlined word or phrase that is incorrect, a small picture that answers the question, or several words or pictures to place them in the proper sequence or category
2. Click the [Next] button. When you click the [Nex] button, the
button will be slightly darker than before, indicating that you can choose it. You cannot click

the
button until have you clicked the [Nex] button.
3. Click the
button. Until you click the
button, you
cannot see the next question.
SsTUBY TIP

A common mistake is to click just the [Next] button and wait for the next

question to be displayed. This can cost you precious seconds and much
time throughout the test. Remember to click the [Answer Confirm] button
immediately after you click the Next button.

In addition to the question types described throughout this book, the Listening and Reading

Comprehension sections also include new question types that test essentially the same lan-

guage skills that are tested on the paper test.
Listening Comprehension

Before the actual test begins, you can adjust the volume of the headset only at the start of,
the test during the directions. Afier the test begins, you cannot adjust the volume. To adjust the
volume, click the [Yolume] button to the left of the [Help] button. In the volume adjustment
screen, click the up arrow to increase the volume or the down arrow to decrease the volume.
When a dialogue or lecture is played, pictures are displayed on the screen. If the pictures
are only of people talking or sitting in a lecture room, do not focus on the pictures. Studies
have shown that focusing on the pictures can marginally reduce your ability to answer the
questions correctly because pictures are distracting. Just concentrate on what is said. On the
other hand, some of the pictures illustrate content to go with a lecture (for example, pictures

of paintings by particular artists in a lecture on art styles), and you must pay attention to this
type of picture,
If you know the answer, choose it quickly and move on. The time you save-on the easy
questions can be used on the harder questions. On average, budget your time so that you
spend about 12 seconds on a question.
In the listening section of the paper TOEFL, the questions require you to select one and only
one answer. There is only one right answer to the questions on the paper TOEFL. In the computer version of the TOEFL, there are additional types of questions. Instructions for a question

are presented with a BBBEBRBEMDNHB|
In some questions with one right answer, you are instructed to click on the correct letter. In
the following example, the question is “Which section of the page is the footnote?” You must
click on the letter on the correct portion of the page to give your answer. In this question, the

correct answer is [G.


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ABOUT THE COMPUTER TOEFL

11

In this example, you would click the first black square in the passage. The new sentence would
then be automatically inserted in that location,
You need to check the context of each square in the passage to determine if the new sentence should go there. In this example, the very first sentence in front of the first black
square—"A tomahawk is a small ax used as a tool and a weapon by the North American Indian
tribes."—suggests large geographic space because of the phrase “North American Indian
tribes.” The sentence to be inserted also mentions a wide geographical area,
The sentence in front of the second black square describes the construction of tomahawks
before Europeans arrived on the North American continent, and the sentence after the second
black square describes a change in the construction of tomahawks after European arrival. The
sentence to be inserted does not talk about materials used for making tomahawks. Therefore,
if the sentence is inserted after the second black square, it would break up/separate the two
sentences about materials already in place, so the second black square would be the wrong
place to insert the additional sentence.
The sentence in front of the third black square talks about materials of the tomahawk and
the sentence after it talks about uses of tomahawks. Although you could insert the new sentence here, nothing in either sentence deals with the geographical area where tomahawks were
used mentioned in the additional sentence.
The sentences before and after the fourth black square talk about uses of the tomahawk
(and not the area) and inserting the new sentence here would break up the information about
tomahawk uses with unrelated information, so this is not a good place to put the additional

sentence. The first black square is the place to insert the added sentence.
Different Wording for Questions
Some questions on the computer TOEFL are essentially the same as questions on the paper

‘TOEFL but are worded differently and answered differently on the computer TOE!

Vocabulary
Some vocabulary questions ask you to click on a word in a portion of the reading passage
that is close in meaning to another highlighted word in the text. The language skill tested is
identical to the skill required for vocabulary questions on the paper TOEFL and described in
Chapter 7. You just need to click the mouse on the word you want to choose as the correct
answer to the question. On the paper TOEFL, you need to eliminate three wrong answers to
vocabulary questions, but on the computer TOEFL, you need to eliminate many more. If the

word you are trying to match is a verb, in the selection of possible answers, concentrate only
on the verbs for words with similar meaning. If the word is a noun, only look at nouns


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16 TOEFL STRATEGIES
Example of a short dialogue In Part A:

In Part A, you will hear 30 short dialogues between two speakers. The purpose in Part A is
to test your ability to understand conversations on common, everyday topics. Academic topics
seldom appear in this part of the TOEFL. Because exchanges between the two speakers are
very informal and social, in Part A you will hear many contractions and idioms.
First example of a dialogue in Part

Man: | think Sue knows how to get to the bus terminal.
‘Woman: I've been trying to get hold of her for half an hour.

In the test, this dialogue will be followed by a question:
QUESTION:

What does the woman mean?

This second sentence in the dialogue contains a contraction 7œ and an idiom (“frozen
expression”), fo get hold of someone. The contraction indicates the conversational style of this
statement. The idiom can mean fo talk fo someone, to reach someone, to get in touch with someone, or to contact someone. Therefore, the statement means I have been trying to contact Sue
for balf an hour. The meaning of the verb try implies that the speaker has not been successful

‘The multiple choice selection for this statement might be
(A) Sue's been holding it for half an hour.
(B) Sue's been here for thirty minutes.
(C)I've been talking to Sue for half an hour.
(D)I haven't been able to contact Sue.
(A) is not correct; it states Sue bas been holding it, but the second speaker states I’ve been
trying to get bold of Sue. (B) is not correct: it states Sue’s been here but the speaker does not
really state where Sue is. (C) says I’ve been talking to Sue, but the speaker has been trying to
reach Sue. (D) is correct: 7 haven't been able to contact Sue restates the meaning of the sentence in different words.

Second example of a short dialogue in Part A:
Woman:
Man:

QUESTION:

Could you tell me what time the next train is due to arrive?
At six. | think it’s a little behind schedule.

What does the man mean?

‘The conversationally polite expression Could you and the contraction it’s again indicate the
conversational style of this exchange. The phrase due fo arrive in the woman's question means
is supposed to arrive. In the man’s response, the most important information is bebind schedule meaning the train is late.

The multiple choice items for this short dialogue might be:
(A) The train is behind the station.
(B) The next train is due in six hours.
(C) The train may arrive late.
{D) The schedule is wrong.

(A) is not correct because the man said bebind schedule, not bebind the station; (B) is also
wrong because nothing was said about the train being due in six hours. (C) is correct. (D) is
not correct because the man did not say anything about the schedule being wrong
In Part B, you will hear two types of listening tasks: long dialogues between two (and sometimes three) speakers, and short lectures given by one speaker.