The Reading Comprehension

The Reading Comprehension section of the TOEFL test consists of five reading passages, each followed by a number of reading comprehension and vocabulary questions. Topics of the reading passages are varied, but they are often informational subjects that might be studied in an American university: American history, literature, art, architecture, geology, geography, 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 to finish all the questions in this section. Therefore, you need to make the most efficient use of your time in this section to get the highest score. The following method is the best way of attacking a reading passage to get the most questions correct in a limited amount of time. In the new version of the TOEFL, the amount of about 50 items that include vocabulary, and reding comprehension.

1.    Reading Comprehension

This section usually consists of five or six aas script (reading) short, each of which is followed by some questions, and peranyaan these questions must be answered in accordance with the information expressed or implied in the text.

2.    Vocabulary

This section consists of loose sentences are some of the words or he underlined.

STRATEGIES FOR THE READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1)   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 a passage to answer the questions correctly. It is therefore a waste of time to read the passage with the intent of understanding every single detail before you try to answer the questions.

2)   Look ahead at the questions to determine what types of questions you must answer.

Each type of question is answered in a different way.

3)   Find the section of the passage that deals with each question.

The question type tells you exactly where to look in the passage to find correct answers.

§  For main idea questions, look at the first line of each paragraph.

§  For directly and indirectly answered detail questions, 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 will tell you where the word is located in the passage.

§  For where questions, the answers are found anywhere in the passage.

4)   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.

5)   Choose the best answer to each question from the four answer choices listed in your test book.

You can choose the best answer according to what is given in the appropriate section of the passage, eliminate definitely wrong answers, and mark your best guess on the answer sheet.

Exercise

Directions: In this section you will read several passages. Each one is followed by a number of questions about it. You are to choose the one best answer, (A), (B), (C), or (D), to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-2)

Blood pressure measurement has two components: systolic and diastolic. Systolic pressure is taken when the heart is contracting to pump blood; diastolic pressure is taken when the heart is resting between beats. In the usual blood pressure reading, the systolic measurement is given first and is the higher of the two. Normal blood pressure is a systolic measurement of 120-140, and when the systolic pressure is 160 or higher, thenhypertension exists. Systolic pressure between 140 and 160 indicates borderline hypertension.

1. Which of the following is NOT true about systolic blood pressure?

(A) It is taken during the contraction of the heart.
(B) It is usually given first in a blood pressure reading.
(C) A normal systolic measurement is 120 – 140.
(D) Hypertension exists when the systolic pressure is below 140.

2. Which of the following is NOT stated about diastolic pressure?

(A) It is one of the two components of blood pressure measurement.
(B) It is taken when the heart is resting.
(C) It is lower than systolic pressure.
(D) A diastolic measurement of 140 is normal

Some questions in the Reading Comprehension section of the TOEFL test will require answers that are not directly stated in the passage. To answer these questions correctly, you will have to draw conclusions from information that is given in the passage. Questions of this type contain the words implied, inferred, likely, or probably to let you know that the answer to the question is not directly stated

Example
The passage:

The number of rings in a tree can be used to determine how old a tree really is. Each year a tree produces a ring that is composed of one light-colored wide band and one dark-colored narrow band.The wider band is produced during the spring and early summer, when tree stem cells grow rapidly and become larger. The narrower band is produced in fall and early winter, when cell growth is much slower and cells do not get

very large. No cells are produced during the harsh winter and summer months.

The questions:

1. It is implied in the passage that if a tree has 100 wide bands and 100 narrow bands then it is
    (A) a century old     (B) two centuries old
    (C) fifty years old
    (D) two hundred years old

2. It can be inferred from the passage that cells do not grow
   (A) when the tree is ill
   (B) during extreme heat or cold    (C) when it rains too much
   (D) if there are more light-colored bands than dark-colored bands

Analysis:

§  The first question asks about the age of a tree with 100 wide bands and 100 narrow bands. The passage does not tell the age of a tree with 100 wide and narrow bands, but it does indicate that one.. . wide band and one. . . narrow band are produced each year. From this you can draw the conclusion that a tree with 100 wide and narrow bands is 100 years, or a century, old. The best answer to this question is therefore answer (A). 

§  The second question asks when cells do not grow. The pas sage indicates that no cells are produced during the harsh winter and summer months. From this you can draw the conclusion that cells do not grow during the extreme heat of summer or the extreme cold of winter. The best answer to this question is therefore answer (B).

The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about implied detail questions.

Study each of the passages, and choose the best answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-3)

Until 1996 the Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world, with more than a hundred stories. It is located in Chicago, whose nickname is the Windy City. The combination of a very tall building in a city with such weather conditions leads to a lot of swaying in the breeze.

On a windy day, the top of the building can move back and forth as much as three feet every few seconds. The inside doors at the top of the building open and close, andwater in sinks sloshes back and forth.

1. The Sears Tower is probably
    (A) as tall as the Empire State Building
    (B) no longer the tallest building in the world
    (C) taller than any other building
    (D) still the highest building in the world

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Chicago
    (A) has moderate weather
    (B) is generally warm
    (C) has humid weather
    (D) usually has a lot of wind

3. It is implied in the passage that the upper-level doors in the Sears Tower open and close because
   (A) the building was poorly constructed
   (B) people go in and out so often
   (C) the building moves in the wind
   (D) there is water in the sinks

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 4 - 6)

The most common last name in the English-speaking world is Smith, which was taken from the job of working with metals. A silversmith, for example, is someone who works with the metal silver. Historical records indicate that the use of this last name is at least 700 years old. Today, there are more than 3.3 million Smiths living in the United States and perhaps another million Smiths living in other English-speaking countries worldwide.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that family names
   (A) were always taken from the area where a family lived
   (B) were short names
   (C) had little or no meaning
   (D) could be taken from jobs

5. Which of the following is implied about the Smith family name?
   (A) it is definitely not more than 700 years old.
   (B) it existed 600 years ago.
   (C) It did not exist 500 years ago.
   (D) it definitely was not in use 1,000 years ago.

6. In England there are probably
   (A) more Smiths than there are in the United States
   (B) more than a million Smiths
   (C) fewer than a million Smiths
   (D) no families with the name of Smith

On the TOEFL test you will sometimes be asked to determine the meaning of a difficult word or expression, a word or expression that you do not know. In this case, the passage often gives you a clear indication of what the word or expression means.

Example

A line in the passage:

……..She has a large geranium growing in a pot in the corner of her apartment……

The question:

A “geranium” is probably which of the following?

(A) A sofa

(B) A chair

(C) A fish

(D) A plant

Analysis:

In this type of question, you are not expected to know the meaning of the word geranium. Instead, you should understand from the context that if the geranium is growing in a pot, then it is probably a plant. Answer (D) is therefore the best answer.

The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about vocabulary questions on the TOEFL test.

Study each of the passages, and choose the best answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-4)

When babies are born, they always have blue eyes. This is because the melanin, the pigment that colors the eyes, is not on the surface of the iris. Instead, it is within the creases of the iris. Because there is little melanin on the surface of the iris, the eyes appear blue.

After a few months, the melanin moves to the surface of the iris. It is the amount of melanin on the surface that determines a person’s permanent eye color, so it is at this point that a baby’s eyes develop the color they will have for a lifetime.

1. The word “pigment” in line 2 is closest in meaning to 
   (A) skin
   (B) muscle
   (C) tissue
   (D) color

2. The word “surface” in line 2 is closest in meaning to 
    (A) top
    (B) inside
    (C) back
    (D) bottom

3. The word “permanent’ in line 6 could best be replaced by
    (A) changeable
    (B) lasting
    (C) dark
    (D) possible

4. The word “point” in line 7 could best be replaced by which of the following?
    (A) Dot
    (B) Era
    (C) Time
    (D) Place

Prepare before the Test

Read on a variety of topics to build your English vocabulary.A large number of the passages on the TOEFL deal with topics in the natural sciences, the social sciences, and history. A smaller number related to culture and the arts. Read as much as you can in these subject area, particularly from textbooks, magazines, and newspapers.

Practice trying to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from the way they are used in sentences. Use other words in the sentence, your understanding in the passage, and your knowledge of the world as clues to the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Be familiar with the testing tools used on the computer test. Practice using the mouse and the scroll bar. Practice reading from a computer screen and scrolling through a passage.

Pace Yourself

Work as quickly as you can.Pay attention to the number of questions and the amount of time you have during the test. On the paper test, you have 55 minutes to read all of of the passages and answer 50 questions, This means you have only 10 to 11 minutes to spend on each passage and its questions.

You can leave questions unanswered on both the paper test and the computer test. Later, you can go back to answer, review, or change your answers to previous questions. This is easier to do on the paper test because you can see and mark the questions. On the computer test, you have to remember which questions you skip because you are not allowed to write anything.

Eliminate answer choices you know are incorrect. Then, if you are not sure of the correct answer, guess!

Answer all questions about one passage before you move on to the next passages. On the computer test, although you are allowed to return to previous passages, this process takes a lot of time. It is better to finish each passage before going on.

Begin by Skimming

On both the paper and computer tests, begin a passage by skimming it. Skimming is reading quickly for a general understanding of the meaning and organization. Frequently the first question about a passage asks about its topic or main idea.

Read the first one or two sentences in each paragraph to get an idea of its content. Notice key words and phrases that are repeated throughout the passage. Read the last sentences in the last paragraph.

On the computer test, you must use the scroll bar on skim the passages because most of them are too long to fit on a single screen.

Identify What the Question Wants

Identify exactly what each question wants to know. Does it ask about information that is mentioned in the passage? Or does it ask about something that is NOT in the passage? Does it ask you to identify something that author stated. Or does it ask you to make an inference based on something the author implied? Does it ask you about the meaning of a word or phrase?

When you know what you are looking for, you can scan the passage to find the information you need. Scanning means looking for key words and phrases. On the computer test, sometimes the computer will tell you which paragraph to look in and will make that paragraph with an arrow.

In question about vocabulary, look for context clues in the passage. Use your knowledge of sentence structure, punctuation, and other words and ideas in the passage.

This section is the last section in the TOEFL test. The most lengthy and time-consuming most. In this section, participants must test 50 items was working within 55 minutes. So that the average time required to work on a problem is one minute. It's certainly longer if we compare it with the average time to work on the structure of the questions less than 45 seconds.

In this section, there are 5 reading (passage), with a number of questions (between 7-13 questions) underneath. The questions asked of the information contained in the text, either explicit information (explicit) or implicit (implied). Thus, this section marupakan actually the easiest part because all the answers are found in the literature SURE. The important thing is where the answers we seek it. If we are people who read the hobby, there is a tendency to get a better score. In fact, this section can be used as 'mine value' to cover the shortfall in the Listening and Structure Section.

To do this part well, then we must have the ability to read a good technique. Two techniques that must be mastered reading is skimming and scanning.

• Skimming is reading a text quickly to get a basic idea, main idea, or content of literature in general. In this skill we are not looking for specific information, reading only the main idea that we are looking for. So no need to read the entire piece of writing.
• Scanning is fast FIND a text for specific information. So we have the first question and find answers in a way to be scanned. In scanning, information that is not relevant to what we were looking neglected. Thus, in a scanning, we should have to the words that we wish to find in the literature. In general, scanning skills is what we use in working on Reading Comprehension questions.

In the Reading Comprehension section, participants tend to read the text first and then try to answer the question. It's not recommended. START OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SCAN IN READING. So, read the text first became ineffective in the context of scanning strategies. If we read the text first and answer questions later, then we will go back again to the reading to answer this question INEFFECTIVE!

There are 4 types of questions in Reading Comprehension Section:

1)    MAIN IDEA question: the question asks yan central idea, main idea, theme, or title reading (reading TOEFL is not accompanied by the title!). The number is only ONE question and generally placed as the first question in the text.

2)    DETAIL question: the question asking for specific information in the text. The answer to this type of reading material contained within EXPRESS (EXPRESS). The number of questions in each of the most widely read.

3)    Implied question: is a question similar to the question detail, by way of answering that is also equal to answer detailed questions. However, the answer to the question is found in the literature implicitly (IMPLIED). This question is not as much as the amount of Detail question.

4)     Vocabulary question: is a synonym ask questions or seek equivalent word whose meaning is closest to the word in question. Answering this question must be guessed BASED context of the sentence. Avoid guessing just by relying on our knowledge without checking it in the sentence reading. Always read the sentence in which a word is asked as a whole, then guess based on the context of the sentence. There is no other way to answer this type of question except by guessing based on context.

Here is a detailed strategy to answer any type of questions on Reading Comprehension Section:

• Editorial sentence question Main Idea of which is: What is the topic of the passage? / What is the subject of the passage? / What is the main idea of the passage? / What is the author's main point in the passage? / With what topic is the primary author concerned? / Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
• If you want to answer this question without a pass, read the first sentence in each paragraph.
• Think about the theme of readings that can be inferred from the first sentences in each paragraph.
• Elimination choice answer: too general, too specific, or not at all related to the topic of reading.
• The answer to the question must be fitted main idea to explain the contents of the reading, should not be (too general in scope / wide) or less (scope is too narrow).

The Reading section may have 3-5 passages each of around 700 words. Time allowed for attempting 12-14 questions on each passage will be 20 minutes .So total time allowed for the Reading section will be 60-100 minutes depending upon the number of reading passages. Students are allowed to take notes and use the same for making an answer, but they are not allowed to carry the same outside the Test venue and have to surrender them before leaving. Technical terms, if any, may be highlighted in the text which may be clicked on for finding the meaning thereof in the glossary.

Following are certain types of questions asked in this section:

Reading for facts	8-15 Questions	Reading for main ideas	2-5 Questions
Reading for organization.	1-3 Questions	Reading for usage.	3-5 Questions
Reading for inference.	3-5 Questions	Answering negative fact	2-5 Questions
Identifying references.	2-5 Questions	Vocabulary in context.	8-15 Questions
Reading for coherence	3-5 Questions	Paraphrasing/Summarizing	3-5 Questions
Categorization of information(filling in a table)	1-2 Questions

Strategies

Strategies for doing your best on the Reading Comprehension section are :

How to prepare for the Reading section
Keep following tips in mind:

1. Read Newspapers, magazines. Read whatever you can, whenever you can.
2. Practice skimming -reading some leaving some- so as to get the gist of the writing without reading all or major portion of the reading assignment.
3. Pay particular attention to new vocabulary words, including the use of prefixes, suffixes, and roots.
4. Practice determining the meaning of a vocabulary word from its context.

Sources :

• Irham Ali Saifuddin, 2005, Buku Pintar TOEFL, DIVA Press, Yogyakarta.

http://www.tcyonline.com/toefl/str_read.php