TOEFL STRATEGIES

Strategies for the Listening Part A questions:

1. As you listen to each conversation, focus on the second line of the

conversation. The answer to the question is generally found in the
second line.

2. Keep in mind that the correct answer is probably a restatement (a new

or different way to say something) of a key word or idea in the second
line of the conversation. While listening to the second speaker, think
of possible restatements.

3. Keep in mind that certain structures and expressions are tested

regularly in Listening Part A. Listen for these structures and
expressions:
 Structures: passives, negatives, wishes and conditions.
 Functional expressions: agreement, uncertainty, suggestion and
surprise.
 Idiomatic expressions: phrasal verbs and idioms.

4. Keep in mind that these questions generally progress from easy to

difficult. This means that questions 1 – 5 will be the easiest, and
questions 30-50 will be the hardest ones.

5. Even if you do not understand the complete conversation, you can still
find the correct answer:

 if you understood a few words or ideas in the second line,

choose the answer that contains a restatement of those words or
ideas.
 if you did not understand anything at all in the second line of
the conversation, choose the answer that sounds most different
from what you heard.
 never choose an answer because it sounds like what you heard
in the conversation.

6. Use any remaining time to look ahead at the answers to the questions
that follow.
 Strategies for the Listening Parts B/C questions:

1. If you have time, try to preview the answers to the Listening Part B
and C questions. While you are looking at the answers, you should try
to do the following:
a. anticipate the topics of the conversations or talks you will hear.
b. anticipate the questions for each of the groups of answers.

2. Listen carefully to the first line of the conversation or talk. The first
line often contains the main idea, subject, or topic of the conversation
or talk, and you will often be asked to answer such questions.

3. As you listen to the conversation or talk, draw conclusions about the

situation of the conversation or talk:
a. who is talking.
b. where the conversation or talk takes place.
c. when it takes place.

You will often be asked to make such inferences about the

conversation or talk.

4. As you listen to the conversation or talk, follow along with the

answers in your test book and try to determine the correct answers.
Detail questions are generally answered in order in the conversation or
talk, and the answers often sound the same as what is said on the
recording.

5. Use any remaining time to look ahead at the answers to the questions
that follow.

6. Keep in mind that the directions on the TOEFL test are the same, so it
is not necessary to listen carefully to them each time. You should be
completely familiar with the directions before the day of the test.

Strategies for the Structure questions:

1. First, study the sentence. Your purpose is to determine what is needed

to complete the sentence correctly.
2. Then, study each answer based on how well it completes the sentence.
Eliminate answers that do not complete the sentence correctly.

3. Do not try to eliminate incorrect answers by looking only at the

answers. The incorrect answers are generally correct by themselves.
The incorrect answers are generally incorrect only when used to
complete the sentence.

4. Do not spend too much time on the Structure questions.

Strategies for the Written Expression questions:

1. First, look at the underlined word or groups of words. You want to see
if you can spot which of the four answer choices is not correct.

2. If you have been unable to find the error by looking only at the four
underlined expressions, then read the complete sentence. Often an
underlined expression is incorrect because of something in another
part of the sentence.

Strategies for the Reading Comprehension questions:

1. Skim (read quickly) 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 each 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 detail questions, choose a key word in the question, and
skim for that key word (or related idea) in order in the passage.
  for vocabulary questions, the question will tell you where the
word is located in the passage.
 for overall review 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 the question according to what is given in

the appropriate section of the passage and eliminate definitely wrong
answers.

6. Do not spend too much time reading the passages. You do not have
time to read each passage in depth, and it is quite possible to answer
the questions correctly without first reading the passages in depth.
Some students prefer to spend a minute or two on each passage
reading for the main idea before starting the questions. Other students
prefer to move directly to the questions without reading the passages
first.

7. Do not worry if a 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 the passages. You do not need any background knowledge
to answer the questions.