Unit 12 | Personal impressions and connecting information

Details of personal impressions

A writer’s personal impressions can be very specific—much more than
SPOTLIGHT ON TESTING

“positive” or “negative.” Test questions may ask for details about these
impressions. Look for opinion-related adjectives (e.g., crowded, old-fashioned)
or noun phrases (e.g., sophisticated technology).

1 Understanding personal impressions

Read the blog entries. Which statements correctly tell the writer’s opinions?
Write T for true or F for false.
1. The surface of the track hurts a runner’s knees.
2. To safely lift weights, a person has to know about the body’s muscles.
3. Personal trainers charge too much money.
4. The houses and gardens in the writer’s neighborhood are well cared for.
5. People born on February 29 get too many birthday presents.

Internet Search
Address http://kylepeters.myblog.com Go

Posted by KylePeters 17:43 EST on Friday February 27

Today I joined a health club. Finally, after years of being out of shape, I’m going to get healthy.
Worked out for about 2 hours. First, I ran for half an hour on a track inside the building. Nice track,
with a soft rubber-like surface. No knee pain. But running around and around on a track is really
boring. Next time, I have to bring a music player. After running, I lifted weights. Ouch! I think I know
too little about muscle groups in the body. Maybe I should get advice from a professional trainer,
so I don’t hurt myself.
Posted by KylePeters 09:12 EST on Saturday February 28
I am sooooo sore! I think I overdid it with the exercise yesterday. This will be a rest day. I’m sure glad
it’s Saturday, so no one at work can see how sore I am. About getting a personal trainer… I called a
couple of trainers yesterday to find out how much they charged. Yikes! There’s NO way I can afford
that. They are extremely expensive, probably meant for serious athletes, not for ordinary guys like me.
Posted by KylePeters 20:21 EST on Saturday February 28
Spent most of the day on the couch watching TV. I was going crazy. I had to get out of the house! I
took my dog Scout for a very slow walk through the neighborhood. As Scout and I shuffled along, I
noticed things I usually pass quickly by—a nice garden, lots of things. If you look carefully enough,
you see that people around here take very good care of their property.
Posted by KylePeters 17:43 EST on Sunday February 29
Leap Day! It must be weird to have your birthday on February 29. Does that mean you have a birthday
only once every four years? Just kidding. I know you celebrate it on February 28, although I suppose
you could celebrate it on March 1 instead. I really feel sorry for people whose birthday is some big
holiday like December 25 or July 4. People probably just forget about your birthday, and you don’t get
as many presents. I decided to go back to the health club today, even though I’m really stiff and sore.
You have to play through the pain, right?

24 Spotlight on Testing • Unit 12

Strategies for taking the: TOEFL® Test TOEIC® Test IELTS™ Test
Connecting information in charts
Some tests ask about the relationships among details in a reading or listening
passage. Do the details fit into categories? Which idea does each one support?

2 Relating details to larger ideas

Read the blog entries again. Write the letter of the idea that each detail supports.

IDEAS: a. Personal trainers are expensive.

b. Running on a track is boring.
c. Walking slowly helps you appreciate things around you.

1. Detail: The music player

2. Detail: Serious athletes
3. Detail: The garden

3 Connecting information to complete a chart

AUDIO FILE Listen to the lecture. Complete the chart by checking (3) the correct boxes. For some
ideas, more than one box should be checked.

IDEA / DETAIL Early times The 1600s The 1700s

1. A column of mercury
2. Air is a basic element.
3. Air is made up of many parts.
4. Air is nothing but the empty space
between objects.
5. Air puts pressure on things.
6. Lavoisier
7. Magdeburg spheres
8. phlogiston
9. Plato
10. Priestley

4 Check your understanding

AUDIO FILE Listen again to the lecture. Write T for true or A speaker
F for false. might give structure clues
that connect information.
1. Plato and other early thinkers performed scientific Listen for listing expressions
experiments on air. like one result… or another
2. In a vacuum, there is no air. technique… .
3. Benjamin Franklin is often credited with discovering
oxygen.

5 Skills in review
Read the article on p. 77 of the Workbook. Do you have positive or negative
impressions of Mrs. Small and Mr. Flashman? Why do you feel like you do?
Give specific reasons.

Spotlight on Testing • Unit 12 25