Intermediate Reading

About Reading Comprehension

This part of the exam tests your ability to read and answer questions about passages written in formal
written English. It usually contains five passages. After each passage there are usually from eight to
twelve questions referring to that passage for a total of fifty questions. The passages vary in length from
about seven lines to about thirty-five.

The Passages
The passages cover a wide range of topics, but in general can be classified as follows:
1. Science and technology (40%) Includes astronomy, geology, chemistry, physics, mathematics,
zoology, botany, medicine, engineering, mechanics, and so on.
2. North American history, government, geography, and culture (20%)
3. Art (15%) Includes literature, painting, architecture, dance, drama, and so on.
4. Social science (10%) Includes anthropology, economics, psychology, urban studies,
sociology, and so on.
5. Biography (15%)

Day 2 – Intermediate Reading

Intermediate Reading
Type of Questions (Percentage)
Main Idea/Main Topic/Main
Purpose (10%)
Factual Questions (24%)
Negative Questions (9%)
Scanning Questions (4%)
Inference Questions (12%)
Vocabulary-in-Context
Questions (26%)
Reference Questions (10%)
Day 2 – Intermediate Reading
Explanation
These ask you to identify an
answer choice that correctly
summarizes the author's main
idea, the subject of the whole
passage, or the author's
reason for writing the
passage.
These ask you to locate and
identify answers to questions
about specific information and
details in the passage.
These ask which of the answer
choices is NOT discussed in
the passage
These ask you to find the
place in the passage that some
topic is mentioned.
These ask you to draw
conclusions based on
information in the passage.
These ask you identify the
meaning of a word or phrase
as used in the passage.
These ask you to identify the
noun to which a pronoun or
other expression refers.
Example
"What is the main idea of the
passage?"
"What is the passage primarily
about?"
"Why did the author write the
passage?
"According to the passage, where
did ...?"
"According to the author, why did
...?"
"Which of the following is true,
according to the passage?"
"Which of the following is NOT true
about ... "
"All of the following are true
EXCEPT ... "
"Where in the passage does the
author first discuss ... "
'The author implies that which of
the following is true?"
"Which of the following can be
inferred from the passage?"
"The word '--' in line 5 is closest in
meaning to .. :'
"The word "it" in line 15 refers to."
"In line 20, the word "there" refers
to which of the following?"
Intermediate Reading
A) Main Idea, Main Topic, and Main Purpose Questions
After almost every passage, the first question is an overview question about the main idea, main
topic, or main purpose of a passage. Main idea questions ask you to identify the most important
thought in the passage. Answer choices are complete sentences.

Sample Questions
• What is the main idea of the passage?
• The primary idea of the passage is ...
• Which of the following best summarizes the author's main idea?

When there is not a single, readily identified main idea, main topic questions may be asked.
These ask you what the passage is generally "about." Answer choices are noun phrases.

Sample Questions
• The main topic of the passage is ...
• What does the passage mainly discuss?
• The passage is primarily concerned with ...

Main purpose questions ask why an author wrote a passage. The answer choices for these
questions usually begin with infinitives.

Sample Questions
• The author's purpose in writing is to ...
• What is the author's main purpose in the passage?
• The main point of this passage is to ...
• Why did the author write the passage?

Don't answer the initial overview question about a passage until you have answered the other
questions. The process of answering the detail questions may give you a clearer idea of the main idea,
topic, or purpose of the passage.

The correct answers for main idea, main topic, and main purpose questions correctly summarize
the main points of the passage; they must be more general than any of the supporting ideas or details,
but not so general that they include ideas outside the scope of the passages.

Distractors for this type of question have one of these characteristics:

1. They are too specific.
2. They are too general.
3. The are incorrect according to the passage.
4. They are irrelevant (unrelated) to the main idea of the passage.

If you're not sure of the answer for one of these questions, go back and quickly scan the passage. You can
usually infer the main idea, main topic, or main purpose of the entire passage from an understanding of the main
ideas of the paragraphs that make up the passage and the relationship between them.

Day 2 – Intermediate Reading

Intermediate Reading
TOEFL Overview Question
Focus: Identifying correct answers and recognizing distractors in main idea/main topic/main purpose
questions.
Directions: Read the passages. Then mark each answer choice according to the following system:

S Too specific
G Too general
X Incorrect
I Irrelevant
C Correct

Alternative history is generally classified as a type of science fiction, but it also bears some
relation to historical fiction. This type of writing describes an imaginary world that is identical to ours
up to a certain point in history, but at that point, the two worlds diverge; some important historical
event takes place in one world but not in the other, and they go in different directions. Alternative
histories might describe worlds in which the Roman Empire had never fallen, in which the Spanish
Armada had been victorious, or in which the South had won the Civil War. Or they may suppose that
some technology had been introduced earlier in the world's history than actually happened. For
example: What if computers had been invented in Victorian times? Many readers fmd these stories
interesting because of the way they stimulate the imagination and get them thinking about the
phenomenon of cause and effect in history.

1. What is the main idea of this passage?

_C__ (A) Alternative histories describe worlds in which history has taken another course.
_X__ (B) Alternative histories are a type of historical novel.
_I__ (C) Science fiction writers have accurately predicted certain actual scientific developments

Other major changes in journalism occurred around this time. In 1846, Richard Hoe invented the
steam cylinder rotary press, making it possible to print newspapers faster and cheaper. The
development of the telegraph made possible much speedier collection and distribution of news. Also
in 1846, the first wire service was organized. A new type of newspaper appeared around this time,
one that was more attuned to the spirit and needs of the new America. Although newspapers
continued to cover polities, they came to report more human interest stories and to record the most
recent news, which they could not have done before the telegraph. New York papers and those of
other northern cities maintained corps of correspondents to go into all parts of the country to cover
newsworthy events.

2. The main purpose of the passage is to

___ (A) present a brief history of American journalism
___ (B) outline certain developments in mid-19th-century journalism
___ (C) explain the importance of the steam cylinder rotary press
___ (D) present some biographical information about Richard Hoe
Day 2 – Intermediate Reading
Intermediate Reading

3. What is the most probable topic of the paragraph preceding this one?
___ (A) Other types of rotary presses
___ (B) Alternatives to using wire services
___ (C) Newspapers that concentrated on politics
___ (D) Other developments in journalism

4. The tone of the passage could best be described as

___ (A) objective
___ (B) optimistic
___ (C) angry
___ (D) humorous

Question 5-7
In most of Europe, farmers' homes and outbuildings are generally located within a village, and
tools and animals are housed there. Every morning, the farmers and farm laborers leave their village
to work their land or tend their animals in distant fields, and return to the village at the end of the
day. Social life is thus centripetal; that is, it is focused around the community center, the village.
Only in certain parts of Quebec has this pattern been preserved in North America.
Throughout most of North America, a different pattern was established. It was borrowed from
northern Europe, but was pushed even further in the New World where land was cheap or even free.
It is a centrifugal system of social life, with large isolated farms whose residents go to the village only
to buy goods and procure services. The independence associated with American farmers stems from
this pattern of farm settlement. The American farmer is as free of the intimacy of the village as the
urbanite.

5. The main topic of the first paragraph is

___ (A) European farm products
___ (B) social life in Quebec
___ (C) the European pattern of rural settlement

6. The main topic of the second paragraph is

___ (A) the relative isolation of North American farm families
___ (B) the relationship between farmers and urbanites in North America
___ (C) the low cost of farmland in North America

7. The main topic of the entire passage is

___ (A) a comparison of farming in northern and southern Europe
___ (B) the difference between farming in Quebec and the rest of North America
___ (C) European influence on American agriculture
___ (D) a contrast between a centripetal system of rural life and a centrifugal system

Day 2 – Intermediate Reading

Intermediate Reading
Questions 8-11

While fats have lately acquired a bad image, one should not forget how essential they are. Fats
provide the body's best means of storing energy, far more efficient energy sources than either
carbohydrates or proteins. They act as insulation against cold, as cushioning for the internal organs,
and as lubricants. Without fats, there would be no way to utilize fat-soluble vitamins. Furthermore,
some fats contain fatty acids that contain necessary growth factors and help with the digestion of
other foods.

An important consideration of fat intake is the ratio of saturated fats to unsaturated fats. Saturated
fats, which are derived from dairy products, animal fats, and tropical oils, increase the amount of
cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol may lead to coronary heart disease by building up in the arteries
of the heart. However, unsaturated fats, derived from vegetable oils, tend to lower serum cholesterol
if taken in a proportion twice that of saturated fats.
The consumption of a variety of fats is necessary, but the intake of too much fat may lead to a
variety of health problems. Excessive intake of fats, like all nutritional excesses, is to be avoided.

8. The main idea of the first paragraph is that

___ (A) fats have a bad image
___ (B) fats serve important functions in the body
___ (C) fats store food more efficiently than proteins or carbohydrates

9. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

___ (A) Unsaturated fats may reduce cholesterol levels.
___ (B) The consumption of any type of fat leads to heart disease.
___ (C) Fats taken in the proper proportion may reduce serum cholesterol.

10. The main idea of the third paragraph is that

___ (A) people are eating less and less fat today
___ (B) fats should be gradually eliminated from the diet
___ (C) excessive consumption of fats may be dangerous to one's health

11. With which of the following is the whole passage primarily concerned?
___ (A) The role of fats in human health
___ (B) The dangers of cholesterol
___ (C) The benefits of fats in the diet
___ (D) The importance of good nutrition

Day 2 – Intermediate Reading

Intermediate Reading

-Happy Practice-

Day 2 – Intermediate Reading