TOEFL
(Test of English Foreign Language)
By : Michael A, Pyle, MA and Mary Ellen Munoz Page, MA
FORM OF TOEFL QUESTIONS :
1.Listening Comprehension, 50 questions – 30
minutes.
2. Structure and Written Expression, 40
questions – 25 minutes.
3. Reading Comprehenson, 50 questions – 55
minutes.
Section 1 : LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Part A : Short conversations
The conversations are between two persons. After each conversation, a third voice will ask a
question about what was said. You must find the answer to the question in the test book
Example :
You will hear : Man : I don’t feel like going out tonight. Let’s just stay home instead.
Woman : OK, but I was looking forward to see that new movie about
Alcatraz.
Third voice : What does the man want to do tonight?
You will read : (A) go to a party (C) see a movie
(B) stay at home (D) sleep
Answer (B) means most nearly the same as what the man said he would like to do.
Therefore, you shouldchoose answer (B).
Ability Tested
This section tests your ability to understand and interpret spoken English
Basic Skill Necessary
It is necessary to have a good ‘ear’ for English, which can only be obtained with a
great deal of practice. You must be able to distinguish between words that sound
similar and be able to comprehen entire sentences, not just single words or phrases.
Notetaking, underlining and crossing out in the test book are not allowed. You must
be able to listen only and then choose your answer.
Several types of question often appear in this section :
1. What does _________ mean?
2. What does _________ imply about ________ ?
3. What will ________ probably do ?
4. What are the speakers talking about?
5. What did _________ suggest that _________ do?
6. What does ________ think about ________?
7. What had ________ assumed about ________?
Part B : Longer Conversation
The conversation are between two people. After each conversation, a third voice
will ask some questions about what was said. You must find the answers to the
question in the test book.
Example :
You will hear
Woman : This is my first semester in Orange Lake. What is there to do for recreation
in the summer?
Man: It seems that I’m always studying at the university. But when I do get some
time , my friends and I play tennis, go swimming and boating at lake, or
picnic at the park in the Ocala National Forest.
Woman : Is the park very far from here?
Man: It’s about a half an hour away and easy to find. It’s right on the state
highway.
Woman : Is there a restaurant in the park?
Man: There’s a snack bar, but we usually take a cooler of sandwiches, fruit, and soft
drinks and eat in the picnic area.
Woman : What else is there to do in the park?
Man: You can swim in the enclosed area, or go tubing in the river that runs
through the park, or you can take a tour through the underground caves
located at the far end of the park.
Woman : What is tubing?
Man: Oh Sorry. Everybody around here know what it is. Remember how old car
and truck tires had rubber inner tubes inside? Well you sit in one of those
and just float down stream. There’s a tram at the bottom to take you back
up. The water is quite cold, but you get used to it.
Woman : What does it cost?
Man: It’s only about 4$ to get into the park, and everything else is free, except if
you don’t have a tube, you need to rent one. They are only a couple of
dollars.
Woman : That really sounds great to me.
Third voice : Which of the following activities is NOT mentioned as being available in
the national park?
You will read : (A) Tubing (C) Volleyball
(B) Swimming (D) Picnicking
Answer (C) was not mentioned in the coversation as being an activity available in the
national park.
A PATTERNED PLAN OF ATTACK
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
SKIM the answer choices first, trying to imagine
what type of question will be asked
LISTEN carefully, attempting to hear
the answer to the question that you
think will be asked; listen to entire
sentence or passage.
ANSWER the question as quickly as possible
so that you can look at the next answer
choices before you hear the the next
question (you have 12 seconds)
Section 2 : STRUCTURE and WRITTEN EXPRESSION
Part A : Incomplete sentence
You must choose the best way to complete the sentence in formal written English.
Ability Tested
The grammar section of the TOEFL test your ability to recognize formal written English.
Many things that are acceptable in spoken English are not acceptable in formal written
English. You must choose the most economical, mature and correct way of stating each
sentence in this section.
Basic Skill Necessary
You need to know correct grammar well enough that an error will be immediatly
evident.
Example
1. I wish you would tell me _____________
(A) who is being lived next door.
(B) who does live in the next door.
(C)
X who lives next door.
(D) who next door was living.
2. During the Daytona 500, the lead car ______________, leaving the others far behind.
(A) fowarded rapidly
(B)
X advanced rapidly
(C) advanced forward quickly
(D) advanced in a rapidly manner
Explanation :
When you read the sentence with (A), you see that a verb is necessary after the lead
car, but you know that forward is not a verb here. If you realize that advanced in (B) is
suitable verb for sentence, and it is correctly modified by the adverb rafidly, you will
not have to look further for the correct answer. If you do not realize that (B) is correct
and go on (C), you will see that advanced forward is redundant (that is, advance
means move forward, so it is not necessary to use the two words together). (D) is also
incorrect because rafidly is used in the position of an adjective.
Part B : Error Recognition
Sententes have four words or phrases underlined. You must choose the one underlined
part that is incorrect in formal written English.
Example:
1. In the United States, there are much holidays throughout the year.
A B C D
You should immediatly notice that much modifies non-count nouns and that
holidays is a count noun. Therefore, much is incorrect, and many would be correct.
Therefore, (C) is the correct answer.
2. Tomatoes grows all year long in Florida.
A B C D
If you made a hasty decision before reading the entire sentence, you could choose
answer (A) assuming that it must be singular because the verb grows is singular. But you
see by the context of the entire sentence that the sentence is not speaking of a single
tomato, and therefore (A) is not the correct answer. (B), then, is incorrect because it is a
singular verb; it should be grow.
Section 3 : READING COMPREHENSION
This section contains reading passages followed by questions based on the reading. The
section contains approximately 50 questions, and you will have 55 minutes to complete
it.
Ability Tested
The Reading Comprehension section tests your ability to undersatand, interpret and
analyze reading passages on a variety of topics. The TOEFL stresses reading passages that
are typical of those you will read in colleges and universities. This section also tests your
knowledge of English vocabulary. You must find synonyms for selected words from the
passage among the four answer choices that you are given.
Basic Skill Necessary
You must be able to read a passage containing rather complicated constructions and
vocabulary and answer question based on what you have read. This section requires a
strong college-level vocabulary. A strong vocabulary can not be developed instantly. It
grows over a long period of time spent reading widely and learning new words. Knowing
the meaning of prefixes, suffixes and root will help you to derive word meaning on the
test.
Example:
Athens and Sparta were the two most advanced Greek
cities of the Hellenic period (750-338 B.C). Both had a
city-state type of government, and both took slaves from the
peoples they conquered. However, the differences outweigh
(5) the similarities in these two ancient civilizations. Sparta was
hostile, warlike (constantly fighting the neighboring cities),
and military, while Athens catered more towards the democratic
and cultural way of life. The latter city left its mark in
the fields of art, literature, philosophy and science, while
(10) the former passed on its totalitarianism and superior military
traditions. The present system of a well-rounded education
followed in the United States is based on the ancient Athenian
idea. The Spartan system, on the otherhand, was concerned
only with military education.
1. All of the following are true EXCEPT
(A) both cities had city-state types of government
(B) both cities took slaves
(C) both cities were advanced, but in different areas
X both cities developed a well-rounded education
(D)
2. Which of the following was NOT mentioned as part of Athens’ cultural heritage?
(A)
X Totalitarianism (C) Art
(B) Well-rounded education (D) philosophy
3. Which of the following was borrowed from Athens by the United States?
(A)
X Well-rounded education (C) Totalitarianism
(B) Military might (D) Slavery
4. It can be inferred from this reading that
(A) Athens and Sparta were friendly wtih each other
(B) Athens was attacked by other warlike nations
(C)
X Athens never fought other people
(D) The cultural aspects of Athenian culture made a great impression on the world
A PATTERNED PLAN OF ATTACK
READING COMPREHENSION
SKIM the questions first, noting important nouns and verbs
SKIM the passage quickly, reading only the fisrt sentence of each
paragraph
READ the passage ACTIVELY, noting main points, names, definitions,
important conclusions, places and numbers
ANSWER the questions, without spending excess time on any one question
CONVERTED SCORE
The result evaluation of TOEFL test uses Converted Score. On the actual TOEFL
test the scores may range from 200 to 700.
Converted Score Tabel
Raw Section Section Section
Score 1 2 3 Example:
Raw score Converted score
1 25 20 22 Section 1 7 31
2 26 21 23 Section 2 10 29
Section 3 5 26
3 27 22 24
Sum of converted scores 86
4 28 23 25 Times 10 = 860
5 29 24 26 Devided by 3 = 287 score
6 30 25 27
7 31 26 28
8 32 27 29
9 33 28 30
10 34 29 31
