TEST STRATEGIES - READING COMPREHENSION
Reading is the first section of TOEFL iBT. Reading passage appears on the right side of the computer screen whereas the questions appear on the left side. Since the passages are long, the students may need to scroll down to view the entire passage. Students should practice using the tool bar on the computer screen. They can click on 'NEXT' to proceed to the next question, 'BACK' to come to the previous question, 'REVIEW' to view all the questions alongwith answers given/not given for the particular passage, for making changes, if any. There is a glossary feature too in the Reading section. Any word/phrase marked in blue in the passage means that an explanation thereof is available and can be obtained simply by clicking on the word.
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 Internet Based Reading Comprehension section are:
How to prepare for the Reading section
Keep following tips in mind:
- Read Newspapers, magazines. Read whatever you can, whenever you can.
- 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.
- Pay particular attention to new vocabulary words, including the use of prefixes, suffixes, and roots.
- Practice determining the meaning of a vocabulary word from its context.
