TOEFL reading презентация

Reading
excerpts from university-level textbooks,
a range of different subjects
3 or 4 passages: 60 – 80 minutes
20 minutes for each passage
Each passage: 550 - 700 words long, 12 – 14 questions

Strategies:
Strategy 1: “skimming” or fast-reading the passage
Advantage: gives you the idea of the whole text (necessary for Reading to Learn questions)
Disadvantage: scientific passages with a multitude of new words and unusual sentence structure
Strategy 2: skipping the first reading of the text and going for the questions right away
Advantage: time-saving
Disadvantage: suitable for only solving factual questions

HOW TO GO ABOUT READING.
GENERAL TIPS:
1. Actively read the passage, looking for the purpose, structure, and main idea.
2. Attack the questions based on question type.
3. Find the answer to the question in the passage.
4. Use the process of elimination (POE) to eliminate bad answers.

Q-TYPE 1: VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
2-4 questions for each passage
What they ask the meanings of individual words and phrases as they occur in the reading passage
Jour job: to decide which of the four words or phrases is closest in meaning
How to recognize: The word X in the passage is closest in meaning to
In stating X, the author means that (X is usually a phrase)

EXAMPLE1. PASSAGE EXCERPT:
“In the animal world the task of moving about is fulfilled in many ways. For some animals locomotion is accomplished by changes in body shape . . .”
The word locomotion in the passage is closest in meaning to
evolution
movement
survival
escape

Correct answer: movement
Locomotion - movement or the ability to move
Context clue: “the task of moving about”

Example 2: “some poisonous snake bites need to be treated immediately or the victim will suffer paralysis . . .”
In stating that the victim will suffer paralysis the author means that the victim will:
lose the ability to move
become unconscious
undergo shock
feel great pain

Correct answer: lose the ability to move
Paralysis - the loss of the ability to move all or part of your body or feel things in it

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
Read the sentence with the word (or 2). You DO NOT NEED to read the whole paragraph
CONTEXT usually gives a clue.
You are asked about the meaning of a word as it is used in the passage
Options:
Divide words in parts
Read “in Russian”
Reread the sentence with the option you have chosen. Does it make sense? Is the meaning the same?
Do these questions first: less time-consuming

TASK 1: Although the sensory receptors and brain pathways for taste and smell are independent, the two senses do interact. A great deal of what we consider taste is actually smell. If the sense of smell is obstructed, as by a heat cold, the perception of taste is sharply reduced.
The word obstructed in the passage is closest in meaning to:
involved
increased
developed
blocked

Correct answer: Blocked
Obstruct - to block a road, passage etc. SYN block
Context clue: “…the two senses do interact”, “If the sense of smell is _________ , the perception of taste is sharply reduced”

Task 2: A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms attached to a singe, larger oxygen atom. The angle between the two is 120 degrees – the same as the angles of a hexagon – which accounts for the characteristic six-sided structure of ice crystals.
The phrase accounts for in the passage means:
explains
decreases
connects
summarizes

Correct answer: explains
Account for -to be the reason why something happens SYN explain

Task 3: Reports on an organization’s projects may fill several major functions at the same tome. A report can be used to educate and gain support from key people and groups, to facilitate and inform decision-making about current and future projects, and to provide documentation for the organization’s records. The employees who are responsible for preparing the report must have a clear understanding of how the report will be used before they compile it
The word compile in the passage is closest in meaning to:
agree with
put together
ask about
look forward to

Correct answer: put together
Context clue: “the employees who are responsible for preparing the report …”. Is there any similar word in Russian?
Compile - to make a book, list, record etc, using different pieces of information, music etc

Task 4: The evolutionary origins of music are wrapped in mystery. There is ample concrete evidence of musical instruments dating back to the Stone Age and much presumptive evidence of the role of music in organizing work groups, hunting parties, and religious rites. Many scholars suspect that musical and linguistic expression had common origins but then split off from one another several hundred years ago
The phrase split off in the passage is closest in meaning to:
separated
borrowed
evolved
learned

Correct answer: separated
Context clue: “ musical and linguistic expression had common origins but then ______”
Split off from sb / sth – become separate

Q-TYPE 2: REFERENCE QUESTIONS
Your job: to determine the referent for a noun or noun phrase
How to recognize: The word X in the passage refers to …
Referent word – a noun or noun phrase from the passage
Reference word – a pronoun or another determiner that stands for the referent word
Things to remember:
The referent word almost always comes before the reference word in the passage
The referent is NOT ALWAYS the noun that is closest to the reference word

Passage excerpt: “. . . these laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If pots have no bottoms or have large openings in their sides, they could hardly be considered containers in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of applied-art objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits . . . “
The word they in the passage refers to
applied-art objects
the laws of physics
containers
the sides of pots

Passage excerpt: “. . . the first weekly newspaper in the colonies was the Boston gazette, established in 1719, the same year that marked the appearance of Philadelphia’s first newspaper, the American Mercury, where the young Benjamin Franklin worked. By 1760 Boston had 4 newspapers and 5 other printing establishments; Philadelphia, 2 newspapers and 3 other presses; and New York, 3 newspapers. The distribution, if not the sale, of newspapers was assisted by the establishment of a postal service in 1710, which had a network of some 65 offices by 1770, serving all 13 colonies . . .”
The word which in the passage refers to
A. distribution
B. Sale
C. newspaper
D. postal service

STRATEGIES:
1. Locate the highlighted pronoun or adjective
2. Look before the highlighted word that for nouns that agree with the highlighted word
3. Try each of the choices in the context around the highlighted word
4. Eliminate definitely wrong answers

Passage excerpt: “. . . roots anchor the plant in one of two ways or sometimes by a combination of the two. The first is by occupying a large volume of shallow soil around the plant’s base with a fibrous root system, one consisting of many thin, profusely branched roots. Since these kinds of roots grow relatively close to the soil surface, they effectively control soil erosion. Grass roots are especially well suited to this purpose. Fibrous roots capture water as it begins to percolate into the ground and so must draw their mineral supplies from the surface soil before the nutrients are leached to lower levels . . .”
The phrase this purpose in the passage refers to
A. combining two root systems
B. feeding the plant
C. preventing soil erosion
D. leaching nutrients

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with those conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in herds. The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it provides. A large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given point than in a small one, and a predator may think twice before taking on such a group; if a predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely encounter a confusing mass of moving bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.
1. The word those in the passage refers to
Types
Animals
Advantages
Groups

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with those conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in herds. The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it provides. A large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given point than in a small one, and a predator may think twice before taking on such a group; if a predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely encounter a confusing mass of moving bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.
2. The word it in line 5 refers to
Advantage
Membership
Community
Safety

Many types of animals combine the advantages of family association with those conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in herds. The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it provides. A large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given point than in a small one, and a predator may think twice before taking on such a group; if a predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely encounter a confusing mass of moving bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.
3. The word one in the passage refers to
Group
Prey
Predator
Point