Overview of Reading
3-4 passages, 700 words each. 12-14 questions for each.
60-80minutes, can return to previous questions.
1. Take a deeper look at reading section of TOEFL test
Magazines could be hlepful when you're reading English. But for TOEFL test you need to read academic subjects, including social sciences, the arts and physical and life sciences. 大家一想到閲讀就想到各式各樣的報紙啊雜志啊之類的，雖然他們很有意思，但是托福考試的内容主要是學術環境下的内容。
学术文章的特性1
A popular magazine article on the other hand may be written in a way that tries to appeal to your emotions. 雜志可能是爲了迎合你的喜好和情緒而寫的，而學術文章大部分是陳述事實，非常中立不帶有情緒的。
学术文章特性3
The relationship among those ideas may be complicated, they may be nuanced, or multidimensional. 學術文章中的中心思想可能會比較複雜，細緻，也可能跨學科。
总结：
TOEFL test is academic texts, which use formal language, present ideas logically and objectively, and they are conceptually complex.
考托福就要专门针对学术文章进行学术性阅读，而平时提升英语可以广泛大量的阅读各种各样的内容。
2. TOEFL reading techniques
2.1.Identify the topic by its title
Before you begin to read, take a look at the title, and the illustration at the beginning of the passage.
2.2 For the text, use the technique called skimming.
Skimming:略讀的具體方法
Take a glance at the first few sentences of the first paragraph.These sentences form the introduction and usually give the reader an idea of what is to come. 讀第一自然段的頭一兩句，這些句子一般都會介紹接下來要說什麽。
Then take a look at the first sentenceof each of the other paragraphs.These sentences often provide information about the main point, or points, in each paragraph. 讀每個自然段的第一句話，這些句子一般是一個自然段的縂寫，或者是中心思想。
Skimming technique
Purpose of skimming: have an impression about the author's intent(explaining a phenomenon,presenting opposing points of view etc). Know what's the main purpose of the text you're reading. 略讀要帶著目的去讀，目的就是瞭解作者寫文章的意圖，是解釋一個現象，陳述一個觀點，或者其他什麽目的。
When you're practicing, try reading a passage twice,the first time skimming to get the main ideas, then read it again more carefully to see if you really DID get those main ideas. 平時練習的時候可以先略讀一下理解主要思想，再仔細閲讀看看自己剛才略讀時候有沒有理解錯
2.3 take notes as structured outline 寫提綱
outline example
It's meant to help you remember what you've read, avoid long sentence here, just use short phrases. 整理出文章的提綱可以幫你記住你讀過的内容。用短句不用長句。
Don't worry if you don't understand everything in the passage.It's not necessary to understand every detail.What is important is that you understand the main idea being discussed.
2.4 read the questions 讀閲讀題目的内容
2.5 scan for key words 根據關鍵詞找回對應的段落找證據。
scan keywords in the questions and look for the matching keywords in the paragraphs.
3.Question types
3.1 Factual/Negative Factual Information Questions
explicitly stated in the paragraphs. Factual: ask about major ideas, supporting details, or definitions. Negative factual: look for the words "NOT" or "EXCEPT" in capital letters.
3.2 Inference and Rhetorical Purpose Questions
Inference questions ask about ideas and arguments that are not explicitly stated in the text. You can recognize Inference questions because they usually include the words "infer," "imply" or "suggest," Rhetorical Purpose questions are similar. They ask aboutwhythe author presents a piece of information.
3.3 Vocabulary Questions
you will see questions like these, with phrases like "closest in meaning" or "the author means."
The best general strategy to be ready for this type of questions is to build your vocabulary. Academic vocabulary words can be used across many fields of study. These are the kind of words you'll be tested on.
TIPS:
Many English words come from Latin or Greek. So if you study Latin and Greek roots, that will help you remember the meanings of words. And it can also help you figure out the meanings of words you may not know.
3.4 Reference Questions
Similar to Vocabulary questions A word or phrase is highlighted in the passage, and you are asked what that word refers to. Usually the word is a pronoun, like “she,” “they” or “it”. It could also be a relative pronoun, like “which,” “that” or “whom”.
3.5 Sentence Simplification Questions
The highlighted sentence will have both essential and non-essential information. Your job is to pick the answer choice that best includes the essential information and leaves out the non-essential information.
Non-essential information can be things like examples,or text in parentheses, or very specific information like numbers or dates.
3.6 Insert Text Questions
The Insert Text questions are designed to show that you understand the logical order of ideas in a reading passage. One tip for improving your reading is to really know your pronouns,and to practice matching them to the words they refer to in a text.
3.7 Prose Summary and Fill in a Table Questions
Prose Summary questions ask you to select the major ideas from a passage by distinguishing them from minor points or ideas that are not in the passage. Fill in a Table questions ask you to correctly categorize facts presented in the passage.
Each reading passage will have one Prose Summary question,or one Fill In A Table Question, but not both.
NOTE: score conversion
Statisticians then conduct analyses to convert the raw score into a scaled score, between zero and 30. Why is that important? Scaled scores allow for comparisons of forms of the test given on different dates with different questions. That means that your Reading and Listening scores will accurately reflect your reading and listening ability regardless of which test form you get on test day.
4. How to improve your reading skills?
Read news and magazine articles about various subjects as often as you can, and practice taking notes.
Practice
Pick two of the following activities and complete them on your own. These activities are based on the tips presented in the Inside theTOEFL®Test videos.
Do an online search to find a list of common Greek and Latin roots, such as60+ Greek and Latin Prefixes Arranged by Meaning(opens new window). Pick 5 roots, and find the definitions of at least 3 words that use each root.
Select an article such as"The Heartbreak That May Have Inspired the Telegraph"(opens new window)about Samuel Morse, and outline the main points using one of the outline formats shown at the end of the Prose Summary/Fill in a Table video.
Using the Reading passages fromTOEFL iBT Quick Prep Volume 2(opens new window)(pages 4-5 and 10-11), select a paragraph to read. As you read, make a list of what information is important, and what is not as important. Have a partner do the same thing separately, then compare your lists.
Using"The Heartbreak That May Have Inspired the Telegraph"(opens new window), find all of the pronouns that aren’t "he" (since most of those obviously refer to Samuel Morse), and determine what nouns they refer to. For example, in this excerpt, you can find the pronoun "it" and determine that it refers to "the invention".
Soon, all types of news and messages were being tapped out across the country. The invention transformed communication, business, and the idea of news.Itsped up the world, cutting the delivery of a message from Washington, D.C., to New Haven from four days to under four seconds.
Resources
If you’re looking to practice more and would like additional reading materials that have some similarities toTOEFL®Reading passages in tone and content, here are a few examples (the links will take you outside of the course and the edX platform):
Articles about archaeology from Smithsonian Magazine:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeology/(opens new window)
News articles about science and culture from National Geographic:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/(opens new window)
An Encyclopedia Britannica article about the history and techniques of mountain climbing:
http://www.britannica.com/topic/mountaineering(opens new window)
Also, check out these reading survival guides from a university in Australia:
http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/2748143/TN3-Read-effectively.pdf
