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Selasa, 01 Juli 2014

The Strategy To Answer The Reading in TOEFL Test

The Strategy To Answer The Reading in TOEFL Test


1.       Read, Read, Read. Read in English regularly. Focus on academic texts from university textbooks or other materials. Do not stick to one or two topics that you are interested in. Read from variety of subjects - science, social science, business, arts, geography, history, economics, and others. Academic texts, apart from textbooks, could be found in variety of articles and academic publications on the Internet or university libraries.

2.       Find the purpose of the passage. Knowing the purpose of the reading you may easily find what the writer is trying to accomplish. The purpose of the passage in most of the readings is embedded in the introductory paragraph which is one of the most important paragraphs in the text. Most of the passages in TOEFL will try to do the following:
·            To Explain - to present the information on a specific topic in explanatory manner. These texts contain mostly factual information.
·            To Resolve - it aims at finding solution for some sort of dilemmas or questions that need answers. Usually there would be a debate.
·            To convince - to persuade the reader of the validity of certain viewpoint or idea. There would be opinions and support with evidence in those type of passages.
3.       Increase vocabulary. When reading wide variety of texts on different subjects you should make a word list. Organize your list in topics for better results. Example topics could be business, geography, science and others. Make flashcards to help you learn those word lists. Use the words learned in your writings and speaking.

4.       Take notes. During all sections of TOEFL note taking is allowed. It is a crucial component for success. It is difficult to remember all facts and details from a reading text in order to answer the questions. You also don't have enough time to search for those again in the text. So, the solution is called note taking. When skimming and reading the texts you should write down all important facts and details in order to find them fast and easily when you need them. See also our effective note taking strategies.

5.       Learn how to skim the text. Skimming means reading the text quickly to obtain very first general impression on what the text is about, what its main idea is. Skimming corresponds with Reading to find information objective in TOEFL. You should develop your ability to skim quickly but at the same time to identify all major points in the passage. Take notes. See also our skimming strategies.

6.       Read after skimming. Only skimming is not enough. Read the passage again. This time read it more carefully, but don't forget that you have limited time. Take notes. Identify the passage type - classification, cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, etc.

7.       Try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words in the passages, the context can help to do that. After that, check those words in the dictionary. Guessing the words from the context brings great advantages - you save time and it doesn't disturb your comprehension of the texts.

8.       Highlight some of the pronouns (he, him, they, them, etc.) in the texts
 Identify to which nouns in the particular text the highlighted pronouns refer.

9.       Practice making general inferences and conclusions based on what is implied in the text.

10.   Learn to organize the data presented in the passage in charts and tables. Create charts with categories and place the important data from the passage in the appropriate category. In TOEFL you are not asked to create charts. Rather, charts are provided and you are asked to categorize the information in pre-defined categories.
Example         :
Read the short passage. The reading is followed by several questions about it. There are four possible answers (A-D) for each question. Choose the best answer and click the button next to it. When you have finished, click answers.

Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer was born in 1847 in Makó, Hungary. He emigrated to the United States when he was seventeen years old, and was naturalised on his twentieth birthday. He spent his career in journalism working in the mid-west and New York. From 1871 he was also the owner or part-owner of many newspapers. His most famous newspaper was the New York World (which many believe was the model for the Daily Planet of theSuperman stories). The World campaigned against corruption, and exposed many scandals. It was also a strong supporter of the rights of the working man.
In later life, Joseph Pulitzer collapsed from overwork, and lost his sight. He became dedicated to improving the quality of journalism in America, and donated $1 million to Columbia University to found a school of journalism. However, his most significant contribution was the establishment of the Pulitzer prizes in his will.
These prizes for excellence in journalism have been given every year since 1917 by Columbia University. Since 1942 there have been extra categories for press photography, and later still for criticism, feature writing and commentary. The prize was originally for $500, but today the winners of the prize receive a gold medal. However, the real value of the prize is that it confirms that the journalist who has received the award is the best American journalist of the year - a fact that is worth much more than $500 to the journalist and to the newspaper that employs him or her.
1.       Joseph Pulitzer came ti America because?
a.       He was with his parents
b.       He wanted to be a journalist
c.       Hungary was being attacked by Austria
d.       The text does not say

The correct answer is D

2.       Pulitzer became an American citizen?
a.        Twenty years after he arrived in the United States
b.       In 1867
c.        After contributing $1 million to a university
d.       When he was 17 years old

The correct answer is B

3.       What did the New York World not do?
a.       Investigate wrongdoing by public officials
b.       Establish a famous prize for journalism
c.       Probably provide a model for a famous fictional newspaper
d.       Stand up for the common people

The correct answer is B



4.       The Pulitzer prizes are for?
a.       The best writing in America
b.       Press photography and commentary
c.       High quality journalism
d.       None of the above

The correct answer is C

5.       The text tells us that?
a.        Joseph Pulitzer became a patriotic American
b.       Later became a member of Columbia Universitywas one of the richest men
c.        In New York
d.       Worked very hard.

The correct answer is D

Most people can remember a phone number for up to thirty seconds. When this short amount of time elapses, however, the numbers are erased from the memory. How did the information get there in the first place? Information that makes its way to the short term memory (STM) does so via the sensory storage area. The brain has a filter which only allows stimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also known as the working memory.

There is much debate about the capacity and duration of the short term memory. The most accepted theory comes from George A. Miller, a cognitive psychologist who suggested that humans can remember approximately seven chunks of information. A chunk is defined as a meaningful unit of information, such as a word or name rather than just a letter or number. Modern theorists suggest that one can increase the capacity of the short term memory by chunking, or classifying similar information together. By organizing information, one can optimize the STM, and improve the chances of a memory being passed on to long term storage.

When making a conscious effort to memorize something, such as information for an exam, many people engage in "rote rehearsal". By repeating something over and over again, one is able to keep a memory alive. Unfortunately, this type of memory maintenance only succeeds if there are no interruptions. As soon as a person stops rehearsing the information, it has the tendency to disappear. When a pen and paper are not handy, people often attempt to remember a phone number by repeating it aloud. If the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before a person has the opportunity to make a phone call, he will likely forget the number instantly.* Therefore, rote rehearsal is not an efficient way to pass information from the short term to long term memory.* A better way is to practice "elaborate rehearsal". *This involves assigning semantic meaning to a piece of information so that it can be filed along with other pre-existing long term memories.*

Encoding information semantically also makes it more retrievable. Retrieving information can be done by recognition or recall. Humans can easily recall memories that are stored in the long term memory and used often; however, if a memory seems to be forgotten, it may eventually be retrieved by prompting. The more cues a person is given (such as pictures), the more likely a memory can be retrieved. This is why multiple choice tests are often used for subjects that require a lot of memorization.

1.       According to the passage, how do memories get transferred to the STM?
a.       They revert from the long term memory
b.       They are filtered from the sensory storage area
c.        They get chunked when they enter the brain
d.       They enter via the nervous system.

The correct answer is B

2.       The word elapses in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to?
a.       Passes
b.       adds up
c.        appears
d.       continue

The correct answer is A

3.        All of the following are mentioned as places in which memories are stored EXCEPT the?
a.       STM
b.       long term memory
c.       sensory storage area
d.       maintenance area

The correct answer is D

4.       Why does the author mention a dog's bark?
a.       To give an example of a type of memory
b.       To provide a type of interruption
c.        To prove that dogs have better memories than humans
d.       To compare another sound that is loud like a doorbell

The correct answer is B

5.       How do theorists believe a person can remember more information in a short time?
a.       By organizing it
b.       By repeating it
c.        By giving it a name
d.       By drawing it

The correct answer is A

Source :

http://biruayuk.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-strategy-to-answer-toefl-test_27.html

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