2. What does the man imply about some teachers? A. They are understanding. B. They give thought-provoking assignments. C. They act like taking their class is the only thing a student has to do. D. They are unprepared. 3. What does the woman suggest that the man do? A. Skip work B. Begin work on the assignment as soon as possible C. Quit the class D. Stay up all night 4. What does the man say about his work? A. He does manual labor. B. He dislikes his job. C. His employer is very understanding. D. He works with figures. The answers are 1 A, 2 C, 3 B, 4 D. Talks in Part B are meant to represent academic presentations. They could involve a professor explaining something to a class or a specialist explaining his or her area of expertise. The talks frequently include some kind of chart or diagram, which appears onscreen when the speaker mentions it. 20 Part II: Analysis of Exam Areas For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Sample Lasik surgery is a new method of restoring certain kinds of vision loss. Lasik is an acronym derived from the word “laser” and some medical terms. Unlike cataract surgery, which restores vision to eyes marred by a cloudy lens, Lasik is an elective procedure performed on healthy eyes. Gener- ally, patients who choose Lasik surgery suffer from myopia, or nearsight- edness, which means that their eyes cannot visualize distant objects. It also corrects farsightedness, the inability to see close objects, as well as astigmatism, which is a visual distortion that causes blurred vision. But the procedure does not correct presbyopia, the inability of the eye to focus that comes naturally with age. Cornea Help Answer Confirm Next Volume Time TOEFL - Listening Lasik Surgery 21 Listening Section For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Lasik surgery is painless. Recovery is fast, and vision stabilizes quickly. Also, it is easy to go back to fine-tune results. Using a special knife, the surgeon slices a microscopically-thin hinged flap in the top of the cornea, exposes what is under the flap, and then zaps the exposed tissue with a laser for a preprogrammed number of seconds. The laser sculpts the cornea according to the correction needed. The flap is then carefully replaced. The eye’s natural suction enables the flap to adhere without stitches. Generally, Lasik is not appropriate for patients with high levels of nearsightedness or astigmatism. It is also possible that patients with large pupils will experience glare and halos after surgery. Likewise, some patients have been left with serious and uncorrectable problems after the procedure, including glare, haze, double vision, ghosting, or irregular astigmatism, a permanent warping of the cornea. 1. What is the talk mainly about? A. Different procedures for improving the eyes B. Several different eye defects C. A particular kind of eye surgery D. The benefits of Lasik surgery Help Answer Confirm Next Volume Time TOEFL - Listening Now get ready to answer the questions. 22 Part II: Analysis of Exam Areas For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org 2. Organize the following according to the order in which they take place during Lasik surgery: A. Apply the laser B. Slice the flap C. Replace the flap D. Expose the eye 3. The author contrasts cataract surgery from Lasik surgery by stating that Lasik surgery A. is not a surgery of necessity. B. is safer. C. is more important. D. is more useful. 4. Of the following types of eye problems, which would not be a likely candidate for Lasik surgery? A. Myopia B. Astigmatism C. Presbyopia D. Farsightedness The answers are 1 D, 2 B D A C, 3 A, 4 B. Common question types in Part B include questions about main ideas, details, purpose, and implication. Main idea questions may include: ■ What is the main idea of the talk? ■ What is the talk mainly about? ■ What are the speakers discussing? ■ What would be a good title for the lecture? Detail questions may include: ■ What does the man/woman say about . . . ? ■ What does the man/woman want? ■ What does the man/woman suggest about . . . ? ■ What is the man/woman describing? 23 Listening Section For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Purpose questions may include: ■ Why did . . . ? ■ Why is . . . ? ■ Why does the man/woman think . . . ? ■ Why does the speaker mention . . . ? Implication questions may include: ■ What does the speaker imply about . . . ? ■ What does the speaker infer about . . . ? ■ What does the man/woman mean when he/she says . . . ? Other questions in this part will ask you to choose a drawing, match questions, and organize or categorize answer choices. For example, ■ You may be asked to pick out the correct drawing from what was described in words. ■ You may be asked to match two concepts together. ■ You may be asked to determine the sequence of events. ■ You may be asked to categorize certain concepts. All of these types of questions are demonstrated in the practice exercises and practice tests in this book. Preparing for the Listening Section As I say many times in this book, the best way to improve your English is to listen to as much English as possible. Use the following tips to listen to English daily: ■ Watch movies and television, including news programs and weather reports. If a television isn’t available, listen to the radio. ■ Make telephone calls to recorded messages. For example, some news- papers have recorded information about local events and most movie theaters have recorded schedules of showings. ■ Attend lectures in English if you can. ■ Make use of a language laboratory if one is available. Check with a local university that has an intensive English program or with a Sylvan Learning Center in your area. 24 Part II: Analysis of Exam Areas For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org ■ Listen to books on tape. If you live in the United States, check out the tape program at Cracker Barrel restaurants, where you can exchange books on tape for a $1 rental charge. I prefer listening to unabridged books (mean- ing those with nothing omitted), so I get books on tape from Recorded Books, Inc. (www.recordedbooks.com). This company has a wide variety of books available for sale or rent. ■ Take all the listening practice tests in this book. If you can obtain the TOEFL Sampler materials available, use them as well. A Patterned Plan of Attack Listening Go through the computer tutorial as quickly as you can. Be familiar with each part’s directions before the test begins. Mark DISMISS DIRECTIONS as soon as the directions appear. SET your headset VOLUME to the appropriate level. IGNORE PHOTOGRAPHS OF SPEAKERS. They have nothing to do with the content and contain no helpful information. LISTEN CAREFULLY to what is stated, trying to grasp the overall concept. REMEMBER GRAMMATICAL RULES and other techniques. Look at the answer choices. If you do not find the answer immediately, try to ELIMINATE INCORRECT ANSWER CHOICES. Watch for words or sounds that are added as distractions. CHOOSE THE BEST ANSWER as quickly as possible and move on. Pace yourself and watch the time. Click NEXT and CONFIRM in order to move to the next question. Never worry about how you answered a prior question. If you run out of time, leave the last questions blank. Do not guess. 25 Listening Section For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org STRUCTURE SECTION The Structure section of the TOEFL test measures your ability to recognize appro- priate standard written English. This section includes questions that test your knowledge of grammar, idiomatic expressions, vocabulary, and other aspects of correct English. The Structure section includes two question types (described in this chapter), which are interspersed. You will answer between 20 and 25 questions in 15 to 20 minutes. The time that you are given to complete the section depends on the num- ber of questions given. You cannot know in advance how many questions to ex- pect in this section. When you begin the section, the number of questions you must answer and the time allotted for completing them will appear at the top of the screen. Basic Skills Necessary To score well on this section, you need to know standard English grammar. You must be able to recognize various parts of speech and identify when they are used incorrectly in a test question. You must know when a sentence is missing a word or phrase that is necessary for the construction to be complete. And you must have a solid enough understanding of idiomatic expressions to recognize when words are being combined incorrectly. I cover each of these areas in detail in Part III. What to Expect There are two types of questions in the Structure section. One type of question shows a sentence with four words or phrases underlined. You must choose the one underlined word or phrase that is incorrect and click on it. The other type of ques- tion consists of an incomplete sentence with four choices of words or phrases that complete it. You must choose the one word or phrase that creates a correct sentence. With both types of questions, you must concentrate on whether or not a sentence is complete. After you answer a question (and before you move on to the next one), always analyze whether the sentence as a whole is complete with the correc- tion or answer choice that you have selected. If you create a sentence fragment, your answer choice is incorrect. To improve your knowledge of grammar, read as much as possible, paying atten- tion to grammar forms that are new to you. Read newspapers, magazines, and books. Any topic that interests you will suffice. The more complicated the subject matter, the better, but don’t become discouraged by trying to read advanced maga- zines or complicated newspaper articles that are too far above your level. 26 For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org Listening to books on tape is also a great way to improve your grammar (as well as your listening comprehension) if you can pay attention to the structure of sen- tences while also following the story. Incomplete Sentences Directions: You will be shown incomplete sentences with a blank indicating where a word or phrase needs to be added. Choose the word or phrase that most correctly completes the sentence. Sample Q. While it is understandable that a going business with existing customers and name recognition will be purchased by another company, it is surprising that companies would purchase an internet domain name __________ in busi- ness for an incredible sum of money. A. that it has never been used B. that has never been used C. that never been used D. never to be use A is incorrect because it contains the pronoun it, but the word that is a relative pronoun. C is incorrect because you cannot have a past participle of be (been) without an auxiliary has. D is incorrect because the word use is not in past partici- ple form. Therefore, the correct answer is B. Choosing the Incorrect Word or Phrase Directions: You will see sentences with four underlined words or phrases. Choose the one word or phrase that is incorrect in standard written English. Sample Q. After create [A] interest in automobile racing on the hard-packed sand of the beach in Daytona Beach Florida, William France, Sr. built [B] the Daytona International Speedway on property leased [C] from the county and lived to see it develop [D] into a major international attraction. 27 Structure Section For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org The answer is A, create. The sentence should read After having created, After he had created, or After creating. A verb in simple form cannot follow a preposition. Only a gerund (verb+ing) or a clause (subject + verb) can follow a preposition. How to Prepare for the Structure Section To improve your knowledge of grammar, read as much as possible, paying atten- tion to grammar forms that are new to you. Follow these tips: ■ Read newspapers, magazines, and books. ■ Listen to books on tape, paying attention to sentence structures. ■ Go through all the grammar rules in Part III of this book and become thor- oughly familiar with them. A Patterned Plan of Attack Be familiar with each part’s directions before the test begins. Mark DISMISS DIRECTIONS as soon as the directions appear. Structure Go through the computer tutorial as quickly as possible. READ each sentence CAREFULLY AND COMPLETELY. APPLY the GRAMMATICAL RULES that you learn from this book. FIND the BASIC SENTENCE PARTS and determine whether the sentence is complete. If you don’t find the answer immediately, try to ELIMINATE INCORRECT ANSWER CHOICES. Make the best choice you can. WATCH THE TIME and the number of questions remaining. Pace yourself. DO NOT BLINDLY GUESS, even if you run out of time. 28 Part II: Analysis of Exam Areas For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org 29 READING SECTION The Reading section measures your ability to read and understand academic read- ing passages, including your knowledge of English vocabulary. Basic Skills Necessary To succeed in this section, you need to be able to read and understand English. You should have a sufficient knowledge of vocabulary and grammar to follow a fairly sophisticated passage, understand the difference between major ideas and details, and discern vocabulary definitions. What to Expect Reading section questions are based on major topics, subtopics, and details pre- sented in a reading passage. Approximately 20 percent of the questions in this sec- tion are vocabulary questions, and all vocabulary words are contained in the reading passages. Several question types exist in this section. You may be asked to pick out a correct answer from four possible choices, or you may be asked to click on a word in a passage that has the same meaning as another word. In addition, the Reading sec- tion frequently tests your understanding of pronouns and their antecedents. Sometimes four possible choices are provided, and sometimes you’re asked to click on the word in the passage that is the antecedent of the pronoun in question. Occasionally, you’re required to identify the most logical place to insert a new sentence into a paragraph in the reading. Sometimes you’re asked to choose a correct picture, word, phrase or diagram based on what the passage describes. Sometimes you also need to match pictures, words, phrases, or diagrams with other items similar to them. (However, there were no questions like this on a recent TOEFL test administration.) For example, you might be given the word blue and asked whether the word color, shape, or size best describes that word. The quality of the passages in the Reading section may surprise you. They rarely consist of more than a couple of paragraphs, and generally, they don’t have formal introductions and conclusions. Concentrate on the topic sentence of each paragraph and read the entire passage, but don’t spend too much time trying to understand it. Read the passage quickly and move on to the questions. You can return to the reading passage as you an- swer each question. The Reading section is not computer-adaptive, which means For more material and information, please visit Tai Lieu Du Hoc at www.tailieuduhoc.org . magazines, and books. ■ Listen to books on tape, paying attention to sentence structures. ■ Go through all the grammar rules in Part III of this book and become. omitted), so I get books on tape from Recorded Books, Inc. (www.recordedbooks.com). This company has a wide variety of books available for sale or rent. ■ Take