The Reading Comprehension: in in of [PDF]

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READING COMPREHENSION



THE READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS The Reading Cornprehension section of the TOEFL test consists of five reading passages, each follou,ed bv a number of reading comprehension and vocabulary questions. Topics of the reading passages are varied, but they are often informational subjects that rr-right be studied in an American university: American history literature, art, architecture, geology, geographv, and astronomy, for example. Tir-ne is definitelv a factor in the Reading Comprehension section. Manv students u'ho take the TOEFL test note that they are unable to finish all the questions in this section. Thereiore, vou need to make the most efficient use of your time in this section to -qet the l-righest score. The following method is the best way of attacking a reading passage to get the most questions correct in a limited amount of time.



STRATEGIES FOR THE READTNG COMPREHENSTON QUESTTONS



the reading passage to determine the main idea and the overall organization of ideas in the passage. You do not need to understand every detail in a passage to answer the questions correctly. lt is therefore a waste of time to read the passage with the intent of understanding every single detail before you try to answer the questions.



1. Skim



2. Look ahead at the questions to determine what types of questions answer. Each type of question is answered in a different way.



you must



the section of the passage that deals with each question. The question type tells you exactly where to look in the passage to find correct answers. . For main idea questions, look at the first line of each paragraph. . For directly and indirectly answered detail questions, choose a key word in the question, and skim for that key word (or a related idea) in order in the passage. . For vocabulary questiont the question will tell you where the word is located in



3. Find



.



the passage. For where questians, the answers are found anywhere in the passage.



the part of the passage that contains the answer carefully. The answer will probably be in the same sentence (or one sentence before or after) the key word or



4. Read



idea.



the best answer to each question from the four answer choices listed in your test book. You can choose the best answer according to what is given in the appropriate section of the passage, eliminate definitely wrong answers, and mark your best guess on the answer sheet.



5. Choose



The following skills rvill help voll to implement these strategies in the Reading Comprehension section of thc' TOEFL test.



155



156



READINGCOMPREHENSION



Srcrr 1: MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS Almost every reading passage on the TOEFL test r,iill have a question about the main idea of a passage. Such a question mav be worded in a variety of ways; you may, for example, be asked to identify the topic, sttbject, title, primnry idea, or ttnilt idea. These questions are all reallv asking rvhat primarv point the author is trving to get across in the passage. Since TOEFL passages are generallv rvritten in a traditionallv organized manner, it is not difficult to find the main idea bv studying the topic sentence, u,hich is most probabll' found at the beginning of a paragraph. If a passage consists of onlv one paragraph, vou should studv the beginning of that paragraph to determine the n-rain idea. Example I



The passage: Basketball uras invented in 1891 bv a nhvsical education inst@rsachusetts, tyin" name of James Naismith. Because of the terrible rr,eather in u'inter, his phvsical Line edtcation students were indoors rather than outdoors. They (5) reallv did not like the idea of boring, repetitirre exercises and preferred the excitement and challenge of a game. Naismith figured out a team sport that could be piayed indoors on a gvrnnasium floor, that invoh,ed a lot of running, that kept all team members involved, and that did not allow the tackling and (10) phvsical contact of American-stvle football. The question: What is the main idea of this passage? (A) The life of James Naismith (B) The histor-1,- of sports (C) Phl,sical education and erercise (D) The origin of basketball



The first sentence of this passage discusses the inveriion of'basketball, so this is probably the topic. A quick check of the rest of the sentences in the passage confirms that the topic is in fact the beginnings of the sport of basketball. Now vou should check each of the ansrt'ers to determine which one comes closest to the topic that you have determined. Ansrru,er (A) mentions James Naismith but not basketball, so it is not the topic. Ansu,'er (B) is too general; it mentions sports but does not mention basketball. Ansrver (C) is also too general; it mentions physical education but does not mention basketball. The best ansr,ver is therefore ansu,er (D); the origin of basketball n-reans that the invention of basketball is going to be discussed.



READING COMPREHENSION



If



a passage consists of more than one paragraph, vou should studv the beginning of each perragraph to determine the main idea. Example



II



The passage: Earl)' maps of the North American continent showed a massivt' rivcr that began in the RlrcLI Mountair.rJl,r*"d into tt-re Creat Silt Lake, and from there continued r,r,estr,vard into Line the Percific Ocean. This rir,er, named the Buenaventura River, on (5) some maps rivaled the great Mississippi River. Ihi:g:th&g!_ifqrg1[q,I{se does not exist. Perhaps zrn ea.h-rru.p-aker hr,'fx,thJsizrd ihat strcn a river probablv existed; perhaps a smaller rir.er u,as seen and its patlr from the Rockies to the Pacific \\,as assumed. As late as the middle of the (10) nineteenth centuln', this river rr",as still on maps and explorers u,erc still searchins for it. The question: Which of the following r,r'ould be the best title for this passage? (A) Earlv M:rps of Norlh America (B) A \qlEtitt"lt $\'cr on 41pt (C) A Comparisorr of the Buenaventura and the Mississippi Rir,ers



(D) Rivers in Mvthologv



In a passage r,vith more than one paragraph, you should be sure to read the first sentence of each paragraph to determine the subject, title, or main idea. In this example, the first sentence of the first paragraph indicates that the first paragraph is about a river on earlv nnps of North Arnerica. If you look at onlv the first paragraph, you might choose the incorect answer (A). The first sentence of the second paragraph indicates the river does not eri.s/. Answer (C) is incorrect because a comparison with the Mississippi River is onlv one small detail in the first paragraph. Ansrver (D) is incorrect because this passage is not about mythologv. The best answer to this question is anslr,er (B); the first paragraph sa-vs that the ritter is ort ntaps, and the second pzrragrapl-r savs that Ihe river does trct exist.



157



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READINGCOMPREHENSION



The following charl outlines the kev information that you should remember about main idea questions. MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS HOW TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION



What is the topic of the possage? What is the subject of this passage? What is the main idea of the passageT What is the author's main point in the passage? With what is the author primarily concerned? Which of the followinq would be the best title?



WHERE TO FIND



The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentence of each paragraph.



THE ANSWER HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION



'1. Read the first line of each paragraph.



2. 3. 4.



Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines. Pass your eyes quickly over the rest of the passage to check that you really have found the topic sentence(s).



Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaininq choices.



TOEFL EXERCISE 1: Studv each of the passages, and choose the best answers to the questions that follow. In this exercise, each paragraph is follorved bv rrlo main idea, topic, or title questions so that voll can practice this type of question. On the TOEFL test, one passage u,ould probably not have trvo such questions because thev are so similar. PASSAGE ONE (Qtrcstions 1*2)



Most of the ice on the Earth, ciose to 90 pelcent of it, is covering the surface of the continent Antarctica. It does not snow very much in Antarctica, but vnhatever snow does fall remains and grorvs deeper and deeper. In some areas o{'Antarctica, the ice has perhaps been around for as much as a million vears ancl norv is more than two miles deep. 1. The main iclea of the passage is that



(A) the Earth is a cold planet (B) most of the Earlh s ice is found in



Antarctica



(C) it snows more in Antarctica



than



in anv other place on E,arth (D) Antarctica is onlv trvo nriles rvide but is 90 oercent ice



2. 'f he best title for the passage is



(A) (B) (C) (D)



Snorvfall in Antarctica The Ic1' Earth The Cold, Cold Snor,r, The Cattses of Antarctica's Ice Pack



READING COMPREHENSION



PASSAGE T1,l!O (Que.stiorts 3-4)



Lirte



(.5)



'fhe ertrenlelv hot irncl htrmid weather that occurs in the Unitecl States in Julv ancl August is commonh'called the "dog da1''s" o[ sumrner. This name comes from the star Sir-ir.rs, u'hich is knt>rt'n as the Dog Star. Sirius is the brightest visible stzr4 and in the hot summer monlhs it rises in the east at approximately the same time as the Sun. As ancient people sar,u'this star rising r,iith the Sun u,hen the rveather was at its hottest, thev be'lieved tl"rat Sirius rt'as tlre cause of the additional heat; ther,'belier-ed that this bright star added i1s heat to the heat of the Sun, and these tu,o together macle summer u'eathc-r' .so unbearabl', hot.



3. The topic of this passage is



(A) (B)



horv dogs like to plzw'dr"rring the sunlffler the callses ol'hot and hrrmid r,'u,eathet'



(C) rvhv the hot sumlner



4. The main idea of this passage is that (A) the name for the sunrmer davs carne fror-n Sirius, tlre Dog Star (B) dogs generallv prefer hot sumnrer cla.\,s



dar.s are



knon'n as the "dog davs"



(D) the davs that dogs pr-efer



(c) the l-rottest da'us occur- in the sllmmer because oltthe movements of the Strn and stars (D) Sirir.rs rises at almost the same time as the Sun during the sunlmer rrronths



PA.SS.IGE THREE (Questions 5-6)



Line



(5)



(10)



The term "primitive art" has been used in a varietv of r,r,al,s to describe rvorks ancl stvles rlf at't. One 'u'n'al that this term has been usecl is to describe the earlv pc.riocl u,itlrin the development of a cet'tain st1'le of art. Another \\'av that this term has been usecl is to dc'scribe at'tists rvho hale rcceivecl little professional training and u,ho demonstrate a nontraditional naivete in their u'ork. A u'onderfttl example' of this second trpe of primitive artist is Grandma Moses, l,lrc-> spent all herr Iifc living on a farm and wnrking at tasks normallv associated rvith t'arnr liFe. She did not begin paintir-r-e until she reached the age of ser,entv-sir. rvhen she sr,i'itched to painting ll-om embloiderv because the ar-tl'rritis in her hands macle embroiden'too difficult. Totalh'without formal education in art, she began creating panclranlic images of everydav life on the farm that have achieved international fame.



5. The strbject of this passage is



(A) an example of one of the 11,pes of primitive art



(B) Grandma Mosesi life on the t-arm (C) horv primitive art differs from formal art



(D) Grandrna Ii



festr4e



Moses's prinriti vc



6. Which of the {ollou'ing best



expresses



the main idea of the passage?



(A) Grandma Moses spent her life on a farnr.



(B) Art critics cannot come to anv agl'eement on a definition of primitir,'e ar-1,. (C) Grandma Moses is one tvpe of plirnitive artist because of hcr lack of for-mal trnining. (D) Manv arlists rc.cciver little prolcss ion:il training.



t)v



160



READINGCOMPREHENSION



PASSAGE FOLIR (Questiorts 7-8)



In the first half of the nineteenth centurn a Neu, York nervspapc'r, the Netv Yctrk Sun, successfullv carried out a hoax on the American public. Because of this trick, readership of the paper rose substantiallv



Line On August 25. 1835, the Srrrz published repor.ts that some r,r,onderful nerv discoveries (5) had been made on the moon. The article described strange, never-before-scen animals



(



l0)



and temples covered in shining jervels. Many members of the American public were iooled by the story even some prominent members of the scientific community. The effect of the false stor v- on sales of the paper '"vas dramatic. Paper sales increased considerablv as people eagerlv searched out details of the neu, discoveries. Later, the nervspaper companv announced that it had not been trying to trick the public; instead, the companv explained the moon stories as a tvpe of literar',* satire.



7. Which of the follorving best states the topic oF the passage?



8. The main point of the



(A) the Iley'York



(A) A nineteenth-centurT discoven,



on the moon (B) The llery York Sun (c) A hoax and its effect (D) The success of a newspaper



passage is



Serrr ."vas one



that



of the



(B)



earliesl. American nc\\ spapers the Sl.nl increased sales rvhen it tricked the public u'ith a false



(C)



a newspaper achieved success bv



story



rvriting about the moon



(Dt in 1835 somc amazins



nerv



discoveries ll,.ere made about the moon



Sxru



2:



STATED DETAIL QUESTIONS



A stated detail question asks about one piece of information in the passage rather than the passage as a whole. The ansrvers to these questions are generally given in order in the passage, and the correct answer is often a restatement of what is given in the passage. This means that the correct ansrver often expresses the same idea as r,r'hat is rvritten in the passage, but the u'ords are not exactlv the same.



READING COMPREHENSION



Example



Lirte



(5)



(



t0)



The passage: Flutes have been around for quite some time, in all sorts of shapes and sizes and made from a varietv of materials. The oldest knorvn flutes are about 20,000 yearrs old: ther rucrtffi-otrt bones rrith holes cut rlLthcm. In addition ro bone, older flures rrere ofren constructed from bamboo or hollorved-out wood. Todavs flutes are -qenerallv made of metal, and in addition to the holes the1,'have a complicated svstem of kevs, levers, and pads. The instr-ument belonging to u'ellknou n llautist .la-es Gahrat Ir not just made of anr metal; it is made of gold. The questions: 1. According to the passage, the oldest flutes (A) had holes cut in them (B) rrere rnad" .,f n-,etal (C) rvere made 200,000 years ago (D) had a complicated set of levers and pads



2. The passage indicates that James Galrvav's flute is made of



(A) bones (B) bamboo (C) u,ood (D) eold The ansr,l,ers to the questions are generallv found in order in the passage, so vou should look for the ansr,r,er to the first question near the beginning of the passage. Since the first qllestion asks about the oldest flutes, vou should see that this question is ans\vered in the second sentence. The passage states that the oldest flutes r,vere bones w,it/t lrcles ctLt iu thent, so the best ansr,r,er is answer (A). Ansrvers (B) and (D) are true about today's I'lutes, but not the oldest flutes, so thev are incorrect. Answer (C) is an incorrect number; the oldest flutes are 20,000 vears old, not 200,000 vears old. The ansrver to the second question rvill probabll- be located in the passage after the ansrver to the first question. Since the second question is about Jarnes Galu/41,'3 flule, vou should skim through the passage to find the part of the passage that discusses this topic. The ansu'er to this question is found in the statement that the instruntent belongirtg to well-kncnrvt flaLLlist Janrcs Galy,n!' is rtot ittst nmde of ant ntetal; it is ntade of'gold. The best answer to this question is therefore ansrver (D).



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READING COMPREHENSION



The follori'ing chart orttlines the kev information tbert vou should remember about stated detail questions. STATED DETAIL QUESTIONS HOW TO IDENTIFY THE QUESTION



According to the passage, ... It is stated in the passage that The passage indicates that ... The author mentions that ... Which of the following is true .



WHERE TO FIND



The answers to these questions are found in order in the



THE ANSWER



passage.



HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTION



1



2



Choose a key word in the question. Skim the appropriate part of the passage for the key word (or related ldeo). Read



the sentence that contains the key word or idea



carefully. 4



Look for the answer that restates an idea in the passage.



5



Eliminate the definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remaining choices.



TOEFL EXERCISE 2: Studv each of the passa-ees, and choose the best answers to the questions that follorv. PASSAGE ONE (Questi