TOEFL Reading - Questions types in the TOEFL test
What question types will you see on the TOEFL Reading test?
The TOEFL test is a test of university-level reading skills. In order to prepare for the test, you need to read a wide variety of texts: book chapters, articles from specialized websites, lecture notes, etc.
Vocabulary | A word is selected from the text, and you are asked to choose a synonym from a list of words. |
Study TOEFL vocabulary words |
Detail | Identify a detail from the text. "According to the author", or "according to the text". |
Read very carefully and practice identifying the details in a text |
Purpose | Understand the author's purpose. "Why does the author choose __________," or "why does the author say _______?" |
Question the author as you are reading. |
Negative Factual Information | This type of question is usually worded, "All of the following are correct EXCEPT", or "Which one is NOT" . |
Compare the possible answers with the information in the text. |
Essential Information | This will be a sentence highlighted in the text. You will be asked to choose a sentence that has almost the same meaning. |
Be able to paraphrase, that is, use other words to express the same idea |
Reference | This question highlights a pronoun in the text and asks for its reference (antecedent). |
Be able to trace pronouns back to the noun they refer to. |
Inference | You need to draw a logical conclusion based on an idea in the text. It is often worded, 'The text suggests that", or "It can be inferred that". |
Understand the text and in particular the other meanings that the text might have |
Insert a Sentence | This is a new type of question for the computer-based text. You will see a sentence and four places in the text where the sentence might go. You need to click on the box to insert the sentence. | Look for a logical progression. What is the subject of the sentence, and where does it fit in the paragraph? |
Complete the Summary | This is also new to the computer-based text. You will drag and drop 3 correct summary sentences onto a blank area for the summary. | The incorrect answers will have mistakes in details or in general not summarize the text. Focus on sentences which say the same thing as the text, but in different words. |
Complete the Table | This is a computer-based "drag and drop" type of question, where you will have to complete a table with information provided for you. There will be between one and three correct answers, and between three and seven incorrect answers. |
Match carefully the sentences to the questions in the table. |