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scarecrow1123/TOEFL Listening.md

Last active January 31, 2019 16:10
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TOEFL Listening.md

General Information

  • Conversations and lectures
  • based on the actual speech that is used at Universities
  • Accents - North America, U.K. and Australia
  • 2 to 3 conversations and 4 - 6 lectures
  • Can be heard only one time
  • conversations - 3 minutes long and 5 mcqs
  • questions can't be seen while listening to the conversations
  • Lecures - 5 mins long and 6 mcqs
  • 60 - 90 mins to complete the listening section
  • can't return to previous questions

Approach

  • Get oriented - the image and the narrator will help focus
  • will hear who are the speakers first, i.e., roles
  • predict based on the introduction
  • lecture - first the subject on which the lecture is given
  • identify
    • main idea/purpose
    • key points that speaker makes
    • attitudes/opinions
  • take notes on key points
  • but don't write everything
  • keep listening even if you miss something
  • questions on only main points
  • dont worry about unfamiliar stuff
  • In lectures there can be terms or proper names that might be shown as image
  • so look for the extra visual content

Gist content and Gist purpose

* gist - main point or key idea
* identify thhe main content / idea
* gist purpose - identify main purpose
* "mainly about", mainly discussing", etc
* either of them will be present
* always be the 1st question
* two main ideas can also be present

example: what i missed plan for the next game susan to practice brother's wedding ann's uncles and cousins sorry to miss practice family is very important new team jacket woman 25 yrs ago and saw the game and buying new jackets former players care about school and basketball order form nextx game mary's to new college captain got the chance of being the captain

Detail Questions

* remember specific facts
* "according to", "what is", etc.
* ask about important conceptual details
* answers are explicitly stated

Function Question

* identify particular meaning of the sentnece in the context
* real meaning might be different from the surface meaning
* "what does he mean" , "why does he say", etc.

Attitude Questions

* understand attitude or feelings
* "what is his attitude" or what could be inferred
* what i think, it seems to me
* listen for token of speaker's voice
example:
novel - finest criticcs
detective
first
the moon stone
wilkey collins
other detective stories
edgar allen po
short stories featured detective
but this follows after 20 yrs
first full len dete. novel written
contemporary
most of the features in a det nov are already present
so familiar
wonderful
highly recommended to read

Organization Questions

  • how a leture is structured
  • "why does he discuess/mention"
  • often about examples ex: cuff arrives he is the man who has come to solve the mystery similar characteristics to other famous detectives roses, fanatic eccentric sherlock&violin ex. antidote to the evil they encounter daily smart, but of not appearing most importatntly see things that others dont thats why they are importatn moonstone - clue - smeared bit of paint in a doorway regular police missed cuff sees this and realises from the smear and deduces the whole situation this ability to see meaning where others see no meaning bring order that others dont see
  • intro, major ideas, examples and conclusion - these are the major signals

Connecting Content Questions

  • understainding the reslaionships between ideas
  • fill in a tablee or a chart or what is the likely outcome
  • put together info from different parts of the passage

Inference Question

  • meaning of something when it is not directly stated
  • what are the implications, what can be inferred, what does he imply ex: in the moonstone collins establish the conventions of the dete genre diamond of great value country house it disappears in the night local police they msess it up hero - seargant cuff extraordinarily importatnt police - well meaning & inept countered by an eccentric & brilliant individual who can solve seagrave - si make mess - sherlock holmes very much repeated - lestrade
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TOEFL Reading.md

Reading

  • Academic Reading

    • Categories
      • Social Sciences
      • Arts
      • Physical Sciences
      • Life Sciences
    • Style
      • Formal Language
      • Logical and Objective
      • Conceptually Complex
    • About
      • 3 or 4 reading passages of about 700 words each. For each passage there are 12 to 14 mcqs.
      • 60 - 80 minutes totally
    • Approach
      • Identify the topic
      • Skim
      • Take notes/create an outline
      • Read the questions
      • Scan for key words
    • Types of Questions
      • Factual/Negative Factual Questions
        • Explicitly stated ideas
        • Major Ideas
        • Supporting details
        • Definitions
        • Negative - 3 of the 4 answers are true. determine which one is false
        • "According to the paragraph", "NOT", "Except", etc are present
        • Negative - isn't in the paragraph or contradicts that is in the paragraph
      • Inference and Rhetorical Purpose Questions
        • not explicitly stated
        • Inference - "Infer", "Imply", "suggest", etc.
        • Rhetorical Purpose - "why?"
        • Eliminate wrong answers first
      • Vocabulary
        • Identify meanings of words and phrases in the passage
        • word/phrase highlighted
        • "author means", "closest in meaning"
        • Academic vocabulary vs specialized vocabulary
        • Academic vocabulary is tested
        • Specialized vocabulary will be defined
        • Use the latin/greek roots to identify meaning easily
      • Reference Questions
        • Similar to vocabulary questions.
        • A word/phrase is higlighted and are asked what that word referes to
      • Sentence Simplification
        • Identify a sentence that has the same meaning from the passage
        • correct answer contains main ideas but may leave out other details
        • restate the main ideas
        • "which of the sentence below best expresses..."
        • pick the choice which best includes essential information
        • understand the relation bet pieces of information
        • cause - effect relations, conclusions, etc
      • Insert Text Questions
        • uNDERSTAND THE logical order of the ideas
        • One for each reading passage
        • no mcq
        • click on one of the four black boxes to insert text into the paragraph
        • Know your pronouns and match them in the text
      • Prose Summary and Fill in a Table Questions
        • Prose summary
          • Major ideas and relative importance of information in a readingg passage
          • 6 answerr choices. select 3 correct choices
          • incorrect choices misrepresent the passage
          • 2 points for all 3 correct, 1 point for 2 correct , 0 else
          • in no particular order
        • ####### Fill in a table
          • drag and drop into 3 or more categories
        • one prose summary or one fill in a table but not both questions in a passage
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TOEFL Speaking.md

20 mins to complete with 6 questions Questions 1 & 2 - Indpendent speaking questions on topics that are familiar Questions 2 through 6 - Integrated speaking questions. some questions require you to read, listen, and then speak, while others require you tot listen and then speak. Depending on the question type, 15 - 30 seconds is given to prepare for the Speaking response 45 or 60 seconds to actually speak the response

Independent Questions 1 & 2:

  • topic given to speak about with no additional material
  • 15 secs to prepare
  • 45 to speak

  • Question 1

    • person, place, object or thing that you are familiar about
    • ex: talk about a pleasant event that happened to you when you were in school

  • Question 2

    • 2 situations / opinions.
    • choose the preferred one
    • fun to spend time with friends in restaurants/cafes or at home?
  • organize thoughts
  • raters want to hear you speaking/ not reading from a script
  • dont memorize any stuff
  • not necessary to organize the content into structure
  • use common connecting words/phrases

Integrated Questions 3 & 5

  • 3 - read a passage, listen to a response, 30 secs to prepare, 60 secs to speak
  • 5 - listen to a conversation, 30 secs to prepare, 60 secs to speak

  • Question 3

    • campus situation
    • what is the opinion of the person in listening passage? how his opinions relate to the content in the reading pasage?

  • Question 5

    • campus situation
    • listen to a conv about a campus problem
    • speak about a solution to the problem
  • dont speak too quickly
  • normal pace
  • 3 - listen carefully to speakers' reasons, summarize well in the answer
  • 5 - focus on understanding the problems
  • opinion is more important than the summary for 5th. so less time for summary and more time for opinion

Integrated Questions 4 & 6

  • 4 - read a passage about a subject
  • listen to a lecture related to a subject and speak
  • 6 - listen to lecture and speak about the summary

  • Question 4

    • reading - about an academic content
    • listening - lecture about the same topic
    • explain the concept and how the example illustrates the concept

  • Question 6

    • listen - excerpt from a lecture from a single topic
    • examples for clarification
    • explain the main issue/concept using the tools/examples given in the lecture
  • practice with academic texts
  • dont need prior knowledge
  • take notes while listening
  • dont repeat yourself to fill time
  • say something to clarify or develop
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TOEFL Writing.md

Question 1

  • Read an essay of about 4 paras
  • Listen to a lecture that opposes the essay
  • 20 mins for writing an essay of about 250 words to relate the lecture with the essay
  • "How does the professor in the lecture oppose the claims in the passage?"
  • Reading
    • 1st para - opinion of the author in the last sentence
    • other paras - supports the opinion
    • first sentence of the body paras - provide the reason for that para
  • Lecture
    • create a table with columns for reading/lecture
    • rows on the table for every para from the reading passage
    • on the reading column, take notes for every para per row from the reading passage
    • and on the right, notes on lecture should be done
    • doesn't necessarily make a difference if words are not paraphrased from the lecture Question 2
  • Question to write about an opinion and why you support the opinion
  • on different topics
  • eg: education, work, money, government, friends, etc.
  • 30 mins
  • 3 mins - outline
  • 4 mins - introduction
  • 9 mins - body para #1
  • 9 mins - body para #2
  • 3 mins - conclusion
  • 2 mins - fix the problems
  • follow the timing
  • word count is important
  • 450+ words
  • word count comes with better content like details and explanations
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