Destya Ramadhani

TOEFL Test

Well, if you haven’t heard, TOEFL is one of the official tests to measure your ability in English language. If you want to study abroad (in an English-speaking university), you need to take this test, and yes, it is a must. And if you wish to apply LPDP scholarship (for Master and Doctoral Degree), you need to take this test too, and the minimum score would be 80 (equals to 550 in PBT) if you want to study abroad, 67 if you want to study in Indonesia. But, if you want to continue your study in Indonesia, I would suggest you to take TOEFL-ITP since it’s allowed and way cheaper.

TOEFL has 4 sections (in consecutive order): Reading, Listening, and Writing. The range of score is 0–120, so that means each part has 30 score if you get the perfect score.

The first one was Reading. Each passage consists of 650–800 words, so prepare for the long-reading. We had 80 mins to complete it, that means we had approximately 20 mins to complete each passage. You can adjust yourself with the time, you can go back to the previous questions (and passages) as you like, so don’t get too focused or distracted on one passage or question.

The second one is Listening. The short part of Listening test consists of 2 sets, each set consists of 1 conversation, 1 lecture, and 1 discussion. So, we had to listen 6 talks for the Listening test, and 20 mins to answer all of the questions in Listening test (10 mins to finish each set, and it’s fixed — that means you can’t divide it into 11 mins for the first set, 9 mins for the second set). The scenario was like this: after each talk, we had to answer the questions regarding the talk, the timer was ticking, and we couldn’t go back to the previous question (so be careful!), and the next talk came in (repeat). You have to manage your time well, consider you have approximately 3–4 mins to finish answering the questions for each talk.

The last one, Writing part. There are 2 parts in Writing test, Integrated Essay, and Independent Essay.

1. Integrated Essay: we had to read a passage for 3 mins (I took some notes too), and after that we had to listen for a lecture (the lecture usually opposes the ideas in the passage). Then,we had to write an essay consisted of the information from both the passage and the lecture (connect them both). we had 20 mins to write the essay, and it was suggested that the essay consisted of 150–225 words.

2. Independent Essay: we had to express our own preference and give some reasons regarding the question. So there were 2 options, which one we choose, and why. We had 30 mins to write the essay, and it was suggested that the essay consisted of 300–350 words.

Some tips to hone your English skill :

1. Reading Skill: Try to read English news or articles everyday if you are still quite new in English. If you want to take more challenge, read novels, but it would be better if you read encyclopedias, since the Reading passages are usually about topics in college text-books (you can use Wikipedia — the free encyclopedia).

2. Listening Skill: The simplest exercise would be listening to music (you can read the lyrics to check whether you get it right or not). Or, you can watch movies, with English subtitles (listen to the dialogues and check’em with the subtitles), and better without subtitles at all (try the simplest genre, comedy or romance — their vocabularies aren’t that hard). You can also listen or watch English news, discussions (Ted-Talk, TedEd are very recommended), or interviews.

3. Writing Skill: This one should be easy, try to post things (your experiences, opinions, etc) in your social medias using English for start. It would be better if you start blogging (using English of course)!

Last but not least, you could also try to attend some English courses as well. I attended English courses for 5 years (Junior High School & High School), but then I still have to practice it after that of course (using all of the tips that I said before).

Source :
https://medium.com/@12blackpearls/my-first-toefl-ibt-experience-922904549bc0

TOEFL Reading Tips

Destya Ramadhani 23.30 0 Comments

TOEFL Reading Introduction

The reading section is the first section of the TOEFL iBT test. It tests your ability to read and answer questions at an academic level. It contain 3-4 passages with each passage containing 12-14 questions for a total of 36-56 questions. Each passage is generally 600 to 700 words long. You'll have 60-80 minutes in which to finish this section.

When you are taking the reading test, you can skip answers and come back to them later. You can come back and change your answers at any time during the reading testing period.

Reading Difficulty Level

The TOEFL reading difficulty level is equivalent to an introductory undergraduate university textbook. Most of the passages' context is North American, but you may also see some international contexts from United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The passages cover a wide range of topics such as

· Social science including anthropology, economics, psychology, urban studies, and sociology

· Science and technology including astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, physics, engineering

· History, government, biography, geography, and culture

· Art including literature, painting, sculpture, drama, and architecture

Even though the reading passages can be difficult to understand, you don't necessarily have to understand it all. By learning the strategies to answer each reading question type, you can get a high TOEFL score without fully understanding the reading passage. The first thing you need to learn are the different types of TOEFL reading question types.

The 10 TOEFL Reading Question Types

The TOEFL reading questions can be broken down into 10 different reading question types:

1. Vocabulary

2. Reference

3. Inference

4. Purpose

5. Negative Factual Information

6. Essential Information

7. Detail

8. Sentence Insertion

9. Complete the Summary

10. Complete the Table

READING STRATEGY

When facing the reading comprehension section of a standardized test, you need a strategy to be successful. You want to keep several steps in mind:

FIRST, MAKE A NOTE OF THE TIME AND THE NUMBER OF SECTIONS.

Time your work accordingly. Typically, four to five minutes per section is sufficient. Second, read the directions for each selection thoroughly before beginning (and listen well to any additional verbal instructions, as they will often clarify obscure or confusing written guidelines). You must know exactly how to do what you’re about to do!

NOW YOU’RE READY TO BEGIN READING THE SELECTION.

Read the passage carefully, noting significant characters or events on a scratch sheet of paper or underlining on the test sheet. Many students find making a basic list in the margins helpful. Quickly jot down or underline one-word summaries of characters, notable happenings, numbers, or key ideas. This will help you better retain information and focus wandering thoughts. Remember, however, that your main goal in doing this is to find the information that answers the questions. Even if you find the passage interesting, remember your goal and work fast but stay on track.

NOW READ THE QUESTION AND ALL THE CHOICES.

Now you have read the passage, have a general idea of the main ideas, and have marked the important points. Read the question and all the choices. Never choose an answer without reading them all! Questions are often designed to confuse – stay focused and clear. Usually the answer choices will focus on one or two facts or inferences from the passage. Keep these clear in your mind.

SEARCH FOR THE ANSWER.

With a very general idea of what the different choices are, go back to the passage and scan for the relevant information. Watch for big words, unusual or unique words. These make your job easier as you can scan the text for the particular word.

MARK THE ANSWER.

Now you have the key information the question is looking for. Go back to the question, quickly scan the choices and mark the correct one. Understand and practice the different types of standardized reading comprehension tests. See the list above for the different types. Typically, there will be several questions dealing with facts from the selection, a couple more inference questions dealing with logical consequences of those facts, and periodically an application-oriented question surfaces to force you to make connections with what you already know.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

Some students prefer to answer the questions as listed, and feel classifying the question and then ordering is wasting precious time. Other students prefer to answer the different types of questions in order of how easy or difficult they are.

The choice is yours and do whatever works for you. If you want to try answering in order of difficulty, here is a recommended order, answer fact questions first; they’re easily found within the passage. Tackle inference problems next, after re-reading the question(s) as many times as you need to. Application or ‘best guess’ questions usually take the longest, so save them for last.

Example:

DIRECTIONS In this section you will read several passages. Each one is followed by several questions about it. For questions 1-50, you are to choose the one best answer, (A), (B), (C), or (D), to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, ﬁnd the number of the question and ﬁll in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen. Answer all questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.

READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE:

A distinctively American architecture began with Frank Lloyd Wright, who had taken to heart the admonition that form should follow function and who thought of buildings not as separate architectural entities but as parts of an organic whole that included the land, the community, and the society. In a very real way the houses of colonial New England and some of the southern plantations had been functional, but Wright was the ﬁrst architect to make functionalism the authoritative principle for public as well as for domestic buildings. As early as 1906 he built the Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, the ﬁrst of those churches that did so much to revolutionize ecclesiastical architecture in the United States. Thereafter he turned his genius to such miscellaneous structures as houses, schools, oﬃce buildings, and factories, among them the famous Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York, and the Johnson Wax Company building in Racine, Wisconsin.

1. The phrase “taken to heart” in line 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

(A) Taken seriously

(B) Criticized

(D) Taken offence

2. In what way did Wright’s public buildings differ from most of those built by earlier architects?

(A) They were built on a larger scale.

(B) Their materials came from the southern United States.

(D) Their designs were based on how they would be used.

3. The author mentions the Unity Temple because, it

(A) was Wright’s ﬁrst building

(B) inﬂuenced the architecture of subsequent churches

(D) was the largest church Wright ever designed

4. The passage mentions that all of the following structures were built by Wright EXCEPT

(A) factories

(B) public buildings

(D) southern plantations

5. Which of the following statements best reﬂects one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural principles?

(A) Beautiful design is more important than utility.

(B) Ecclesiastical architecture should be derived from traditional designs.

(D) The architecture of public buildings does not need to be revolutionary

Answer and Discussion:

1. The phrase “taken to heart” in line 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

Answer: A → Taken seriously

Discuss: The phrase taken to heart is a form of idiomatic expression and means "do it wholeheartedly / seriously".

2. In what way did Wright’s public buildings differ from most of those built by earlier architects?

Answer: D → Their designs were based on how they would be used.

Discuss: In the sentence "... that form should follow function ..." indicates that the design should be based on its function, for what purpose the building will be used and such an answer is found in choice D.

3. The author mentions the Unity Temple because, it

Answer: B → inﬂuenced the architecture of subsequent churches

Discuss: : In the sentence "... the story of those churches that are so much to revolutionize the ecological architecture in the United States" states that the building greatly influenced the design of the subsequent buildings. Answers that contain similar ideas are in option B.

4. The passage mentions that all of the following structures were built by Wright EXCEPT

Answer: D → southern plantations

Discuss: In the last sentence it is clear that offices, factories and public building, including churches are his works. Whereas South Plantations is not the result of his work because it has been designed by previous people as mentioned in the reading.

5. Which of the following statements best reﬂects one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural principles?

Answer: C → A building should ﬁt into its surroundings.

Discuss: The sentence "... as parts of an organic whole that includes land, the community, and the society" states that the building should be considered as part of the whole environment and the surrounding community so that in other words the building must be in accordance with its environment.

Source :

Jumat, 31 Mei 2019

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