TOEFL secrets.pdf

TOEFL Secrets

Your Key to TOEFL Success

From the desk of Tom Paulson, Director of Test-Taking Strategy at TOEFL

Secrets, May 5, 2002-

Dear future TOEFL Success Story:

Congratulations on your purchase of the most advanced test-taking manual

for the TOEFL. Notice I did not say study guide- there are plenty of decent

study guides on the market, but that was not our objective in writing this

manual. Our goal is to seek and exploit specific weaknesses in the TOEFL

assessment, and then share those secrets with our customers.

Let’s be perfectly honest here- you’ve worked hard enough in the past, and if

you want to spend hours in a study guide to boost your score, that’s a great

thing to do. In fact, we recommend at least a brief review of some of the

better study guides on the market. But that’s simply not enough to do well in

the high-pressure high-stakes environment of the test day. How well you do

on this test will have a significant impact on your future- and we have the

research and practical advice to help you execute on test day.

The product you’re reading now is much more than a study guide- it is a

tactical weapon designed to exploit weaknesses in the test itself, and help

you avoid the most common errors students make when taking the TOEFL.

How to use this manual

We don’t want to waste your time. This manual is fast-paced and fluff-free.

We suggest going through it a number of times, trying out its methods on a

number of official practice tests.

First, read through the manual completely to get a feel for the content and

organization. Read the general success strategies first, and then proceed to

the individual test sections. Each tip has been carefully selected for its

effectiveness.

Second, read through the manual again, and take notes in the margins and

highlight those sections where you may have a particular weakness (we

strongly suggest printing the manual out on a high-quality printer).

Third, go through at least one official practice test with the manual at your

side and apply the strategies. We believe three practice tests to be the

maximum benefit, the first time with all strategies except time (take as much

time as you need), the second time with all strategies and time constraints,

and a third time without the benefit of the open manual to refer to during the

test. See the appendix for the exclusive list of practice test sources we

believe to be valuable. Quick tip- there is no greater waste of time than

studying practice tests written by anyone other than TOEFL.

Finally, bring the manual with you on test day and study it before the exam

begins.

Your success is our success

We would be delighted to hear your TOEFL Success Story. Drop us a line at

toeflsecrets@toeflsecrets.com and tell us your story. Thanks for your

business and we wish you continued success-

Sincerely,

The TOEFL Secrets Team

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECRET KEY #1 – TIME IS YOUR GREATEST ENEMY. .................................................................. 1

S UCCESS S TRATEGY #1 ..............................................................................................................................2

Pace Yourself ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Scanning................................................................................................................................................ 3

SECRET KEY #2 – GUESSING IS NOT GUESSWORK........................................................................ 5

M ONKEYS T AKE THE TOEFL..................................................................................................................... 5

S UCCESS S TRATEGY #2 ..............................................................................................................................6

S PECIFIC G UESSING T ECHNIQUES ............................................................................................................... 8

Slang ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Extreme Statements............................................................................................................................... 8

Hedging................................................................................................................................................. 9

S UMMARY OF G UESSING T ECHNIQUES ....................................................................................................... 9

SECRET KEY #3 – PRACTICE SMARTER, NOT HARDER ............................................................. 10

S UCCESS S TRATEGY #3 ............................................................................................................................ 10

SECRET KEY #4 – PREPARE, DON’T PROCRASTINATE............................................................... 12

S UCCESS S TRATEGY #4 ............................................................................................................................ 14

THE LISTENING SECTION.................................................................................................................... 15

Use the Pictures .................................................................................................................................. 15

Use Multiple Inputs............................................................................................................................. 15

Main Ideas .......................................................................................................................................... 15

Voice Changes .................................................................................................................................... 16

Specifics .............................................................................................................................................. 16

Interpret .............................................................................................................................................. 17

Find the Hidden Meaning ................................................................................................................... 17

L ONGER C ONVERSATION P ROBLEM T YPES .............................................................................................. 18

Academic Conversations..................................................................................................................... 18

Class Discussions ............................................................................................................................... 18

Academic Talks ................................................................................................................................... 18

Lectures............................................................................................................................................... 18

THE STRUCTURE SECTION ................................................................................................................. 19

Parallelism.......................................................................................................................................... 19

Word Confusion .................................................................................................................................. 19

Pronoun usage .................................................................................................................................... 20

C OMMAS .................................................................................................................................................. 20

Flow .................................................................................................................................................... 20

Nonessential clauses and phrases....................................................................................................... 20

Independent clauses ............................................................................................................................ 21

Parenthetical expressions ................................................................................................................... 22

Hyphens .............................................................................................................................................. 23

S EMICOLONS ............................................................................................................................................ 23

Period replacement............................................................................................................................. 23

Transitions .......................................................................................................................................... 23

Use Your Ear ...................................................................................................................................... 24

Contextual Clues................................................................................................................................. 24

Simplicity is Bliss ................................................................................................................................ 25

THE READING SECTION....................................................................................................................... 26

S KIMMING ................................................................................................................................................ 26

P ARAGRAPH F OCUS .................................................................................................................................. 28

E LIMINATE C HOICES ................................................................................................................................2 9

C ONTEXTUAL C LUES ................................................................................................................................3 0

F ACT /O PINION .......................................................................................................................................... 30

Opposites ............................................................................................................................................ 31

Make Predictions ................................................................................................................................ 32

Answer the Question ........................................................................................................................... 32

Benchmark .......................................................................................................................................... 32

New Information ................................................................................................................................. 33

Key Words........................................................................................................................................... 33

Valid Information................................................................................................................................ 34

T IME M ANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................3 4

F INAL W ARNINGS ..................................................................................................................................... 35

Hedge Phrases Revisited..................................................................................................................... 35

Word Usage Questions ....................................................................................................................... 35

Switchback Words............................................................................................................................... 36

Avoid “Fact Traps” ............................................................................................................................ 36

THE WRITING SECTION ....................................................................................................................... 37

Brainstorm .......................................................................................................................................... 37

Strength through Diversity.................................................................................................................. 37

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