TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Muhammad Kasfi, 14116972, 4KA17

Suggested Approach with Samples

1. Be sure to answer questions based on what is stated or implied in the passage, even if it is a subject that you know a great deal about.
2. Skim the questions frst, noting words that give you clues about what to look for when you read the passage. Do not spend more than a few seconds doing this. Skim the passage, reading only the first sentence of each paragraph. Read the passage, noting main points, important conclusions, names, definitions, places, and numbers.
3. For vocabulary questions, remember that you are looking for the word that means most nearly the same as the underlined word as it is used in the reading passage. Some words may have several definetions, but only one will ft the meaning as it is used in the passage.
4. Read the sentences near the sentence containing the vocabulary word to find contextual clues to help you understand the meaning of the word.
5. Learn prefixes, suffixes, and roots, and use them for clues on vocabulary questions. The answer choices will generally be the same part of speech as the word tested, but it is still beneficial to know whether it is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb.

 

Examples of TOEFL Reading Comprehension

Practice Passage :

The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest and northernmost state in the United States ending at a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to operate. (line 5)

The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily.

Resting on H-shaped steel racks called “bents”, long section of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the surface later on. (line 15)

The pattern of the pipeline’s up-and-down route is determined by the often harsh demands of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or permafrost (permanently frozen ground). (Line 23)

A little more than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground. The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon the type of terrain and the properties of the soil.

One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive construction project ever undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so 8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. (line 31)

Each company controlled oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline-construction fund according to the size of its holdings. (line 35)

 Today, despite enormous problems of climate, supply shortages, equipment breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating.

      Practice Question :

1. The passage primarily discusses the pipeline’s…? Answer, Construction.
2. The word “it” in line 5 refers to? Answer, Pipeline.
3. According to the passage, 84 million gallons of oil can travel through the pipeline each…? Answer Day.
4. The phrase “resting on” in the third paragraph in line 15 closest in meaning to? Answer, Supported By.
5. The author mentions all of the following as important in determining the pipeline’s route EXCEPT the? Answer, Local Vegetation.
6. The The word “undertaken” in line 31 is closest in meaning to? Answer, Attempted.
7. How many companies shared the costs of construction the pipeline? Answer, Eight.
8. The word “particular” in line 35 is closest in meaning to. Answer, Spesific.
9. Which of the following determined what percentage of the construction cost each member of the consortium would pay? Answer, How much oil field land each company owned.
10. The Where in the passage does the author provide a term an earth covering that always remains frozen? Answer, Line 23.