Table Of ContentPeterson’s
M
ASTER
TOEFL
R
EADING
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KILLS
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About Peterson’s
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© 2007 Peterson’s, a Nelnet company
Portions of this book were previously published as Reading and Vocabulary Workbook for the TOEFL® Exam
Editor: Wallie Hammond; Production Editor: Bernadette Webster; Manufacturing Manager: Ivona Skibicki
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ISBN-13: 978-0-7689-2327-8
ISBN-10: 0-7689-2327-1
Printed in the United States of America
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Petersons.com/publishing
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OTHER TITLES IN SERIES:
Peterson’s Master TOEFL Vocabulary
Peterson’s Master TOEFL Writing Skills
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Contents
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Before You Begin.................................................................................. vii
How This Book Is Organized................................................................... vii
Special Study Features............................................................................ vii
You’re Well on Your Way to Success....................................................... viii
Give Us Your Feedback........................................................................... viii
Top 10 Strategies to Raise Your Score.......................................................ix
PART I TOEFL READING BASICS
Chapter 1: All About TOEFL Reading....................................................3
What Does the Reading Section Contain and How Long Does It Last?.....3
To Read or Not To Read ..............................................................................4
Summing It Up..........................................................................................14
PART II DIAGNOSING STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Chapter 2: Practice Test 1: Diagnostic ...............................................19
PART III TOEFL READING REVIEW
Chapter 3: Developing Reading Comprehension Skills...................33
Finding Main Ideas and Supporting Details...........................................33
Skimming for Specific Information..........................................................37
Making Inferences ....................................................................................39
Understanding Advertisements ...............................................................45
How Thoughts Are Related.......................................................................54
Understanding Contemporary Reading Passages...................................67
Reading History Textbooks.......................................................................79
Summing It Up........................................................................................103
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vi Contents
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○ PART IV TWO PRACTICE TESTS
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Practice Test 2.....................................................................................109
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Practice Test 3.....................................................................................123
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PART V APPENDIXES
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○ APPENDIX A: A Helpful Word List.......................................................137
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○ APPENDIX B: Applying to Colleges and Universities in the U.S. ..... 177
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Before You Begin
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HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED
If you are preparing for any version of the TOEFL, you are not alone. Almost a
million people all over the world took the TOEFL last year. A high score on this
test is an essential step in being admitted to graduate or undergraduate
programs at almost all colleges and universities in North America. But
preparing for this test can be a difficult, often frustrating experience.
Peterson's Master TOEFL Reading Skills, used as a self-tutor, will help you
improve your reading skills. You’ll find:
• Top 10 Strategies to Raise Your Score gives you test-taking strategies.
• Part I provides a “mini” diagnostic test to determine your strengths and
weaknesses.
• Part II provides the basic reading comprehension review. The reading
passages progress from relatively simple to relatively difficult as you
continue through the book. Various skills, such as finding the main idea and
supporting details, are reviewed.
• Part III includes three additional practice reading tests. They will show
you how well you have mastered the reading skills presented in this book.
SPECIAL STUDY FEATURES
Peterson's Master TOEFL Reading Skills is designed to be user-friendly. To this
end, it includes features to make your preparation much more efficient.
Overview
The reading review chapter begins with a bulleted overview, listing the topics to
be covered in the chapter. This will allow you to quickly target the areas in which
you are most interested.
Note
Notes highlight critical information about improving your reading skills.
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viii Before You Begin
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○ Tip
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○ Tips draw your attention to valuable concepts, advice, and shortcuts for tackling the
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reading passages.
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○ Summing it up
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The review chapter ends with a point-by-point summary that captures the most
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○ important concepts. They are a convenient way to review the chapter's key points.
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○ Practice tests
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○ The three practice tests, including the diagnostic test, are designed to help you prepare
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○ with little anxiety.
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YOU’RE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS
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○ Remember that knowledge is power. By using Peterson's Master TOEFL Reading Skills
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○ as a supplement to your other TOEFL test preparation, you will fine tune your reading
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comprehension skills.
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○ GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK
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Peterson's publishes a full line of resources to help guide you and your family through
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○ the college admission process.
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We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about this publication and
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○ invite you to complete our online survey at http://www.petersons.com/booksurvey. Or
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○ you can fill out the survey at the back of this book, tear it out, and mail it to us at:
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○ Publishing Department
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○ Peterson's
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○ 2000 Lenox Drive
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Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
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○ Your feedback will help us to provide personalized solutions for your educational
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advancement.
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Before You Begin ix
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Top 10 Strategies
to Raise Your Score
1. As with other sections of the TOEFL, be familiar with the directions and
examples so you can begin work immediately.
2. For each passage, begin by briefly looking over the questions (but not the
answer choices). Try to keep these questions in mind during your reading.
3. Scan passages to find and highlight the important facts and information.
4. Read each passage at a comfortable speed.
5. Answer the questions, referring to the passage when necessary.
6. Eliminate answers that are clearly wrong or do not answer the question. If
more than one option remains, guess.
7. Mark difficult or time-consuming answers so that you can come back to them
later if you have time.
8. Timing is an important factor. Don’t spend more than 10 minutes on any one
passage and the questions about it.
9. Concentration is another important factor. The reading section is one of the
longer sections of the test. Your practice and hard work will help you.
10. Relax the night before the exam.
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