Learn about the TOEFL Reading Comprehension

TOEFL Reading Comprehension

The reading comprehension section contains two texts, ten multiple-choice questions each, and is 35 minutes long. 

There are several key points to know about the Reading Comprehension section of the TOEFL:

1. Don’t read the article before starting to answer questions. The questions are local and follow the order of the text. They do not require that you make complicated connections between paragraphs that are far apart from one another. For the most part, they test your comprehension of no more than one or two sentences.

2. Don’t sacrifice easy questions for hard ones. This test is not adaptive. This means that, except for the last question for each text, the other 9 questions are of the same value. A question that seems harder is not worth more points. Only the summary question at the end of each set is worth double credit.

3. Don’t leave any questions unanswered. There is no penalty for a wrong answer. The scaled score out of 30 is determined by a tally of your correct answers relative to other test takers’ performance. 

4. Always come up with our own answer first. The wrong answers are there to confuse you, so don’t put that misinformation into your head and then afterward try to understand the text. 

5. Don’t steal time from the second text to complete the first. If you work past the 17.5 minutes allotted for the first text, you’re likely to be unable to finish the second text, so better to cut your losses and move on when you hit the 17.5-minute mark.

So how should you approach the Reading Comprehension section? Follow these simple steps:

  1. Read the first question (and not the answers).

  2. Start reading the text until you find the information pertaining to the question.

  3. Paraphrase that information to yourself.

  4. Select the answer that most closely matches what you told yourself.

  5. Read the next question.

  6. Continue reading the text from where you left off until you find the information pertaining to the question. (By the time you’ve reached the last question, you should have read the entire text, paying special attention the opening of each paragraph.)

  7. Rinse, wash, and repeat

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