Peterson 39 s Master TOEFL reading Skills PDF

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Peterson’s MASTER TOEFL READING SKILLS About Peterson’s Peterson’s (www.petersons.com) is a leading provider of education information and advice, with books and online resources focusing on education search, test preparation, and financial aid. Its Web site offers searchable databases and interactiv...

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Peterson’s

MASTER TOEFL READING SKILLS

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About Peterson’s Peterson’s (www.petersons.com) is a leading provider of education information and advice, with books and online resources focusing on education search, test preparation, and financial aid. Its Web site offers searchable databases and interactive tools for contacting educational institutions, online practice tests and instruction, and planning tools for securing financial aid. Peterson’s serves 110 million education consumers annually.

For more information, contact Peterson’s, 2000 Lenox Drive, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648; 800-338-3282; or find us on the World Wide Web at www.petersons.com/about. © 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 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or information storage and retrieval systems—without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this text or product, submit a request online at www.petersons.com/permissions. ISBN-13: 978-0-7689-2327-8 ISBN-10: 0-7689-2327-1 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 06 05 04

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Petersons.com/publishing Check out our Web site at www.petersons.com/publishing to see if there is any new information regarding the test and any revisions or corrections to the content of this book. We’ve made sure the information in this book is accurate and up-to-date; however, the test format or content may have changed since the time of publication.

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OTHER TITLES IN SERIES: Peterson’s Master TOEFL Vocabulary Peterson’s Master TOEFL Writing Skills

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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 ○

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Contents ○

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PART IV TWO PRACTICE TESTS Practice Test 2 ..................................................................................... 109 Practice Test 3 ..................................................................................... 123

PART V APPENDIXES APPENDIX A: A Helpful Word List ....................................................... 137 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:

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Top 10 Strategies to Raise Your Score gives you test-taking strategies.

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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.

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Part III includes three additional practice reading tests. They will show you how well you have mastered the reading skills presented in this book.

Part I provides a “mini” diagnostic test to determine your strengths and weaknesses.

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 ○

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Tip Tips draw your attention to valuable concepts, advice, and shortcuts for tackling the reading passages.

Summing it up The review chapter ends with a point-by-point summary that captures the most important concepts. They are a convenient way to review the chapter's key points.

Practice tests The three practice tests, including the diagnostic test, are designed to help you prepare with little anxiety.

YOU’RE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS Remember that knowledge is power. By using Peterson's Master TOEFL Reading Skills as a supplement to your other TOEFL test preparation, you will fine tune your reading comprehension skills.

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK Peterson's publishes a full line of resources to help guide you and your family through the college admission process. We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about this publication and invite you to complete our online survey at http://www.petersons.com/booksurvey. Or 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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Your feedback will help us to provide personalized solutions for your educational advancement.

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Publishing Department Peterson's 2000 Lenox Drive Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

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Before You Begin ○

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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.

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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.

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Scan passages to find and highlight the important facts and information.

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Read each passage at a comfortable speed.

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Answer the questions, referring to the passage when necessary.

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Eliminate answers that are clearly wrong or do not answer the question. If more than one option remains, guess.

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Mark difficult or time-consuming answers so that you can come back to them later if you have time.

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Timing is an important factor. Don’t spend more than 10 minutes on any one passage and the questions about it.

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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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PART I ○

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TOEFL READING BASICS

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CHAPTER 1

01_TOEFL Reading Ch 1,1-14

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All About TOEFL Reading

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01_TOEFL Reading Ch 1,1-14

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All About TOEFL Reading ○

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• What does the reading section contain and how long does it last? • To read ...