2019-06-03 TOEFL: tests

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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6L7
1 d (c is just a downside, but the professor does start out talking about the benefits)
2 c
3 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
5 c
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Reading Practice
Delta 7 p. 192 - take 15 minutes to try to answer all 13 questions about this reading.
15 - inference - C
16 - vocabulary - B (You “set your eyes on” something when you see it for the first time.)
17 - fact - B
18 - vocabulary - A
19 - paraphrase - D (The two key parts of the original sentence are that Vinland was the first European colony and that its location is disputed.)
20 - purpose - C (This is given as evidence for “a longer stay in mind”. Staying a long time means starting a colony.)
21 - vocabulary - B
22 - fact - D
23 - fact - C (“Encouraged by an alternative interpretation of ‘vin’ as meaning ‘meadow’..., Ingstad discovered a grassy site….”)
24 - vocabulary - C (This sentence gives details of the material and construction, but not the size.)
25 - fact/inference - A (“sound evidence” = good or solid evidence; It may or may not be Vinland, but the more important conclusion from these paragraphs is that there was definively a colony there, whatever it was called.)
26 - sentence insertion - B (This makes a chronological sequence of “first”, “then”, “finally”)
27 - summary - A C F (D is not mentioned, B and E are minor details)
	A - paragraphs 1 and 3
	C - paragraphs 3 and 4
	F - paragraphs 5 and 6
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p. 188 - Do the same with the first passage.
1 - paraphrase - A
2 - fact - C
3 - fact - B
4 - fact - D
5 - vocabulary - A
6 - vocabulary - D
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BREAK
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7 - negative fact - B (The other three are mentioned in paragraph 5. Territory is mentioned in paragraph 6 as a reason for uniform dispersion.)
8 - vocabulary - B
9 - inference - A (This is an example of “competition for some resource”.)
10 - fact - C
11 - vocabulary - A
12 - purpose - A
13 - sentence insertion - D (The new sentence gives an example of a sampling technique to estimate.)
14 - summary - A B E (D just gives a minor detail about B.)
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Starting August 1, 2019, the TOEFL will be a little different:
Reading - 10 questions per passage, 54-72 minutes (18 minutes per passage average)
Listening - 3-4 lectures instead of 4-6 (still 2-3 conversations, still 5 Q/convo and 6 Q/lecture)
Speaking - 4 tasks (1 independent, 3 integrated), 17 minutes total
(Writing - same)
https://www.ets.org/toefl/better_test_experience
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For negative fact questions, you can scan for the answer choices and eliminate the ones you find, or you can scan for the topic of the question, then read that part of the text more carefully to eliminate answer choices that are mentioned there.
For number 7, clumping is discussed primarily in a single paragraph (5), so you can just skim that paragraph to eliminate the wrong answer choices. (One way to know that it’s a single paragraph is if you skim the full text before answering questions.)

Outline of this text by paragraph:
1 - population ecology (definition)
2 - population size
3 - density
4 - dispersion (first sentence of 5 - three types of dispersion)
	5 - clumped dispersion
	6 - uniform dispersion
	7 - random dispersion
8 - population changes

Another thing to remember is that the questions basically go in order, so the answer to 7 can most likely be found between the highlighted word from 6 and the highlighted word from 8.
(However, negative fact questions in particular can be about multiple paragraphs or the whole passage.A question like this will probably be near the end.)
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p. 200
41 - negative fact - B
42 - vocabulary - A (Depleted fertility leads to reduced crops. - both of these things go down)
43 - paraphrase - D
44 - inference - D
45 - fact - C
46 - fact - A
47 - vocabulary - D
48 - vocabulary - C (“However, unless the water drains properly, it collects underground and gradually raises the water table.”)
49 - fact - B
50 - vocabulary - B
51 - purpose - A (The loss of 2.5cm is due to erosion, and isn’t very much.)
52 - sentence insertion - D (“they” = salts; The next sentence describes one of the serious problems.)
53 - summary - C D F
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Homework: Respond to this indepedent writing prompt:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is better to have one or two close friends than to have a large number of casual acquaintances.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
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Reading Practice Test - DELTA 7.6
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BREAK
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Listening Practice Test
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1 D - The last sentence of paragraph 1 says, “The presence or absence of vegetation...can also influence the potential for mass wasting.”
8 A - LIke many paraphrase questions, there are two key points in the original sentence: (1) brush fires remove native vegetation, and (2) this increases the probability of mudflows
11 C - Often “race” as a verb simply means something moves very fast.