2019-04-23 TOEFL: word roots, reading strategies

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Word Roots (list 3) - With your partner, try to think of one or two words to explain the meaning of each root.
ego (egocentric, egotistical, egomania) = self/I
endo (endotherm, endocrine) = in/inside
epi (epiphyte, epidermis, epidemic) = on/upon
equi (equidistant, equation) = same (quantity)
erg (ergonomic, energy) = work
esth/aesth (anesthetic, kinesthesia) = feeling/perception (Many words that begin with this root have to do more specifically with beauty.)
eu (eulogy, euphemism, euphoria) = good/well (The opposite prefix is “dys”.)
ex/ect (ex-husband, exit, excavate, ectotherm) = out/outside
extra (extraordinary, extrovert, extraterrestrial) = outward/beyond (“tra” was originally a comparative)
fac/fact (artifact, factory) = make/produce
fer (transfer, ferry) = carry
flect/flex (deflect, reflection, flexible) = bend
fore (foreground, forecast) = front/before (This root is related to “first”, “front”, “pre”, “prime”.)
fract/frag (fracture, fragment) = break
fug (refugee, fugitive) = flee/escape
funct (function, defunct) = work/perform
gen (generation, generate, genealogy) = make/birth/create (birth -> family -> kind/type)
geo (geography, geology, geocentric) = Earth
graph (autograph, graphite, seismograph) = draw/write, more generally communicate
grat (gratify, gratuity, grateful) = please (the verb)
helio (heliocentric, heliograph, helium) = Sun
hemo (hemophilia, hemorrhage, hemoglobin) = blood
hetero (heterogeneous, heteronym) = different
homo (homogeneous, homonym) = same (not quantity)
hydro (hydrate, hydraulic, hydrophobia) = water/fluid
hyper (hyperextend, hyperactive, hypertension) = over
hypo (hypodermic, hypothermia, hypotension) = under
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TOEFL Test: 4 sections, 4 hours, 120 points total (30/section), $205
1 reading: 60 or 80 minutes, 3 or 4 passages, about 14 questions per passage (15 points per passage)
2 listening: 60-90, 2 or 3 sets (each set = 3 listenings + 17 questions + 10 minutes to answer questions)
	(10-minute break)
3 speaking: 20 minutes, 6 tasks, 5.5 minutes of total speaking time
4 writing: 55 minutes, 2 tasks, 20+30 minutes of writing time
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Reading Question Types:
- factual
- negative factual
- vocabulary
- inference
- reference
- purpose/method
- paraphrase/sentence restatement (identify the essential information from one particular sentence)
- sentence insertion
- summary (identify the most important ideas from the entire passage)
- organization
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BREAK
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Reading time management
- When you first see a passage, you should briefly skim the passage to catch the topic and the main ideas.
	Minerals and plants
	- plants require minerals, they get them from the soil
	- not enough minerals causes symptoms
		- research is done hydroponically (without soil)
	- too much minerals also causes problems
	- some plants collect much more minerals than others
		- these can be used to clean soil
- Start answering questions. Scan for key words and focus on the relevant sentence(s) first.
	- Eliminate incorrect answers (especially if you can’t immediately identify the correct one)
	- If you can’t identify the correct answer within about 1 minute, guess and move on.
		(Write the number of guessed questions in your notes, so you can check later.)
- When you finish (at 1 min/question) you should have at least 10 minutes remaining to go back and look at the ones you skipped or guessed from all three passages. (Or you can do this for 3 minutes per passage.)
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http://www.wordandphrase.info/frequencyList.asp - Type a word to find its frequency rank. (It’s a rank, so lower numbers mean higher frequency.) You should definitely try to learn words in the top 5000.
(At http://www.wordandphrase.info/analyzeText.asp you can type a list of words, hit “search”, and then click on each word in the window to the right to see its rank)
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ETS 1 test 2 - Look through the reading questions as a group and discuss strategies to answer each one.