2016-12-02 TOEFL: ind writing, reading paraphrase

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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http://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-airplane-riddle-judd-a-schorr
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Which essay from yesterday was easier for you? What made it easier?
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You can start with all your transitions before you start to write any of the details:


Some people believe
Others think
In my opinion
I have three reasons for this.


The first reason is
For example


The second reason is
For example


Last but not least,
For example,


In conclusion, because of - - - I believe.
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Individually, take a few minutes to skim the three example responses from yesterday. What’s good about each one? What isn’t so good? How is the organization?
Then compare your ideas with your partner. Did you notice the same things? If you noticed problems, did your own response have the same problems?
Also look at p. 419 and decide what score each one would probably receive.
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Essay 1 - level 3 response
- What is the thesis statement? “I agree with the statement that is better to learn things from a co-worker or a fellow-student.”
- The first supporting paragraph should start with a transition like, “The first reason for my opinion is that students in general…”
- The main problem is that the two reasons are really the same: People at your level might have recently been in the same situation that you’re in.
- The “more comfortable” reason should more clearly have its own supporting paragraph that *doesn’t* talk about recently having the same experience.
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Essay 2 - level 2 response
- “I disagree with the statement that people learn…” or “I disagree with the following statement: People learn…”
- The rest of the first paragraph starts to give supporting information, so it should be made into its own supporting paragraph. (This means there is no real introductory paragraph.)
- The main reason given is that people at higher levels have more experience, knowledge, and qualifications.
- Grammar and spelling are generally quite good.
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Essay 3 - level 2 response
- You don’t need to repeat the prompt, but it should be clear from your introduction what question you’re answering.
- Thesis statement and lead-in are good and pefectly clear. (However, the thesis does simply repeat the prompt, and should probably be a paraphrase instead.)
- Grammar mistakes and word choices sometimes interfere with the meaning.
- Use of transitions is very good.
- The main problem is that this essay was not completed.
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http://www.americanexamservices.com/about-the-toefl/toefl-scores-usa-universities - TOEFL scores required by various US universities
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There are many websites designed to help you improve your typing speed, but basically they all come down to practice. You can try to type out TOEFL reading passages to improve your speed and accuracy, as well as remind yourself of the kind of language and organization common in academic English writing. You could also type example five-paragraph essays that you find online, to familiarize yourself with that format in particular.
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BREAK
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Reading section: beginning of the test, 3 or 4 passages, 20 minutes each, usually 13-14 questions per passage
Reading question types:
- inference
- reference
- fact
- negative fact
- purpose
- sentence insertion
- vocabulary
- categorize
- summarize
- paraphrase
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Paraphrase questions: “Choose which sentence best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph __. (Incorrect answer choices omit important information or change the meaning of the original sentence in an important way.)”
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Handout (Cengage) p. 102 - Read the sample paragraph and answer the following paraphrase question.
A - no, because it omits important information from the original sentence (incomplete)
B - yes, because it rearranges the information from the original sentence in a way that includes all the essential information and doesn’t change anything (predators, parasites, and competitors are examples of the environmental dangers invasive species leave behind)
C - no, because it’s not mentioned in the original sentence
D - no, because it contradicts the original sentence
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p. 103-104 - With your partners, decide if each restatement is Correct, Incomplete, or inaccurate (X).
1 I (It doesn’t include the important information that today there are no reptiles capable of flight.)
2 C
3 X (The sentence is about the town of Muncie, not the town of Middleton. Middleton is the name of the 1923 study.)
4 X (It’s opposite of what the sentence says.)
5 C
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I like ham and I like pineapple, but I don’t like ham and pineapple on pizza.
I don’t like ham and I don’t like pineapple. In other words, I don’t like ham or pineapple.


not (A and B) = (not A) or (not B) or (not A and B together)
not (A or B) = (not A) and (not B)
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6 X
7 C
8 I (it doesn’t mention checkers)
9 X (The sentence doesn’t claim it became popular because of Handel. Also, we can infer that Handel wrote his music before the mid-nineteenth century.)
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p. 187 (Cambridge) - Identify which sentence from each paragraph is paraphrased by the sentence that follows.
1 Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is the only place in the solar system -- outside of Earth -- where enormous quantities of water are known to exist.
  (“the only place in the solar system” = “unequaled in the solar system”, “outside of Earth” = “with one exception”, “enormous quantities of water” = “vast oceans”)
2 A single discharge can actually contain twenty or more successive strokes, occurring too fast for the eye to separate.
3 At that point, leaping out of the water actually requires less energy than swimming.
4 During the flare-up, strong winjds blowing off the surface of the star disperse the surrounding dust and expose the newborn star to observers on Earth.
5 Perhaps the greatest navigators in history were the Vikings.
6 Today, dolphins do such dangerous and necessary work as locating explosives hidden in the sea and helping ships navigate safely in war zones.
  (“mines” = “explosives hidden in the sea”)
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Homework: p. 28-30 in the handout (Longman)
	optional: complete exercises 10-16 on p. 105