2019-10-29 TOEFL: word roots, reading inference

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Word Roots (list 6) - With your partner, try to think of one or two words to explain the meaning of each root.
re (recycle, rebound, reuse, recline) = again/back
reg (regulation, regent, regime) = rule
retro (retrograde, retroactive, retrospect) = backward (This is the same tra/tro ending we see with “extra”, “intra”, and “contra”)
rupt (disrupt, rupture) = break/burst
scend (ascend, descend, transcend) = climb
scope/skep/spec (microscope, skeptic, spectacle) = see/watch
scrib/script (transcript, scripture, inscribe) = write/draw
sect/seg (section, bisect, sector, segment) = cut/divide
semi (semicircle, semiannual) = half (This is the Latin root. The Greek root is “hemi”.)
sol (solitude, desolate) = alone
sol (solar, solarium) = Sun
soph (philosophy, sophisticated) = wisdom
struct (construct, structure) = build
sub (subterranean, submerge, substandard) = under
super (superstructure, supersonic) = over
tele (telephone, telescope, telepathy) = far
term (determine, terminate) = end/limit
terra/terri (territory, terrain) = earth/land
therm (thermometer, thermal) = heat
tract (tractor, extract, contract) = pull (or “draw”, which also sometimes means “pull”)
trans (transport, transaction, transverse) = change/cross
ultra (ultraviolet, ultrasound) = over
uni (universe, unique, unilateral) = one
vac (vacuum, vacate, evacuate, vacant) = empty
veri (verify, veracity) = true
viv/vit (vital, vivacious) = life
vol (benevolent, volunteer, volition) = will
xeno (xenophobia, xenophile) = foreign/strange
zoo (zoology, zooplankton) = animal
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ultrasonic = higher frequency than sound we can hear
supersonic = higher velocity than sound
infrasonic = lower frequency than sound we can hear
subsonic = lower velocity than sound
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a university, a unique person, a unilateral decision (because these words begin with a /y/ sound)
an umbrella, an unimportant decision, an underrated movie
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TOEFL: four sections, four hours, 120 points (30/section), $205
1 reading: 54-72 minutes, 3-4 passages, 10 questions per passage (average 18 minutes per passage)
2 listening: 40-60 minutes, 2-3 conversations (5Q each), 3-4 discussions or lectures (6Q each)
	(10-minute break)
3 speaking: 17 minutes, 4 tasks, 3m45s speaking time
4 writing: 55 minutes, 2 tasks, 20+30 minutes of writing time
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Reading Question Types:
- vocabulary
- fact
- negative fact
- reference (maybe)
- inference
- purpose
- paraphrase
- sentence insertion
- summarize
- categorize (maybe)
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Cambridge exercise R19 - Is each statement a correct inference?
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BREAK
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exercise R15 - Select all answers that are correct inferences (there may be one, two, or three).
Compare your answers with your partner. Try to convince them of your answers if you disagree.
1 C
2 B (It’s the villages that will be restored, not the plans.)
3 B (they’re destructive, at least) D
4 A B
5 B C
6 B D
7 A C
8 B (It’s “unsurpassed”, so it’s the best. Therefore, it’s better than everything else, including cocaine.)
- The answer to an inference question is a statement that must be true, if the information in the text is true.

Robert Waldow was the tallest man who ever lived.
-> Robert Waldo was taller than my dad.
	(The first sentence doesn’t mention my dad, but if he was the tallest, then he was taller than anyone else you could think of.)
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Cengage exercise 3.1 - Take 6 minutes to choose the valid inference for the first six.
1 B (The lost wax process has changed little, but we can’t infer that metalworking in general hasn’t changed.)
2 C
3 C
4 C (The closest star is the Sun.)
5 A
6 B
	Deeper roots get more lightning.
	Oaks get more lightning than beeches. (So oak roots are deeper than beech roots.)
	Pines are not as safe as beeches but safer than oaks.
		(So pine roots are deeper than beeches but not as deep as oaks.)
Now take 7 minutes for questions 9 to 15. Convince them if you disagree.
9 B
10 A
11 B (It confirms and contradicts popular notions of a swamp. It has both (cypruses/quagmires/dim waterways) and (sandy islands/prairies/clear lakes). One of those sets must confirm popular notions and the other contradicts them, because it’s things that aren’t usually associated with swamps.)
12 A
13 C
14 C (Some spiders don’t build webs from silk, but they still use silk for other purposes.)
15 A
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exercise 3.2
Take 5 minutes to answer the questions for passage 1. Then check with your partner.
1 D
2 A
3 D
4 B
5 C
Take 6 minutes to answer the questions (35-40) for passage 5. Then check with your partner.
35 C
36 D
37 B
38 B
39 A
40 C
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Homework: Answer the rest of the questions in exercise 3.2. (questions 6-34, passages 2-4)