2017-04-25 TOEFL: word roots, reading fact

Greg Malivuk
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Word roots list 2 - With your partner, try to explain each root in one or two words of your own.
cert = sure
chrom = color
chron = time
circum = around
claim/clam = shout
clar = clear
cline = lean
co/col/com/con/cor = together
	co - before vowels and in new words
	con - before most consonants
col - before L
	com - before M, P, and B
	cor - before R
cogni = know
contra = against
corp = body
cred = believe
crypto = hidden/secret
de = down
dem = people
di = two (related to “dis” = apart)
dict = say
domin = rule/master
don = give
duce/duct = lead
dyna = power/energy/force
dys = wrong or bad (opposite of the root “eu”)
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http://www.wordandphrase.info/analyzeText.asp - Lots of information about words, including how common they are and what genres use them.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/ - Check the frequency of words and phrases in books, throughout history.
http://corpus.byu.edu/ - A bit more technical to use, but you can check things like online news and a couple of other languages as well.
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TOEFL scores are out of 120 points
30 points each for reading, listening, speaking, and writing
reading section: 3 or 4 passages, 20 minutes to answer ~15 questions about each one
listening section: 2 or 3 sets (of 3 listenings each), about 18 questions per set
	(10-minute break during the test)
speaking section: six tasks, two independent and four integrated, 20 minutes total, 5.5 minutes of recorded speaking
writing section: two tasks, one integrated (20 minutes) and one independent (30 minutes)
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BREAK
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Reading question types:
- purpose
- fact
- negative fact
- paraphrase
- vocabulary
- inference
- reference
- sentence insertion
- summary
- organize/categorize
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Handout (Cambridge) 181 - Read the passages and decide if the following statements are true or false.
Compare your answers in a group. Point to the text to convince them if you disagree.
1 A T
  B F (it was rejected twice and then accepted the third time)
  C T (“military risks” are a security threat)
  D T
  E F (“bore” can mean to make a hole in something)
  F F (There was no construction in 1930. The proposal was rejected because of cost, risks, and doubt.)
  G F
  H T (It was rejected partly because of the estimated cost, so the cost was too much. The cost prohibited construction.)
2 A T
  B F (The animal was probably that size, but the fossils are smaller.)
  C F (The animal lived on land.)
  D T
  E T
  F F (Whales can recognize the source because the bones are separated. Also, the eardrums are vestigial according to the text, not the entire middle ear.)
  G T
  H T (“The separation of those bones in marine whales” implies that whales living in the sea have separated bones.)
p. 182 - Do the same with these two passages.
3 A T
  B F
  C F (The potato in Bolivia releases a glue from its hairs, not a scent.)
  D T
  E T (“Cross” in the context of breeding means one was bred with the other, so it doesn’t matter which order we say them in.)
  F F (It only had that effect on the population of aphids, not all insects.)
  G T
  H T (“Unfortunately, the hairs also trap beneficial insects.”)
4 A F (Other violins can’t match the Stradivarius, which means other violins sound worse.)
  B T
  C T
  D F
  E F (They believe the quality comes in part from the varnish, but not from the color of the varnish.)
  F T
  G F
  H T
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If something is unequaled, unmatched, unrivaled, without peer, or similar expressions, it means it’s better than all the others.
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Handout p. 51 (Longman) - Take 3 minutes to read your passage. Then take 1 minute to summarize it to your partners. Finally, take 5 minutes to skim the other passages just for the details you need to answer these questions. (You shouldn’t need to read the whole passage because your partner already summarized it for you.)
1 D (Even if you don’t know “crescent”, the others can’t be correct based on the length and width given in the first paragraph.)
2 A (It’s the ninth largest, which means there are 8 larger lakes.)
3 D (“It holds one-fifth of the world’s total fresh water.” ⅕ = 20%)
4 C
5 B
6 C
7 A (“in advance” means before)
8 D (14 g or less; 3 US nickels or 6 US pennies weigh 15 g)
9 B
10 C
11 A
12 D
13 C
14 B
15 D
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Homework: handout p. 30-33 - Find and underline the information in each passage that you need to answer these questions.