2016-10-11 TOEFL: reading inference questions

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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Homework: choose one of the six responses you recorded and take some time polishing it into the “perfect” response to that task. Record this response for Tuesday.
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Compound nouns in English might be the opposite order as in your language. You can often use an “of” phrase in English to have the same order, but the meaning might not be the same:
bottle of water = any bottle that has water in it (it can’t be empty or have something else in it)
water bottle = a bottle for water (even if it’s empty or has something else in it now)
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Reading Question Types
- vocabulary (what does a specific word or phrase mean)
- fact (what information is given in the reading)
- negative fact (what information is NOT given in the reading)
- paraphrase (a single sentence with the same meaning)
- sentence insertion (put one sentence into a paragraph in the correct place)
- reference (identify what a word like “this” or “they” means)
- inference (what is implied but not directly stated by the reading)
- purpose (why does the article say something)
- summarize (choose multiple sentences that support a summary of the article)
- categorize (choose multiple answers that fit into two or more categories)
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Today: Inference questions
Handout (Cambridge 200-207 / Cengage 64-66)
p. 200 example - We can choose A and D (B and C cannot be inferred from the information given)
1 “three” and “the other two” means now we’re finished, so there were exactly five
  “three” and “two others” means we’re not finished, so there were more than five
2 B (A and C may or may not be true, but we can’t know from just this sentence, D misunderstands what the sentence is saying)
p. 201 - Choose the correct inference(s) individually, and then check with your partner.
	Remember: some of these have TWO correct answers
3 B (if they devastated the industry, they are destructive, and if they will become gentler, then right now they are not gentle but ferocious), D (if they can interbreed with European bees in Latin America, then they are both there now)
4 A, B (“floating nest” - it’s floating on water, so the bird must be aquatic)
5 B, C
6 B (if they have to be protected from thieves, there must be something there that the thieves find valuable), D (“and other means”)
7 A, C
8 B (“unsurpassed” means no other drug (for example cocaine) is better than morphine)
  not C because we don’t know why morphine was used 5000 years ago
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p. 202 example - “Watergate” is mentioned as an example of a crime (which “paid” in the sense that lots of money moved through the economy as a result)
With your partner, underline the parts of each passage that allow you to make the given inference.
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BREAK
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p. 204 exercise R17 - Can these statements be inferred from the short passage? Why or why not?
1 Yes - we’re told the communities discover this fact, which means they weren’t told
2 Yes - His death was sad for millions of people, so he must have been known by those people.
3 No - It happened at the same time, but we can’t infer causation from this.
  (In Latin, “cum hoc ergo propter hoc” = “happens together therefore happens because” is the name of a fallacy or incorrect reasoning. Things can happen together without being caused by the other thing. In English we often make the point that correlation doesn’t imply causation.)
4 Yes - “The rest” means the remaining 9. We can also infer from this that hashed brown potatoes were not considered a fresh fruit or vegetable in this study.
5 No - We have no reason to believe it will replace other antibiotics.
6 Yes
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Remember: a true fact that isn’t implied by the reading cannot be the correct answer to an inference question
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p. 64 exercise 3.1 - Identify the ONE correct inference from each sentence.
1 B
2 C
3 C
4 C (not A because it’s the closest other than the Sun, meaning the Sun is the closest star to Earth)
5 A (all reptiles depend mainly on other senses -> no reptiles depend primarily on sight)
6 B
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DELTA textbook p. 80 question 1 - Which is the correct inference, and what parts of the passage tell you this?
B - “In classical and medieval times”
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p. 82 questions 5-8 - read the passages and answer the two questions after each
5 B
6 not A - “the family life cycle” includes the experiences connected to parenting, so people without children don’t experience it
  not B - it occurs in all cultures
  not C - changing the family life cycle from generation to generation is not mentioned
  yes D - most adults have children, so they have these experiences
7 B - the examples of aromatherapy products are all specific scents with health effects
8 B (“eases anxiety” is basically the same as reducing stress)
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p. 87 questions 1-4 - Read the passage and answer the questions
1 B
2 A - vocal chords are an example of something vibrating, but hearing doesn’t necessarily involve them (the other three are mentioned in the passage)
3 D (“the inner ear is a network of channels containing fluid” “the fluid inside the cochlea”, paragraph 4 says “also located in the inner ear”, which suggests the last thing mentioned was part of the inner ear as well)
4 A
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p. 88-89 - Take 6 minutes to answer questions 5-10.
5 C
6 A
7 D
8 B
9 D
10 C
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Homework: complete the questions after the reading “Causes of Ice Ages” that I gave you at the beginning of class (make a note of how far you get in 20 minutes)
	optional: complete the exercises we did not do on the handout, and you can check the answers tomorrow