TOEFL IBT READING SECTION

Completing summaries and charts

Prof. Stephan Hughes

TIPS ON COMPLETING SUMMARIESFind hints about the overall structure of the text

Prof. Stephan Hughes

TIPS ON COMPLETING SUMMARIES•Look for key words that signal an outline, e.g. there are three main theories about ...

Prof. Stephan Hughes

TIPS ON COMPLETING SUMMARIES•Some other signal words: the first, the next, the third ...

Prof. Stephan Hughes

TIPS ON COMPLETING SUMMARIES•Look at the first sentence or two of each paragraph

Prof. Stephan Hughes

ELIMINATE ANSWER CHOICES•that are just details•that are irrelevant•that present information inaccurately•that don’t appear in the passage

Prof. Stephan Hughes

Prof. Stephan Hughes

•A paragraph has more than one main idea?

Prof. Stephan Hughes

•The passage does not a clear-cut outline indicated by the signal words e.g. “the first ...”, “the next ...” “the third ...”?

Prof. Stephan Hughes

•There are more paragraphs than answer choices?

Prof. Stephan Hughes

Prof. Stephan Hughes

Complete the chart

questions

IMPORTANT TIPS•Familiarize yourself with the categories and concepts and differences between them

Prof. Stephan Hughes

IMPORTANT TIPS•Locate the answer choices one by one

Prof. Stephan Hughes

DON’T FORGET THAT•The choices might be scattered all over the paragraphs•The information in the answer choices will not be word for word as the text provided in the passage•Use key words from the choices to help you find the answers

Prof. Stephan Hughes

Prof. Stephan Hughes

Tell us about your reading habits:Mention the problems or

challenges you face when you have to read in English, how often you do it, and the importance of

reading in your life.