TOEFL Reading

Sit back and relax, it's time to look at the first part of the TOEFL!

Reading. It's often one of our stronger abilities when learning a language, but when taking a test it can become the most challenging. Why? Mostly because of that dang timer; it's hard to read fast!

If you want to continue on to the second part of the test, Listening, click here.

• 1st) You have 60-80 minutes to complete the reading section. There are 3-4 readings, each taking 20 minutes.

• TIP Don't get stuck on small details like a word or sentence you don't understand, especially if you don't see the vocabulary being used in any of the questions. Focus on the big picture and stop wasting time on small details.

• 2nd) There are three kinds of questions. 1st, "multiple choice", where you choose the best answer out of 4 possible choices. 2nd, "insert a sentence", where you choose the correct sentence fragment to insert into a sentence. 3rd, "reading to learn", where you either add information to a reading passage, summarize part of the text, or organize statements in a new order.

• 3rd) The topics of the readings will be academic, and the same types of materials you encounter in university-level textbooks. For example, evolution, psychology, and art history.

• TIP Glance at the questions before reading each text. Do not spend a lot of time doing this, it should be done quickly.Looking over the questions will give you an idea of what the text is about and important vocabulary to note down as you're reading.

Want some more help? I've included the best free videos below from Magoosh, Notefull, and EngVid to help you prepare for the TOEFL reading. Take your time and watch these videos before you take the exam.