TOEFL Reading Topics outline a list of topics important for the TOEFL exam. Candidates need to prepare for those topics to get a better TOEFL exam score. TOEFL reading section is designed for the purpose of assessing candidates’ ability in understanding the passages. TOEFL topics reading passages are taken from various academic subjects like Humanities, Social Science, Science etc. Candidates need to be experts in all those independent reading TOEFL topics to answer the questions. It is important for the candidates to attain mastery in the TOEFL reading section to pursue higher education abroad.
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Overview of TOEFL Reading Section
TOEFL IBT reading section comprises nearly 3-4 sections of reading passages. Each passage is approximately 700 words. There are 10 sets of MCQ in each of the passages. The time slot for this TOEFL topics reading section is 54 minutes for 3 passages and 72 minutes for 4 passages. The candidates need to read all the passages within this allotted time limit.
New Format of TOEFL Reading Section
Conducting body of TOEFL, ETS has updated the exam pattern of TOEFL this year.
Previously each TOEFL topic reading passage included 10 -12 questions. In 2023, each passage of TOEFL reading topics consists of 9 -10 questions. The TOEFL reading section will hold three reading passages. In case, the question states the fourth passage, it will get upgraded. The 10th question of the TOEFL topics reading question will be “Fill in the table”. The conducting body has not noted any modifications in the length of the TOEFL reading topics passages.
Things to Read for TOEFL Reading Topics
There are a variety of TOEFL reading topics represented in the passages. The emergence of the internet has led candidates to easily get business, environment, science, economy and daily life-related topics. Each of these online TOEFL reading topics will present an overview of questions that are important for the TOEFL exam.
Ways for Practicing TOEFL Reading Topics
The candidates must do an active reading for nearly 20 minutes on a daily basis to get better TOEFL reading scores. The candidates must collect good reading pieces from articles, news, stories and books. The candidates must practice reading questions from those reading pieces. The candidates need to devote 1 minute 25 seconds to each question of the TOEFL reading section. Vocabulary is important for all sections of TOEFL. The candidates must focus on learning academic word lists to increase their vocabulary. The candidates need to read the whole sentence attentively to understand its meaning.
Practice for Reading TOEFL Books
The best way to improve the TOEFL score is to go through TOEFL books. There are several TOEFL preparation books that present effective study materials for the aspirants to practice. A book like “Official TOEFL IBT Tests” consists of nearly 15 official TOEFL Reading passages. The candidates can practice those passages from the book to strengthen their understanding and analyzing skills. Other books are “The Official Guide to the TOEFL” and “The Propell Workshop Teacher’s Book”. There are other TOEFL topics reading practice test papers like “The free practice test on ETS.org” and “The TOEFL PDF sets on ETS.org”. The candidates can go through the passages from these books and practice papers to enhance their reading skills.
Non-TOEFL Articles Reading Practice
The TOEFL topics reading section mainly examines the candidates' efficiency with the English language. Candidates possessing experience in reading academic English passages in the past will perform well in the TOEFL exam. Therefore, practicing TOEFL reading topics is as important as building agility in academic English. The candidates intending to get more than 90 TOEFL scores must practice more challenging study material. More practice will increase the speed and accuracy level of the candidates. It will enhance the basic understanding of the candidates. The practice of challenging TOEFL reading topics will enable the candidates to infer the author’s viewpoint in the passage with ease.
List of TOEFL Reading Topics
The best practice that candidates need to do is to read a variety of articles on various subjects. These passages are written not for any specialists in particular fields but for the general educated public. The passages of TOEFL reading topics are designed for candidates not having any knowledge about the subject. These TOEFL topics reading passages are based on broad concepts. The candidates need to understand the concept to grasp the subject matter of the passage. The candidates do not have to illustrate or know any specialized academic knowledge to attain the test. The candidates analyzing a passage from physics need not have to learn the subject and solve a problem. The candidates need to explain the ideas and concepts demonstrated in that passage. The conducting body of TOEFL, ETS offers the candidates every sort of detail. These details will help the candidates to answer the questions of the reading passage. The conducting body thus makes this TOEFL reading section an easier one for the candidates. Here, presenting a list of the independent reading TOEFL topics that are most common in the TOEFL reading questions. It is also recommended to the candidates for practicing other TOEFL reading topics too.
| Science | Humanities | Profession oriented | Social Science |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | History | Marketing | Psychology |
| Astronomy | Art | Public Relations | Sociology |
| Chemistry | Art History | Architecture | Anthropology |
| Biology | Music | Communication | Political Science |
| Geology | Literature | Technology | Economics |
| Meteorology | Philosophy | - | - |
| Medicine | North American Art | - | - |
| Anatomy | World History | - | - |
| American Literature | - | - | - |
| American History | - | - | - |
TOEFL Reading Topics Question: Types and Strategies
The TOEFL reading topics question types test the understanding and reading abilities of the candidates. It is important for the aspirants to learn about the patterns of questions to solve them effectively. The TOEFL reading passage consists of 10 different types of questions. These are as follows:
- Factual Information
This question type is the most important form of the TOEFL Reading section. This question type asks the candidates to recognise the true points or facts described in the passage.
- Negative Factual Information
This question type is just the opposite of the factual question type. To solve this question, the candidates need to identify the false facts about the passage. This question type may also ask the candidate to recognise the facts not stated in the passage.
- Inference
This question type asks the candidates to determine the strong argument depicted in the passage.
- Reference
Reference questions require the candidate to recognise the relationship between two different words by comprehending the passage.
- Rhetorical Purpose
In this question type, the candidates need to determine the effect that the author of the passage tries to express to the reader.
- Reading Vocabulary
Vocabulary in the TOEFL reading section questions the candidates to describe a word. The candidates must understand the meaning of the term by analyzing the passage.
- Paraphrasing
This question type asks the candidates to select the option depicting the meaning of the highlighted sentence of the passage.
- Insert Text
Insert text question asks the candidates to select the logical and grammatically correct site in the passage to insert a statement.
- Summary
Here, the candidates have to select the options that define the content of the passage perfectly.
- Fill in the Table
The question type asks the candidates to fill in the blank by analyzing the detailed information cited in the passage.
TOEFL Topics Reading Practice Resources
There are several free TOEFL topics reading practice tests available online. The candidates can go through those tests to improve their reading and interpreting skills. The TOEFL Practice paper is a sort of collection of practice tests for the candidates. There are also TOEFL reading topics practice sets on the official website of ETS. The candidates can gain an idea of the difficulty level of the question type from the website.
Time-Management Tips for TOEFL Reading Topics
The candidates must create a plan of action before attaining the TOEFL exam. The TOEFL reading section needs a systematic strategy to manage the time of the exam. This will enable the candidates to give answers to every question swiftly within the allotted time. The candidates must focus on certain tips to answer the TOEFL reading topics question timely:
- Candidates must not read the entire passage.
- Instead, they should go through the first line of the paragraphs of the passage.
- Candidates must look over the questions section.
- Candidates must respond to the question first that can be answered without reading the passage. These questions are vocabulary or definition-related questions.
- Candidates then can go through the other detailed questions.
- Candidates must predict the paragraph holding the specific answer by remembering the first lines of each paragraph.
- Candidates must read that paragraph to get the answer.
Certain strategies the candidates can follow if they are unable to figure out the answer:
- Candidates must go to the next question rather than spending much time on one question.
- Candidate must focus to answer the other questions that are easier.
- Difficult question needs to be focused on at the end.
- Candidates must attempt to sort all the questions appropriately.
- To solve it easily, the candidates can look for references from the reading passage.
Furthermore, there are many videos and PDFs of TOEFL reading topics strategies available over the internet to assist the aspirants in creating their study plans.
Hence, candidates must focus on improving their English reading and analyzing skills in order to get better scores in the TOEFL Reading section. The list of independent reading TOEFL topics can help the candidates to plan accordingly. It has been analyzed that speed and time management skills are important for performance enhancement purposes. The candidates will be able to take good preparation by taking a glance at question patterns and types. The aspirants can follow the practice sets or books to improve their vocab.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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