viii Before You Begin
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Tip
Tips draw your attention to valuable concepts, advice, and shortcuts for tackling the
reading passages.
Summing it up
The review chapter ends with a point-by-point summary that captures the most
important concepts. They are a convenient way to review the chapter's key points.
Practice tests
The three practice tests, including the diagnostic test, are designed to help you prepare
with little anxiety.
YOU’RE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS
Remember that knowledge is power. By using Peterson's Master TOEFL Reading Skills
as a supplement to your other TOEFL test preparation, you will fine tune your reading
comprehension skills.
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00_TOEFL Reading FM,i-x 7/29/06, 11:478
Before You Begin ix
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Top 10 Strategies

• What does the reading section contain and how long does
it last?
• To read or not to read
• Summing it up
WHAT DOES THE READING SECTION CONTAIN AND
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
The Reading section contains passages on a variety of subjects. Following each
passage are several questions about the passage. You will answer from 36 to 70
questions in this section, and you will have 60 to 100 minutes to read the
passages and answer the questions. Before you begin this section, you will be
shown how to answer the questions with the computer screen and mouse.
The reading passages are similar to the ones you will probably read and study
in North American universities and colleges. There are three important differ-
ences between the Reading section and the other sections of the exam:
• The Reading section is not computer adaptive. When you answer question
number 1, the computer does not select a more difficult (or less difficult)
question for number 2.
• In the Reading section, you are allowed to return to questions you have
already answered and can change your answers. You are also permitted to
skip a question and return to it later, which you can’t do in the other sections
of the exam.
• You will see the Reading passage and the question on the monitor screen at
the same time. The Reading passage will appear on the left side of your
screen, and the questions will appear on the right side of the screen.
01_TOEFL Reading Ch 1,1-14 7/29/06, 11:473
4PART I: TOEFL Reading Basics
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TO READ OR NOT TO READ
You will not be scored on whether you read the entire passage. You will be scored on
whether you answer the question correctly. It is not only probable that you can answer

songs was included in the Broadway musical The Passing Show of 1916.
George became friends to many prominent Broadway composers. He particularly
admired the music of Irving Berlin whom Gershwin called “America’s Franz
Schubert.” Jerome Kern, another Broadway composer, demonstrated to George
how popular music was inferior to material in Broadway shows. In 1919, enter-
tainer Al Jolson performed Gershwin’s song Swanee in the musical Sinbad. The
song became a hit, and Gershwin became an overnight celebrity when his
song sold more than 2 million recordings and a million copies of sheet
music.
(5)
(10)
(15)
(20)
(25)
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