TOEFL Reading Task 3 – Read an Academic Passage

Task format and timing: how it differs from the old TOEFL

Now it's time for the last task in the Reading section: Read an Academic Passage. This task is very similar to the reading task in the old TOEFL format. In the old format, we had only one reading task: answering questions after reading an academic passage. But here is the difference. Before, we had a long text with a lot of information, followed by 10 questions. In that text, you had to link the key ideas, find similar words and answer multiple-choice questions.

In this task, you have fewer questions: usually from 6 to 8 questions in each task. The text is also shorter, but you also have less time for this task. So what about the timing? In this task, you should aim for 1.5 to 2 minutes per question. So the timing for each question is about the same, but you have fewer questions and less time in the new format.

Strategy: skim the title and go straight to the questions

So let's go to the strategies you had better use in this task. Once you see the text, you will also see the first question on your computer screen. Skim the title just to understand what the text is about. Is it biology? Is it astrophysics? Is it maybe some historical note?

Go directly to the questions; don't read the whole text. Here we use the same strategy as in the old format, because the text is not much shorter than before. So it's better to go directly to the questions and not waste time reading the full text, because once you go to the questions, you have to go back to the text again, and that is a pure waste of time.

The last suggestion within this strategy is to answer global questions last. The reason is that if you follow this strategy and go to the questions first, you will see the global questions. Skip them, because as you go through the details, you will get more and more understanding of the text. So you don't need to answer the global questions first; keep them for last.

Strategy: use transitions and keywords to locate answers

Next, while you go through the questions and search for the key information, look for transitions: however, therefore, in contrast, for example, as a result. They will help you split the text into parts, so you can navigate much faster through the parts of the academic passage.

Identify the keywords from the question. We're going to go through the example, and you will see exactly what this strategy is about. But briefly, once you see some keywords in the question, you have to search for exactly the same keywords in the text to understand how to answer the question. Read one sentence before and after the cited line to grasp the author's point. Usually the answer is not within the short phrase containing the keyword; it may lie one sentence before or one sentence after it. So you have to have this context. But again, you don't have to read the whole passage; you can just concentrate on this key part and find the correct answer.

Strategy: find evidence and eliminate wrong options

When we talk about finding evidence, as we said, you have to locate these lines, read them and make sure they answer exactly what was asked in the question. But it is also very important to eliminate out-of-scope options, the ones that are incorrect. You have to use the evidence you found in the text to get rid of the wrong answers as well, because sometimes you don't have enough information, so you still have two or three options, usually two, and you need to select only one.

If two choices are nearly identical, the stronger or more specific one is often the trap. So choose the general one. Don't choose the most specific option, because it might be wrong precisely because of its peculiarity, because it is very specific. Again, once you go through the practice sets, you will see how to use this strategy properly.

Strategy: vocabulary in context

For vocabulary in context, replace the word with the option and check whether the sentence still fits the author's tone. If you remember the old format, there was always a highlighted word in a sentence, and you were asked which word from the options fits best if you replace it. So before checking the answer and proceeding to the next question, just swap them and see whether the sentence is still correct; the same goes for the incorrect options. If you have a few options and you don't know which one to choose, just place them in the sentence, reread it and see which one fits best.

Worked example: The Mirror Test vocabulary question

And now let's go to the example passage. As I mentioned before, we don't need to read it. We can read just the title, "The Mirror Test," and maybe the first line, but don't spend time reading the whole text. We can see that the text says young children cannot recognize themselves in the mirror, and that they usually achieve this milestone around 18 months. OK, let's go. This text is about some biological features; maybe it is about children, we don't know. Let's go to the questions.

Question number 1: "What is the passage mainly about?" As we said before, we're going to skip this question and keep it for last. Question number 2: "The word 'milestone' in the first sentence is closest in meaning to: accomplishment, distance, weight, discovery." Let's go to the first sentence: "...achieve this milestone around 18 months of age." In this task, it's very important to have a good understanding of vocabulary. For now, if you don't know this word, it's OK. Don't panic; use the strategy mentioned before and just try the words one by one.

If it is "accomplishment," does it fit? "Achieve this accomplishment around 18 months of age." This option feels good; it sounds exactly as it did before. Next, "distance": "achieve this distance around 18 months of age." It's not the best fit, because the sentence is not talking about some physical distance between point A and point B, right? So this option is not as good as the first one. Option C, "weight": is it talking about weight? We mentioned before that it is about recognizing themselves in the mirror, so it is something with an abstract meaning, not an exact weight or distance. So this option is wrong.

The last one is "discovery": "achieve this discovery around 18 months of age." It could be a good fit, but the word here is more about reaching some point after some progress, while a discovery is something that can happen instantly. So it doesn't really fit the narration or the process here, because the process involves progress, and progress ends in an achievement, not in a discovery.

Worked example: keyword search and the main-idea question

Next: "Why did scientists put colored marks on animals' bodies?" Again, as we mentioned in the strategies, take the keyword "colored mark" and find it in the passage. As we can see, the second part contains this phrase, so we can read the whole sentence: "They measured this by the mirror test, which involved putting a colored mark on an ape's body and then showing the ape its reflection in a mirror. If the ape tried to remove the mark from its own body, the scientists knew that it recognized its reflection."

So, going back to the question: why did scientists put colored marks on animals' bodies? A. It made it possible to track the animals' movements. That's not exactly right. B. It helped them determine whether the animals recognized themselves. This seems correct, because the scientists measured whether apes could recognize themselves by putting a mark on them. C. It made it easier to tell the animals apart. No, that's not right. D. It showed whether some animals can detect color differences. In this experiment, we can see that the scientists are not talking about color differences; rather, they are talking about whether animals can recognize themselves. So the correct option is probably B.

Now let's go back to the first question. In this example, we don't have the full list of questions; we only have three. Once we go through all the questions, we will have a good understanding of the text. The first question is about the key idea of the passage, so let's read the options. Option A: Stages of early childhood development. Option B: Research on animal cognition. For the first one, we see that the passage is not about childhood or children; it's about animals. So the first one might not be correct. B, research on animal cognition, is a good choice, because the scientists do experiments on animals.

C: Differences between apes, elephants and dolphins. It might not be true, but we don't have enough information yet, so we need to go through more questions, all of them, and then we will have the correct information. D: Recent experiments on fish. No, this option is totally incorrect. So after going through only two questions, question 2 and question 3, we already have only two options left: it's either research on animal cognition or differences between apes, elephants and dolphins. We still don't know whether elephants and dolphins are involved; we need to go through more questions.

But that's how the strategies work in practice, and I suggest you take these strategies and go ahead and try the practice sets. As you can see, for the second question, "accomplishment" is correct. For the third, our option B, "It helped them determine whether the animals recognized themselves," is also correct. And for the first one, "Research on animal cognition" is the right answer. So once you go through more questions, you will easily find the correct option. Now it's time to practice, so please do all the practice sets and check your answers.