Overview of the TOEFL Reading Section

The TOEFL Reading section is meant to assess your ability to comprehend university-level academic texts and passages.

It consists of three or four reading passages, each of which is roughly 700 words long and has ten questions.

You'll have 54-72 minutes to complete three to four passages and answer questions.

The difference in duration and length is due to the fact that some test takers will have un-scored experimental questions in their TOEFL Reading part, which will make it unusually long, while others will have experimental questions in their TOEFL Listening section.

You won't know which questions are experimental and which are graded, so try not to be too concerned and give each passage your all.

The articles cover a wide range of academic topics. The following are some examples of common topics:

1. Environmental science

2. Plant biology

3. Zoology

4. History and sociology

5. Geology

6. Psychology and Learning

7. Climatology

Note that you may get articles on other topics as well.

General Tips:

Keep a close eye on your pace.

To comprehend new terminology and challenging sections, use comprehension strategies.

Read the passage and answer questions in a balanced manner.

Question Types:

1. Factual Information (usually 1-3 per article)

2. Negative Factual Information (usually 1-2 per article)

3. Sentence Simplification (0-1)

4. Inference (0-1)

5. Vocabulary (1-3)

6. Rhetorical Purpose (0-2)

7. Insert a Sentence (always 1 per article)

8. Summary (usually 1 per article)

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