toefl grammar and structure

• The TOEFL Exam: What the Test Is About

The TOEFL exam has four sections: Listening, Structure, Reading, and Writing. The Listening section measures your ability to understand English as spoken in North America. If you have lived in an English-speaking country or region where the accent is different than you will find on the TOEFL exam, you may need to spend some extra time adjusting to the sound of American English. The Structure section of the exam tests your knowledge of English grammar and usage, including topics such as verb tenses, idioms, and parallel structure. The Reading section measures your ability to understand passages written in English. You will be asked to identify the main idea, determine the meaning of vocabulary words, identify specific details, and draw inferences based upon the passage. Finally, the Writing section will ask you to write a short essay on a general topic. 

• How to Prepare for the TOEFL Exam

1. Part I: Study Skills

Maybe it’s been a while since you last studied for an exam, or maybe you have never had to prepare for a standardized test like the TOEFL exam. In any case, you may be unsure about the best way to get ready for this important exam. How much time you spend studying each week is important. But how you study is the key to your success. Use the study skills described in this chapter to make the most of your study time.

You can also get in the mood for studying by thinking about the short- and long-term rewards you will receive for your hard work. Keep in mind the benefits you will receive from your TOEFL exam study time:

■ You will read and write better in English. 

■ You will understand more of what you hear. 

■ You will be able to apply to U.S. colleges and universities. 

■ You will get the education you need for a successful future.

2. Part II: Learning Strategies

How successful you are at studying usually has less to do with how much you know and how much you study than with how you study. That’s because some study techniques are much more effective than others. You can spend hours and hours doing practice tests, but if you don’t carefully review your answers, much of your time will be wasted. You need to learn from your mistakes and study what you don’t know. The best method is to use several of the following proven study techniques. They can help you make the most of your learning style and store information in your long-term memory.

Asking questions is a powerful study strategy because it forces you to get actively involved in the material you want to learn. That, in turn, will help you better understand and remember the material. And there’s another important benefit—asking and answering your own questions will help you be comfortable with the format of the exam. 

For example, when you are reading something in English, you can ask yourself questions like those you would see on the TOEFL exam, such as: 1. What is this passage about? 

2. What is the main idea? 

3. What is the author’s purpose? 

4. What is the meaning of this word as it is used in the sentence? 

5. What does “it” refer to in this passage? 

6. Is this sentence a main idea or a detail? 

Similarly, imagine you are on the subway. You hear two people talking about their jobs. Listen carefully to what they are saying. Then ask yourself the kinds of questions you might be asked about their conversation, such as: 

1. Why is the man upset? 

2. What does the man do at work? 

3. What is his supervisor’s name? 

4. When was his last vacation? 

5. What does the lady mean by “grin and bear it”? 

Of course, you may not be able to answer all of your questions right away. You may need to do some extra work to find the answer

 3. Part III: Test-Taking Strategies 

Knowing the material you will be tested on improves your chances of succeeding. But it doesn’t guarantee that you will do your best on the test. The TOEFL exam doesn’t just test your knowledge of the English language. Like all standardized tests, it also measures your test-taking skills. In this section, you will learn strategies for taking standardized tests like the TOEFL exam.

 

Learn about the Test 

One sure way to increase your chances of test success is to find out as much as you can about the exam. If you don’t know what to expect on the test, you won’t know how to study. It is likely that you will be extra anxious about the exam, too. The more you know about the test you are going to take, the better you can prepare—and the more relaxed you will be when the test comes.

You already know what kind of test the TOEFL exam is. You know that there are four sections: Listening Comprehension, Structure and Written Expression, Reading Comprehension, and Writing. You know that the test questions for the first three sections are all multiple-choice. You know how much time you have to complete each section. But until you look at actual sample questions, you still don’t really know what to expect. For example, in the Listening Comprehension section, what kind of passages will you listen to? What kind of questions will you be asked about those passages? 

A rested and relaxed brain learns information best. Whenever possible, study right before you go to sleep or first thing after you wake. Try not to do anything else in between. If you study for an hour and then watch TV for an hour before bed, you won’t remember as much as if you studied for an hour and then went right to bed. Right before and after sleep, you are usually in your most relaxed state—and that makes it easier for you to learn.

Getting sample tests and working with skill builders like this book can help you in many ways. You will get used to the kind of questions you will be asked and the level of difficulty of those questions. You will also become familiar with the format and comfortable with the length of the exam.

Tips and Trick Menjawab Soal Structure TOEFL

1. Satu kalimat hanya terdiri dari satu Subyek dan satu Predikat

• Ciri-ciri kata benda :The, a, an, -ion, -ment, -ty, -ness, dan biasanya juga terletak diantara …of …

• Contoh : Of all the cereals, rice is the one —– food for more people than any of the other grain crops.

• a. It provides b.That providing c. Provides d. That provides (Answer)

2. Subyek & Verb Agreement

• Is —-> tunggal

• Are —>jamak

• Subjek Tunggal —> V+s/es

• Subjek Tunggal —> has

• Subjek Jamak —> have

3. Parallelism

• Rumus : kata, kata (and/but/or/so) kata - seragam

• Example : To generate income, magazine publishers must decide wheather to increase the subscription price or —-

• a. To sell advertising b. If they should sell advertising c. Selling advertising d. Sold advertising

4. Satu kalimat pasti satu tenses

5. Kata sambung di depan kalimat, maka ditengah kalimat harus ada tanda baca koma (,)

• Altought, because, when, since

• Contoh :

• —-both men and women have often achieved their career ambitions by midlife, many people are afflicted by at last a temporary period of dissatisfaction and depression.

• a. Because (answer) b. So c. A d. Who

6. Bentuk IF

• If Present, …will…

• If Past, …would … (were) –> khusus

• If had+V3, … would have+V3 …

• Contoh : If it — more humid in the desert of the Soutwest, the hot temperature would be unbearable.

• a. Be b. Is c. Was d. Were (answer) sesuai rumus diatas

7. Kata sambung berpasangan (Paired Conjunction)

• Both …and…

• Not only … but also…

• Either … or…

• Neither … nor…

• The same … as…

• As … as…

• Contoh : North Carolina is well known not only for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — for the Cherokee Indian settlements

• a. Also b. And c. But also (answer) sesuai rumus d. Because of

8. Kalimat Comparatives dan Superlative

• More/-er …than –>g boleh pakai the, kecuali kata : the sooner …, the better…

• Most/the -est …in/of …

9. Kata benda yang bisa dihitung dan tidak bisa dihitung (Countable Noun dan Uncountable Noun)

• Kata benda bisa dihitung : Many, few

• Kata benda tidak bisa dihitung : Much, little

• Ada kata benda khusus yang merupakan kata benda yang tidak bisa dihitung : money, data, information, time, homework, equipment

• Kata benda ada kata “s” dibelakangnya berarti pasti bisa dihitung, kecuali news (tidak bisa dihitung)

• Contoh : For the investor who —money , silver, or bonds are good options.

• a. Has so little b. Has very little (answer) c. Has so few d. Has very few

10. Kata kerja berpasangan

• Fail to

• Responsible for

• Afraid of

• Effect…on…

• Forbidden to…

• Interested in…

• Contoh : The differential attractions of the sun and the moon have a direct effect on the rising and the falling of the tides

11. Kata sambung

• Who –> Predikat (V, tobe bukan orang)

• Whom –> Subject (orang)

• That –> Kata kerja

• Contoh : John Philip Sousa, whom many people consider the greatest composer of marches, wrote his music during the era known as the Gay 90s

12. Bentuk Causative

• Prinsip menyuruh orang untuk melakukan sesuatu

• Orang (had/made/let/help) orang + V1

• Contoh : I help you do your homework

13. Negative expressions

• (Not/only/never/rarely) + Kalimat + (aux+s+v1)

14. Kata depan (Preposition)

• Tunggal It,its

• Jamak they, them

• Contoh : Aeronomy is the study of the earth’s upper atmosphere, whch includes it’s composition, temperature, density, and chemical reactions.

15. Kata ganti (Pronoun)

• (by/in/of/for) + Kata benda / V+ing

• Contoh : Althought it can be derived from oil, coal, and tar, kerosene is usually produced by refining it from petroleum

SUMBER

http://elibrary.bsu.az/kitablar/1095.pdf

http://fahmi52.blogdetik.com/tips-and-trick-menjawab-soal-structure-toefl

Improving Your Listening Skills

Advice for Listening
Performance Level: Low
Score Range: 0–14

Listening plays a huge part in learning any language. The first thing you did as a child was listen – you couldn’t talk, or write or speak, so you listened. Unfortunately as we grow up a lot of us lose the skill of listening, but like most things, it is something you can improve on.

The first thing to do is learn to listen actively. Learning a language is a lot like learning to play a musical instrument. You can listen to music for enjoyment, but if you want to study the music you have to listen more critically. It’s the same with languages; you need to make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that someone is saying but, more importantly, pay attention, and try to understand the complete message behind the words.

A. Advice for Listening

Performance Level: Low

Score Range: 0–14

1. Practice listening to something in English every day and gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.

·         Listen to different kinds of materials.

·         Listen actively. Try to answer the “wh” questions.

·         who

·         what

·         when

·         where

·         why

·         how

·         Listen passively to get the general idea of what’s being said.

·         Keep a listening log (a list of everything you listen to each day/week).

·         Write a one-sentence summary to remember the main idea of what you heard.

·         Write down new expressions, idioms, and vocabulary that you hear.

·         Use dictations and other exercises to help your listening ability.

·         Ask an English speaker to dictate an article to you. Good sources of material are newspapers, magazines, and textbooks.

·         First, write down exactly what you hear

·         Then only take notes on the important points that you hear

·         Do information gap exercises, using unfamiliar content and complex structures.

2. Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.

·         Visit places in your community where you can practice listening to English.

·         If possible, enroll in an English class.

·         Go to a museum and take an audio tour in English.

·         Follow a guided tour in English in your city.

·         Call or visit a hotel where tourists stay and get information in English about room rates, hotel availability, or hotel facilities.

·         Call and listen to information recorded in English, such as a movie schedule, a weather report, or information about an airplane flight.

·         Watch or listen to programs recorded in English.

·         Watch television programs.

·         CNN, the Discovery Channel or National Geographic

·         Watch movies, soap operas or situation comedies on television

·         Do this with a friend and talk about the program together

·         Rent videos (turn off the captions!) or go to a movie in English.

·         Listen to a book on tape in English.

·         Listen to music in English and then check your accuracy by finding the lyrics on the Internet (e.g., http://www.lyrics.com).

·         Listen to English language recordings that come with a transcript. Listen to each recording at least three times.

·         The first time, take notes about the main ideas you hear.

·         The second time, read the transcript and listen for the ideas you wrote down.

·         The third time, write down any words and phrases that you didn’t understand and look them up.

·         Go to Internet sites to practice listening.

·         National Public Radio (www.npr.org)

·         CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)

·         Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com)

·         BBC World Service.com Learning English (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish)

·         Practice speaking English with others.

·         Exchange language lessons with an English speaker who wants to learn your language.

3. Begin to prepare for academic situations.

·         Visit academic classes in English.

·         Record lectures or presentations and replay them several times.

·         Listen to short sections several times until you understand the main points and the flow of ideas.

·         Stop the recording in the middle and predict what will come next.

·         Become familiar with the organization or structureof academic lectures.

·         Pay attention to the difference between main ideas and details presented.

·         Listen for the general (main) ideas

·         Pay attention to details

·         facts

·         examples

·         opinions

·         Pay attention to the structure.

·         lecture or presentation — introduction, body and conclusion

·         narrative story — beginning, middle and end

·         Learn to recognize different styles of organization.

·         theory and evidence

·         cause and effect

·         steps of a process

·         comparison of two things

·         Think carefully about the purpose of the lecture.

·         Try to answer the question, “What is the professor trying to accomplish in this lecture?”

·         Write down only the information that you hear. Be careful not to interpret information based on your personal understanding or knowledge of the topic.

·         Take notes while you listen to a talk or lecture. This will help you identify the main ideas of the talk.

·         Practice doing simple dictations to work on your ability to listen and write at the same time.

·         Work with a partner. Listen to a talk and take notes individually.

·         Compare your notes with your partner’s and check for differences (and similarities)

·         Use your notes to tell your partner what you heard

·         Use your notes to write an outline or summary.

·         Gradually increase the length of the talks (and your summaries).

4. Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between ideas and the importance of ideas.

·         Listen for expressions and vocabulary that tell you the type of information being given.

·         Think carefully about the type of information that these phrases show.

·         opinion (I think, It appears that, It is thought that)

·         theory (In theory)

·         inference (therefore, then)

·         negatives (not, words that begin with “un,” “non,” “dis” “a”)

·         fillers (non-essential information) (uh, er, um)

·         Identify digressions (discussion of a different topic from the main topic) or jokes that are not important to the main lecture. [It’s okay not to understand these!]

·         Listen for signal words or phrases that connect ideas in order to recognize the relationship between ideas.

·         Think carefully about the connection between ideas that these words show.

·         reasons (because, since)

·         results (as a result, so, therefore, thus, consequently)

·         examples (for example, such as)

·         comparisons (in contrast, than)

·         an opposing idea (on the other hand, however)

·         another idea (furthermore, moreover, besides)

·         a similar idea (similarly, likewise)

·         restatements of information (in other words, that is)

·         conclusions (in conclusion, in summary)

·         Pay attention to the connections between examples.

·         When you hear two details, identify the relationship between them

·         Write a sentence connecting the examples using the appropriate connecting word

·         Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is important.

·         Important key words are often

·         repeated

·         paraphrased (repeated information but using different words)

·         said louder and clearer

·         stressed

·         Pay attention to body language and intonation patterns used to express different emotions.

·         Emotions are often expressed through changes in intonation or stress

·         Facial expressions or word choices can indicate excitement, anger, happiness or frustration

·         Listen for pauses between important points.

·         During a lecture, pay attention to words that are written on the board.

·         Listen for numbers that you might hear in prices, times or addresses.

·         Listen for verbs and other expressions that show if an event is happening in the past, present or future.

B. Advice for Listening

Performance Level: Intermediate

Score Range: 15–21

1. Practice listening to something in English every day and gradually increase the amount of time that you listen.

·         Listen to different kinds of materials.

·         Listen actively. Try to answer the “wh” questions.

·         who

·         what

·         when

·         where

·         why

·         how

·         Listen passively to get the general idea of what’s being said.

·         Keep a listening log (a list of everything you listen to each day/week).

·         Write a one-sentence summary to remember the main idea of what you heard.

·         Write down new expressions, idioms, and vocabulary that you hear.

·         Use dictations and other exercises to help your listening ability.

·         Ask an English speaker to dictate an article to you. Good sources of material are newspapers, magazines, and textbooks.

·         First, write down exactly what you hear

·         Then only take notes on the important points that you hear

·         Do information gap exercises, using unfamiliar content and complex structures.

2. Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.

·         Visit places in your community where you can practice listening to English.

·         If possible, enroll in an English class.

·         Go to a museum and take an audio tour in English.

·         Follow a guided tour in English in your city.

·         Call or visit a hotel where tourists stay and get information in English about room rates, hotel availability, or hotel facilities.

·         Call and listen to information recorded in English, such as a movie schedule, a weather report, or information about an airplane flight.

·         Watch or listen to programs recorded in English.

·         Watch television programs.

·         CNN, the Discovery Channel or National Geographic

·         Watch movies, soap operas or situation comedies on television

·         Do this with a friend and talk about the program together

·         Rent videos (turn off the captions!) or go to a movie in English.

·         Listen to a book on tape in English.

·         Listen to music in English and then check your accuracy by finding the lyrics on the Internet (e.g., http://www.lyrics.com).

·         Listen to English language recordings that come with a transcript. Listen to each recording at least three times.

·         The first time, take notes about the main ideas you hear

·         The second time, read the transcript and listen for the ideas you wrote down

·         The third time, write down any words and phrases that you didn’t understand and look them up

·         Go to Internet sites to practice listening.

·         National Public Radio (www.npr.org)

·         CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)

·         Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com)

·         BBC World Service.com Learning English (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish)

·         Practice speaking English with others.

·         Exchange language lessons with an English speaker who wants to learn your language.

3. Begin to prepare for academic situations.

·         Visit academic classes in English.

·         Record lectures or presentations and replay them several times.

·         Listen to short sections several times until you understand the main points and the flow of ideas.

·         Stop the recording in the middle and predict what will come next.

·         Become familiar with the organization or structureof academic lectures.

·         Pay attention to the difference between main ideas and details presented.

·         Listen for the general (main) ideas

·         Pay attention to details

·         facts

·         examples

·         opinions

·         Pay attention to the structure.

·         lecture or presentation — introduction, body, and conclusion

·         narrative story — beginning, middle, and end

·         Learn to recognize different styles of organization.

·         theory and evidence

·         cause and effect

·         steps of a process

·         comparison of two things

·         Think carefully about the purpose of the lecture.

·         Try to answer the question, “What is the professor trying to accomplish in this lecture?”

·         Write down only the information that you hear. Be careful not to interpret information based on your personal understanding or knowledge of the topic.

·         Take notes while you listen to a talk or lecture. This will help you identify the main ideas of the talk.

·         Practice doing simple dictations to work on your ability to listen and write at the same time.

·         Work with a partner. Listen to a talk and take notes individually.

·         Compare your notes with your partner’s and check for differences (and similarities)

·         Use your notes to tell your partner what you heard

·         Use your notes to write an outline or summary.

·         Gradually increase the length of the talks (and your summaries).

4. Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between ideas, and the importance of ideas.

·         Listen for expressions and vocabulary that tell you the type of information being given.

·         Think carefully about the type of information that these phrases show.

·         opinion (I think, It appears that, It is thought that)

·         theory (In theory)

·         inference (therefore, then)

·         negatives (not, words that begin with “un,” “non,” “dis,” “a”)

·         fillers (non-essential information) (uh, er, um)

·         Identify digressions (discussion of a different topic from the main topic) or jokes that are not important to the main lecture. [It’s okay not to understand these!]

·         Listen for signal words or phrases that connect ideas in order to recognize the relationship between ideas.

·         Think carefully about the connection between ideas that these words show.

·         reasons (because, since)

·         results (as a result, so, therefore, thus, consequently)

·         examples (for example, such as)

·         comparisons (in contrast, than)

·         an opposing idea (on the other hand, however)

·         another idea (furthermore, moreover, besides)

·         a similar idea (similarly, likewise)

·         restatements of information (in other words, that is)

·         conclusions (in conclusion, in summary)

·         Pay attention to the connections between examples.

·         When you hear two details, identify the relationship between them

·         Write a sentence connecting the examples using the appropriate connecting word

·         Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is important

·         Important key words are often

·         repeated

·         paraphrased (repeated information but using different words)

·         said louder and clearer

·         stressed

·         Pay attention to body language and intonation patterns used to express different emotions.

·         Emotions are often expressed through changes in intonation or stress

·         Facial expressions or word choices can indicate excitement, anger, happiness, or frustration

·         Listen for pauses between important points.

·         During a lecture, pay attention to words that are written on the board.

·         Listen for numbers that you might hear in prices, times, or addresses

·         Listen for verbs and other expressions that show if an event is happening in the past, present, or future

C. Advice for Listening

Performance Level: High

Score Range: 22–30

1. Use the resources in your community to practice listening to English.

·         Visit places in your community where you can hear English spoken.

·         Go to an English school, an embassy or an English-speaking Chamber of Commerce.

·         Go to a museum and take an audio tour in English.

·         Follow a guided tour in English of your city.

·         Call or visit a hotel where tourists stay and get information in English about room rates, hotel availability or hotel facilities.

·         Call and listen to information recorded in English, such as a movie schedule, a weather report or information about an airplane flight.

·         Watch or listen to programs recorded in English.

·         Watch television programs.

·         CNN, the Discovery Channel or National Geographic

·         Watch movies, soap operas or situation comedies

·         Rent videos or go to a movie in English.

·         Listen to a book on tape in English.

·         Listen to music in English and then check your accuracy by finding the lyrics on the Internet (e.g., http://www.lyrics.com).

·         Go to Internet sites to practice listening.

·         National Public Radio (www.npr.org)

·         CBS News (www.cbsnews.com)

·         Randall’s Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com)

·         BBC World Service.com Learning English (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish)

·         Get CDs with full-length lectures. Full-length lectures/presentations are available from UC Berkeley.

·         Practice speaking English with others.

·         Look for a conversation partner and exchange language lessons with an English speaker who wants to learn your language.

2. Begin to prepare for academic situations.

·         Visit academic classes, cultural centers, or museums where people are invited to talk in English about their work.

·         Before you listen to a lecture in English, read assigned chapters or background information on academic topics.

·         Visit lectures on a wide variety of topics.

·         Record lectures or presentations and replay them several times.

·         Listen to different types of talks on various topics, including subjects in which you have limited or little background.

·         Listen to short sections several times until you understand the main points and the flow of ideas.

·         Stop the recording in the middle and predict what will come next.

·         Practice listening to longer lectures.

·         Become familiar with the organization or structureof lectures.

·         Pay attention to the structure.

·         lecture or presentation — introduction, body, and conclusion

·         narrative story — beginning, middle, and end

·         Learn to recognize different styles of organization.

·         theory and evidence

·         cause and effect

·         steps of a process

·         comparison of two things

·         Think carefully about the purposeof a lecture.

·         Try to answer the question, “What is the professor trying to accomplish in this lecture?”

·         Write down only the information that you hear. Be careful not to interpret information based on your personal understanding or knowledge of the topic.

·         Answer questions based on what was actually discussed in the talk

·         Develop a note-taking strategy to help you organize information into a hierarchy of main points and supporting details.

·         Make sure your notes follow the organization of the lecture.

·         Listen for related ideas and relationships within a lecture and make sure you summarize similar information together.

·         Use your notes to write a summary.

3. Listen for signals that will help you understand the organization of a talk, connections between ideas, and the importance of ideas.

·         Listen for expressions and vocabulary that tell you the type of information being given.

·         Think carefully about the type of information that these phrases show.

·         opinion (I think, It appears that, It is thought that)

·         theory (In theory)

·         inference (therefore, then)

·         negatives (not, words that begin with “un,” “non,” “dis,” “a”)

·         fillers (non-essential information) (uh, er, um)

·         Identify digressions (discussion of a different topic from the main topic) or jokes that are not important to the main lecture [It’s okay not to understand these!]

·         Listen for signal words and phrases that connect ideas in order to recognize the relationship between ideas.

·         Think carefully about the connection between ideas that these words show.

·         reasons (because, since)

·         results (as a result, so, therefore, thus, consequently)

·         examples (for example, such as)

·         comparisons (in contrast, than)

·         an opposing idea (on the other hand, however)

·         another idea (furthermore, moreover, besides)

·         a similar idea (similarly, likewise)

·         restatements of information (in other words, that is)

·         conclusions (in conclusion, in summary)

·         Pay attention to intonation and other ways that speakers indicate that information is important.

·         Listen for emotionsexpressed through changes in intonation or stress.

·         Facial expressions or word choices can indicate excitement, anger, happiness, frustration, etc.

·         Listen how native speakers divide long sentences into “thought groups” to make them easier to understand. (A thought group is a spoken phrase or short sentence. Thought groups are separated by short pauses.)

·         Listen to sets of thought groups to make sure you get the whole idea of the talk

·         Listen for important key words and phrases which are often …

·         repeated

·         paraphrased (repeated information but using different words)

·         said louder and clearer

·         stressed

·         Listen for pauses between important points.

·         In a lecture, pay attention to words that are written on the board.

http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/

http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/advice_listening_low

http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/advice_listening_inter

https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/advice_listening_high

https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/advice_listening_low

https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/

https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/improve/advice_listening_high

http://www.learnenglish.de/improveenglish/improvelisteningpage.html