Score 30/30 on TOEFL Reading | Practice Test with Answers | Strategies &...

Answer 4

Answer 3

Answer 4

Answer 4

Answer 3

Answer 4

Answer 2

Answer 1

Second Squre

Hi everyone, and welcome back. If you've ever thought, I don't know how to score a 30 out of 30 on the TOEFL reading section, or I know all the strategies but just can't apply them, you're not alone. Maybe you've even looked at a passage and thought, this is just too hard for me.

That's exactly why we're here today. In this video, we're going to break down a TOEFL reading passage step by step. But the questions that follow will be a bit different from what you'll see on the real test.

Why? Because there will be a lot of factual information questions, much more than on the actual TOEFL. I accidentally came across this passage while working with one of my students and thought, why not share it with you too? It's a great opportunity to master this tricky question type. Before each question, you'll have a moment to try it on your own.

Then we'll go over the answer together. Keep track of how many questions you get right. If you got all of them correct, type winner in the comments below.

If you made any mistakes, let me know which question types were the most difficult and how many you got right overall. Let's get started. Question one.

According to paragraph one, which of the following is true about termites? This is a factual information question because it begins with according to. It asks us to find specific information that is clearly stated in the text. The typical strategy for this type of question is read the question, look for the key words, and then go to the passage to find the sentence that contains the correct answer.

But what if there aren't any clear key words in the question apart from the word termites? Since the entire passage is about termites, that word appears too many times to be helpful. So what should you do in a case like this? Actually, factual information questions don't always follow the standard format. Sometimes, like in this example, they appear slightly different.

In situations like this, you need to use the same strategy that you'd apply for a negative factual information question. This means you should first look at the answer options, identify the key words, and then use those key words to find the correct answer. From the answer choices, I can see that termites are a type of ant, but they differ from other ants in many ways.

Termite colonies first grow and then decline. All workers are male and all soldiers are female. One of their life stages is called the nymph stage.

In the passage, it clearly says that termites are not ants, so choice one is incorrect. It also says that termites go through three life stages, one of which is the nymph stage. That makes choice four the correct answer.

So far, this was pretty easy, right? Now, if you're low on time during the real test, you can move on. But since we're practicing, let's go ahead and check the other choices too. Reading further, we learn that both workers and soldiers can be male or female, so choice three is wrong.

And there is no mention of colonies first growing and then declining, so choice two is also incorrect. The correct answer is four. They go through a life stage called the nymph stage.

Question two. According to paragraph two, termites need to live in nests with high humidity in order to... Another factual information question. This is a typical factual information question with good keywords in the question itself that requires a standard strategy.

The question asks us, why do termites need to live in nests with high humidity? The key phrase in this question is high humidity. Now, I need to find the sentence that contains this key phrase. Here it is.

Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with high relative humidity. As we can see, termites need nests with high humidity because they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places. The word desiccated means completely dried out.

Write this word down if it's new to you. It's the key to answering this question. Since termites need high humidity to avoid drying out, the correct answer is choice three.

Protect themselves from drying out. If you want to do more than just memorize question types and strategies and truly understand the nuances of the TOEFL reading test so you can use that knowledge to your advantage, join our intensive TOEFL course. We'll walk you through full reading sections, ensuring you're 100% confident on test day.

You'll learn how to adapt strategies quickly while working on reading tests, how to answer questions quickly and correctly, and you'll receive access to high-scoring writing and speaking templates. If you've been struggling with the reading section and can't reach your target score, choose the PRO package. You'll schedule a consultation with me where I'll show you how to correct your mistakes and become a PRO at tackling the TOEFL reading section.

You will also receive one month of free access to our mobile practice app and a 5% discount on your TOEFL exam with an exclusive promo code. Question three. According to paragraph three, the nests of some tropical termite species have the ability to.

Yet another factual information question. We'll use the same strategy. The keywords in the question are tropical termite species.

I find the keywords from the question, tropical termites, right in the first sentence of the paragraph. Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers. By the way, ingenious means very clever.

You might want to know that. So, these termites are clever because they construct nests with built-in air conditioning that keeps the nests moist at a constant temperature and well-supplied with oxygen. Let's look more closely.

The text says that the nests have air conditioning, which serves three functions. Keeping the nest moist or slightly wet, maintaining a constant temperature, and making sure there is enough oxygen inside. This sentence doesn't mention insulating the microclimate in one part of the nest from another.

It also doesn't say anything about allowing moist outside air to enter, regardless of whether it's warm or cool. And there is no information about rapidly decreasing the humidity inside when it gets hot outside. So, choices one, two, three are incorrect.

But it does clearly say that the nest is well-supplied with oxygen, which matches answer choice four, provide the oxygen needed in the nest. Nice job. Let's move on to the next question.

Question four. According to paragraphs three and four, all of the following are true of the nest of Macroterms nadalensis, except this is a negative factual information question because it includes the word except. This type of question asks you to find the one detail that is not mentioned in the passage.

It's basically the opposite of the regular factual information question. So, your strategy should be go through the answer choices first, read the text, focusing on the relevant parts that contain keywords from the answer options, and eliminate the incorrect options one by one. Pay close attention to paraphrasing.

Many correct answer choices are stated in different words than in the text. The correct answer is four. The termites use hollow, thin-walled ridges to travel from one part of the nest to another.

Why? Because there is no information in the passage about how termites move around the nests. The TOEFL test makers have tried to trick you here by using the phrase thin-walled ridges, which does appear in the text. But in the passage, it's just used to describe the shape and structure of the mound, not as a means of termite movement.

That's why this statement is not true and is the correct choice for this kind of question. Let's quickly look at the other choices. They're all true through the paragraph.

Though paraphrased, the walls are built out of soil mixed with termite saliva. The passage says, walls of soil mixed with termite saliva. The nests can be as tall as they're wide at the base.

It says, the nests are 16 feet tall and 16 feet in diameter at their base. The interior of the nest is kept as humid as possible. The text says that termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity.

By the way, in case you're wondering, a mound is a small hill or pile of earth. In this context, the words nest and mound basically mean the same thing. Great work.

Let's move on to the next one. Question five. According to paragraph four, how does the fungus grown by Macroterms natalensis affect the environment of the nest? Another factual information question.

As I said at the beginning of the video, this practice test is a great opportunity to improve your skills with this type of question. We're seeing a lot of them today. The key word in the question is fungus.

Now, let's go to the text. The sentence with the word fungus says, the metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. Let's break that down.

It says that fungus helps keep the interior warm. It also says it supplies moisture. It doesn't carry water, dry the air, or lessen, meaning reduce, the effects of metabolism.

So, answers one, two, and four are incorrect. But it does heat and humidify the nest. Look, keep the interior warm means the same as heat, and supply moisture means the same as add humidity.

So, answer three is correct. It heats and adds humidity to the inside of the nest. That one was pretty straightforward, right? Let's move on to the next question.

Question six. According to paragraph five, what does the thinness of the ridge walls make possible? Here is another factual information question. In this question, the key word is thinness.

That tells us we're looking for the result or effect of the ridge walls being thin. So, we'll be looking for the word thinness or thin in the paragraph. I spot the word thin in this sentence from the paragraph.

Gases easily diffuse into or out of the ridges since their walls are thin. What does this sentence tell us? That the thin walls allow gases to diffuse in and out. In other words, the movement of gases is made possible by the thinness of the walls.

That's exactly what option four says. The diffusion of gases into and out of the ridges. So, choice four is correct.

Let's move on to the next question. Question seven. According to paragraph five, what happens to the air in the ridge tunnels of Macroterm's Netherlands' nests? One more factual information question.

Now, you might be thinking, oh no, I have to scan the entire paragraph again to find the key words from the question. But guess what? You don't have to. Here is a key tip.

On the TOEFL reading section, questions follow the order of the text. That means if you found the answer to the last question in a certain sentence, the next answer will come after that, not before. So, in this case, we only need to read a small section, just the part of the paragraph that comes after the sentence from the last question.

That gives us just two short sentences to focus on. I spot the keyword air in the first of those sentences. It says, thus, air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen and has lost much of its carbon dioxide.

What does that mean? The air gains oxygen and loses carbon dioxide. That matches answer two exactly. It loses carbon dioxide and gains oxygen.

Another one done. Nice work. Let's move on to the next question.

Question eight. Paragraph five supports which of the following about the air that flows through the interior of macro terms Netherlands's mound? This is an inference question. It means that we don't need to find information that is directly stated in the text.

Instead, we need to draw a conclusion from it. Typically, you need to read the paragraph, break it into a few main ideas, and then look at the answer options to choose the one that fits best. However, this paragraph is huge.

And since the TOEFL makers are aware of that, they've already given us a few earlier questions based on the same paragraph. So, we already have some information about it, which makes it easier to break down. As you go through the paragraph, try to understand its structure without focusing too much on words you don't know.

We can see that the nests are well insulated and require over 250 quarts of oxygen, which makes option C incorrect. Then we find an explanation of how much oxygen manages to diffuse through the thick walls of the mound. The text says the pores in the wall are filled with water, while the interior, and this is where I start paying even closer attention, consists of a large central core with a cellar of empty space below it and an attic of empty space above it.

We also learn that there are many small tunnels connecting the cellar and the attic. Now, what happens to the air is this. Warm air rises through the nest up to the attic.

From the attic, it passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide coming out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges since their walls are thin and their surface area is large. Thus, the air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen and has lost much of its carbon dioxide.

It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. Based on this information, I can see that the cellar is rich in oxygen, while gases, mainly oxygen coming in, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, which makes A the correct answer. It has a higher concentration of oxygen in the cellar than in the attic.

If the air in the cellar provides oxygen to the insects before moving back up to the attic, it must lose some of that oxygen along the way. This means the oxygen concentration is higher in the cellar and lower in the attic. So, yes, the correct answer is choice A. Another question done.

Question nine. This is an insert text question. We have to choose the best place to add the sentence.

If not, through the walls or its pores, how does oxygen enter the nest at all since the nest has a closed surface? To solve this type of question, we need to look for clues that show us where the new sentence fits best in the paragraph. The key clues in this sentence are the words walls and pores. The way these words are used shows that they must have already been mentioned earlier in the paragraph.

That means our inserted sentence should come after a sentence that first introduces those terms. There is another clue. This is a question.

That means that the sentence after it should sound like an answer or explanation. After reviewing the paragraph, choice two is the best place to insert the sentence. Why? The sentences before it mention walls and pores, and the sentence after it begins with the answer lies in the construction of the nest, which clearly responds to the question.

So, the second square is the correct answer. Great work. Let's move on.

Finally, question ten. The prose summary question. One of the most challenging question types in the TOEFL reading section.

In this task, you need to choose three correct ideas out of six to form a strong summary of the passage. To answer this question, you should pick the sentences that express the main ideas, not small details. Also, make sure to avoid any sentence that contains incorrect information.

How do you know if you've chosen correctly? Each correct sentence should reflect the main idea of the paragraph. The main idea of a paragraph, not just one example or a side note. You can double-check by asking yourself, do I remember this being discussed in the passage? By the time you reach this question, you've already read most of the passage carefully.

So, if a sentence really reflects the main point, you should at least remember seeing it when you answer the earlier questions. Here are the options I picked. Some termites build their nests underground, while others construct above-ground structures with thick insulating walls.

Termites are sensitive to dryness and to changes in temperature, so their nests are designed to minimize these factors. The nest of Macrotern's natalensis consists of a series of chambers and tunnels that allow for the circulation of air and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Well, that was the end of this part of the reading section.

Now it's time to calculate your results. Write winner in the comments below if you answered all the questions correctly. If you made any mistakes, let me know which question types were the most difficult and how many correct answers you got overall.

If you are currently preparing for the test and want to check how ready you are, click here to get your writing and speaking scored. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more tips and tricks on how to ace the TOEFL. And remember, scoring 100 plus on the TOEFL isn't rocket science, it's the little things you do that make all the difference. 

As always, I wish you all a stellar TOEFL score. Until next time, bye-bye.

=============================================

Hello! That was a comprehensive walkthrough of a challenging TOEFL reading practice set. It provides an excellent structure for a lecture.

Here is the lecture, formatted and slightly enhanced for delivery.

---

🧐 Decoding the TOEFL Reading Section: A Deep Dive into Factual Information Questions

Hi everyone, and welcome back! If you've ever thought, "I don't know how to score a 30 out of 30 on the TOEFL reading section," or "I know all the strategies but just can't apply them," you're not alone. Maybe you've even looked at a passage and thought, "This is just too hard for me."

That's exactly why we're here today. In this session, we're going to break down a TOEFL reading passage step by step.

Now, the questions that follow will be a bit different from what you'll see on the real test. Why? Because we're going to see a lot of Factual Information questions—much more than on the actual TOEFL. I accidentally came across this passage while working with one of my students and thought, why not share it with you too? It's a great opportunity to master this tricky question type.

Before we tackle each question, you'll have a moment to try it on your own. Then we'll go over the answer together. Keep track of how many questions you get right.

Let's get started!

---

Question 1: Identifying Main Ideas with No Clear Keywords

Question one. According to paragraph one, which of the following is true about termites?

This is a Factual Information question because it begins with "According to." It asks us to find specific information clearly stated in the text. The typical strategy is: read the question, look for the key words, and then go to the passage to find the sentence with the correct answer.

But what if there aren't any clear key words in the question apart from the word termites? Since the entire passage is about termites, that word appears too many times to be helpful.

💡 Strategy Tip: Borrowing from Negative Factual Information

In a case like this, you need to use the same strategy you'd apply for a Negative Factual Information question. This means you should:

1. Look at the answer options first.

2. Identify the key words in the choices.

3. Use those key words to scan the passage and find the correct answer.

The answer choices provide the keywords: type of ant, colonies grow and decline, male/female workers/soldiers, and nymph stage.

• Scanning the text, we find it clearly says that termites are not ants, so choice one is incorrect.

• It also says that termites go through three life stages, one of which is the nymph stage.

That makes Choice Four the correct answer.

(Self-Correction/Verification): Reading further, we learn that both workers and soldiers can be male or female (choice three is wrong), and there's no mention of colonies first growing and then declining (choice two is wrong).

The correct answer is 4. One of their life stages is called the nymph stage.

---

Question 2: Using Keywords for Efficient Scanning

Question two. According to paragraph two, termites need to live in nests with high humidity in order to...

This is a typical Factual Information question with good keywords in the question itself, allowing for the standard strategy. The question asks us, why do termites need to live in nests with high humidity?

1. Identify the Key Phrase: The key phrase is high humidity.

2. Scan the Passage: I need to find the sentence that contains this key phrase. Here it is: "Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with high relative humidity."

Termites need high humidity because they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places. The word desiccated means completely dried out. Write this word down if it's new to you—it's the key to answering this question!

Since termites need high humidity to avoid drying out, the correct answer is 3. Protect themselves from drying out.

📢 If you want to do more than just memorize question types and strategies and truly understand the nuances of the TOEFL reading test... join our intensive TOEFL course! We'll walk you through full reading sections, ensuring you're 100% confident on test day.

---

Question 3: Paraphrasing for Function and Purpose

Question three. According to paragraph three, the nests of some tropical termite species have the ability to.

Yet another Factual Information question. We'll use the same strategy.

1. Identify Keywords: tropical termite species.

2. Locate Information: I find the keywords from the question, "tropical termites," right in the first sentence of the paragraph: "Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers." (Ingenious means very clever, by the way.)

These termites are clever because they construct nests with built-in air conditioning that keeps the nests moist at a constant temperature and well-supplied with oxygen.

Let's look at the options and compare them to the three functions listed:

• Moist/Slightly Wet

• Constant Temperature

• Well-Supplied with Oxygen

The text does clearly say that the nest is well-supplied with oxygen, which matches answer choice 4. provide the oxygen needed in the nest.

---

Question 4: The 'EXCEPT' (Negative Factual Information) Challenge

Question four. According to paragraphs three and four, all of the following are true of the nest of Macroterms natalensis, except...

This is a Negative Factual Information question because it includes the word except. This question asks you to find the one detail that is not mentioned or is false in the passage.

The strategy here is the opposite of the regular Factual Information question:

1. Start with the Answer Choices: Go through the options first.

2. Scan and Eliminate: Read the relevant parts of the text, focusing on keywords from the answer options, and eliminate the correct (true) options one by one. Pay close attention to paraphrasing!

The correct answer is 4. The termites use hollow, thin-walled ridges to travel from one part of the nest to another.

Why? Because there is no information in the passage about how termites move around the nests. The TOEFL test makers tried to trick you here by using the phrase thin-walled ridges, which does appear in the text, but it's used to describe the mound's structure, not as a means of termite movement. That's why this statement is not true and is the correct choice for this kind of question.

• Verification: The other choices are all true, though paraphrased: Walls are built out of soil mixed with termite saliva, the nests can be as tall as they are wide at the base, and the interior is kept as humid as possible (100% relative humidity).

---

Question 5: Understanding Cause and Effect in Biology

Question five. According to paragraph four, how does the fungus grown by Macroterms natalensis affect the environment of the nest?

Another Factual Information question, focused on cause and effect. The key word is fungus.

1. Locate Key Sentence: The sentence with the word fungus says: "...the metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest."

2. Identify Effects/Actions:

   • Keep the interior warm $\rightarrow$ Heats

   • Supply moisture $\rightarrow$ Adds humidity

This matches answer choice 3. It heats and adds humidity to the inside of the nest.

---

Questions 6 & 7: The Ordering Principle in TOEFL Reading

Now we move to paragraph five for the final Factual Information questions.

Question 6: Cause-and-Effect with Thinness

Question six. According to paragraph five, what does the thinness of the ridge walls make possible?

The key word is thinness. We're looking for the result or effect of the ridge walls being thin.

I spot the word thin in this sentence from the paragraph: "Gases easily diffuse into or out of the ridges since their walls are thin."

The thin walls allow gases to diffuse in and out. That's exactly what option four says: 4. The diffusion of gases into and out of the ridges.

Question 7: Using Contextual Order

Question seven. According to paragraph five, what happens to the air in the ridge tunnels of Macroterm's natalensis' nests?

You might be thinking you have to scan the entire paragraph again. But here is a key tip:

🔑 TOEFL Reading Order Tip: Questions follow the order of the text. If you found the answer to the last question (Question 6) in a certain sentence, the next answer (Question 7) will come after that, not before.

This means we only need to read the short section of the paragraph that comes after the sentence we used for Question 6.

The relevant sentence says: "Thus, air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen and has lost much of its carbon dioxide."

This matches answer 2. It loses carbon dioxide and gains oxygen.

---

Question 8: Drawing Inferences from the Airflow System

Question eight. Paragraph five supports which of the following about the air that flows through the interior of Macroterms natalensis's mound?

This is an Inference question. We need to draw a conclusion, not just locate a directly stated fact. Since we've already broken down the paragraph for the earlier questions, we have a good grasp of the structure:

• Warm air rises from the fungus garden to the attic.

• From the attic, it flows into the thin-walled ridges and down to the cellar.

• In the ridges, it loses carbon dioxide and gains oxygen (it's "relatively rich in oxygen").

• The fresh air in the cellar then rises back up through the nest, supplying oxygen to the insects.

If the air in the cellar provides oxygen to the insects before moving back up to the attic, it must lose some of that oxygen along the way. This means the oxygen concentration is higher in the cellar and lower in the attic.

Therefore, the correct inference is A. It has a higher concentration of oxygen in the cellar than in the attic.

---

Question 9: Insert Text: The Q&A Clue

Question nine. This is an insert text question. We have to choose the best place to add the sentence: "If not, through the walls or its pores, how does oxygen enter the nest at all since the nest has a closed surface?"

To solve this, look for clues that show where the new sentence fits best:

1. Prior Reference Clue: The words walls and pores show that they must have already been mentioned earlier.

2. Q&A Clue: This is a question. The sentence after it should sound like an answer or explanation.

After reviewing the paragraph, Choice Two is the best place. The sentences before it mention walls and pores, and the sentence after it begins with the key phrase: "The answer lies in the construction of the nest," which clearly responds to the question.

---

Question 10: The Prose Summary

Finally, question ten. The prose summary question.

This is one of the most challenging question types. You need to choose three correct ideas out of six to form a strong summary of the passage.

• Choose Main Ideas: Select sentences that express the main ideas of the paragraph, not small details or examples.

• Avoid Incorrect Information: Steer clear of any sentence that contains information not supported by the text.

The best choices that reflect the main ideas of the passage are:

1. Some termites build their nests underground, while others construct above-ground structures with thick insulating walls. (Covers the different types of nests mentioned)

2. Termites are sensitive to dryness and to changes in temperature, so their nests are designed to minimize these factors. (Covers the environmental needs and clever engineering)

3. The nest of Macroterms natalensis consists of a series of chambers and tunnels that allow for the circulation of air and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. (Details the complex structure and its main function)

---

🏆 Conclusion

That was a marathon of Factual Information questions! Nice work getting through it. Now it's time to calculate your results.

Write "winner" in the comments below if you answered all the questions correctly!

If you made any mistakes, let me know which question types were the most difficult and how many correct answers you got overall.

Remember, scoring 100+ on the TOEFL isn't rocket science—it's the little things you do that make all the difference.

As always, I wish you all a stellar TOEFL score.

---

Would you like me to generate a practice passage and question set based on this lecture's structure, focusing heavily on Factual Information questions?