Th Prpceton Cracking the TOEEL . iBT / 2008 Edition Proven techniques ) | Hi) ! from the test-prep experts © Proven enstnies fr snoring ynt Renin. Writing, Speaking. aed listening scores, uti exercines on CO he our Lines eile * Tips wm organizing end tecusing yeur writing © Semple responses to Seip you il yin er ane Se mat ; tore hae 130 practice quastions, plus 1 full-length aimalated TOEFL iBT ‘ener in the hook’ bod wei CD-ROMWHAT’S IN THIS BOOK Cracking the TOEFL iBT contains four parts. 1. The Orientation, which is what you're reading now. 2. The Core Concepts, which examine each section of the TOEFL and identify the basic skills necessary for successfully complete the exam. By working through the exercises in this section, you will have a greater understanding of how the integrat- ed tasks on the TOEFL fit together. 3. The Strategies, which give you a detailed look at each question type on the TOEFL, as well as the appropriate strategies to crack it. Questions in the Listening and Speaking sections are accompanied by an audio CD-ROM. 4, The Full-Length Practice Test, which lets you practice under real testing conditions after you've worked through all the exercises and drills in the previous two sec- tions. The practice exam includes detailed explanations for every question, as well as sample speaking and writing responses. In addition, the audio CD-ROM includes samples of the types of conversations and lectures that test takers will actually hear to give you a good idea of what to expect and help you develop your listening skills. WHAT'S NOTIN THIS BOOK This book is primarily designed to aid you in preparing to take the TOEFL. It does not provide a comprehensive grammar guide or extensive English vocabulary lessons. By working through the ook, you'll be able to pick up new vocabulary and some grammar rules, but if you need more help with the basics, there a number of resources available. * The Princeton Review’s Grammar Smart and Word Smart books (available wherever you purchased this book) provide extensive help with grammar and vocabulary. * Reading magazines such as Time, Discover, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated and newspapers such as USA Today will help your comprehension and vocabulary. * One of the more enjoyable ways to learn the language is to watch television and listen to the radio. Almost any show or program will be helpful. * Aquick search of the Internet will turn up a number of helpful websites devoted to helping people learn English. This book is more useful if you are comfortable with the English language. If you are still hav- ing trouble with English, build up your confidence with the language first, then work through this book. HOW TO USE THIS BOOK ‘The material in Cracking the TOEFL iBT is provided to help students of all levels achieve higher scores on the test. Ideally, all students should work through the sections of the book in the order in which they are presented. Even students who are fairly comfortable speaking, reading, and writing English will benefit from the information in the Core Concepts section (Part Il). Of course, if you feel that you have a strong grasp of the material, you are free to skip ahead to the 10 MB CRACKING THE TOEFLStrategies section (Part III) to start working on TOEFL questions. If you find you are not progressing, as you'd hoped to, return to Part II and work through it first. ‘The best way to prepare for the TOEFL is to practice as much as possible, and this book gives you the chance to work on more than 200 sample questions. However, to get maximum value from this book, you must use the strategies and techniques we present, even if you feel our approach to the TOEFL sometimes feels awkward or inefficient. You must trust that our techniques and strategies do work, and you should practice them accordingly. CAN I REALLY IMPROVE MY SCORE? ‘Yes. Doing well on the TOEFLis a skill, and as with any skill, it can be learned. This book provides you with the tools necessary to do better on the TOEFL, but it is up to you to apply them. Work through the book at a comfortable pace. Take time to understand the strategies and techniques and use them. Look back at the questions you've answered: both the ones you answered correctly and the ones you missed. Figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are on the test. Many test takers find that if they fail to use the strategies we offer, their scores don’t change. However, test takers who do master our techniques and strategies do, in fact, improve their scores. Berore We BEGIN Before we discuss the TOEFL, there are a few basic principles to keep in mind for any standardized multiple-choice test. Wrong Answers One of the disadvantages of a multiple-choice test is that the answer to every question is right there on the screen. To minimize this disadvantage, test writers have to make the wrong answers seemt cor- rect; often, the wrong answers are particularly appealing, and test takers fall into the trap of picking, answers that seem too good to be true. Learning to recognize and avoid these trap answers is one of the keys to your success on the ‘TOEFL. For each question in this book, be sure to review both the right and wrong answers so you have an idea of what both a good and bad answer look like. Also, pay particular attention to our discussion of common trap answers in the Reading and Listening sections. Increase Your Odds Identifying wrong answers greatly improves your chances of getting a question correct. On the TOEFL, each multiple-choice question has four answer choices, which means you have a 25 percent (1 in 4) chance of guessing correctly. However, by using Process of Elimination (POE) to remove wrong answers, you greatly increase your odds. Finding and eliminating just one wrong answer means you have a 33 percent (1 in 3) chance of guessing correctly, and eliminating tzvo answers raises your odds of guessing correctly to 50 percent (1 in 2)! This is an important fact of which to be aware. Although you will not be able to answer every question on the TOEFL correctly, you can increase your score simply by increasing your odds when guessing. INTRODUCTION M11