7. Short Readings

Format
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Part VII is the longest part of TOEIC. It's also the last part, so you may be starting to get tired. However, you need to stay focused on the test for a little longer. (Of course, if you want, you may work on part VII before you work on parts V and VI.)

Part VII consists of short reading passages followed by questions about the passages. There are four possible answer choices for each question. You must pick the best answer choice based on the information in the passage and then mark that answer on your answer sheet.

The Passages

There are from twelve to fifteen passages. Most are quite short. Some consist of only three or four sentences; the longest have around 150 words. The passages deal with a wide variety of topics and involve many different types of written materials.

There are from two to five questions per passage for a total of 40 questions. They include these three main types:

1. Overview¹ questions
2. Detail questions
3. Inference² questions

* Overview questions occur after most of the passages. To answer overview questions correctly, you need a "global" (overall) understanding of the passage. The most common overview question asks about the purpose or the main topic of the passage:

  What does this article mainly discuss?
  What is the purpose of this letter?
  Why was this notice written?

Some ask about the best title or heading of a passage:

  What is the best heading for this announcement?
  Which of the fo/lowing is the best title for the article?

Other overview questions ask about the writer of the passage, the readers of the passage, or the place of publication³:

  In what business is the writer of the passage?
  What is the author's opinion of ____ ?
  Who would be most interested in the information in this announcement?
  For whom is this advertisement intended?
  Where was this article probably published?

* Detail questions, the most common type of Part VII question, ask about specific points in the passage. You will usually have to scan⁴ the passage to find and identify the information. Sometimes the answer and the information in the passage do not look the same. For example, a sentence in a passage may read "This process is not as simple as it once was." The correct answer may be "The process is now more complex."

Some detail questions are negative questions. These almost always include the word NOT, which is printed in uppercase (capital) letters:

Based on the information in the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

Negative questions usually take longer to answer than other detail questions.

* A few questions in Part VII are inference questions. The answers to these questions are not directly stated in the passage. Instead, you must draw a conclusion about the information that is given. Some typical inference questions:

  Which of these statements is probably true?
  Which of the following can be inferred⁵ from this notice?

Answer Choices

All are believable answers to the questions. Incorrect choices often contain information that is presented somewhere in the passage but does not correctly answer the question.

A Note About Vocabulary

Most of the vocabulary in the passages consists of relatively⁶ common English words and phrases, but there will certainly be expressions that you do not know. However, you can understand most of a reading and answer most of the questions even if you don't know the meaning of all the words. Also, you can guess the meaning of many unfamiliar⁷ words in the passages through context⁸. In other words, you can use the familiar words in the sentence in which an unfamiliar word appears to get an idea of what the unfamiliar word means.

Tactics
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1. First, look at the passage quickly to get an idea of what it is about.

2. Next, read the questions about the passage. You should not read the answer choices at this time. Try to keep these questions in the back of your mind as you read the passage.

3. Read the passage. Try to read quickly, but read every word; don't just skim⁹ the passage. Look for answers to the questions that you read.

4. Answer the questions. For detail and inference questions, you will probably have to refer back to the passage. Use the eraser-end of your pencil as a pointer to focus your attention as you look for the information needed to answer the question.

5. If you are unsure of the answer, eliminate¹⁰ answer choices that are clearly wrong, and then guess.

6. Don't spend too much time on any item. If you find a question or even an entire passage confusing, guess at the answer or answers and come back to these items later if you have time.

7. If you have not answered all the questions and only a few minutes ere left, read the remaining questions without reading the passages, and choose the answers that seem most logical¹¹.

* Types of Readings and Practice Exercises
A. Articles
B. Business Correspondence
C. Advertisements
D. Announcements