2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLTestReadingVocabularyQuestion

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InsidetheTOEFLTestReading
VocabularyQuestion

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Michael

Intro
[musicplaying]

Michael:Hi,I'mMichaelfromETS.TodayonInsidetheTOEFLTestwe'regoing
insidetheTOEFLiBTReadingsection.Specifically,theVocabularyquestions.

Onscreen:
InsidetheTOEFLTestReading
Vocabulary

Michael:Vocabularyquestionsaskyoutoidentifythemeaningsofwordsand
phrasesastheyareusedinthereadingpassage.

It'seasytoidentifyVocabularyquestions,becausetherewillbeawordorphrase
highlightedinthereadingpassage,andyouwillseequestionslikethese,with
phraseslike"closestinmeaning"or"theauthormeans."

Onscreen:
Vocabularyidentifymeaningsofwordsandphrases
Wordorphrasehighlightedinthereadingpassage

Theword"X"inthepassageisclosestinmeaningto
Thephrase"X"inthepassageisclosestinmeaningto
Instating"X",theauthormeansthat

Michael:Nowlet'slookatasamplevocabularyquestion.Thisoneisfroma
readingpassageaboutmeteoriteimpacts.
Here'sanexcerptfromthepassagewiththevocabularywordhighlighted.
Here'sthesamplequestion,whichasksthemeaningoftheword"pose".

Now,there'sreallynotmuchstrategyinansweringthesevocabularyquestions..

Onscreen:
Thereisincreasingevidencethattheimpactsofmeteoriteshavehadimportant
effectsonEarth,particularlyinthefieldofbiologicalevolution.Suchimpacts
continuetoposeanaturalhazardtolifeonEarth.

http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/flash/34212_toefl2016r3_transcript.html 1/3
2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLTestReadingVocabularyQuestion

Theword"pose"isclosestinmeaningto

a.claim
b.model
c.assume
d.present

GreencheckappearsnexttoansweroptionD.present

Michael:Thewordsthataretestedareacademicvocabularythatyoushouldknow
ifyourEnglishisatthelevelofauniversitystudent.

Theyarenotusuallywordsthatyoucanguessfromcontext.Sothebestgeneral
strategytobereadyforthistypeofquestionsistobuildyourvocabulary.

Onscreen:AcademicVocabularywordsthatstudentsatuniversitylevelshould
know

Michael:Keepinmindthatthere'sadifferencebetweenacademicvocabularyand
specializedvocabulary.Academicvocabularywordscanbeusedacrossmany
fieldsofstudy.Thesearethekindofwordsyou'llbetestedon.

Specializedvocabularywordsarespecifictoonefield.Ifwordslikethisareina
TOEFLreadingpassage,theywillbedefinedforyou.

Onscreen:AcademicVocabulary(Expectedtoknow)

Arbitrary
Capacity
Fluctuate
Relatively

SpecializedVocabulary(Definedforyou)

Cadence(Music)
Monopolies(Business)
Desertification(EarthScience)
Cetaceans(Biology)

Michael:Hereisatipforincreasingyourvocabulary:
ManyEnglishwordscomefromLatinorGreek.SoifyoustudyLatinandGreek
rootsthatwillhelpyourememberthemeaningsofwords.Anditcanalsohelp
youfigureoutthemeaningsofwordsyoumaynotknow.

Onscreen:
LatinandGreekrootsofEnglishwords

Rootword Origin Meaning ExamplesandDefinitions

bio Greek life Biologyscienceoflife
cardi Greek heart Cardiacrelatingtotheheart
retro Latin back Retrospectreviewpastevents
vac Latin empty Vacantnotoccupied

Michael:Forexample,ifyouknowthattheLatinroot"terra"meansearth,then
whenyouseethissentencefromthepassagethattalksaboutthe"terrestrial
http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/flash/34212_toefl2016r3_transcript.html 2/3
2017/1/17 InsidetheTOEFLTestReadingVocabularyQuestion

material"foundattheimpactsite,you'llknowthatit'sreferringtothematerial
fromtheearth,notfromthemeteorite.

Onscreen:terra=earth

Evendilutedbytheterrestrialmaterialexcavatedfromthecrater,thiscomponent
ofmeteoritesiseasilyidentified.

Michael:TherearelotsofwaystoimproveyourEnglishskills.Whateveryoudo,
keeppracticing.AndgoodluckonyourTOEFLtest.

Onscreen:FormoreinformationabouttheTOEFLtestandtoregister,visitthe
TOEFLwebsiteatwww.toeflgoanywhere.org
[END]

Totallengthofvideo:2:45

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http://www.ets.org/s/toefl/flash/34212_toefl2016r3_transcript.html 3/3