TOEIC Tips and Tricks

References  Lin Lougheed, How to Prepare for the TOEIC Test (Barron’s)  ดร.สุทน ิ พูลสว ัสดิ,์ เตรียมสอบ TOEIC (TGRE Institute Publications, 2546

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TOIEC Test Structure  Section I Listening Comprehension    

Part I: Part II : Part III: Part IV:

Picture Question-Response Short Conversations Short Talks

(20) (30) (30) (20)

 Section II Reading  Part V: Incomplete Sentences (40)  Part VI: Error Recognition (20)  Part VII: Reading Comprehension (40)

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Section I Listening Comprehension Part I: Part II : Part III: Part IV:

Picture Question-Response Short Conversations Short Talks

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(20) (30) (30) (20)

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Part I : Pictures    

No need to listen to direction Analyze picture before listening Mark “wrong” answer immediately Choose “right” answer ASAP, then analyze next picture

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Analyzing Pictures 1. Making Assumptions 2. Identifying People  Number, gender, location, description, activity, occupation . . .

3. Identifying Things 4. Identifying Actions 5. Identifying General Locations  Office, airport, restaurant . . .

6. Identifying Specific Locations  Above, on, beneath, to the left of . . .

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Pictures Examples

• • • • •

Assumption People Things Actions Locations

(A) The woman is clearing off the counter. (B) The man is writing in a notebook. (C) The women are facing away from each other. (D) The clock is at the top of the wall. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Pictures Examples • • • • •

Assumption People Things Actions Locations

(A) The bed is next to a table. (B) The nurse is attending to the patient. (C) The boy is half-covered with blankets. (D) The doctor is giving the boy a shot. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Part II : Question-Response  Listen to 5W 1H  Who, What, When, Where, Why, How  Listen to verbs  Is, Are, Was, Were, Can, Will, etc.  Recite the question before each answer option and try to match  Mark “wrong” answer ASAP  Choose “right” answer ASAP When did you leave the office? (A) Before it started to rain. (B) After tomorrow. (C) While you are speaking. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Part III : Short Conversations  No need to listen to direction  Quickly read question & answers before listening  Don’t worry about “in”, “at”, etc.  Try to determine context  Concentrate  Forget the previous questions  (forget the past, start the new)

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Short Conversations Example You will hear: Man: This meeting will never end! Woman: It’s even longer than yesterday’s and I thought that was long. Man: This one holds the world’s record for being the longest and the most boring. You will read: What do they think about the meeting? (A) It’s not long enough. (B) It’s very interesting. (C) It’s not very interesting. (D) It will end soon. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Part IV : Short Talks  Very quickly read question & answers before listening (but difficult)  Try to determine context & number of questions  Listen & memorize  Choose “right” answer ASAP  As soon as done with 1st question, go to 2nd (& 3rd) immediately, no need to wait for instruction, then read next questions  Concentrate  Forget the previous questions TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Short Talks Examples You will read: What should people take to work in the morning? (A) Snow boots. (B) Lunch. (C) Briefcases. (D) Umbrellas. When will the weather clear up? (A) By 6:00 A.M. (B) By noon. (C) By late afternoon. (D) By early evening. Why is the power being turned off? (A) To reduce total demand. (B) To save money. (C) To make it cooler. (D) To make the city pay its bill. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Section II Reading Comprehension Part V: Part VI: Part VII:

Incomplete Sentences Error Recognition Reading Comprehension

(40) (20) (40)

1 hour & 15 minutes

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Part V : Incomplete Sentences  Noun  Pronoun  Adjective  Verb  Adverb  Preposition (in, on, at)  Conjunction (but )  Interjection (Hey!) Eliminate wrong answers TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Incomplete Sentences Examples The officers of the company _____ today at 1:00. (A) is meeting (B) meets (C) has met (D) are meeting She is quite ______ about environmental management. (A) knows (B) knowledge (C) knowledgeable (D) knowing The ______ will be announced on Friday. (A) decision (B) decide (C) decisive (D) decisively

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Part VI : Error recognition     

Countable VS non-countable nouns Subject-Verb agreement Eliminate wrong answers Skip certain part of the sentence Do this part last

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Error Recognition Examples Management decided to distribution the product A B C nationally. D The affect of the new manufacturing process on the A B environment is not known. C D A team of the company’s best writers produce the A B C D annual report.

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Part VII : Reading Comprehension  PSRA strategy Predict.  Look at the introduction line.  Look at the question and answer options.

Scan the passage.

 Look for Key Words from the question.  Look for Key Words from the answer options.  Answer questions (in your head, NOT on answer sheet).

Read the passage.

 Read quickly, but carefully. Don’t stop if you don’t know a word. Guess unknown vocabulary from the context.  Confirm your predictions.

Answer the questions on the answer sheet.

 Answer the easy questions first.  Guess if you don’t know. Eliminate unlikely answer options. Make a note to return. Do NOT leave any answer blank. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Reading Comprehension Examples MEMORANDUM To:

Lafite, Pierre redict Purchasing Department • Intro From: Clement, Marie France • Q&A options Personnel We need computers for use in the office, answering machines for our consultants, fax machines for the shipping department, and CDplayers for everyone. This last piece of hardware can be used in a variety of ways.

P

According to the memo, which equipment has multiple uses? (A) Computers (B) Fax machines (C) Answering machines (D) CD-players TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Part VII : Reading Comprehension  PSRA strategy Predict.  Look at the introduction line.  Look at the question and answer options.

Scan the passage.

 Look for Key Words from the question.  Look for Key Words from the answer options.  Answer questions (in your head, NOT on answer sheet).

Read the passage.

 Read quickly, but carefully. Don’t stop if you don’t know a word. Guess unknown vocabulary from the context.  Confirm your predictions.

Answer the questions on the answer sheet.

 Answer the easy questions first.  Guess if you don’t know. Eliminate unlikely answer options. Make a note to return. Do NOT leave any answer blank. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Reading Comprehension Examples MEMORANDUM To:

Lafite, Pierre Purchasing Department can From: Clement, Marie France Key words Personnel We need computers for use in the office, answering machines for our consultants, fax machines for the shipping department, and CDplayers for everyone. This last piece of hardware can be used in a variety of ways.

S

According to the memo, which equipment has multiple uses? (A) Computers (B) Fax machines (C) Answering machines (D) CD-players TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Part VII : Reading Comprehension  PSRA strategy Predict.  Look at the introduction line.  Look at the question and answer options.

Scan the passage.

 Look for Key Words from the question.  Look for Key Words from the answer options.  Answer questions (in your head, NOT on answer sheet).

Read the passage.

 Read quickly, but carefully. Don’t stop if you don’t know a word. Guess unknown vocabulary from the context.  Confirm your predictions.

Answer the questions on the answer sheet.

 Answer the easy questions first.  Guess if you don’t know. Eliminate unlikely answer options. Make a note to return. Do NOT leave any answer blank. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Reading Comprehension Examples MEMORANDUM To:

Lafite, Pierre Purchasing Department ead From: Clement, Marie France & confirm Personnel We need computers for use in the office, answering machines for our consultants, fax machines for the shipping department, and CDplayers for everyone. This last piece of hardware can be used in a variety of ways.

R

According to the memo, which equipment has multiple uses? (A) Computers (B) Fax machines (C) Answering machines (D) CD-players TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Part VII : Reading Comprehension  PSRA strategy Predict.  Look at the introduction line.  Look at the question and answer options.

Scan the passage.

 Look for Key Words from the question.  Look for Key Words from the answer options.  Answer questions (in your head, NOT on answer sheet).

Read the passage.

 Read quickly, but carefully. Don’t stop if you don’t know a word. Guess unknown vocabulary from the context.  Confirm your predictions.

Answer the questions on the answer sheet.

 Answer the easy questions first.  Guess if you don’t know. Eliminate unlikely answer options. Make a note to return. Do NOT leave any answer blank. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Reading Comprehension Examples MEMORANDUM To:

Lafite, Pierre Purchasing Department nswer From: Clement, Marie France Personnel We need computers for use in the office, answering machines for our consultants, fax machines for the shipping department, and CDplayers for everyone. This last piece of hardware can be used in a variety of ways.

A

According to the memo, which equipment has multiple uses? (A) Computers (B) Fax machines (C) Answering machines (D) CD-players TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Tips & Tricks

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Gaining experience  Read     

Newspaper Comics Magazines Novels Everything, e.g., labels, signs, etc.

 Dictionary  OED, Webster, s/w, www.onelook.com

 Listen  Radio: news, music, . . .  TV: news, movie soundtrack, . . .  DVD w/ English subtitle

 Spelling & Grammar Tools in MS Office TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Pronunciation         

Available Behavior Caffeine Cellular Erase Error H Label Mountain

       

Strawberry Towel Quote Unleaded Value W Determine Undermine

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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Practicing English

Think in English Write in English, e.g., e-mail Dream in English !

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Preparing for the Test           

www.englishtestprep.com Go to bed early the night before Wristwatch Tylenol® Refrain from diuretic beverages Relieve yourself Sit near speakers Ignore other people Time management (max. 45 sec/question) Leave spare time & review Don’t forget to answer ALL questions TOEIC Tips & Tricks (041216)

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3 advices about practicing 1. Practice 2. Practice

3. Practice

Practices make perfect

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ALCOHOLIC CONTENTS EXCEEDING 3.25% V/V BUT NOT EXCEEDING 5% V/V

Homonyms week weak

for four

male mail

seen scene

wait weight

bear bare

sail sale

morning mourning

steak stake

flour flower

steel steal

fare fair

threw through

plane plain

tale tail

rite right

flew flu

due dew

too tow to

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