Test of English for pie International Communication Princeton — Review Cracking the TI OEIC Enhance listening Skills With Audio Fxercises on Two Audio COs fheabetd fallingBy Elizabeth RollinsCONTENTS Part |: OriENTATION 1 1 The Basics Ae 2 How to Use This Book 9 3 TestTaking Techniques 13 Paar Il: LisTENING COMPREHENSION 21 4 Conversational English 31 5 Photographs Questions 53 6 — Question-and-Response Questions Sd 7 _ Short Conversations Questions 77 8 — Short Talks Questions 91 PART Ill: READING: GrAMMAR-BASED QUESTIONS 101 9 GrammorReview 107 10 Sentence Completion Questions 123 11 Error Identification Questions 139 Part IV: READING: COMPREHENSION 149 12 Reading Comprehension Questions. 153*Part V: GertinG READY TO TAKE THE Test 167 - 13. The Princeton Review TOEIC Practice Test 1 173 14 The Princeton Review TOEIC Practice Test 1: Answers and Explanations 215 15 The Princeton Review TOEIC Practice Test 2 243 16 The Princeton Review TOEIC Practice Test 2: Answers and Explanations 285 17 How to Score Your Test 315 Appendix 1: Idiom list 319 Play Listfor Audio CDs 33; About the Author 3397Wuat Is tHe TOEIC? The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is a standardized test administered by a division (Chauncey Group International) of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), a huge, tax-exempt private company located in New Jersey. ETS is the same testing organization that administers the GRE, SAT, LSAT, and a bunch of tests in other fclds, including hair styling, plumbing, and golf. The TOEIC is supposedly designed to test anof-native English speaker's proficiency in English. However, itreally tests how well you take a multiple-choice exam. In any case, all the'expressions, idioms, and grammar tested on the TOEIC are those most common in America, not in England or other English-speaking countries. Wuart Does tne TOEIC Measure? It is unclear exactly what the Test of English for International Communication measures. Clearly, a person fluent in English will perform better on the test than would a person only somewhat familiar with the language. However, how well you speak English is not the only factor that determines your TOEIC score. Some people get very nervous when taking a test and don’t get the score they deserve. Others always do well on tests even when they don’t study. Standardized tests aren't the most reliable measure of pro- ficiency in any subject. So what is rally tested by the TOEIC? Well, one might say, the TOEIC measures your performance on the TOEIC. This book will help improve your TOEIC score by showing you how to look for shottcuts, avoid common mistakes, and practice taking the test, These skills are just as important to your TOEIC score as studying English is Wuo Takes tHe TOEIC ano How Is It Dirrerent From TOEFL? The TOEIC tests English used in everyday work life and in the workplace. People who might take the TORIC include employees who use English in their daily work or who might need to take job-related courses or training classes in English, or people who want to have an internationally recognized measure of their English proficiency. The TOEIC and TOEFL tests were developed to test different things. TOBIC tests English used in the workplace; TOEFL tests English used in academic situations. Students interested in pursuing graduate or undergraduate education in North America would take the TOEFL; employees wishing to prove their English proficiency or employers wishing to test the English proficiency of their employees would use the TOEIC- Wuart Does tHe TOEIC Test? The TOEIC tests the kind of English used in everyday activities related to the workplace and the work world, such as corporate development, dining out, entertainment, finance and budgeting, general busi- ness,health, housing or corporate property, manufacturing, offices, personnel, purchasing, technical areas, and travel. Itdoes not test English used in academic situations, nor does it test factual information such as histori- cal events. There are no math questions on the TOBIC.How Important Is tHe TOEIC? The importanceof the TORIC differs widely from employer to employer. Some employers use the TOEIC in hiring, either-as a process of weighting candidates or as a cut-off score. Other companies use TOEIC scores to determine advancerhent within the company, Still others use TOEIC scores to help determine job placement (employees with higher scores are puf in positions that require more English). If you do not currently have job, you may take the TOEIC in an “open administration.” Your TOBIC score can be a wonderful addition to your resume,.as it will demonstrate to your prospective employer that you can speak English to a degree. If your score is not as high as you'd like it to be, however, you may want to refrain from putting it on your resume until you've worked through this book arid taken the TOEIC again with an improved score. How Is tHe TOEIC Structure? ‘The TOEIC is a two-hour-long, multiple-choice test. There are two parts of the TOEIC, the Listening Comprehension section and the Reading section. : The Listening Comprehension section consists of 100 questions organized in four parts that lasts 45 minutes. There are four question types on the Listening Comprehension section: * Part I: 20 photograph questions. You will see a photograph and be asked to choose the answer choice that describes what is happening in the photo. The answer choices will be read to you; they will not be printed in the test booklet. ©” Part II: 30 question-and-résponse questions. You will hear p question-and be asked to: pick the correct response to the question. The question ard answer choices will: both be read but they will not be pritited inthe test booklet. * Part III: 30 short conversation questions. You will hear a short conversation between two speakers. A question about the conversation and the answer choices will be printed in the test booklet. +) Part IV: 20 short talk questions. You will hear a short talk by one-speaker.-A question about the talk and the answer choices will be printed in the test booklet: There will be two to four questions about each talk, Thé Reading section consists of 100 questions organized in three parts that lasts 75 minutes. There are three question types on the Reading section: + Pait V: 40 incomplete sentence questions. You will read a sentence with a missing word and four answer choices. You must pick the word that best fits the sentence. © Part VI: 20 error identification questions. You will read a sentence with four underlined words or phrases. One of the words will be grammatically incorrect. You must find it. * Past VU: 40 reading comprehension questions, You will read a passage (which can ‘be any printed document, such aé a fax, newspaper article, or memo). There will-be a {uestion about the passage with four answer choices. There will Be two to five questions about each passage.As you can see, the Listening Comprehension section moves njuch shore quickly than the Reading éec- tion does. Since you will have to listen to spoken parts from a tape or CD on the Listening Comprehensi section, you must keep up with the recording. On the Reading section, you may work at your own pace. ‘There is no break between the sections of the test. How Is the TOEIC Score? The TOEIC is scored by counting the number of correct answers marked on the answer sheet, ETS has a formula that converts the number of correct answers on each of the two main sections to a number.on a scale of 5 to 495. The converted scores from the two sections are added together to get a final score of 10 to. 990. Wuen Do | Ger My Scores? Your scores will be sent to your address several weeks after you take the test ETS makes it clear that they will not be available any earlier. You will receive a score sheet which tells you how you scored on each of the two main sections of the test. You will also receive a certificate with your total score. Although your Scores are confidential, ETS has the right to use them anonymously for any research or project it might concoct. Wiere Do | Take tHe TOEIC? You will probably take the TORIC at your place of employment or your language schol: If you are not employed or wish to take the TOEIC for your own reasons, you may take the test at an open administra- tion. Many countries offer open administrations. To see if there are open administrations in your country, consult the official TOEIC, website at wurw.toeic.com. How Do I Recister For tHe TOEIC Exam? Your ‘employer may provide you with all the paperwork you need to-repister for the TOEIC, especially if the test is to be administered at your place of business. If this is not the case, you will néed to contact the TORIC representative for your country. A list of the official TOEIC representatives can be found at the TOEIC website at www.toeic.com. Wauat Is Tue Princeton Review? ‘The Princeton Review is a test-preparation company based in New York City. We have branches:in-more than fifty cities across the United States and the world. We've developed the techniques found in our books and courses by analyzing actual exams and testing theit effectiveness with our shidents. We don’t want to waste your time with a lot of unnecessary information. It would be foolish for us to try to teach you every rule of English grammar or every:subtlety of spoken English. Those things aren't what will raise youn score: What we will teach you ss how to approach the test: Unce.you leam to think like the people who write the test, you'll earn what sorts of questions come up most often and what a right answer looks like. You'll Jeam to use your time elfectively, avoid problems along the way, and find answers to questions you may e unsure of. You neea to do only two things: Trust the techniques, and practice.The BasicsWHY PRACTICE FOR THE TOEIC? ETS will tell yoin that it is not possible to learn English in a short period of time, While this is tue, what you can learn in a short period of time is how to take an exam. Would you rather take the testin tis situation: ‘You walk into work tomorrow morning to discover that the test is being given in an hour. You rush to the test- ing toons, unprepared, iipset, and out of sorts. You arrive at the testing roam nervous and unsure of what to expect. You begin the test, misread the instructions, and make time-consuming mistakes. Unfamiliar with the TOEIC, you ‘make more silly mistakes, which continue to lower your score. Or this one? After preparing for the test, you arrive atthe testing room on time, confident, and relaxed. You know what to bring with you. You know how long the test will take. There are no surprises. You don’ waste your time or your brainpower trying to familiarize yourself with the TOEIC. You are completely used to all question types and are not intimidated by the changes ETS has made. Your score reflects yolsr confidence. There is no reason to panic over the TOEIC. Nothing can alleviate your stress more than knowing what to expect. Don’t let your score be affected by the unknown! Prepare and get ready to improve your core, How to Improve Your ENGLIsH What this book sets out to do is to train you for the TORIC in the most efficient way. There is not a Jot of memorizing, but as with any study aid, it is best to allot a few hours of study time each day for a few weeks before the test. You'll want time to find your strengths and weaknesses. You'll want to practice the techniques and do the drills a little at a time. Do not try to finish everything in a weekend! In addition to the information in the book, here are a couple of general pointers to help you become as familiar as possible with spoken and written English: * SPEAK! Don’t belintimidated by English. Try to converse with native English speak- ers as much as possible. If you have a friend or coworker who is an English speaker, practice with that person. Have conversations on the telephone. Learn the idiomatic expressions, feel the rhythm of the language, and get to know how Americans express themselves. Nothing can improve your English more than speaking with real people in real situations. The most important thing you can do is speak, speak, spenk! Got it? + LISTEN! Tum on the radio and television. This is a fun way to improve listening com- prehension! Try to understand what is being implied in a conversation or discussion. Talk shows can be great sources of conversation, and news programs can aid your busi- ness vocabulary. + READ! Buy newspapers and magazines. Get used to skimming articles to find the main ideas. Pay attention to captions under pictures. You never have to read any long passag- es on the TOEIC, so look for short paragraphs that are informational or conversational, and pay special attention to the business sections and advertisements. + BE POSITIVE! Set reasonable goals and stick to them. Your English will improve if you believe it will. Eliminate’ your fear.‘These are some of the most interesting and natural ways to practice: Make it your goal for the next few weeks to spend as much time as possible speaking, listening fo; and reading English, Can I Reawy Improve My Score? ‘Yes! ‘Yes! Yes! ETS always'says that no one teaching.method can help prepare someone for the TOEIC. Remember, although native speakers will do better on the TORIC than will non-native speakers, the more familiar you are with a standardized test, the easier it willbe to.raise your score: Everyone canleam how to take a standardized test. The first-step ih doing better oft the TOEIC is-realizing this. Trained Princeton Review-staff, who, have carefully researched and analyzed all available TOEIC ma- terial, developed these strategies and teaching methods for use on the TOEIC. Our focus is on the basic concepts that will enable you to attack the TOEIC problems, strip them down, and solve them as quickly as possible. The sooner you accept the fact that the TOEIC is‘not a’regular test, but‘a standardized test with standardized “logic,” the more your scbre will improve:How to Use This BookTue Basics. What do we miean,“How to use this book”? Shouldn’t you just read it? Not exactly. You see, you will definitely learn just By reading through the book, but we want you to increase your score on the TOEIC. A lot. And the only way you'll really do that is by Having a plan of attack for using this book to study for the test, Tt may feel like a lot of extra work to you, but it’s the only way to completely understand how you're doing and how to do better. It will all be worth it once you have that TOEIC certificate with the score of your dreams on it, we promise. So now let's discuss the steps to using this book. Read through the testtaking techniques. The next chapter in this book is vital to your success on the TOEIC. It's called “Jest-Taking Techniques,” and it covers all the things you need to know to manage your time and the questions well. Read it through at least once before you move on to the specific information about the questions. Refer back to it often. When you start working the drills, you'll need to remember everything you read in this chapter so you can: practice it. And practice it, again and again, until it becomes second nature. Read each chapter, do the drills, and review. . After you've read the Test-Taking Techniques chapter and the Conversational English chapter, read the chapterion-photographs questions. Make sureyyou understand everything you read; if you don’, go back and read the chapter again. Then do the drill. The audio portion of the photographs section and other Listening Comprehension sections is on the CDs in the back of the book. When you've done the drill, use the explanations to go over every question. Try to understand why you answered questions correctly, and why you answered them incorrectly. This step is tedious, butit’s the best way to assess your performance and learn from yout own work. Once you've reviewed your work on the drill, go on to the next chapter. Do wat read through all the chapters and then do all the drills. This is a recipe for disaster because you won't be able to examine your performance closely. Instead, read a chapter, do the drill, examine your work, and only then move on to the next chapter. ‘Take Practice Test 1. Once you've finished all the chapters and their drills, take Practice Test 1. Take it as if you were in the real testing situation. Remove all distractions, like the telephone and television, and ask any friends or family not to interrupt you. Sit down ata desk or clear space in a quiet place. Put the corresponding CD in your CD player or headset and do not press pause or stor while you are taking the test. After you finish the Listening Comprehension section, do not take a break; instead, move directly on to the Reading section. Set a timer, alarm dock, or your watch alarm for 75 minutes and do not take any extra time. When you are done, get yourself a glass of water and relax for awhile before you score your test. Review your performance. ‘Use the scoring guide at the end of the book to score your test. Now you've got your score, but your studying isn’t done yet. Look at the questions you got right and wrong, and use the explanations to review exactly why you got them correct or incorrect. Make sure you understand why the correct answers are correct so that you can get similar questions right on future tests. 10Also think about the other aspects of the test besides your score. Did you run out of time? Did you have fime left over? Should you work faster or slower in certain sections? Did you find yourself getting nervous? Are there words you didn’t know that you need to look up? Were you able'to understand the speakers on the recording? Did you have enough fime between the recorded conversations to read and answer the questions? Once you answer these questions, you'll know what you need to practice. Go back and read’ over thiose chapters. Give yourself at least a day or two to think about how you can improve your test perfor- mance. Then, when you feel confident that you've adjusted your test-taking techniques, go on to Practice ‘Test 2. Take Practice Test 2. ‘Take Practice Test 2 in the same way you did Practice Test 1—as if it'were the real tést’ And now that you've targeted your weaknesses; you have:this chance fo’correct them. Review your performance. This is your last chance to evaluate the test and your performance before you take the real TOEIC: Make it count by being as picky as possible with yourself. Make Sure you understand alll the grammar rules and why you missed any questions you may have missed. Go back and read the transcripts of the recorded conversations so that you know what you heard. Once you've assessed your performance on Practice Test 2, make your plan for the real TOEIC. Write down the things you want to remember, from grammar rules to the amount of time you want fo-spend on each error identification question. Keep reviewing your plan so that it will be easy to follow when you take the real TORIC. 14Test-Taking TechniquesBASICS While it is extremely important to be prepared for the TOEIC by practicing your listening and reading skills in English, it is also vital to practice and use the test-taking techniques in this chapter. These tech niques should help you manage your time and answer the questions correctly and efficiently. They should also save you stress and worry over individual questions. This chapter contains techniques for taking the TOEIC in general, as well as techniques specific to the Listening Comprehension and Reading sections. GENERAL TECHNIQUES POE (PRocess oF ELimiNATION) Answer the following question: What is the capital city of Madagascar? Do you know the answer? If you don’t, are there any clues in the question that can help you? Not really. Let's try the same question again. What is the capital city of Madagascar? (2) Pans ) Antananarivo (Sati (D)-Mexico City Now that we are given multiple-chdice answers to choose from, this question is much easier. Why? Because you know that Paris is the capital of France, not Madagascar, that Tokyo i the capital of Japan, not Madagascar, and that Mexico City is the capital of Mexico, not Madagascar. Once you've eliminated those three answer choices, the only choice left, Antananarivo, must be the correct response to the question. We've just used the Process of Elimination (POE) to answer a question, It works on the premise that, in multiple-choice questions and certain other types of questions where possible answers are provided, it’s easier to find the wrong answers than it is to find the right one. Perhaps the best thing about ETS’s standardized TOEIC is that the correct answer is always in front of you. You never have to fill in a blank, or come up with the answer on your own. And because there are usually three times as many wrong answers as there are right answers, it's often easier to eliminate the wrong answers than to pick the correct one. By identifying and eliminating the incorrect answers, it is easier to find the correct answer. Wreng answers We like to call the incorrect answer choices “distractors.” The definition of distract is to draw attention away from one object and focus it on another. This is exactly ETS's goal: to draw your attention away from the correct answer and focus it ona wrong one cThis ETS strategy keeps you from earning points accidentally. Once you are able to recognize ETS's distractors, your score will improve greatly. 14Improve your odds Every time you are able to eliminate an incorrect choice on the TOEIC, you improve your chances o! selecting the best answer. The more you use POE, the better your odds. Think about it. In a multiple. choice question with four possible ariswers, if you guess on any question, you have a one-in-four chance of getting the best answer. When you eliminate just one choice, you are down to one-in-three. Eliminate jtist two answers and you have a fifty-tifty charice of guessing’ the Best answet, If you'dan’t know the answer, you'll have to guess, so guess intelligently. This indirect way of findiig the éorséct answer helps you avoid the traps that ETS wants you to fall in. POE is a powerful testing tool! ; Inthe Reading section, you can skip around and answer the questions in.arty order you wait. However, you must answer every question by the end of the Reading section. It is very important to know that you are not penalized for guessing, So use POB and make your best guess, Don’t Leave BLANKS The testis scored so that you receive one point for a correct answer and no points for either an incorrect answer or arblanik. This means that there's no penalty for guéssing and getting an answer wrong. Don't leave any blanks! t Since there's no penalty for getting an answer wrong, you shoyld fill in.an.answer.for every single question on the TOEIC, even if you run out of time. Keep an eye on the clock, and wher you have two minutes left, go through your answer sheet arid fill in a bubble for any questions you skipped or didn’t get to. Of course, it's better for you if you have the time to eliminate one ot two answer choices before you guess, but even if you can’t do this, it is still to your advantage to guess. And when you guess, you should pick one letter, your” guessing letter,” and fill in-that letter forall the guesses you miake on thé TOEIC. It doesn’t:matter which letter it is, as long as.you stick'fo the Same one for all your blind guesses. Think of itthis way: You are trying to shoot a water‘pistol at your younger brother If you keep moving the water pistol, and he keeps dodging the water, chances are'that you'miay never hit him. On the‘other hand, if you keep the watet pistol steady and your brother keeps moving, he will eventually run‘in front of the pistol and he'll get wet, The TOEIC is the same:way. There is a.relatively even, distribution of-correct answer choices, so that there are approximately. the same number of (A) answers, (B) answers, (C) answers, and.(D) answers. This means that if you guess four times and guess the same letter all four times, statistically speaking you should get one answer right. If you pick different letters for each of your guesses, you may never hit a correct guess. Rémemibier though, only use yoiur etter dn questions where You're guessing Blindly. If you car} eliminate even one of the answer choices, you shouild be able to make an “educated” guess. Before you tum in your answer sheet at the end of the TOEIC, make sure you've filled in an answer forevery question (aind that you haven't filled in more than one answer for any question!). LISTENING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES The following techniques apply only to the Listening Comprehension section, ‘This section is general: harder than the Reading section is, so it is doubly important to usé the téchniques. 15Pay ATTENTION To Protos On some standardized tests, the photos are irrelevant to,the question. being asked, or, even worse,.delib- erately distracting. This is not the case on the TOEIC. In questions containing photographs; the photos are the keys to answering the question correctly. You should study them carefully. You should get in the habit of looking at a photograph and summarizing what is happening in the photo. For instance, if you see.a photo of a woman and a manvat a table containing full wine glasses and plates of food, you can assess that the people are sharing a meal (probably dinner). This may be a personal dinner or a business dinner. What are the people in the photo wearing? Where are they? These details will give you clues to what's going-on in the photo. On the other hand, you don’t want to read too much into a photo. In the example in the previous para- graph, it is reasonable to assume that they are at dinner, but it is not reasonable to assume that they are necessarily a romantic couple. They could be coworkers or business partners of some sort at a meeting. Practice assessing photographs without jumping to unwarranted conclusions, and you will improve your speed on photograph questions. Small details may be the point Bear in mind that the correct answer choice may be one which asks about small details in the photo that don’t seem significant at first glance, For instance, the correct answer choice to the difiner photo may say something like this. There are wine glasses on the table. When you hear this statement, you may be tempted to eliminate it because it is so obvious and so unimportant. But remember that the goal of the photograph questions is to choose the answer choice that accurately describes the plioto. You must choose the’ statement that reflects the Teality of the photo, not your interpretation of it. REAp THE Questions AHEAD oF TIME. On the short conversation and short talk questions, it is vital that you read the question before you hear the recording: This may be tricky because of the timing of the section. The test is designed'so that the recording plays the conversation, then pauses for five to eigh€ seconds so that you can read the question, find the answer, and fill in your answer, Instead, you should use the five to eight seconds to read the question and the answer choices, then listen to the conversdtion and quickly fill in the answer. It won't take you long to find the answer, because you read the question before you heagd the convetsation. While you Were listening to the conversation; you knew exactly what information you were listening for, and once you heard it, you could choose the correct answer. f This means that you'll have to rush on the first question so that you can use the pause after the first question to read: the question and answers for the second question. Then you'll be on the right schedule with time to read all the other questions before the recording plays..It’s possible you may pick the wrong answer on the first question-since you're rushing through it. But since you will get more questions right by reading the question first, getting the first question in the section wrong mayzbe a sacrifice worth making in order to get a higher score overall. \ y Practice reading the question and answers first when you take the practicé tests in this book, Then you will be completely comfortable with this téchnique when you take the actual TOEIC. Be aware that the short talks (the last part of the Listening Comprehension section) are followed by two to four questions. This means that you'll have to read_a few questions ahead before the recording plays. You may feel a little uneasy about this, but practice it, get used to it, and you’ find it mich easier to answer questions correctly. 16