1. Scanning
A TOEIC skill you need to develop is the ability to quickly Scan questions, answer choices and paragraphs for words and ideas.
The key to Scanning is to NOT READ. Instead, Look.
When you Scan, you look through a text to find keywords and phrases that are likely to indicate the specific information that you are seeking, then reading just this piece of the text
| Example:
Question: Who needs to inform Mall security? Key Words: who, inform, security A) Security guards at Weston Mall Key Words: guards “Weston Mall” would NOT be a good Key Word because it appears in almost every Answer Choice. |
After you have chosen key words from an answer choice, go to the text. Take your pencil and run it across the sentences of the Text, moving from one word to the next in each sentence. Your eyes should follow just behind the pencil as it moves over the words.
As you move the pencil, be looking for the Key Words, or synonyms of the key words, from the answer choices. When you find a key word from an answer choice, look for key words from the question–are they nearby? If “Yes”, then that is probably the correct answer.
2. Skimming
One of the most important skills you will need to develop for the TOEIC is Skimming—this will help you with many Questions in Part 6: Text Completion and Part 7: Reading Comprehension, especially with Inference Questions. Skimming means to quickly look through a Text, focusing only on certain words. These words give you an understanding of the general information or ideas in the Text.
The key to Skimming is to NOT READ every word.
Instead, focus on the following kinds of Key Words:
- Subject or Object of each sentence
- Action Verbs (i.e., verb that describe a clear action, such as “delete”)
- Helping Verbs (i.e., verbs such as “need to”, “can”, or “will”)
- Strong Adjectives
| Example:
Original Text: “Security cameras are being installed at all exits. While we regret this slight intrusion of privacy, know that it is for your own protection. At the end of each week, these security tapes will be erased, to ensure that this invasion of your privacy is temporary. Skimmed Text: “Security cameras are being installed at all exits. While we regret this slight intrusion of privacy, know that it is for your own protection. At the end of each week, these security tapes will be erased, to ensure that this invasion of your privacy is temporary.” |
Skimming will help you: more quickly understand the General Ideas of Texts, without having to read every word and you will know the Location of different kinds of information.
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