SKILL 12: DETERMINE WHERE SPECIFIC INFORMATION IS FOUND LONGMAN COMPLETE COURSE FOR THE TOEFL READING

LONGMAN COMPLETE COURSE FOR THE TOEFL

READING

SKILL 12: DETERMINE WHERE SPECIFIC INFORMATION IS FOUND

Sometimes the final question accompanying a reading passage (or one paragraph of a passage) will ask you to determine where in the passage a piece of information is found. This type of question is worded differently on the paper TOEFL test and on the computer TOEFL test. On the paper test, there will be a multiple-choice question that asks where certain information is found. The answer choices will list possible locations for that information. On the computer test, the question asks you to click on the sentence that contains certain information. Look at a multiple-choice example from the paper TOEFL that asks you to identify where certain information is found.

Example from the Paper TOEFL Test The passage: Meter Crater, a great crater approximately forty miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona, is generally thought by scientists to have formed as a result of the impact of 60,000-ton meteor about 50,000 years ago. The meteor, made of nickel and iron, disintegrated on impact and spread half a billion tons of rock over the surface of the land. The massiveness of the meteor can only be imagined from the mammoth size of the crater, which measures a mile in diameter and three miles around the top. The rim of the crater rises more than 150 feet above the plain where the meteor impacted and is visible for more than ten miles on a clear day.

The question: Where in the passage does the author discuss the composition of the meteor? A.                   stairs B.                   walks C.                  actions D.                                      footprints

This question asks you to find where in the passage there is information about the composition of the crater. You should skim through the lines of the passage listed in the answers to the question looking for the word composition or something that means composition. In line 4, you should find the expression made of, and you should recognize that composition is what something is made of. Answer (B) is therefore the best answer to this question.

The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember when you are trying to determine where in the passage something is found:

 

TOEFL EXERCISE 12: Study each of the passages and choose the best answers to the questions that follow.

PASSAGE ONE (Questions 1-4)

Beavers generally live in family clusters consisting of six to ten members. One cluster would probably consist of two adults, one male and one female, and four to eight young beavers, or kits. A female beaver gives birth each spring to two to four babies at a time. These baby beavers live with their parents until they are two years old. In the springtime of their second year they are forced out of the family group to make room for the new babies. These two-year-old beavers then proceed to start new family clusters of their own.

1	Where in the passage does the author give the name of a baby beaver?		3	Click on the sentence in the passage that states the age at which beavers must go out on their own.
	A	Line 1
	B	Line 2
	C	Line 3
	D	Line 4-5
2	Click on the sentence in the passage that mentions the time of year when new baby beavers are born.		4	Where in the passage does the author indicate why the young beavers must leave their parents’ home?
				A	Line 1
				B	Line 2
				C	Line 3
				D	Line 4-5

PASSAGE TWO (Questions 5-7)

Chamber music received its name because it was originally intended to be performed in small rooms in private homes rather than huge concert halls or theaters. Today it has evolved into small ensemble music in which each performer in the ensemble plays an individual part. The compositions written for this type of performance can easily be classified into three distinct periods, each with its style of music and instrumentation. In the earliest period (1450-1650), the viol and other instrumental families developed considerably, and instrumental music took its first steps toward equal footing with vocal music. In the second period (1650-1750), trio sonatas dominated. These ensemble compositions were often written for two violins and a cello; the harpsichord was also featured in various compositions of this period. In the modern period (after 1750), the preponderance of chamber music was written for the string quartet, an ensemble composed of two violins, a viola, and a cello.

5	Where in the passage does the author discuss the modern definition of chamber music?		7	Click on the sentence in paragraph 2 that discusses which instruments were used in ensembles for three instruments
	A	Lines 2-3
	B	Lines 4-5
	C	Lines 8-9
	D	Lines 9-11
6	Click on the sentence in paragraph 2 that describes the first of the three periods of compositions for chamber music.

PASSAGE THREE (Questions 8-10)

It is common practice to coat metals such as iron and steel with a protective layer of zinc or an alloy made from zinc mixed with aluminium, cadmium, or tin in a process known as “galvanization.” The purpose of galvanization is to prevent the corrosion of the iron or steel. The most common method to galvanize metal is the hot-dip galvanizing process. In this process, the iron or steel is dipped into a hot bath of a zinc alloy to form a protective coating approximately .003 inches thick. Another method of galvanizing that is not as common is the process known as electrogalvanizing; in this process the metal is placed in a solution composed of zinc sulphate and water and is then charged electrically. This causes a thin layer of zinc to coat the metal. Zinc is effective in galvanizing metals such as iron or steel in that zinc reacts more easily with oxygen than iron does. If iron unprotected, it reacts with the oxygen in the air to form iron oxide, or rust, which leads to the corrosion of the iron. If, however, the iron is coated with zinc, as it is in the galvanization process, then it is the zinc rather than the iron which interacts with the oxygen to form zinc oxide, and the iron is not subject to corrosion.

8	Where in the passage does the author list the components of a zinc alloy?		9	Where in the passage does the author present the less routinely used process of galvanization?
	A	Lines 1-2		A	Lines 1-2
	B	Lines 4-6		B	Lines 4
	C	Lines 9-10		C	Lines 6-8
	D	Lines 11-12		D	Lines 10-11
			10	Click on the sentence in paragraph 2 that explains how the hot-dip galvanizing process is carried out.

ANSWER KEY

1	B
2	P1, S3
3	P1, S5
4	D
5	A
6	P2, S2
7	P2, S3
8	A
9	C
10	P2, S2