TOEFL Practice Test #2 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A reading passage on coral reefs states: "The symbiotic relationship between coral polyps and zooxanthellae is fundamental to reef survival." The word "symbiotic" most nearly means:
- Competitive and destructive
- Mutually beneficial (Correct answer)
- Temporary and unstable
- One-sided and parasitic
Correct answer: Mutually beneficial
Symbiosis describes a relationship between two organisms that benefits both parties. Coral polyps provide the zooxanthellae with shelter and nutrients, while the algae provide photosynthetic products essential to coral survival—a classic mutually beneficial relationship.
Question 2: A professor lectures on the Industrial Revolution, emphasizing how it changed labor patterns. She says: "Before this period, most families were self-sufficient agricultural units. After it—well, the wage labor system transformed social structure entirely." What is the professor's purpose in contrasting these two periods?
- To argue that the pre-industrial period was superior to the industrial period
- To illustrate how dramatically and fundamentally the Industrial Revolution altered social organization (Correct answer)
- To show that industrial and pre-industrial economies were essentially similar
- To emphasize that agricultural labor was more productive than factory labor
Correct answer: To illustrate how dramatically and fundamentally the Industrial Revolution altered social organization
Contrasting two periods helps listeners grasp the magnitude of change. By juxtaposing self-sufficient agricultural families with wage-labor social structures, the professor highlights the transformational scope of the Industrial Revolution—making the change vivid and concrete.
Question 3: In a TOEFL Reading passage about deep-sea ecosystems, the author writes: "These organisms thrive in conditions once thought inimical to life." The word "inimical" means:
- Supportive and nurturing
- Hostile or harmful (Correct answer)
- Largely unexplored
- Artificially created
Correct answer: Hostile or harmful
"Inimical" means tending to obstruct or harm; unfavorable or hostile. The sentence notes that deep-sea conditions (high pressure, no sunlight) were once considered hostile to life—making "hostile or harmful" the closest meaning.
Question 4: During a TOEFL Listening conversation, a university librarian explains to a student that access to a restricted database requires faculty approval. The student seems frustrated. What question would test the student's attitude?
- What database is the student trying to access?
- How does the student feel about the access restriction? (Correct answer)
- What is the faculty approval process?
- When does the database access expire?
Correct answer: How does the student feel about the access restriction?
Attitude questions test whether the listener can infer a speaker's feelings or stance from tone, word choice, and context. Asking "how does the student feel?" directly targets the student's emotional response to the frustrating situation described in the conversation.
Question 5: The TOEFL Reading section contains "Prose Summary" questions. What does this question type require?
- Selecting the one sentence that states the thesis of the passage
- Identifying and selecting three major ideas that best summarize the passage from six choices (Correct answer)
- Writing a short paragraph summarizing the passage in the student's own words
- Ranking all six answer choices from most to least important
Correct answer: Identifying and selecting three major ideas that best summarize the passage from six choices
Prose Summary questions present six sentences and ask students to select the three that represent the most important ideas in the passage. The other three contain minor details, information not in the passage, or incorrect statements. Partial credit may be awarded.
Question 6: In the TOEFL Speaking Task 3, after reading a passage about a concept called "priming" and listening to a professor's lecture, a student is asked to explain the concept. The student should:
- Summarize only the reading passage in detail
- Explain the concept as defined in the reading and illustrate it with the professor's examples from the lecture (Correct answer)
- Compare the reading passage with the lecture and argue which source is clearer
- Describe personal experiences related to the concept of priming
Correct answer: Explain the concept as defined in the reading and illustrate it with the professor's examples from the lecture
In Task 3, the reading defines an academic concept and the lecture provides examples. The spoken response should explain the concept using the reading definition and use the lecture examples as illustrations. This tests the student's ability to synthesize information from two sources.
TOEFL Practice Test #2 2
A reading passage on coral reefs states: "The symbiotic relationship between coral polyps and zooxanthellae is fundamental to reef survival." The word "symbiotic" most nearly means: