A bit delayed, but here is a list of all the changes (that I could spot) in the fourth edition of “Official TOEFL iBT Tests, Volume 2.” You can find the changes in Volume 1 over here.
In addition to the changes listed below, note that the independent writing task has been replaced with an academic discussion task in each test.
By the way: this is an excellent book for TOEFL preparation. I recommend it to literally everyone I teach.
Test One
Reading:
- “Colonizing the Americas” removed
- “Reflection in Teaching” removed (it had a weird question about “how is paragraph 4 related to…”)
- “The Impact of Industrialization on Labor Systems” added
Test Two
Reading:
- “Variations in the Climate” removed
Test Three
Reading:
- “17th Century European Economic Growth” removed
Test Four
Reading:
- “What Hand Did They use?” removed
- “Water in the Desert” removed (it had a chart)
- “The Chaco Phenomenon” added (surprisingly, more Chaco)
Listening:
- A lecture about music history removed
- A lecture about architecture added
Test Five
Reading:
- “Types of Social Groups” removed (it had a chart)
- “Biological Clocks” removed (it had only three giant paragraphs)
- “Steel and the United States Industrial Economy” added
Listening:
- A really dated campus encounter about going to the language lab to watch a video removed
- A campus encounter at the financial aid office added.
I did not spot changes to the speaking questions in any of the tests.
