A quick mid-month column this month since I am off to India tomorrow morning and won’t have time to write (though I will have plenty of time to read magazines, as it is a long flight).
Next, I read a couple issues of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. The best story I encountered was “The Last Days of Good People” by A.T. Sayre. It tells the story of a research team sent to a distant plant to study a pre-industrial civilization being impacted by a deadly pandemic. If you can I’ve been reading Analog for quite a few years now, and this is one of the best things they’ve published in recent memory. You ought to read it if you can figure out how to get a copy of the July/August 2024 issue. A free PDF version might be available during awards season. If that’s the case, I’ll post a link in a future column.
I read Catherine Liu’s “Virtue Hoarders.” One day I must compile all books of this type into the the “Test Resources Left Book Club.”
Lastly, I read the April 11, 2022 (!) issue of The New Yorker. It included a lovely profile of the actress Natasha Lyonne, to coincide with the broadcast of the second season of “Russian Doll.” That’s one of my favorite TV shows of the past five years or so. Check it out if you haven’t already. It’s on Netflix.
My wife and I enjoyed a holiday in Borneo this month. And that means we spent many hours on an airplane. And that means I read a few more issues from my endless stack of New Yorker magazines!
First up, I read the May 8, 2023 issue (yeah, I am still more than a year behind). I enjoyed “The Fugitive Princess of Dubai” about how several princesses (daughters of the ruler) have attempted to flee that country. It’s a weird, weird story. But it really captured my attention.
Next, I read the June 5, 2023 issue. That was the annual music issue! An interesting story is “The Case for and Against Ed Sheeran.” The premise here is that one of Sheeran’s songs sounds quite a lot like Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” Did he steal from Mr. Gaye and co-writer Ed Townsend? That’s for the court to decide. Some academic stuff about writing will strengthen your TOEFL muscles, perhaps.
Later, while sitting in the lobby of the luxurious Capital Residence Suites in Bandar Seri Begawan, I read a copy of the “Borneo Bulletin.” It had a perfect TOEFLy article about the discovery of some hobbit-sized bones. They connect to a scientific concept called “Island Dwarfism,” which I’m sure has already appeared on the test at least once. I took a picture of the article for you!
Moving ever forward, I also found the time to read a proper non-fiction book. It was “The Meritocracy Trap” by Daniel Markovits. The central premise here is that work in America has changed in recent decades. The author supposes that a small elite group of workers has monopolized profitable work, at great expense to themselves (who work way too hard) and the former middle class (who doesn’t have as much to do as before). If true, I suspect that this trend will be accelerated as AI takes over more and more tasks. I’ve even seen it in test prep – five overworked AI gurus can replace 100 teachers who formerly worked at a leisurely pace and enjoyed a nice work/life balance. Highly recommended.
Finally, continuing along with the Norton Library Podcast, I read a modern English translation of “The Canterbury Tales.” Look… I don’t recommend this to my TOEFL students, but the matching podcast episode could strengthen your academic listening skills.
More recommendations next month. Maybe even a bit more airplane time, if I’m lucky.
Continuing along with the Norton Library Podcast, this month I read Jane Austen’s “Emma.” You can find the podcast episodes on Youtube. I haven’t read a huge amount of Austen’s work, but since I enjoy the whole “comedy of manners” genre, she has always been on my to-read list. Interestingly, this story of the “idle rich” ties in nicely with a book I’ll write about next month (spoiler: it’s “The Meritocracy Trap”). Let me know if the comments if you’d rather be rich and busy or rich and carefree.
Meanwhile, I spent my time digging into TOEFL books. Most importantly, I finished my examination of changes in the latest editions of the three official TOEFL books from ETS. You can find my blog posts below:
As I’ve indicated on the blog a few times, I’m really happy with these new editions. They have been updated to match the new version of the TOEFL, and great number of small errors and annoyances have been removed. Buy them!
I also continued my exploration of all the random TOEFL stuff that pops up in places like Hoopla. This month I read Jackie Bolan’s “TOEFL iBT Reading Practice.” I posted the following review on my Goodreads page (follow me!):
Not a fan of this one. The cover says “TOEFL iBT Reading Practice” but the content is just general academic reading practice. The articles are superficially like what one would find in the TOEFL reading section, but the questions are not even close.
The cover says that this book might help one to “master the reading section of the TOEFL Exam.” While it is true that it might improve one’s academic reading skills in a general sense, mastery requires more accurate practice materials.
Following that, I read Daniel Smith’s “TOEFL Words Vocabulary Enhancer.” My review went like this:
This book contains about 4000 words, each with a very short definition and sample sentence. There isn’t anything specific to the TOEFL here. There aren’t any practice TOEFL questions. This probably isn’t the best way to study vocabulary for the TOEFL, but I guess it could be used as a supplemental test prep source.
I also read Smith’s “TOEFL Grammar with Answer Key” and wrote:
Not recommended. The book is just 1300 multiple choice grammar and vocabulary questions. There is no categorization, no answer explanations and no lessons. Just a bunch of random questions.
There is nothing that connects this content to the TOEFL, except for the fact that improving your grammar will increase your writing score. But if your goal is to improve your grammar in a general way, it is better to reach for something like “English Grammar in Use” from Cambridge.
That’s all for this month. I’ll be back in August with proper non-fiction and academic stuff. Stay tuned.
I have far too many unread copies of “The New Yorker.” I have signed up for the $6 promotional deal quite a few times and now I’ve got a big pile of unread issues on my shelf.
My catch-up strategy nowadays is to read copies of the magazine when I’m on long flights. This month I took a terribly long flight – to Pittsburgh for the Duolingo English Test Convention. And I read six issues! A few articles stood out:
In the April 4, 2022 issue (yes, 2022) I read How an Ivy League School Turned Against a Student. It tells the story of a student who was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania… perhaps under dubious circumstances. It is certainly a tawdry article, but interesting if you are into the world of university admissions.
In the same issue I enjoyed Killing Wolves to Own the Libs? About the politics of wolf culls. They may be useful. They may not be. It would make a good integrated writing question, I guess. I’ll add it to the list of pending topics!
In the March 20, 2023 issue I enjoyed The Little-Known World of Caterpillars. I think the title speaks for itself. The TOEFL often includes reading and listening content about animal species.
In the March 27, 2023 issue I read The Button-Pushing Impresario of Balenciaga. Fashion doesn’t show up on the TOEFL too often, but this is a fascinating deep dive into a world that I don’t know much about. I’m not yet convinced that couture fashion is meaningful art… but I’m getting there.
Next, in the April 3, 2023 issue I read The Wild World of Music. There is something here about elephants playing music. That matches up with an integrated essay about elephant intelligence people keep sending me.
In the same issue I read a book review called Why the Animal Kingdom is Full of Con-Artists. This is a perfect article. It mentions a whole bunch of topics that would make for perfect speaking #3 topics, among them brood parasitism, kleptoparasitism and aggressive mimicry.
Lastly, in the April 17, 2023 issue I read Family Values, about the mom who started PFLAG. A very inspiring story.
I also read a few books!
First up, I read “Standing and Delivering: What the Movie Didn’t Tell” by Henry Gradillas. It goes more into detail about the circumstances of the “Escalante Miracle” in East LA in the 1980s, a story that came up back in Part 24 of this column. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Escalante miracle of the early 1980s and can be read alongside Jay Matthews’ “Escalante: The Best Teacher in America.” Here’s what I wrote about it over on Goodreads:
Written by Henry Gradillas, the principal of Garfield High at the time Escalante was there, this book describes the challenging situation as it existed when he took over the school, and methods he used to address it. I don’t know if the lessons can be applied in 2024, but if nothing else the book is a nice time capsule from the 1980s.
It’s worth reading if you can find a copy.
Finally, I read David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs, which is about the preponderance of meaningless jobs in the modern USA. It’s a very funny book.
Most importantly, I read the newly-released seventh edition of the Official Guide to the TOEFL. The guide was heavily revised for this edition, which came as a pleasant surprise. For my complete coverage of what was changed, start reading here. Next month I’ll dig into the new editions of the two official test collection books.
I also read a bunch of the TOEFL e-books published by Jackie Bolan which are available on Amazon, Hoopla and various other services. Specifically, I read: Phrasal Verbs for TOEFL, TOEFL Vocabulary Builder, and English Vocabulary Masterclass for TOEFL. They are decent vocabulary books, but aren’t exactly TOEFL books as they don’t contain any TOEFL-specific content. I suppose the “Vocabulary Builder” is the best, as it might help you learn some words used in campus situations (that you’ll need to know for parts of the listening and speaking sections). In the months ahead I’ll dig into more of the TOEFL odds-and-ends that litter libraries and online bookstores.
I read a couple more issues of History Today, which I’ve mentioned here is one of my favorite sources of academic reading practice. In the April, 2024 issue I enjoyed The Value of Wills to Historians, which explores a somewhat mundane topic… exactly like the TOEFL reading section. I also enjoyed When Nostalgia was Deadly, an examination of the deadly disease known as “nostalgia.” Apparently this was a pretty big deal in medieval Europe. In the May 2024 issue, I liked Inventing Cyrillic, which is a quick look at the history of the Cyrillic alphabet. That sort of thing is exactly what the folks at ETS like to put on the TOEFL test.
Lastly, I continued my read-along with the Norton Library Podcast and read Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick.” I can’t recommend this book to people learning English, but you might enjoy the podcast episodes that cover it.
As you can see on the chart, if the student answers 17 questions correctly, their final score could be anything from 22 to 28 points!
That’s because the difficulty level of every test is slightly different, and scores are adjusted accordingly. I think the boffins at ETS call this process “equating.”
And in the listening section? The same thing! Here’s the listening chart from the same book:
So, as you can see, not every TOEFL test is the same.
And one more note, since it answers a frequent question: the unofficial reading and listening scores displayed at the end of the TOEFL are scaled scores.
Moving along, here are all of the major changes to Chapter 2 of the new Official Guide to the TOEFL. This chapter covers the reading section of the TOEFL test.
Throughout the chapter, the “how to recognize” stuff for each question type has been rephrased to emphasize that questions are based on single paragraphs instead of on the whole article.
Page 37: again, “historical” articles are now referred to “historical and biographical narrative” articles.
Page 38: The frequency of “reference questions” is reduced from “0 to 2 questions per set” to “0 to 1 questions per set.”
Page 38: Again, “fill in a table” questions are not referred to.
Page 45: The book includes a more detailed description of what an “inference” actually is.
Page 58: The old book had the following practice sets: “The Origins of Cetaceans” and “Desert Formation” and “Early Cinema” and “Aggression” and “Artisans and Industrialization” and “Swimming Machines.”
The new book has: “Impact of Railroad Transportation in the United States” and “Desert Formation” and “Early Cinema” and “Water and Ocean Life” and “Frederick Taylor and United States Industry” and “The Distribution of Plants and Animals.”
This means that all of the passages with with fill-in-a-table questions have been removed. Note that the “Artisans and Industrialization” set also had an inference question that required reading of the whole passage.
I spotted at least one reference question, by the way. That is found in “Early Cinema.” That question type is not dead yet!
First up – new versions of the Official Guide to the TOEFL and the two Official Tests books were published this month, but my copies haven’t arrived so no news about those in this month’s column. Maybe next month. Meanwhile, I did read a few things. They are…
Nancy’s Isenberg’s White Trash: The 400-year Untold History of Class in America. This scholarly look at the class divide in America had been on my to-read list for some time. It was worth the effort it took to find a copy in Korea. Check this one out to learn about the sometimes deplorable conditions of the poor in North America, beginning with the early days of colonization. The story of America, I think, is the story of the poor.
In the March 2024 issue of “History Today,” I liked Was the Trojan Horse Real ? , a short article about the fake horse of Greek Mythology. I’m sure you’ve heard of it – Greek soldiers apparently hid inside of it to better facilitate the capture of the city of Troy. But was it real or is it just part of a made-up story that has endured for centuries?
I also liked The Golden Age of Medieval Nostalgia. You’ll have to pay for this one so I will keep it brief, but it’s a fun look at life in Europe in the 14th century when “the world turned upside down” due to significant social changes. Any number of the trends and events described here could be turned into TOEFL reading questions. Real TOEFL nerds might recognize “the Little Ice Age,” which is referred to early in the article.
Measuring the Shape of the Earth is about the exact sort of “why this?” thing that might show up in a TOEFL reading passage. Is the earth flatter at the poles or around the equator? Who cares? Well, geographers, I guess. As I’ve written here before, physical geography is a common topic in the TOEFL reading section.
By the way, you can get three issues of History today for Five GBP. That’s like the best deal in magazines out there. Just make sure to unsubscribe before the auto-renewal kicks in.
Finally, I read the June 2023 issue of the Literary Review of Canada. It included a short article about the work of John Tuzo Wilson, the so-called “Charles Darwin of Geology.” He contributed greatly to the theory of plate tectonics. Geology is another common topic on the TOEFL (really, check out the link above). And I am 100% sure that plate tectonics have come up more than once on the test.
I underwent surgery this month, so my reading slowed a bit. But I did check out a few things.
First, I continued my read-along with the wonderful Norton Library Podcast by reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. This was a fun read (and a fun listen). It tells the story of the young Jane Eyre as she receives an education and enters early adulthood. Some people think it is quite romantic. I’m not so sure of that, but let me know what you think. Anyhow, the book is more accessible than many of the works in the podcast, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to someone who wants to hone their English skills by reading some classic English literature. It isn’t a particularly good way to prepare for the TOEFL, but one can’t always be preparing for tests. You can find a cheap copy of the book on Amazon.
Next, I read the November 2023 issue of “History Today.” A few articles stood out:
The Flies, Fleas and Rotting Flesh of Medieval Monks. Yes, the article is as gruesome as you might expect. It turns out that in Medieval Europe it was a sign of one’s faith to purposely infect one’s self with fleas and body lice (and worse) to bring about a state of constant discomfort. This one is quite a read.
Still on the topic of religion (happy Easter, by the way), Christianity’s Bloody History in Japan traces the rise and fall cycle of Christianity in Japan, starting with the voyages of St. Frances Xavier. Fascinating stuff.
History Today remains just about the best source of TOEFL-level readings, both in terms of vocabulary and length. I always get subscriptions when the publisher offers me a deal, but you can find plenty of stuff for free on their website.
In case you missed it, check out my review of the new Princeton Review TOEFL book. I felt let down by it. Princeton Review should do better.
Meanwhile, when I was in Canada I finally got my hands on a copy of the newest edition of the MLA Handbook. I often work with students preparing for their freshman year of studies in America and I always encourage them to get a printed copy of the handbook so they don’t f–k up the formatting and sourcing of their essays. A few of the students even listen to my advice! If you are planning on studying at a university in the USA go get a copy. You’ll use it quite often.
I read a few normal books and articles, meanwhile.
Continuing my read-along with the Norton Library Podcast, I read “Diary of a Madman and Other Stories.” I think this might be my favorite from the podcast series so far. Gogol is new to me – I didn’t realize his works are so humorous. If you want to check out the podcast, here’s a youtube link.
I used my airplane time to dig deep into my stack of unread issues of the New Yorker. A few articles are worth passing along.
First up, I read the March 28, 2022 issue (yeah, I’m really behind). I read The Pied Piper of Psychedelic Toads, about the consumption of a hallucinogenic substance harvested from South American toads… and the fellow who has popularized the practice. The whole thing seems really cultish. If you are into cults (isn’t everyone nowadays) you might find the article amusing.
I also read the September 19, 2022 issue. I enjoyed The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books. This one is for aging millennials who have fond memories of these odd little books. Readers not familiar with them might want to skip this reading. Another piece from the issue worth checking out is Johnson and Johnson and a new War on Consumer Protection. This one describes how users of that company’s baby powder have suffered severe health problems, as well as the company’s efforts to avoid taking financial responsibility for its action.
Moving ever forward, I read the September 26, 2022 issue. A fun article in this one is The Case of the Disputed Lucien Freud, which tells the story of a portrait that may or may not have been painted by the famous artist. If this tale wasn’t so bloody convoluted, I would turn it into an integrated writing question! TOEFL experts know that the Official Guide to the TOEFL contains an integrated writing question about a famous artwork of disputed providence.
And then I read the October 3, 2022 issue. Most interesting was Seize the Night, a long article about the famous DJ Soluman. Since I’m really square, I’ve always wondered what it is that makes DJs so special. I mean, they just play other people’s music, right? Well, it seems to be more complicated than that. Passages about music show up on the TOEFL now and then. You’ll never get something about this sort of music, but the point of this column is to encourage people to do some challenging reading, so I think it is relevant.
Lastly, I read the March 13, 2023 issue! Yes, I made it to 2023. I enjoyed The Fight over Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, which describes a long conflict between the city of New York and the owners of the famous arena. I didn’t realize until now that the famous Penn Station is located immediately underneath the arena. That makes it quite difficult for the city to carry out a much-needed expansion of the station.
That’s all for now. More odds and ends next month.
Funeral this month, so not much reading or desire to write about my month. But I did finish “No Politics but Class Politics” by Adolph Reed Jr and Walter Benn Michael. It is a good read if you are a Marxist. It contains an essay called “Believing in Unicorns” that has some relevant words about university admissions.
Happy holidays, folks! I’ve been pretty busy this month, starting in Canada (for family reasons) and flying back home to Korea in the middle of the month. But I fit in some reading nonetheless.
First up, I read the 19 October 2023 issue of the London Review of Books. This one is new to my “to read” stack of periodicals, and I’m happy to took out a subscription. It has a lot of wonderful content. In this issue I liked:
This review of the film “Past Lives.” That’s my favorite film of 2023. About childhood friends who grow apart (and reconnect) it feels quite a lot like the movies I used to watch when I was in college two decades ago. I didn’t think such movies were made nowadays.
Rare, Obsolete, New, Peculiar, an article about the “unsung heroes” who contributed to the Oxford English Dictionary. As the article explains, volunteers from around the English-speaking world mailed in slips of paper containing suggested words and their definitions to the editors. This was an egalitarian, but haphazard approach to dictionary-making.
Take that, Astrolabe, an article about the measurement of time in the medieval world. I list this one here mostly because I’m pretty sure I got a reading passage about the history of clocks the last time I took the TOEFL.
Next, I read the 2 November 2023 issue of the same. I liked:
Shriek of the Milkman, an article about the history of street food and hawkers in London. As an avid traveller, street foods are one of my favorite things in the world.
She was of the Devil’s Race, an article about the absolutely fascinating history of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Did you know that one person was both Queen of France and (later) Queen of England? It’s quite a story.
Moving ever forward, I read the October 2023 issue of “History Today.” I liked a few articles, including:
The Medieval University Experience, a short article about the experiences of young men who travelled far from their homes to attend university. I was amused by references to “letter templates” to help students write notes to their parents back home.
The Case of the Poison Pen Letters, about the absolutely fascinating case of Annie Tugwell, who was found guilty in 1910 of sending slanderous and threatening letters to several people, including a local priest. A really, really, weird story. This poor woman was eventually judged to be insane and locked away.
Lastly, I read the September 12, 2022 issue of “The New Yorker.” I’m way behind with this magazine, and I don’t think I’ll ever catch up. Alas. I liked:
Killing Invasive Species is Now a Competitive Sport, an article about the invasive (in America) Lionfish. That’s a freaky fish. I am quite sure that it has appeared in TOEFL speaking question four a few times. It could feature into a question about two reasons why it is so invasive. Or about how its unique spines function as a defensive mechanism. Or about how it hunts. Check out the article.
That’s all for now. Expect a short article next month as I will be digging into a very dense book early in the month, which I am sure will be slow going.
So a real grab bag in the “You Should Read More” column this month. That means it was a good reading month for me… but maybe not a great month for you if you are looking for stuff perfectly suited for TOEFL prep. In any case, let’s get right to it…
First up, I will remind you of the two book reviews I wrote this month. First up, check out my review of the new edition of TOEFL Essential Words. The book remains a great resource for TOEFL prep, though the new edition has a bunch of errors in its description of the shorter TOEFL test. Whoops. Also, it seems to only be available as an ebook right now. Next up, I reviewed IELTS 17. Obviously the IELTS is a totally different test, but the articles used in the reading section are great practice if you want to read academic content.
Next, I read the September/October 2023 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact. As always, you won’t be able to read any of its content unless you have a subscription, but I will mention that the issue’s “Guest Editorial” by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Brian Gifford about sacrificing privacy to increase safety inspired the creation of a specific TOEFL academic discussion question for a client. And a poem called “Object Permanence” by Marissa Lingen inspired the creation of a speaking question about, uh, object permanence.
Later, I finally pulled Stanley Kaplan’s autobiography Test Pilot off my shelf. If you are into the history of standardized testing in the USA and/or the history of preparation for standardized testing, this one is worth finding. Here’s what I wrote on Goodreads: “A very short book, but interesting if you are into the history of standardized testing in the USA. You’ll read about Kaplan’s founding, its tussles with ETS and the Princeton Review, and about the sale of the company to the fine folks over at the Washington Post. I wish Kaplan had written more about his interactions with ETS regarding the SAT, as that is still pretty relevant to today’s world.”
Following along (but still behind) with the Norton Library Podcast, I read Oedipus the King. I don’t recommend it, but I mention it here because I enjoy posting updates about this read-along.
Finally, I read the September 2023 issue of History Today. I liked Jane Eyre Goes to the Theatre, about an unauthorized theatrical production of the famous novel that launched shortly after the publication of the famous novel. Back in the day, it seems, anyone could do anything they wanted with someone else’s intellectual property. Also worth checking out is Signs of the Zodiac: The Dendera Dating Controversy, about the discovery of the Dendera Zodiac in Egypt and its arrival in Paris.
That’s all for this month, but check back in about 30 days for fresh recommendations. Keep studying.
