While I was traveling around at the beginning of the month, I read another issue of the London Review of Books. I can’t remember which issue, ’cause I threw it away when I finished with it. But a couple of fun articles stood out:
“Even the Eyelashes” is about the role of mummies in Inca society. It’s a shorter than usual LRB article, which probably makes it better as a study resource. This topic could make a fun TOEFL reading passage.
“When Paris Sneezed” explores the reasons why people were so pissed off in Paris between 1748 and 1789.
Meanwhile, continuing my journey through the Norton Library Podcast, I read Charles Chesnutt’s “The Marrow of Tradition.” Chesnutt’s book is a work of fiction set before and during the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. I strongly recommend this book; for a 127 year-old novel, it is surprisingly accessible. For some listening practice, you can check out the two-part podcast episode starting here.
For a little more listening practice, you might enjoy this Paul Wells podcast from a few days ago about the topic of book burning – mostly in Canada, but also elsewhere. It also touches on the value of reading “the classics,” which matches one of the ongoing themes of this column.
I’m traveling in Indonesia this month, so the column will be somewhat abbreviated. But I did read a few interesting things.
First up, I read Martin Hajek’s “More than a Gap Year Adventure,” a book about making a long-term career out of TEFL. That’s something I’ve accomplished, to some extent. But when people ask me for advice about how they might do the same, I’m often at a loss. I’m quite aged now, and my anecdotes are decades out of date. So I’ll send people to Amazon to buy the book, or perhaps even gift a few copies myself. Readers will find a general introduction to the field by Hajek, and a lengthy collection of essays by contributors who have found success. There isn’t anything in here about working in the test prep industry, but there is a fine essay about being a test examiner.
(By the way, just a few days ago someone asked me about working in the test prep industry. Since my earlier musings are all out of date, I’ll try to pen a few words when I return from my travels. But even this is hard for me.)
Next, I read Angela Nagle’s “Kill All Normies.” This one is a short history of the online countercultures that memed Donald Trump into office back in 2015/16. It’s an interesting read, especially in light of the very different path Trump just took to get back into office. I’ll add it to the “Test Resources Left Book Club” index when that next gets updated…
Finally, I read the 14 December 2023 issue of the London Review of Books. A few fine articles stood out that could help people practice their academic reading skills. They are:
“I Don’t Know What it Looks Like,” which is about the less-studied modern architecture found in Paris. Architecture comes up now and then in the TOEFL reading section, and I don’t share nearly enough content about it on the site. Check out the article.
“Hickup over the Littany,” which is about efforts to figure out what music from the past actually sounded like. That’s probably impossible to do, but some people have dedicated their lives to it. Again, music is a topic that appears often enough in the TOEFL reading section, but it is often ignored by people who make prep materials for the test.
“Friend or Food,” an article about how European exploration of the new world influenced thinking about animals and pets. A fascinating read. History, as you know, is a topic often explored on the test.
The last question in each TOEFL reading passage is the “prose summary” question. Here the test taker must pick three sentences (from six) that summarize the key points of the passage. Students often ask if the order in which they select the sentences matter. For instance, here’s a question posted to Reddit today:
As you know, the last type of question is a summary question in the reading section. I came across some comments saying that the order of the answers matters, is that really true? And if yes, what does it exactly mean? The alphabetical order (like C, D, then E answer) or the order according to the paragraphs (so the right order could be at first D, then E and C – because the information goes like that).
The answer is: the order does not matter. Your choices can be listed in any order.
For proof, here is a paragraph from the most recent Official Guide to to the TOEFL, published by ETS:
It’s the last day of 2024! How about that? We made it!
So I read the September/October 2024 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact . I know that I should probably stop bringing up this magazine here because the stories aren’t available for free, but I am what I am. I must mention Adam-Troy Castro‘s “Minnie and Earl Have a Kitten.” This is the fourth (and final?) “Minnie and Earl” story to appear in the magazine. The first appeared in, I guess, the late 1990s. If you want to experience a warm hug of a science fiction series, you can find an ebook of the first three stories on Amazon or on Hoopla. They concern a friendly old couple who are discovered, by early Earth astronauts, to be living on the moon. How they got there isn’t immediately clear.
I also read the November 30, 2023 issue of the London Review of Books. A few stories captured my attention:
Searching for the Bee, about a very old book called The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation, which was apparently one of the most widely read books of the 13th century. I won’t try to describe the peculiar contents of the book here. Check out the article if you want to learn more.
A National Evil, which is about how everyone in Switzerland used to have big goiters. The history this article tells is so strange. Apparently for many decades Switzerland was known as a place of goiters, deafness and developmentally disabled children. Apparently this was all due to a lack of iodine in the diets of people there. Tourists would travel to the country just to see the goiters. I’m pretty sure this is the second article I’ve linked to on this topic since I began this column.
Finally, I read Nicholas Lemann’s new book “Higher Admissions: The Rise, Decline and Return of Standardized Testing.” This slim volume is something of a followup to Lemann’s brilliant “The Big Test,” published about 25 years ago. It tells the story of (mostly) the SAT – how it came to become dominant, the impact it has had on American education, and why many schools have recently abandoned it. I actually penned a few words about the book a few days ago. Do check out that post.
That’s all for now! I will spend most of next month traveling, but I should find time for at least a short list of recommendations.
Continuing along with the Norton Library Podcast, this month I read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” You can check out the podcast episodes starting here.
One unique feature of this classic horror novel is that it is an epistolary novel. That refers to how the book is presented as a collection of letters, diary entries, phonograph transcripts, newspaper articles and telegrams written by characters in the novel. While the topic of vampires has likely never appeared on the TOEFL, I am quite certain that at some point there has been an article or lecture about this kind of writing. So instead of reaching for Dracula, perhaps take a moment to sharpen your reading skills by exploring the wikipedia article on this topic.
Next, I read the 16 November 2023 issue of the London Review of Books. Yeah… I have another pile of unread magazines. Fortunately, this is one of my favorite publications and I look forward to working through all of the old issues on my shelf. A few stories stood out in this issue:
“Kettle of Vultures” is a quick look at the history of interest. The charging of it, the collecting of it, the religious implications of it, and more.
“Red Flag, Green Light” is the story of famous fraudster John Ackah Blay-Miezah. He may have invented the famous “Nigerian Prince” scam.
“I Thought You Were Incredible” is a fun read for film fans. It’s a quick overview of the life of Elizabeth Taylor, with special consideration paid to her relationship with Montgomery Clift.
I’m very happy that I can mark the 50th monthly installment in this column with a few words about Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “English.” As I’ve mentioned a few times in this space, this play is set entirely in a TOEFL classroom in Iran. It is a very sparse play, but is a touching exploration of what it means to learn a language and to be able to (or not able to) express ourselves when we desire to do so. It is also quite funny at times. Highly recommended!
This month, while flying home from India, I plowed through the final four “New Yorker” magazines in my collection. A few articles stood out.
First up, in the April 24 & May 1 2023 issue I read “How Much Can Duolingo Teach Us?” Of course this one is worth mentioning here! The article briefly mentions the Duolingo English Test and the TOEFL Test!
Finally, in the May 29, 203 issue I read “Two Weeks at the Front in Ukraine.” I don’t usually include reporting from the war in this column. I liked this article, though, as this sort of embedded reporting that tells personal stories seems the best we can do in an era where accurate “big picture” reporting seems impossible to find.
A quick mid-month column this month since I am off to India tomorrow morning and won’t have time to write between now and the end of the month (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!
