Kaplan's English/TOEFL Edge

In this issue: TOEFL Practice TOEFL Vocabulary		Sponsored by www.kaplanenglish.com. Test-Taking Tips and Strategies When should I take my test? Among the many questions asked by Kaplan English graduating students, this one is easily the most common. As a general rule, students who have diligently completed their coursework on schedule (including the online practice and progress tests!) will want to sit for the official exam within 1-2 weeks after completion of their studies. Make an appointment to speak with your instructor if you have any doubts about your readiness. It's important to note that many of the ETS testing centers, particularly those in large, urban areas such as New York City, are booked as far as three months or more in advance at any point in time. Especially if you have a target date for submission of your TOEFL* iBT score (such as a graduate school application deadline, for instance), it is highly recommended that you book your test date no later than the week in which your Kaplan studies begin. Be aware that it will take approximately three weeks for your score report to be made available to the institution(s) you have chosen; consult the official TOEFL bulletin for actual score release dates. Registration is available online, by phone, and by mail. Testing start times at all locations range from 8AM to 7PM. If for any reason you need to reschedule your test date, ETS offers this option for a service fee of $40.00. Okay, so English grammar and structure aren't directly tested on the iBT version of the TOEFL. A working knowledge of the rules of punctuation is nonetheless an important skill to have at your disposal; you will be required to demonstrate this knowledge during the productive skills portion of the exam, specifically on the writing section. Consider the following excerpt from the New York Times bestseller Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss: A panda walks into a caf�. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. "Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. "I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up." The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves." The moral of the story is simple…punctuation matters!!! ++++++++++++ On the basis of the amusing example above, you have seen how punctuation (or the lack of it!) can influence meaning. Try your hand at the following exercises; explain how the meaning of each pair of sentences changes with the placement of the comma: Exercise 1 John and Sarah go to the store, frequently stopping to greet their friends along the way. John and Sarah go to the store frequently, stopping to greet their friends along the way. Exercise 2 Angry for no good reason, Frank stormed from the room. Angry, for no good reason Frank stormed from the room. Exercise 3 Because they worked overtime last month, Mr. & Mrs. Carver were able to take a vacation. Because they worked overtime, last month Mr. & Mrs. Carver were able to take a vacation. Correct or incorrect? Irregardless of the challenges that awaited her, Penelope was determined to succeed. Answers will appear in next month's edition of the Edge—stay tuned! ********* Solution to last month's vocabulary challenge Did the ancestors of first-generation Americans immigrate or emigrate? Both! Our ancestors emigrated from their native lands and immigrated to America. Our apologies for the trickery; the point is, however, that the English language is full of word pairs such as these that are often confused—kudos if you managed to avoid our little trap!     Back to Top Answer to this month's TOEFL practice question: In all three exercises, the change in meaning occurs because the placement of the comma determines what the each quantifier pertains to: Exercise 1 In the first sentence, John and Sarah stop frequently; whereas, in the second sentence, they go to the store frequently. Exercise 2 In the first sentence, Frank had no good reason to be angry. In the second sentence, however, he had no good reason to storm from the room. Exercise 3 In the first sentence, �last month' tells us when Mr. & Mrs. Carver worked overtime. In the second sentence, �last month' defines when the couple went on vacation. Back to Top Kaplan English Programs and your local Kaplan Center join together to wish each of our October test-takers success on the TOEFL iBT! Making Subscription Changes: You are receiving this email newsletter from Kaplan because you are currently a subscriber. To modify or cancel your subscription to the Kaplan Edge, go to http://www.kaptest.com/subscription.jhtml. If you need additional help, please visit kaptest.com/contactus. *TOEFL® is a registered trademark of the Educational Testing Service.
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