Kaplan's English/TOEFL Edge

In this issue: TOEFL Practice TOEFL Vocabulary		Sponsored by www.kaplanenglish.com. Test-Taking Tips and Strategies Skimming and Scanning What's the difference between skimming and scanning? Understanding when and how to apply these distinct strategies will go a long way toward a high score on the reading section of the exam. Take a look at the following summary: Skimming—quickly pass your eyes over the text to identify main points without focusing on details; use this technique to answer overview questions. skim the entire passage to familiarize yourself with its basic organization locate the thesis statement and topic sentences of the passage observe repeated key words and phrases Scanning—quickly pass your eyes over the text to locate key language from the prompt; use this technique to answer detail questions. identify key words or phrases contained in the prompt find the section(s) of the passage in which the key language specifically relates to the question you are answering; note that this language may occur in more than one context do not attempt to re-read the entire passage; focus only on locating the information required to answer the question Architect Invents World's Most Popular Word Game The game of Scrabble† enjoyed today by millions of lexicon lovers worldwide was, in fact, born of the creative genius of American architect-turned-inventor, Alfred Mosher Butts. It was the era of the Great Depression, and, like many of his contemporaries, Butts was unemployed and unable to find work. Calling on his analytical skills to create a vocabulary game more challenging than mere printed crosswords and anagrams, Butts invented what is frequently touted as the most popular word game in the world. An avid reader of The New York Times, Butts analyzed its front page to determine the frequency with which each letter of the English alphabet appeared. His analysis showed that vowels far outnumbered consonants, and that the letter 'e' had the highest frequency of the five vowels. Armed with this information, Butts calculated what he saw as the ideal quantity of each letter tile. He deviated from his carefully conceived formula only once: by reducing the number of S's to four, inventor Butts made certain that the excessive use of plurals could not detract from the challenging game he had envisioned. Using his architectural drafting equipment, he designed a grid of 15x15 squares on which his game, originally know as Criss-Crosswords, would be played. As the game's history clearly points out, Mr. Butts' letter frequency analysis was very much on target. The validity of his assumptions has been upheld over several generations and millions of games of Scrabble played in as many as 29 languages, with virtually no change to the original tile distribution . Sources: http://www.hasbro.com/scrabble/pl/page.history/dn/home.cfm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrabble. †Scrabble is a registered trademark of Hasbro (US and Canada) and of JW Spear & Sons, Ltd (UK). Based on the passage above, identify and apply the appropriate reading technique to answer the following questions: 1. The author of the passage thinks that Butts' work is overrated views Butts as a clever and resourceful individual sees Butts' analysis as unnecessarily complex believes that Butts was disappointed with the outcome of his work 2. Butts' analysis demonstrated that the frequency of consonants in English is far outnumbered by the frequency of vowels far outnumbers the frequency of vowels is divided equally between vowels and consonants caused the inventor to doubt the validity of his assumptions Correct or incorrect? Irregardless of the challenges that awaited her, Penelope was determined to succeed. The term 'irregardless' is produced by inappropriately combining 'irrespective' and 'regardless;' it is generally considered a nonstandard form and thus incorrect for purposes of academic English.     Back to Top Answer to this month's TOEFL* practice question: Skimming. The correct answer is (B): the author views Butts as a clever and resourceful individual. Scanning. The correct answer is (A): the frequency of consonants in English is far outnumbered by the frequency of vowels. Back to Top Correction The answers to October's TOEFL practice questions were accompanied by an incorrectly worded explanation. The correctly worded explanation is as follows: In all three exercises, placement of the comma determines whether the key word or phrase modifies the main (independent) clause or the dependent clause. It is this distinction that brings about the change in meaning. We regret any confusion this error may have caused. Back to Top A Happy Thanksgiving Season to All! Kaplan English Programs and your local Kaplan Center join in wishing each of our November 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.
Copyright © 2006 by Kaplan, Inc., 1440 Broadway, New York, NY 10018 All Rights Reserved. Kaplan is a registered trademark of Kaplan, Inc.