TOEFL iBT Reading Questions
TOEFL iBT Reading questions cover Basic Information skills, Inferencing skills,
And Reading to Learn skills. There are 10 question types. The following chart
Summarizes the categories and types of TOEFL iBT Reading questions.
TOEFL Reading Question Types
Basic Information and Inferencing questions (11 to 13 questions per set)
1. Factual Information questions (3 to 6 questions per set)
2. Negative Factual Information questions (0 to 2 questions per set)
3. Inference questions (0 to 2 questions per set)
4. Rhetorical Purpose questions (0 to 2 questions per set)
5. Vocabulary questions (3 to 5 questions per set)
6. Reference questions (0 to 2 questions per set)
7. Sentence Simplification questions (0 to 1 question per set)
8. Insert Text question (0 to 1 question per set)
Reading to Learn questions (1 per set)
9. Prose Summary
10. Fill in a Table
The following sections will explain each of these question types. You’ll find
Out how to recognize each type, and you’ll see examples of each type with explanations.
You’ll also find tips that can help you answer each TOEFL Reading Question
Type.
Basic Information and Inferencing Questions
Type 1: Factual Information Questions
These questions ask you to identify factual information that is explicitly stated in
The passage. Factual Information questions can focus on facts, details, definitions,
Or other information presented by the author. They ask you to identify specific
Information that is typically mentioned only in part of the passage. They
Generally do not ask about general themes that the passage as a whole discusses.
Often the relevant information is in one or two sentences.
How to Recognize Factual Information Questions
Factual information questions are often phrased in one of these ways:
B
According to the paragraph, which of the following is true of X?
B The author’s description of X mentions which of the following?
B According to the paragraph, X occurred because. . .
B According to the paragraph, X did Y because. . .
B According to the paragraph, why did X do Y?
B The author’s description of X mentions which of the following?
Tips for Factual Information Questions
B You may need to refer back to the passage in order to know what
Exactly is said about the subject of the question. Since the question may
Be about a detail, you may not recall the detail from your first reading
Of the passage.
B Eliminate choices that present information that is contradicted in the
Passage.
B Do not select an answer just because it is mentioned in the passage.
Your choice should answer the specific question that was asked.
Example PASSAGE EXCERPT: “. . . Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an
Understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must
Have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate,
Crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they
Tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian
Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball
Under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the
Weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor’s
Aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural
Compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when