■ The Concentrator: “I read the passage thoroughly before I look at the questions.. After concentrating on the passage, I can find the answers to the questions if I don’t already know th
Trang 1relied on plummers and landlords all my life Now
I know I can handle leaky pipes by myself
I think it’s important to remember that no
matter how big a problem is, it’s still an opportunity
Whatever kind of situation we face, problems give us
the chance to learn and grow, both physically and
mentally For example, when I had a problem with
my car and couldn’t afford the repairs right away, my
problem became an opportunity to get some
exercise—something I’d been wanting to do anyway
I had to walk a mile each day to get to the bus stop
and back But in the meantime, I got the chance to
start getting back in shape, and I saved a lot on gas
I’ve come to realize that problems are really
part of what makes life worth living Problems
chal-lenge us and give us the opportunity to do things we
have never done before, to learn things we never
knew before They teach us what we are capable of
doing They give us the chance to surprise ourselves
Sample “3” essay
Just the word “problem” can send some of us into a
panic But problems can be good things, too
Prob-lems are situations that make us think and force us
to be creative and resourceful They can also teach us
things we didn’t know before
For example, I had a problem in school a few
years ago when I couldn’t understand my math class
I started failing my quizzes and homework
assign-ments I wasn’t sure what to do, so finally I went to
the teacher and asked for help She said she would
arrange for me to be tutorred by another student
who was her best student In return, though, I’d
have to help that student around school I wasn’t
sure what she meant by that until I met my tutor She
was handicapped
My job was to help her carry her books from
class to class I’d never even spoken to someone in a
wheelchair before and I was a little scared But she
turned out to be the nicest person I’ve ever spent
time with She helped me understand everything I
need to know for math class and she taught me a lot about what it’s like to be handicapped I learned to appreciate everything that I have, and I also know that people with disabilities are special not because
of what they can’t do, but because of who they are
So you see that wonderful things can come out of problems You just have to remember to look for the positive things and not focus on the negative
Sample “2” essay
The word “problem” is a negative word but its just
an opportunity as Mr Bob Maynard has said It can
be teaching tool besides
For example, I had a problem with my son last year when he wanted a bigger allowance I said no and he had to earn it He mowed the lawn and in the fall he raked leaves In the winter he shovelled the walk After that he apreciated it more
Its not the problem but the sollution that mat-ters My son learning the value of work and earning money (It taught me the value of money to when I had to give him a bigger allowance!) After that he could get what he wanted at the toy store and not have to beg Which was better for me too Sometimes
we forget that both children and there parents can learn a lot from problems and we can teach our chil-dren the value of over-coming trouble Which is as important as keeping them out of trouble As well we can teach them the value of money That is one aspect of a problem that we manytimes forget
So problems are a good teaching tool as well as
a good way to let you’re children learn, to look at the silver lining behind every cloud
Sample “1” essay
I agree with the quote that problems are opportu-nities in disguise Sometimes problems are oppor-tunities, too
I have a lot of problems like anyone else does Sometimes there very difficult and I don’t no how to handle them When I have a really big problem, I
– T H E A P R A C T I C E E X A M 1 –
Trang 2sometimes ask my parents or freinds for advise.
Sometimes they help, sometimes they don’t, then I
have to figure out how to handle it myself
One time I had a big problem Where someone
stole my wallet and I had to get to a job interview
But I had no money and no ID This happened in
school So I went to the principles office and
reported it He called the man I was supposed to
interview with Who rescheduled the intervew for
me So I still had the opportunity to interview and
I’m proud to say I got the job In fact I’m still
work-ing there!
Problems can be opportunities if you just look
at them that way Instead of the other way around
S c o r i n g
Because it is necessary for you to do well on all three
sections of the THEA—Reading, Mathematics, and
Writing—you must figure your score on each section
separately The Reading section, the Mathematics
sec-tion, and the multiple-choice subsection of the Writing
section are scored the same way: First find the number
of questions you got right in each section Questions
you skipped or got incorrect don’t count; just add up
how many questions were correct in each section
In addition to achieving a passing score on the
Reading section, Mathematics section, and the
multi-ple-choice subsection of the Writing section, you
must receive a passing score on the writing sample
subsection of the Writing section of the THEA On
this portion, your writing sample will be scored by
two readers who have been especially trained for this
task, and the combined score will be used to evaluate
your work (Neither reader will know what score was
assigned by the other.) Generally, the essays are scored
as follows:
4 = Pass (an excellent and well-formed essay)
3 = Marginal Pass (an average and adequately formed essay)
2 = Marginal Fail (a partially formed but sub-standard essay)
1= Fail (an inadequately formed essay)
Your score will be a combination of the two readers’ judgments, somewhere between a possible high of 8 and a low of 2 If you receive a 6, 7, or 8 on the writing sample subsection, you will automatically pass the Writing portion of the THEA, regardless of your score on the multiple-choice subsection On the other hand, if you receive a score of 2, 3, or 4, you will not pass the Writing portion, regardless of your score on the multiple-choice subsection If you receive a score of
5, your performance on the multiple-choice subsection will be used to determine if you pass
The best way to see how you did on your essay for this practice exam is to give your essay and the scoring criteria to a teacher and ask him or her to score your essays for you
What is much more important than your scores, for now, is how you did on each of the basic skills tested by the exam You need to diagnose your strengths and weaknesses so that you can concentrate your efforts
as you prepare for the exam
Use your percentage scores in conjunction with the LearningExpress Test Preparation System in Chap-ter 2 of this book to help you devise a study plan Then turn to the review lessons in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 that cover each of the basic skills tested on the THEA You should plan to spend more time on the chapters that correspond to the questions you found hardest and less time on the chapters that correspond to areas in which you did well Then, you can go on to the other practice exams in Chapters 7 and 8 to see how much you are improving
– T H E A P R A C T I C E E X A M 1 –
Trang 3The reading comprehension section of the THEA is composed of approximately 40 to 50
multiple-choice questions based on a variety of passages The passages are similar to materials found in first-year college-level courses or textbooks and may include passages from newspapers, journals, and magazines The questions are a variety of types This section explores some general strategies for all kinds of pas-sages and questions The sections that follow look in detail at each kind of question you might be asked
S e v e n A p p r o a c h e s
How do you approach reading comprehension questions? Below are some suggestions from former THEA takers
■ The Concentrator: “I read the passage thoroughly before I look at the questions After concentrating on the
passage, I can find the answers to the questions if I don’t already know the answer from my careful reading.”
■ The Skimmer: “I skim the passage before looking at the questions I can always go back and find the
C H A P T E R
THEA Reading Review
C H A P T E R S U M M A R Y
The THEA Reading Review gives you the essentials you need to pass the Reading test You will learn about reading strategies, hints for dif-ferent question types, and tips for answering any question you come across
4
Trang 4■ The Cautious Reader: “I read the questions first
with all their answer choices I want to know what
they will ask me before I read the passage so I can
be on the lookout Then I read the passage two or
three times until I am sure I understand it
completely.”
■ The Game Player: “I read the questions first and
try to answer them from what I already know or
can guess Then I read the passage to see whether
I am right After guessing the answers, I am
famil-iar with the questions enough to recognize the
answers when I find them.”
■ The Educated Guesser: “I read the questions first,
but not the answers When I find the answer in the
passage, I look for it among the answer choices.”
■ The Psychic: “I believe the test makers would put
the questions for the first part of the passage first
So I read the first question and go back to the
pas-sage for the answer, and then I do the second
question.”
■ The Efficiency Expert: “First I look at the
ques-tions and do the quesques-tions that have line numbers
that indicate where the answer is to be found
Then I skim the passage for the key words I read
in the other questions This way, I sometimes do
not even have to read the whole passage.”
If you don’t already have a preferred method, try
some of these approaches as you work through the
practice exercises in this book See which method fits
your own mix of talents
H i n t s f o r R e a d i n g
t h e P a s s a g e s
The purpose of a reading comprehension problem is to
be as accurate as possible in the allotted time Practice
will help you determine whether you need to read the
questions first, the answers first, or some combination
thereof Try some of the shortcuts previously listed to find out which works for you
Associate with the Passage
Every passage has something to do with real-life situa-tions Your mission is to discover the answers to such questions as:
■ What is the author trying to express?
■ Who might the author be?
■ Does the author tell readers in the beginning what
to expect later in the passage?
■ How does the author structure the work to con-vey meaning?
■ Does the author make any statements that might surprise or interest you?
■ To what conclusions is the author leading readers?
■ What conclusions are stated?
Mark Up the Passage
Some test takers find it helpful to underline text or make notes in the margins to designate the stated sub-ject, supporting facts, conclusions, etc For others, marking a passage seems a waste of time You are free
to make as many marks as you want on the test book-let, so if marking helps, go for it If you are not sure, now is the time to try out this method If you decide to mark a passage, don’t mark so much that the bulk of the passage is obscured Marking a few key words and ideas
is more helpful than underlining the majority of the passage
Notice Transitions
Pay special attention to words that give you an insight into the author’s purpose or that change the context
of the passage, such as however, nevertheless, etc In at
least one passage, these words will be left for you to fill in
– T H E A R E A D I N G R E V I E W –
Trang 5H i n t s f o r R e a d i n g
t h e Q u e s t i o n s
Reading the questions carefully is just as important as
reading the answers
Read the Questions as Carefully
as the Passage
It is crucial that you read the questions and answers as
carefully as you read the passage Should you read all
the answer choices or stop when you have found one
that seems right? Test takers differ on this Some who
read all the answers become confused or worry about
wasting time Others feel more secure when they can
eliminate every answer but the right one It is up to you
to find the best method
Know the Question Types
If you answer an inference question as a detail question,
you will get the answer wrong, even though the answer
you choose is in the passage The reading strategies in
this chapter will show you how to recognize the
differ-ent question types and how to quickly choose the best
answer
Answer Only from the Passage
Everything you need to know to answer a question has
to be somewhere in the passage While it is helpful to
have some knowledge of the subject in order to better
understand the author, don’t rely on your experience to
answer the question An answer can be true in real life
but still not be the correct answer on the test
Not or Except
Look for words in the question such as NOT or
EXCEPT, especially if you cannot find your answer, or
if there seems to be more than one answer For
exam-ple, a question might read: “Which of the following
facts is NOT stated in the passage?”
Eliminate
Eliminate all answers that are obviously off the subject
or otherwise wrong Physically cross off the obviously wrong answers in your test booklet so you won’t waste time reading them again Test takers say that they are often left with two close answers There has to be one answer that is better than the other Check the passage for clue words that might point to one choice over the other If, after trying out all the strategies you learn in this book, you are still left with two answers, go ahead and guess, and get on with the next question
None Left?
If you eliminate all of the answers, go back over the eliminated answers to determine whether there might
be another meaning for any of them Try to find a rea-son that would make each answer correct If there is no possible way an answer could be right—for example, if
it is completely off the subject—then eliminate that answer Choose the answer that is the least wrong
Marking the Unknown Question
Should you mark questions to come back to later? If you do, you will probably have to read the passage again, which can waste valuable time If an answer jumps out at you after reading the passage once or twice, choose it Many teachers and test takers recom-mend going with your first answer, your gut instinct To save time and avoid dealing with passages more than once, answer all the questions about one passage before continuing on to the next passage
U s i n g t h e S t e p s
The strategies that follow discuss types of reading ques-tions you may encounter on the THEA They offer sample question beginnings, as well as steps for solving each type of problem There is no need to memorize all the steps You may even be able to find the answer by your own methods without looking at the steps—so
– T H E A R E A D I N G R E V I E W –
Trang 6Organization Questions
Passages on the THEA are always organized logically
Studying that organization may give you some ideas on
how to organize your essay in the Writing portion of
the test You’ll learn about two types of organization
questions: structure and misplaced sentences
S t r u c t u r e Q u e s t i o n s
Structure questions usually have stems like these:
■ Which of the following best represents the
arrangement of the passage?
■ Which of the following best describes the
organi-zation of the passage?
■ The sequence of the passage is best represented by
which of the following?
Where to Find Structure Answers
in the Passage
To answer structure questions, you need to skim the
passage carefully enough to discover the gist of each
sentence; that is, whether it is a statistic, an example, a
quote, an opinion, or something else
Practice Passage and Questions
Try the six steps on the structure questions that follow this passage
Many extended-time programs use heterogeneous grouping of multi-age and/or multi-ability students Mixed-ability grouping is based on the theory that lower-ability students benefit from working in small groups with their higher-achieving peers, and high-ability students reinforce their knowledge by sharing with their lower-achieving peers Researchers also have found that multi-age grouping benefits stu-dents’ mental health as well as academic achieve-ment and contributes to positive attitudes toward school
Because the voluntary nature of participation
in an extended-time program results in a range of student ages and skills, heterogeneous groups may result naturally Often, however, extended-time pro-gram planners arrange groups so that high- and low-ability students work together—with the expec-tation of cooperative rather than competitive learn-ing In Chicago’s ASPIRA program, students are selected for participation with a goal of mixing high achievers and at-risk participants—and these groups work together closely in all activities
– T H E A R E A D I N G R E V I E W –
Six Steps for Structure Questions
1 Skim the passage or read the topic sentences to understand the general topic and the purpose of the
passage
2 Notice the logical sequence of ideas that the author uses.
3 The description of sentences in the answers goes in the same order as the sentences in the passage, so
notice the first sentences Do they state a theory, introduce a topic, or quote a famous person?
4 Look at the answer choices If the first few sentences state a theory, then the first part of the correct
answer should say that the author states a theory, gives a hypothesis, or other words to that effect
Elimi-nate any answers that do not match
5 Apply steps 3 and 4 to the next few sentences in the passage.
6 You should have eliminated at least one or two answers by this step When only two or three are left,
read the next sentences of the passage and find the answer that matches the rest of the structure