Sentences with one clause Skill 1: be sure a sentence have S and V Skill 2: Be careful of objects of preposition A preposition is followed by a noun or pronoun that is called an object o
Trang 1STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION
I STRUCTURES
A Sentences with one clause
Skill 1: be sure a sentence have S and V
Skill 2: Be careful of objects of preposition
A preposition is followed by a noun or pronoun that is called an object of
preposition If a word is an object of preposition, it is not the subject
Skill 3: be careful of Appositive
An oppositive is a noun that comes before or after another noun and is generally set off from the noun with commas If a word is an oppositive, it is not the subject The following oppositive structure are both possible in English
Skill 4: Be careful of present participbles (V-ing)
A present participble is a –ing form of the verb The present participble can be part of the verb or an adjective It is part of the verb when it is an accompanied by some form of the verb “be” It is an adjective when it is not accompanied by some form of the verb “be”
Skill 5: Be careful of past participbles
A past participble often edns in –ed, but there are also many irregular past
participbles For many verbs, including –ed verbs, the simple past and the past
participble are the same and can be easily confused The –ed form of the verb can be the simple past, the past participble of a verb or an adjective
B Sentences with multiple clauses
Skill 6: Use coordinate connectors correctly
Coordinate connectors: And, but, or, so, yet
Skill 7: Use adverbs Time and Cause connectors correctly
Adverb Time connectors: after, as, as long as, as soon as, before, by the time, once, since, until, when, whenever, while,…
Adverb cause connectors: as, because, inasmuch as, now that since
Skill 8: Use other adverb connectors correctly
OTHER ADVERB CONNECTORS
If, in case,
provided, providing,
unless, whether
Although, even though, though, while, whereas
As
In that
Where Wherever
Notes: A comma is often used in the middle of the sentence with a contrast connector.
Skill 9: Use noun clause connectors correctly
Noun clause can be as object or subject Some noun clause connectors: what, when, where, why, how, whatever, whenever, if, whether, that
Skill 10: Use noun clause connectors/subjects correctly
Connectors: who, whoever, what, whatever, which, whichever
Skill 11: Use Adjective clause connectors correctly
Adj clause Connectors: who/whom (for people), which (for things), that (both) Adj clause Connectors were used to introduce clauses that describe nouns
Trang 2Note: the adj connectors can be omitted This omission is very common in
spoken English or in casual (informal) written English It is not as common in formal english or in structure questions on the TOEFL test
Skill 12: Use adj clause connectors/subjects correctly
Adj clause Connectors/subjects: who/whom (for people), which (for things), that (both)
Adj clause Connectors is not just a connector, it can also be the subject of the clause at the same time
C Sentences with Reduced clauses
Skill 13: Use reduced Adjective clauses correctly
- To reduce an adj clause: omit the adj clause connector/subject and the be-verb
- If there is no be-verb, omit the adj clause connector/subject and change the main verb to –ing form
- Only reduce an adj clause if the connector/subject is dircetly followed by the verb
- If an adj clause is set off with commas, the reduced clause can be moved to front of the sentence
Skill 14: Use reduced Adverb clauses correctly
- To reduce an adv clause: omit the subject and the be-verb from the adv clause
- If there is no be-verb, omit the subject and change the verb to –ing form
- Don’t omit the adv clause connectors
D Sentences with inverted subjects and verbs
Skill 15: Invert the subject and verb with question words
Question words: who, what, when, where, why, how
- When the question word introduces the question, the subject and verb are inverted
- When the question word connects two clauses, the subject and verb that follow aren’t inverted
Skill 16: Invert the subject and verb with place expressions
- When a place expression at the front of the sentence is necessary
to complete the sentence, the subject and verb that follow are inverted.
- When a place expression at the front of the sentence contains extra
information that is not needed to complete the sentence, the subject and verb that
follow aren’t inverted.
Skill 17: Invert the subject and verb with negative words
Negative words: no, not, never, neither, nor, barely, scarely, hardly, rarely,
only, seldom, … When a negative expression appears in front of asubject verb (at the
beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence) the subject and verb are inverted
Skill 18: Invert the subject and verb with conditionals
When the verb in conditional clause is had, should, or were; it is possible to omit
if and invert the subject and verb
It is also possible to keep if Then the subject and verb are not inverted
Skill 19: Invert the subject and verb with Comparisions
The subject and verb may invert after a comparision The following structures are both possible Note: A subject-verb invertion after a comparision sounds rather formal
Trang 3II THE WRITTEN EXPRESSION QUESTIONS
Procedures for the written expression questions
1. First, look at the underlined words or groups of words You want to see if you can spot which of the four answer choices isn’t correct
2. If you have been unable to find the error by looking only at the four underlined expressions, then read the complete sentence Often an underlined
expression is incorrect because of something in another part of the sentence
A Problems with Subject/verb Agreement
Skill 20: Make verbs agree after prepositional phrases
S (prepositional phrase) V When a prepositional phrase comes between the subject and the verb, be sure that the verb agrees with the subject
Skill 21: Make verbs agree after Expressions of quantity
(All,most,some,half) of the object + V (agreement with O) When an expression of quantity is the subject, the verb agrees with the object
Skill 22: Make inverted verbs agree
SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT AFTER INVERTED VERBS [question words (skill 15)/ place expression (skill 16)/ negative (skill 17)/ omitted conditionals (skill 18)/ comparision (skill 19) + V + S
The verb agrees with the subject, which may be after the verb
Skill 23: Make verbs agree after certain words
These words or expressions are grammatically singular, so they take singular verbs: any-, every-, no-, some-, any-, no one, each (+noun), every (+noun)
B Problem with parralel structure
Skill 24: Use parallel structure with coordinate conjunctions
(same structure) + (and, but, or) +(same structure) (same structure), (same structure), (and, but, or), (same structure)
Skill 25: Use Parallel structure with paired conjunctions
Parallel structure with paired conjunctions Both
(same structure)
and
(same structure)
Skill 26: Use Parallel structure with Comparisions
Parallel structure with Comparisions
(same structure)
More ……….than
(same structure)
-er………than Less…… than As……….as The
same……… as
Similar…….to
C Problems with comparatives and superatives
Skill 27: Form comparatives and superatives correctly
Comparative More + long adj/adv
than Short adj/adv +er
Trang 4the
Most + long adj/adv
Maybe in,
of, that Short
adj/adv +est
Skill 28: Use the and superatives correctly
The comparative is used to compare two equal things
The superative is used to show which one of many is in some way the most outstanding
Skill 29: Use the irregular –er, -er structure correctly
THE –ER, -ER STRUCTURE The –er/more (same structure), the –er/more (same structure) This type of sentence may or may not include a verb
D Problem with form of the verb:
Skill 30: After Have, use the past participle
Skill 31: After Be, use the present participle or the past participle
Skill 32: After modals, use the base form of the verb
Modals: will, would, can, could, should, shall May, might, must, have to
E Problem with the use of the verb
Skill 33: Know when to use the past with the present
- If you see a sentence with one verb in the past and one verb in the present, the sentence is probably incorrect
- However, it is possible for a correct sentence to have both past and present together
- If you see the past and present together, you must check the meaning to determine whether or not the sentence is correct
Skill 34: Use Have and Had correctly
The present perfect (have PP) refers to the period of time from the past until the present The past perfect (had PP) refers to the period of time that started in the past and ended in the past, before something else happened in the past
USING HAVE AND HAD CORRECTLY
tense
past
Not with a present tense
Except when the time expression since is part of the sentence (see skill 35)
Skill 35: Use the correct tense with time expressions
Skill 36: Use the correct tense with WILL and WOULD
USING CORRECT TENSES WITH WILL AND WOULD
USING CORRECT TENSES WITH TIME EXPRESSIONS
Last (year)
In (1999)
Since (1999) lately
Trang 5Note: there is a different modal would that is used to make polite requests This type
of would is often used with the present tense
F Problem with passive verbs
Skill 37: Use the correct form of the passive
Be + PP + (by + O)
Skill 38: Recognize active and passive meanings
Active: The S does the action of the verb
Passive: The S receives the action of the verb
G Problems with nouns
Skill 39: Use the correct singular or plural noun
KEYWORDS FOR SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS Singular
nouns
Each every single one a
Plural nouns Both two many several various
Skill 40: Distinguish countable and uncountable nouns
KEYWORDS FOR COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Skill 41: Recognize irregular plurals of nouns
IRREGULAR PLURALS Vowel change Man/men
Woman/women
Foot/feet Tooth/teeth
Goose/geese Mouse/mice
Same as
singular
Deer/deer Fish/fish
Salmon/salmon Sheep/sheep
Trout/trout
-IS →-ES Analysis/analyses
Axis/axes Crisis/crises
Diagnosis/diagnoses Hypothesis/hypotheses Parenthesis/parentheses
Synthesis/syntheses Thesis/theses
Ends in –A Bacterium/bacteria
Curriculum/curricula
Datum/data Phenomenon/phenomena
Criterion/criteria
Bacillus/bacilli Cactus/cacti
Fungus/fungi Nucleus/nuclei Radius/radii
Stimulus/stimuli Syllabus/syllabi
Skill 42: Distinguish the person from the thing
It is common to confuse aperson with a thing in written expression questions on the TOEFL test You must check by the maening in the situation in the sentence that they provide
H Problem with pronouns
Skill 43: Distinguish subject and object pronouns
Subject: I/you/he/she/it/we/they
Object: me/you/him/her/it/us/them
The subject pronoun is used as the subject of the verb An object pronoun can be used as the object of a verb or object of a preposition
Skill 44: Distinguish possessive adjectives and pronouns
PA: my/your/his/her/its/our/their It must be accompanied by a noun
PP: mine/yours/his/hers/ no form of it/ours/theirs It cannot be accompanied by a
noun
Trang 6PP = PA + N
Skill 45: Check pronoun reence for agreement
- Be sure that every pronoun and possessive agrees with the noun it refers to
- You generally check back in the sentence for agreement
I Problem with ADJs and ADVs
Skill 46: Use basic ADJs and ADVs correctly
ADJs: Adj describe nouns or pronouns
ADVs: Adv describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
Skill 47: Use ADJs after linking verbs
Linking verbs: appear, be, become, feel, look, prove, seem, smell, taste
- A regular verb is followed by an adverb The adverb describes the verb
- A linking verb is followed by an adjective The adjective describes the subject
- It is possible that a linking verb is followed by an adverb and an adjective The adverb is describes the adjective and the adjective describes the subject
Skill 48: Position adjectives and adverbs correctly
THE POSITION OF ADJs AND ADVs
ADJs A one-word adjective comes before the noun it describe It
doesn’t come directly after
ADVs An adverb can appear in many positions: beginning sentence,
ending sentence, between two verbs It cannot be used between a verb and its object
J More problem with ADJs
Skill 49: Recognize –LY adjectives
Generally when a word ends in –ly in English, it is an adverb However, There are a few words ending in –ly that are adjectives, and these –ly adjectives can cause confusion in written expression questions on the TOEFL test
-LY adjectives
Costly
Early
Friendly
Kindly
Likely Lively Lonely Manly
Daily Hourly Monthly Nightly
Quarterly Weekly Yearly Lovely
Northerly Easterly Southerly Westerly
Skill 50: Use predicate adjectives correctly
Certain adjectives appear only in the predicate of the sentence, that is, they appear after a linking verb such as be, and they cannot appear dirrectlt in front of the nouns that they are describe
Ex: Correct: The snake on the rock was alive Incorrect: The alive snake was
lying on the rock
PREDICATE ADJECTIVES
Alive
Alike
Alone
Afraid
Asleep
Live, living Like, similar Lone
Frightened Sleeping
Trang 7Note: A predicate adjective appears after a linking verb such as be It cannot
appear dirrectly in front of noun that it describes
Skill 51: Use –ED and –ING adjectives correctly
The difference between an –ed and an –ing adjective is similar to the difference between the active and the passive An –ing adj means that the noun it describe is doing the action An –ed adj means that the noun it desribes is receiving the action from the verb
-ED AND –ING ADJECTIVES
action of the verb
….the happily playing children…
(the children play)
the action of the verb
…the frequently played record…
(someone plays the record)
K Problems with articles
Skill 52: Use articles with singular nouns
A singular noun must have an article (a, an, the) or some other determiner such
as my or each A plural noun or an uncountable noun may or may not have an article
Skill 53: Distinguish A and AN
A AND AN ARTICLES
A A is used in front of a singular noun with a consonant sound
AN An is used in front of a singular noun with a vowel sound
Be careful of nouns beginning with H or U They may be have a vowel or a consonant sound
Skill 54: Make articles agree with nouns
The definite article (the) is used for both singular and plural nouns, so agreement
is not a problem with the definite article However, because the use of the indefinite article is different for singular and plural nouns, you must be careful of agreement error
is to use the singular indefinite article (a, an) with a plural noun You should never use a
or an with a plural noun
Skill 55: Distinguish specific and general ideas
SPECIFIC AND GENERAL IDEAS
A or AN General idea Use when there are many, and you don’t know which
one it is Use when there are many, and you don’t care which one it is
THE Specific idea Use when it is the only one
Use when there are many, and you don’t know which one it is
L Problems with prepositions
Skill 56: Recognize incorrect prepositions
You should to use remember and use the preposition correct
Skill 57: Recognize when prepositions have been omitted
Trang 8Sometimes a necessary preposition has been omitted from a sentence in written expression questions on the TOEFl test
M Problems with usage
Skill 58: Distinguish Make and Do
Make and Do can be confused ion English because their meaning are so similar Since the difference between make and do is tested on the TOEFL test, you should learn
to distinguish them
Make often has the idea of creating or constructing Do often has the idea of completing of performing
Skill 59: Distinguish Like, Alike and Unlike
LIKE, ALIKE and UNLIKE
Like
Alike
Adjective
Adjective
Similar Similar
As an adjective, like is used before a noun
As an adjective, Alike is used after a linking verb
Like
Unlike
Preposition
Prepostion
Similar Different
Both preposition are followed by objects They can both be used in many positions, including at the beginning of the sentence
Skill 60: Distinguish Other, Another, and Others
Other, another, and others are very easy to confuse To describe how to use each of them correctly, you must consider three thing: (1) if it is singular or plural, (2) if it is definite (the) or indefinite (a, an), and (3) if it is an adjective (it appears with a noun) or if it is a
pronoun (it appears by itself)
INDEFINITE I have another book (ADJ)
I have another (Pronoun)
I have other book (ADJ)
I have others (pronoun)
DEFINITE I have the other book (ADJ)
I have the other (pronoun)
I have the other book (ADJ)
I have the others (pronoun)
Notice that you use another only to refer to an indefinite, singular idea Others is used only as a plural pronoun (not accompanied by a noun) In all other cases, other is
correct
Trang 9READING COMPREHENSION GENERAL STRATEGIES
1 Be familiar with the directions The directions on the every TOEFL test
are the same, so it is not necessary to spend time reading the directions carefully when you take the test You should be comeplete familiar with the directions before the day of the test
2 Don’t spend too much time reading the passages! You don’t have time
to read each reading passage in depth, and it is quite possible to answer the
questions correctly without fisrt reading the passage in depth Some studdents prefer
to spend a minute or two on each passage reading for the main idea before starting
on the questions Others prefer to move directly to the questions without reading the passage first
3 Don’t worry if a reading passage is on a topic that you are
unfamiliar with All of the information that you need to answer the question is
included in the passages You don’t need any background knowledge to answer the questions
4 Never leave any answers blank on your answer sheet Even if you are
unsure of the correct response, you should answer each question There is no penalty for guessing
THE READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
STRATEGIES FOR THE READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1 Skim the reading passage to determine the main idea and the overal organization of ideas in the passage You don’t need to understand any detail in
each passage to answer the questions correctly It is therefore a waste of time to read the passage with the intent of understanding every single detail before you try to answer the questions
2 Look ahead at the questions o determine what types of questions you must answer Each type of question is answered in a different way.
3 Find the section of the passage that deals with each question The
question-type tells you exactly where to look in the passage to find correct answers
• For main idea questions, look at the fisrt line of each paragraph
• For directly and indirectly answered detail questions, choose a key word in the question, and skim for that key word (or a ralated idea) in order in the passage
• For vocabulary questions, the question will tell you where the word is located in the passage
• For overall review questions, the answer are found anywhere in the passage
4 Read the part of the passage that contains the answer carefully The
answer will probably be in the same sentence (or one sentence before or after) the key word or idea
5 Choose the best answer to each question from the four answer
choices listed in your test book You can choose the best answer according to
what is given in the appropriate section of the passage, eliminate definitely wrong answers, and mark your best guess on the answer sheet
A QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IDEAS OF THE PASSAGE
Skill 1: ANSWER MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS CORRECTLY
Trang 10MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS How to identify the
question
What is the topic/subject/main idea of the passage?
What is the author’s main point in the passage?
With what is the author primarily concerned?
Which of the following would be the best tittle?
Where to find the
answer
The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentence of each paragraph
How to answer the
question
1 Read the first line of each paragraph
2 Look for a common theme or idea in the first lines
3 Pass your eyes quickly over the rest of the passage to check that you really have found the topic sentence(s)
4 Eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the best answer from the remain choices
Skill 2: RECOGNIZE THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS
B DIRECTLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS
Skill 3: ANSWER STATED DETAIL QUESTIONS CORRECTLY
ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS How to identify the
question
How is the information in the passage organized?
How is the information in the second paragraph related to
the information in the first paragraph?
Where to find the
answer
The answer to this type of question can generally be determined by looking at the first sentence of the appropriate paragraph
How to answer the
question
1 Read the first line of each paragraph
2 Look for words that show the relationship between the paragraphs
3 Choose the answer that best expresses the relationship