skkn dạy cách làm bài thi toeff - reading

To answer the question about the topic the main idea of the certain reading or the passage we have to comprehend all the reading, so do not pay attention to the details.. In the Toelf

Tr−êng THPT Chuyªn Lμo Cai

Tæ Ngo¹i ng÷

S¸ng kiÕn kinh nghiÖm n¨m häc 2010 -2011

D¹y c¸ch lμm bμi thi Toelf - reading

Ng−êi viÕt : NguyÔn §øc ChÝnh Tr−êng THPT Chuyªn Lµo Cai

Lµo Cai - 3/ 2011

A I nt r oduct ion

Teaching Toelf - readings is not easy All t he r eadings ar e sim ply designed.Teacher s som et im es use t he r eadings, t each all t he t hings t hat ar e r epr esent ed in t he t est s , but st ill feel t hat t here are som et hing is m issed Why ?

I have been using t hese kinds of reading for m any year s, t eaching m y st udent s and asking m yself t o t r y m y best t o t each m y st udent s Befor e each t im e I go t o m y classes , I alw ays r evise all t he t hings I t hink I have t o convey t o m y st udent s Day

by day, year by year I r ealize one t hing, all t he Toelf - r eadings, even t he m ost

m oder n, t he m ost w ell- pr epar ed have som et hing in com m on Toelf – r eadings ar e only a sour se of m any sour ses t eacher s should use t o t each t heir st udent s So

t eacher s should gat her k now lw dge fr om ot her t ext books, adapt t ext books, m aking

t hem suit able t o t heir st udent s Som et im es t eachers should m ake t hem easier if

t heir st udent s ar e not good ones, som et im es t hey should add som et hing t o Toelf – readings if t heir st udent s are good ones I n m ost cases t eacher s do not t each, t hey guide t heir st udent s t o st udy t hem selv es They only st and in class t o supervise, t o give inst r uct ions, t o help t heir st udent s t o st udy t hem selv es

I n t his w rit ing I w ant t o share w it h y ou , all of m y dear colleagues t he w ay t o t each

t he Toelf – r eadings I hope I can shar e w it h you, and our st udent s som et hing Many

t hanks for any fur t her com m ent s , please send your com m ent s t o Nguyen Duc

Students Tele: 0203854130 or mobile phone :0977 453 899

Content

1 To answer the question about the topic ( the main idea)

of the certain reading or the passage we have to

comprehend all the reading, so do not pay attention to the details After reading, ask ourselves “ What is the reading about? The author often repeat the topic during the course

of the reading“ The answer is the main idea itself

E.g :

Americans have in the past century assumed that their schools will be

comprehensive, especially at the secondary, or high school, level Stated another

way, there has always been broad agreement in American society that public

education will not follow a strictly defined 5 course of study, but instead will offer a variety of options from which students may choose

Comprehensiveness has been a corollary of the American decision to educate the

mass of the nation's children and youth, without systematically 10 winnowing out the academically less qualified Providing education for such a heterogeneous group of students has necessarily involved taking account of various levels of intelligence, various career aspirations, various interests, and various levels of social experiences

15

Comprehensiveness in education has not implied fragmentation in the school's

curriculum Instead, it has affirmed that schools must provide options that reflect the diversity of interests and abilities of their students, while still concentrating on the fundamental learning skills."

What is the main topic of the passage?

(B) Comprehensive education

(C) High school education

(D) Public education

2 Read each of the question and scan the reading to find where we can take the information to answer certain

questions

E.g :

Thomas Jefferson disliked the deference in the early American buildings to the

architecture of Georgian England, which served as a constant reminder of monarchial tyranny and the bloody years of the War of Independence He aspired to a more timeless architecture, based at 5 first on his favored Renaissance styles, which in turn were based on the architecture of ancient Rome

What made Jefferson's buildings especially American was the way they

pushed into a hilltop so that its spreading service wings would not obstruct the

sweeping panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains visible from the house The building became a part of the hill and made possible views of tilled lowlands to the east and a rugged wilderness that stretched to the west

15

All of Jefferson's buildings were created with a clear view to utility and with a special relationship to the landscape He favored grassy terraces with views if possible to the mountains But his buildings also showed his idealism, to serve as examples of good architecture, 20 which usually meant the architecture of classical antiquity, which was for him the architecture of a republic

In what way were Jefferson's buildings very American?

(A) They were built on mountains

(B) They were a reminder of the War of Independence

(C) They blended with the natural environment

(D) They were loved by Americans as homes

3.Do not worry about the words we do not know; go further; there often is the explantion of the new words If you cannot find the explanation, try to think creatically, and guess the meaning of the new words In the Toelf test, the words often

do not have the meanings you find in the dictionary, so you have to guess the meaning of the words in the context

E.g :

Martin Luther King, Jr., is well known for his work in civil rights and for his many famous speeches, among them is his moving "I Have A Dream" speech But fewer people know much about King's childhood M.L., as he was called, was born in 1929

in Atlanta, Georgia, at 5 the home of his maternal grandfather M.L.'s grandfather, the ReverendA.D Williams, purchased their home on Auburn Avenue in 1909, twenty years before M.L was born The Reverend Williams, an eloquent speaker, played an important role in the community since so many people's lives centered around the church He allowed his church and his home 10 to be used as a meeting place for a number of organizations dedicated to the education and social advancement of

blacks M.L grew up in this atmosphere, with his home being used as a community gathering place, and was no doubt influenced by it

15 M.L.'s childhood was not especially eventful His father was a minister and his mother was a musician He was the second of three children, and he attended all- black schools in a black neighborhood The neighborhood was not poor, however Auburn Avenue was the main artery through a prosperous neighborhood that had come to symbolize achievement 20 for Atlanta's black people It was an area of banks, insurance companies, builders, jewelers, tailors, doctors, lawyers, and other

black-owner black-operated businesses and services Even in the face of Atlanta's

segregation, the district thrived Dr King never forgot the community spirit he

had known as a child, nor did he forget the racial prejudice 25 that was a seemingly insurmountable barrier that kept black Atlantans from mingling with whites

9 The word "thrived" in line 23 refers to which of the following?

4.To answer the question concerned with the content of the next papagraph , we should get the content of the reading and guess what the author will discuss in the next

paragraph

E.g :

A pilot cannot fly a plane by sight alone In many conditions, such as flying at night and landing in dense fog, a pilot must use radar, an alternative way of navigating Since human eyes are not very good at determining speeds of approaching objects, radar can show a pilot 5 how fast nearby planes are moving

The basic principle of radar is exemplified by what happens when one shouts in a cave The echo of the sounds against the walls helps a person determine the size of the cave With radar, however, the 10 waves are radio waves instead of sound

waves Radio waves travel at the speed of light, about 300,000 kilometers in one second A radar set sends out a short burst of radiation waves Then it receives the echoes produced when the waves bounce off objects By determining the time it takes for the echoes to return to the radar set, a trained 15 technician can determine the distance between the radar set and other objects The word "radar," in fact, gets its name from the term "radio detection and ranging." "Ranging" is the term for detection of the distance between an object and the radar set Besides being of

critical importance to pilots, radar is essential for air traffic control, 20 tracking ships

at sea, and for tracking weather systems and storms

Which of the following would most likely be the topic of the next paragraph? (A) other uses of radar

(B) uses of sonar technology

(C) other technology used by pilots

(D) a history of flying

5.To answer the question about the tone of the reading, we should see if the author use serious words or light,

humourous words… to know it is humourous, serious,

scientific, … tone

E.g :

A balanced diet contains proteins, which are composed of complex amino acids There are 20 types of amino acids, comprising about 16 percent of the body weight

in a lean individual A body needs all 20 to be healthy Amino acids can be divided into two groups: essential 5 and nonessential There are 9 essential amino acids

must ingest them The 11 nonessential amino acids, on the other hand, are produced

by the body, so it is not necessary to ingest them Proteins are described as being either high-quality or low-quality, 10 depending on how many of the 9 essential amino acids the food contains High-quality proteins, typically found in animal meats, are proteins that have ample amounts of the essential amino acids Low-quality proteins are mainly plant proteins and usually lack one or more of the essential amino acids Since people who follow a strict vegetarian 15 diet are ingesting only low-quality proteins, they must make sure that their diets contain a variety of proteins, in order to ensure that what is lacking in one food is available in another This process of selecting a variety of the essential proteins is called protein complementation Since an insufficient amount of protein in the 20 diet can be crippling, and prolonged absence of proteins can cause death, it is imperative that a vegetarian diet contains an ample amount of the essential proteins

Which of the following best describes the author's tone in this passage?

C Feedback

1 The result

I have been using the above ways for 6 years for all English classes : 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 , 2008-2009 , 2009- 2010 and 2010-2011 They have been proved suficient In the school year 2004- 2005, we had 1 Fourth National Prize In the school year 2005-2006, we had 5 National Prizes , included one Third National Prize, the school year 2006- 2007 , we had 4 Fourth National Prizes In 2007-2008

we had one National fourth prize In 2008-2009 we had 3 National prizes ( 2 fourth prizes and one Third) In 2009-2010 3 National prizes ( 2 fourth prizes and one Third) All my students are now not afraid of Toelf - reading because at least , they know how to read

2 The application

When giving students Toelf - reading, teacher should pause for a minute and ask them how to read Let them discuss in group then report to the rest After that , the teacher gives the instrucuctions as above There are , of course, many other kinds of

reading , teachers are advised to read first and then find the way to do them At

last, share their experience with his or her students

I hope all of you will be the best teachers to teach your students better

Lao Cai : 1/ 3/2011 Writer : NguyÔn §øc ChÝnh