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MICHAEL: Hi, I'm Michael from ETS.
Today on Inside the TOEFL Test,
we're going inside the TOEFL iBT Reading section.
Specifically, the Sentence Simplification questions.
Sentence Simplification questions
ask you to identify a sentence
that has essentially the same meaning
as a sentence from the reading passage.
The correct answer choice contains the main ideas
from the sentence in the passage
but may leave out minor or unimportant details.
It should restate the most important information
in a simpler way.
Sentence Simplification questions are easy to recognize
because the wording of the question
is always exactly the same:
"Which of the sentences below best expresses
the essential information in the following sentence?
Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways
or leave out essential information."
The highlighted sentence will have both essential
and non-essential information.
Your job is to pick the answer choice
that best includes the essential information
and leaves out the non-essential information.
Answering this type of question will require you
to understand the relationship
between the pieces of information in the sentence.
Often, there is an important cause/effect relationship,
or there may be a conclusion based on some evidence.
So look for those same ideas in the answer choices.
Here's an example of a sentence simplification question
from a passage about meteorite impacts and dinosaur extinction.
This type of question can be challenging,
because all of the answer choices
will contain words or phrases
that are similar to ones in the given sentence.
For example,
3 of the answer choices talk about the explosion...
... 3 talk about fires
... and 3 mention the destruction of plant life
So, can you identify the correct answer?
It's A, because all of the important information is aligned
with the given sentence.
Both the given sentence and choice A talk about the large
amounts of nitric acid and melted rock...
...that were the result of the explosion...
...and that started fires that destroyed plant life.
The other responses have content
that contradicts the highlighted sentence,
or just isn't there.
Choice B looks like a good answer at first,
because it talks about the fires spreading and burning forests...
But choice B says that it was the fires
that released the nitric acid,
which is different from the highlighted sentence,
which says that the nitric acid, along with the melted rock,
caused the fires.
Choice C can be eliminated
because it leaves out essential information
about the fires and the destruction of forests
and plant life.
Finally, choice D is incorrect because again,
the cause and effect are reversed.
This one says that the fires caused the explosions,
when it was really the other way around.
One tip to build your reading skills,
which will also help you answer
sentence simplification questions,
is to look at complex sentences or paragraphs,
and separate the main ideas from less important information.
Non-essential information can be things like examples,
or text in parentheses, or very specific information
like numbers or dates.
There are lots of ways to improve your English skills.
Whatever you do, keep practicing.
And good luck on your TOEFL test.