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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 Insert Text questions.

  • The Insert Text questions are designed to show

  • that you understand the logical order of ideas

  • in a reading passage.

  • In the reading section,

  • every reading passage has one Insert Text question.

  • But instead of choosing from a list of 4 choices,

  • like with most Reading questions,

  • you will click on one of the 4 black squares

  • to insert the text into the paragraph.

  • During the real test, you can change the location

  • of the sentence as many times as you need to,

  • so you can see how it works in each of the four places.

  • Here's a sample Insert Text question,

  • and the corresponding paragraph.

  • Note that the sentence says "This is the criterion..."

  • And it's important to look for pronouns.

  • The pronoun here is "this," so there is probably something

  • about a criterion in the previous sentence.

  • If we insert the sentence at square number 4,

  • the previous sentence talks about "the standard criterion,"

  • and the following sentence says

  • "Yet an equally important criterion".

  • So that's a likely choice.

  • And when you read those sentences together,

  • the sentences do flow logically.

  • So this is the correct answer.

  • One tip for improving your reading

  • is to really know your pronouns,

  • and to practice matching them to the words

  • they refer to in a text.

  • Here are a few of the most common pronouns

  • that you will see when you read.

  • There are lots of ways to improve your English skills.

  • Whatever you do, keep practicing.

  • And good luck on your TOEFL test.

MICHAEL: Hi, I'm Michael from ETS.

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