TOEFL iBT Reading Section

TOEFL iBT Reading Section - Complete Study Guide for Test of English as a Foreign Language

The TOEFL iBT Reading section tests your ability to understand academic and everyday English texts. It includes three task types: Complete the Words (vocabulary in context), Read in Daily Life (practical comprehension), and Read an Academic Passage (detailed academic comprehension). The section tests vocabulary knowledge, main ideas, supporting details, inferences, and text organisation.

Step-by-Step Strategy

1. For Complete the Words, use context clues from the surrounding sentences to figure out missing letters
2. For daily-life texts, scan for key information — you don't need to read every word
3. For academic passages, read the first and last sentence of each paragraph to get the structure
4. Answer easier questions first and mark harder ones to return to
5. Don't spend more than 2 minutes on any single question

Avoid These Mistakes

• Spending too much time on the first task type and rushing the academic passage
• Not reading all answer choices before selecting one
• Choosing answers based on prior knowledge rather than what the passage states
• Ignoring transition words and logical connectors that signal the author's argument
• Not practising all three task types separately before attempting full sections

Expert Tips

• Build academic vocabulary by reading university-level articles and textbook excerpts daily
• Practice recognising common word roots, prefixes, and suffixes for the vocabulary task
• Time yourself regularly — the Reading section has a strict time limit
• Learn to identify paraphrased information, as correct answers often restate passage content
• For inference questions, look for what is strongly implied, not just directly stated

Frequently Asked Questions

Available in: TOEFL iBT (Score 0-30)

Time allowed: 35 minutes