hi I'm Michael from ETS today on inside
the TOEFL test we're going inside the
TOEFL IBT reading section specifically
the factual information and negative
factual information questions factual
information questions ask you to
recognize information that is explicitly
stated in the text
these may include facts such as major
ideas supporting details or definitions
negative factual information questions
are similar except that instead of only
one answer being true three of the four
answers are true and you have to
determine which one is false factual
information questions will have phrases
like according to the paragraph or
paragraph X answers which of the
following in the question for negative
factual information questions look for
the words not or except in capital
letters here are some tips for answering
factual and negative factual information
questions number one don't automatically
select an answer just because it
contains words or phrases from the
paragraph make sure you carefully
evaluate each option to determine if
it's correct 2 for the negative factual
information questions remember that
you're looking for an answer that either
isn't in the paragraph or directly
contradicts information in the paragraph
let's look at a sample factual
information question first here's an
excerpt from a reading passage about
meteorite impacts and here's the
question be careful when selecting your
answer because three of the four answer
choices miss state information from the
passage or contradict information from
the passage one answer we can definitely
eliminate is C because there is no
mention in this paragraph of
archaeologists working in the Yucatan
region choice a looks like what is said
here in the last two sentences where it
does say they found the crater in 1990
but they determined in 1980 that there
was a meteorite impact so it's not
choice a choice D is incorrect because
it says that they located a meteorite
which is not true because what they
found was the crater and other evidence
of the meteorite impact not the
meteorite itself that leaves choice B
which is supported by the second and
third sentences the second sentence
mentions the worldwide layer of sediment
and the third sentence explains how it
is unique therefore B is the correct
answer
now let's look at a negative factual
information question here is another
paragraph about meteorite impacts from
the same reading passage and here's the
question you know it's a negative
factual information question because of
the word accept in capital letters so
three of the choices are going to match
information in the paragraph and only
one will not let's see how many correct
choices we can find by scanning for
keywords that appear in the answers like
dust sunlight cold dark elements crusts
and nitric acid we may also need to look
for synonyms of these words so if we
scan the paragraph for some text about
dust and block sunlight that corresponds
a choice a we find this and it's a match
choice B is here where it talks about
the cold and darkness there's nothing in
the paragraph that talks about new
elements or the Earth's crust so choice
C looks like it might be the answer for
choice D we found that information here
where it talks about nitric acid so
choice C is our answer
here's a tip to help you improve your
reading skills read news and magazine
articles about various subjects as often
as you can and practice taking notes
when deciding what to write down ask
yourself what pieces of information are
important or relevant or credible then
write those down but keep the notes
short that will help you remember
important information in what you read
there are lots of ways to improve your
English skills whatever you do keep
practicing and good luck on your TOEFL
test
you