{"id":1136,"date":"2015-02-02T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1136"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:36","slug":"toefl-reading-synonyms-and-inference-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-reading-synonyms-and-inference-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"TOEFL Reading: Synonyms and Inference Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Lucas can tell you, understanding synonyms is useful in TOEFL Reading. He futher points out that understanding synonyms is just one part of correctly answering a TOEFL Reading question. TOEFL test-takers should also look for words in the answers that are taken from the original text. Sometimes these words will appear in different forms. For example, a verb that was present tense in the text may be past tense in the question. When the answer and the original text have the same words, TOEFL test takers should check to see if word order or sentence structure has been changed. Still, synonyms are very important. Nearly every TOEFL reading question will contain synonyms for words in the reading passage.<\/p>\n

This post will be the first in a series that looks at synonyms in different types of TOEFL Reading questions. First up: inference questions<\/a>. This kind of question requires you to understand information that is not directly stated in the reading. Let\u2019s look at the third reading activity in this official ETS document<\/a>, appearing on page 15. (Answer key on page 21.) Refer to question 2 on page 17 of the document for an example of an inference question that uses synonyms in the answer choices.<\/p>\n

Now, look at the synonyms in the answers. Answer (A) has the word \u201corigin.\u201d This word can is a synonym for the phrase \u201ccame from\u201d in the original text. (B) has the phrase \u201cnot as many.\u201d This can be a synonym for \u201cnot a single\u201d if \u201cnot a single\u201d (meaning zero), is being compared to a larger amount. (EX: I have read a few books by Mark Twain, but not a single book by H.G. Wells.) However, in this case, the original \u201cnot a single pebble\u201d is not being compared to a larger quantity of something. So \u201cnot as many\u201d is not a true synonym, and changes the meaning from the original sentence. Answer (C) has \u201cparticular kind.\u201d This can be a synonym for \u201csingle,\u201d when \u201csingle\u201d describes individuality or uniqueness. However, it is not a synonym for the full phrase \u201cnot a single,\u201d which again means \u201cnone.\u201d Again, the meaning is changed, so (C) is incorrect.<\/p>\n

Finally, we get to answer (D). There are no synonymous words in \u201cD.\u201d However, there are some of the same<\/em> words in both answer (D) and the original sentence. The key phrase \u201ccame from\u201d reappears in (D) as \u201ccome from.\u201d But the words are used differently. (D) says \u201cthe\u2026 pebbles could not have come from only one source.\u201d However, the text itself does not say the pebbles came from more than one source. It only states that the pebbles didn\u2019t seem to come from the nearest land mass. (D) is also incorrect.<\/p>\n

So we see that (A) has synonymous language that matches the meaning of the sentence. (B) and (C) change the meaning of the sentence as a whole. (D) adds ideas that aren\u2019t in the original sentence. So (A) is correct.<\/p>\n

As you can see, it\u2019s not enough to simply memorize sets of synonyms when you prepare for TOEFL Reading. You need to look carefully at the synonyms in the exam. Make sure that language in the answer is truly synonymous with the text\u2019s language in context<\/em>. When an answer contains no synonyms and simply uses words from the original text, be especially cautious. Answers without synonyms can be correct, but they also have a higher likelihood of being false friends<\/a>.
\n <\/p>\n

Check back on Thursday for Part 2 of this series, TOEFL Reading: Synonyms and Paraphrase Questions<\/a>.<\/strong>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Lucas can tell you, understanding synonyms is useful in TOEFL Reading. He futher points out that understanding synonyms is just one part of correctly answering a TOEFL Reading question. TOEFL test-takers should also look for words in the answers that are taken from the original text. Sometimes these words will appear in different forms. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13617],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-1136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTOEFL Reading: Synonyms and Inference Questions - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-reading-synonyms-and-inference-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOEFL Reading: Synonyms and Inference Questions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Lucas can tell you, understanding synonyms is useful in TOEFL Reading. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1136"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}