{"id":1482,"date":"2015-04-01T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:13","slug":"book-review-400-must-have-words-for-the-toefl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/book-review-400-must-have-words-for-the-toefl\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s start with a short list of words that are in this book that you probably won\u2019t see on the TOEFL:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>animism<\/li>\n<li>deify<\/li>\n<li>ecclesiastical<\/li>\n<li>pious (almost the whole chapter on religion is useless)<\/li>\n<li>forensics<\/li>\n<li>prognosis<\/li>\n<li>divination<\/li>\n<p>phantom<\/ul>\n<p>So this book is less than perfect. In spite of this, I will recommend this book as a possile secondary resource for your TOEFL prep. Is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/McGraw-Hill-Education-Must-Have-Words-TOEFL\/dp\/0071827595\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">McGraw Hill&#8217;s 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL Test<\/a> the right vocabulary resource for you? Read on and judge for yourself.<\/p>\n<h2>What&#8217;s in the book?<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1418 \" style=\"padding-right: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2021\/03\/McGraw-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL Test (McGraw-Hill Education)\" \/>This book consists of 41 vocabulary lessons. Each lesson focuses on 10 or nearly 10 vocabulary words, for a total of 400 words (hence the title of the book). The individual lessons highlight vocabulary related to specific academic topics. In turn, these individual topic lessons are divided into eight modules, focused on different broader themes. For example, one module is entitled &#8220;Society,&#8221; and contains lessons on anthropology, social inequality, expertise, military operations, war and conquest, and history.<\/p>\n<h2>Will you see all of these topics on test day?<\/h2>\n<p>As you saw from the list at the beginning of this review, the answer is &#8220;no.&#8221; There is no way any one individual TOEFL exam can cover all 41 topics in this book, and your real exam almost certainly won&#8217;t include all eight of the broader themes covered in the modules (Nature, Science, Mind and Body, Society, Money, Government and Justice, Relationships, and Culture).<\/p>\n<p>In addition, some individual lesson topics, such as &#8220;Ghosts,&#8221; &#8220;Sprituality,&#8221; and &#8220;Risky Fashions&#8221; are not very TOEFL-like. Ultimately, the &#8220;Must Have&#8221; part of this book&#8217;s title is not accurate; you absolutely do not need all of these words to pass the TOEFL.<\/p>\n<h2>Is 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL a good book?<\/h2>\n<p>With that said, I still think this is a pretty good TOEFL prep book. For one thing, around 80% of the vocabulary and subject material is TOEFL-like, and could come up in at least one of the sections, either in Reading\/Listening or in the Speaking and Writing responses you might give.<\/p>\n<p>For another, the only way to be ready for the limited range of topics on an individual TOEFL exam is to study a broad range of topics. You need to be ready for anything, since you don&#8217;t know exactly what mix of topics and vocabulary words you&#8217;ll see on test day.<\/p>\n<p>And even the non-TOEFL like vocabulary can be useful to TOEFL preppers. After all, if you&#8217;re taking the TOEFL, you have long term plans for your English use. The not-so-TOEFL-like vocabulary in this book will still help you in your future English-language endeavors.<\/p>\n<h2>Who should buy this book?<\/h2>\n<p>This book is best for students who find certain TOEFL topics more difficult to understand than others. If you find science vocabulary especially challenging, if sociology isn&#8217;t normally your subject, if you want to be able to speak more fluently about entertainment&#8230; these kinds of concerns are covered by the book.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, if you are more concerned with general TOEFL vocabulary, you&#8217;ll want to turn to broader, less topically specific word lists. <a href=\"https:\/\/toefl.magoosh.com\/flashcards\/vocabulary\/?utm_source=toeflblog&#038;utm_medium=blog&#038;utm_campaign=toeflquestions&#038;utm_term=inline&#038;utm_content=400-must-have-words-for-the-toefl-test-mcgraw-hill-education\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Magoosh&#8217;s TOEFL flashcards<\/a> are a good free resource. <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/barrons-essential-words-for-the-toefl\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Barron&#8217;s Essential Words for the TOEFL<\/a> is also a better resource of truly &#8220;must have&#8221; words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s start with a short list of words that are in this book that you probably won\u2019t see on the TOEFL: animism deify ecclesiastical pious (almost the whole chapter on religion is useless) forensics prognosis divination phantom So this book is less than perfect. In spite of this, I will recommend this book as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13602],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13628],"class_list":["post-1482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prep"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Book Review: 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How must-have are the 400 Must Have Words for the TOEFL? 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Read our book review to see if this is a good addition to your TOEFL prep.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/book-review-400-must-have-words-for-the-toefl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-01T20:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:46:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2021\/03\/McGraw-200x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lucas Fink\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lucas Fink\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/book-review-400-must-have-words-for-the-toefl\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/book-review-400-must-have-words-for-the-toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Book Review: 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-01T20:00:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/c06e6a007d0b81117c00610ed88b6c7d\"},\"description\":\"How must-have are the 400 Must Have Words for the TOEFL? 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