ENGLISH PRESENTATION

Tips TOEIC
Presented by :
1. Muhammad Ulul Azmi
2. Edy Setya Budi
3. Ken Bima Prawira A.
 OVERVIEW about TOEIC
• Part 1. Listening comprehension — 100
questions (45 minutes)
– Photographs
– Question-response
– Conversations
– Short talks
• Part 2. Reading comprehension — 100 questions
(75 minutes)
– Incomplete sentences
– Error recognition or text completion
– Reading comprehension
 Part 1
Photograph
 Photograph Strategies
• In this Part, you will see a Photograph and hear four Statements about
it. The Photograph will focus on people, things, actions or locations.
You must select the one Statement which best describes what you see
in the picture.
• Pictures with No People
• Some photos do not have people in them—they may only show objects
or a location. With these photos, it is very likely that the correct
answer will focus on either:
• A) The physical relationship between things you see. Is a book ON the
table or UNDER the table? Therefore, listen for Prepositions that
accurately describe the relationship between different things you can
see in the Photograph.
• B) The physical condition of a thing you see. Is the table CLEAN or
MESSY?Therefore, also listen for Adjectives that accurately describe
the condition of things you can see in the Photograph. The most
common Adjectives used to describe Photographs are words similar to
“neat” or its opposite, “disorganized”.
 Example:

A) The cups are under the glasses. WRONG They are next to the glasses.
B) The cups are arranged in a circle. WRONG They are in rows.
C) The chairs are lined up next to the
WRONG They are not in a line.
window.
D) The cups are lined up on the table. CORRECT
• Avoiding Extreme Inferences
• A common wrong answer choice in the Photographs section of
the TOEIC is the Extreme Inference. An inference is a conclusion
that you can make, using clues seen in the picture. However, in
the TOEIC, the test will try and trick you into picking a wrong
answer because it could be true. Be very careful! Unless there
are many clues that support an inference, it will be a wrong
answer!
• Remember:
• · Correct answers will rarely talk about what happened in
the past.
• · Correct answers will not predict what will happen in
the future.
• · The correct answer will describe what can clearly be seen in
the picture.
 Example:

A) They are studying for a test. WRONG

B) They are working on a report. WRONG
C) They are sitting at the table. WRONG
D) They are standing next to the table. CORRECT
• . Answer Choices A) & B) are wrong because even
though it is possible they are studying for a test or
working on a report, there are no clues that the paper
is a test or report
 Part 2
Questions & Response
 Question-Response Strategies
• In this Part, you will be hear a Question
or Statement about a business topic. It is
followed by three Responses. You need to
choose the one Response that makes sense.
• Question-Response STRATEGY #1
Word Repetition
• In English, people do not normally repeat Key
Words in their response to a question.
• However, the ONLY time you will normally
hear a Key Word repeated in a Response on
the TOEIC is when the Response is asking for
MORE information about a Key Word.
• Example:
• Question: “Where did you put the report?”
• Correct Response: “Which report?” Notice that
this Response is actually a Question, too!
• Therefore, if you hear an Answer Choice that
repeats a Key Word from the Question (unless
the Response is Question itself) it is (99% of the
time) going to be a wrong answer.
• Question-Response STRATEGY #2
Answering Questions with “Yes” or “No”
• In English, you normally cannot answer “Wh-
Questions“ (questions that begin with “when”,
“where”, “what”, “why”, “who” or “how”) with
“yes” or “no”.
• However, for some questions that begin with
“when”, you CAN answer with a “yes” or “no”!
• Example:Question: “When you get to the office,
can you email me the Johnson report?”
• Correct Response: “Sure!” or “Yes, I’ll do it first
thing.”
• For questions where you would expect a “Yes” or
“No” response, sometimes you will not hear
“yes” or “no”–instead, you might hear a response
that explains WHY the speaker cannot give a
“yes” or “no” response.
• Example:Question: “Can you take the boss to
tomorrow’s meeting?”
• Correct Response: “I’ll have to ask my
supervisor.”
• Also, you don’t need to hear “yes” or “no” in a
response to a Yes/No Question.
• Example:Question: “Can you take the boss to
tomorrow’s meeting?”
• Correct Response: “I would be happy to.”
 Part 3
Short Conversation
 Short Conversation Strategies
• In this Part, you will hear a short dialogue (almost
ALWAYS between a man and a woman), followed by
three Questions about the dialogue. Each Question has
four possible Answer Choices.
• Short Conversation STRATEGY #1
Wrong Speaker, Wrong Action
• When answering Questions, pay close attention
to WHO the Question is asking about—is the Question
about the male speaker, the female speaker, or a
different person who is the topic of the Conversation?
• Some wrong Answer Choices will try to trick you by
giving information that is about a different person.
• Example:
• In a dialogue, the MAN says that he “went to the
mall with his wife yesterday” and the WOMAN says
she “visited her brother yesterday” .
• To answer the Question:
• Question: “What did the woman do yesterday?”
• A) She went to the mall. WRONG
B) She saw her brother. CORRECT
C) She visited the man’s wife. WRONG
D) She saw her friend. WRONG
• Even though you heard “went to the mall” and
“wife”, that is information about the MAN, not the
WOMAN.
• Sample Short Conversation:
• Man: Can you help me with this report? I’m having a hard time formatting
it.
• Woman: Well, I don’t know much about that program you’re using, but
Robert might be more help. He’s great at making documents look their
best. He knows how to fix reports up quick.
• Man: Thanks! I’ll give him a call right now. My deadline for it is tomorrow’s
meeting.
• Woman: Oh no, that reminds me—I need print my report for a meeting in an
hour!
• Question: What will the man do next?”
• A) He will print a report. WRONG - The woman will print a report
B) He will help Robert. WRONG - The man will get help from Robert
C) He will report for a meeting. WRONG - The woman will print a report
D) He will call Robert. CORRECT
• Notice that in Answer Choice C) that “report” is used as a verb, while in the
conversation it is a noun. This is another very common trick!
• Short Conversation STRATEGY #2
Similar-Sounding Words
• Another common trick used on the TOEIC is for a wrong Answer Choice to use a word
that sounds similar to a word you heard in the conversation. You can use the Context
of the conversation to help you decide which is more likely the correct Answer Choice.
• Sample Short Conversation:
• Man: Can you help me with this report? I’m having a hard time formatting it.
• Woman: Well, I don’t know much about that program you’re using, but Robert might
be more help. He’s great at making documents look their best. He knows how to fix
reports up quick.
• Man: Thanks! I’ll give him a call right now. My deadline for it is tomorrow’s meeting.
• Woman: Oh no, that reminds me—I need print my report for a meeting in an hour!
• Question: What is Robert good at doing?”
• A) He is good at taking a rest. WRONG - “rest” vs. “best” – the conversation is not
about taking a break
B) He is good at faxing reports. WRONG - “fax” vs. “fix” – the conversation is not about
faxing
C) He is great at making a mess. WRONG - “mess” vs. “best” – the conversation is not
about a “mess”
D) He formats documents well. CORRECT
 Part 4
Short Talks
 Directions:
You will hear some short talks given by a single speaker. You will be
asked to answer three questions about what the speaker says in each
short talk. Select the best response to each question and mark the
letter (A), (B), (C), or (D) on your answer sheet. The talks will be
spoken only one time and will not be printed in your test book.
 Tips 1
Read the questions before each talk starts
Underline some keywords in each question which can help you grasp the relevant
information in the talk.
Suppose this is the talk you will have to listen to:

Thank you for calling South-West Gas, your local gas supplier.
We are aware of the problems with the gas supply to the
Chudleigh area and are doing everything we can to restore a
normal supply as soon as possible. We are expecting all
homes to be fully re-connected not later than tomorrow
afternoon (the afternoon of the 28th). The central Chudleigh
area should be back on by tomorrow morning. Please accept
our apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you are calling
for a different reason, please push 1 to speak to an operator.
 Tips 1
Read the questions before each talk starts
Before the talk starts, you should read
the questions first and underline keywords:
71. Where would this talk be heard?
(A) On the television
(B) On the radio
(C) In a meeting
(D) Over the telephone

72. What is the purpose of this announcement?

(A) To get new gas customers in Chudleigh
(B) To tell people they know about the problem
and it will be resolved soon
(C) To apologise for staff shortages
(D) To inform people about the restoration
of company offices

73. When is the problem expected to be

completely resolved?
(A) The afternoon of the 28th
(B) Tomorrow morning
(C) The morning of the 28th
(D) The day after tomorrow KEYWORDS
 Tips 2
When the talk starts, listen to it carefully while
reading the questions and underlined keywords

You will see that the answer to the question 71 is (D) Thank you for calling South-West Gas, your
from the statements “Thank you for calling local gas supplier. We are aware of the
South-West Gas…” problems with the gas supply to the
Chudleigh area and are doing everything we
and “If you are calling for a different reason,
can to restore a normal supply as soon as
please push 1 to speak to an operator.” possible. We are expecting all homes to be
The answer to question 72 is (B) as this question fully re-connected not later than tomorrow
asks about the main idea of the message. afternoon (the afternoon of the 28th). The
central Chudleigh area should be back on by
tomorrow morning. Please accept our
The answer to question 73 is (A) from the statement
apologies for any inconvenience caused. If
"We are expecting all homes to be fully re-connected you are calling for a different reason, please
not later than tomorrow afternoon (the afternoon push 1 to speak to an operator.
of the 28th).”
 Tips 3
If you get the answer to the question, tick it on the test
booklet until you complete all of the three questions

Then, mark them on your answer sheet. Again, you should mark the answers to all three
questions in the test booklet before marking them on the answer sheet. This is to prevent
you from spending too much time on marking the answers one by one and miss the rest
of the information.
 Tips 4
Might have to answer main idea or inference questions

The main idea is the most important thing the paragraph says about
the topic. The topic is what a paragraph is all about.

So the outline, the main sentence will have the following points.
1. Contains a potential problem to be described;
2. Have a clear meaning, not connected with any other sentence
3. Generally located at the beginning of paragraph (for paragraphs
deductive), and at the end of a paragraph (paragraph inductive)
 Tips 4
Might have to answer main idea or inference questions

The answers to which are not stated explicitly or obtained by keywords.

Examples of this type of question are:
· Where will you probably hear this message/announcement?
· Who is this message intended for?
· What is the purpose of this talk/announcement?
· What can be inferred from the talk/announcement?

To answer the above questions, you need to understand overall

message and think about the possible inference.
Example

The Navajo Indians

A Report By: Rachel
The Pueblo Indians taught the Navajo many skills. They taught them to plant crops,
such as melon, corn, beans, and squash. This is why the Navajo were referred to as
farmers, sheep herders, and laborers. Other skills of the Navajo are sand paintings,
jewelry making, and rug weaving.

What is the main idea of the paragraph?

A. The Pueblo Indians taught the Navajo many skills.
B. The Navajo wore shoes called moccasins.
C. The Navajo were skilled at rug weaving.
D. The Navajo were referred to as sheep herders.

The Answer :
A. The Navajo had many skills.
Example

The Navajo were warlike. They would sometimes raid other Indians, Mexicans, and
white men. They would steal horses, sheep, and cows. In 1863, Kit Carson marched
400 men through Canyon de Chelly, the stronghold of the Navajo. Carson and his men
killed so much livestock and destroyed so many crops, that the Navajo begged for
peace. Carson gathered the Navajo and moved them to Fort Sumner in New Mexico.
They were held prisoners there until 1867.

What is the main idea of the paragraph?

A. The Navajo were held prisoners for many
years.
B. Kit Carson was a brave and daring man.
C. The Navajo were a warlike people.
D. The 400 men all died.

The Answer :
C. The Navajo were a warlike people.
 Part 5
Incomplete sentences
 Directions:
The Incomplete Sentences section forms part of the Reading Skills section of
the TOEIC test. In this quiz you will be able to practice this reading skill. You will
see a sentence with a missing word. You will be presented with four choices of
words or phrases to complete the sentence. You must choose the best option
to make the sentence grammatically correct.
In part 5, you will be asked to choose the appropriate answers to 40 statements. There
are 4 choices to consider, some of which are about grammar while others ask about word
choice and word form.

The grammar points you will find in the test include:

• Conjunctions
• Prepositions
• Verb tenses
• Subject-verb agreement
• Pronouns
• Conditional sentences
• Active and Passive voice
• Adverbs of frequency
• Adjectives and adverbs
 Tips 1
Understanding Relationships inside a Sentence
For Questions that focus on Conjunctions, you will need to look for clues that tell you the
relationship between the different parts (clauses) of the sentence.
With sentences that have two clauses (often separated by a comma), try to determine if the two
clauses have either:
• a clear and understandable ‘cause and effect’ relationship, OR
• if they do not agree with each other

Example:
Question Sentence: “This week’s report says that ________ the recent housing crisis, our home-building
business is doing quite well.”
Because the clause before the comma is about a “housing crisis” and the clause after the comma is
about “home-building” doing “well”, these two clauses are a little contradictory–the sentence needs a
conjunction that shows this contradiction.
A) because WRONG - not used in contradictory sentences
B) because of WRONG – not used in contradictory sentences
C) despite CORRECT - used for contradictory sentences
D) even though WRONG - its clause needs a Subject and Verb
To be able to answer these questions correctly, you will need to focus your studies on what kind of
clauses are needed AFTER Adverb Clauses and Conjunctions (i.e., “because” needs a Noun and Verb
after it, while “because of” just needs a Noun).
 Tips 2
Divided Answer Choices
These wrong Answer Choices use words that could fit if only the word before or after it
was part of the same answer choice–they do not work by themselves.
To avoid this Trick, after you pick an Answer Choice always read the sentence
completely with your Answer Choice in the blank–this will help you avoid not only this
Trick but other Tricks, too!
Example:
Question Sentence: “Everyone is happy they will receive a 5% _______ under the
new contract.”
A) wage WRONG
B) salary WRONG
C) pay WRONG
D) increase CORRECT
Notice that Answer Choices A), B) and C) cannot work by themselves–only if they
were combined with “increase” would they be correct.

Remember, the TOEIC Testmakers are testing your ability to not only understand English–they are
testing your ability to understand English when you feel the pressure of time (or a deadline–
something you will experience when using your English in a job).
 Part 6
Error Recognition
6. Error Recognition Strategies
It is necessary to check the grammar thoroughly to get a high score in
this section. In particular, you should consider:
• subject and verb
• time
• manners
• gerunds
• articles
• pronouns
• word order
• comparative
Remember, you only asked about the underlined words.Words not
underlined are always correct. Beware of words inserted in the do not
belong, such as: "My father is a good man." Improper use of pronouns
is also common, for example, "has given the report itself."
Table below is elements in English which often appear
in TOEIC
Element requirement Example in Sentence

To be Followed by Ving I am doing my homework

To be Followed by V3 The work is done

Article (a, an, the) Followed by noun The company is big
Vs Preceded by Singular Subject My father works in a bank

V1 Preceded by Plural Subject + I They go to school everyday

V2 The sentence in past tense Yesterday I went to my teacher’s home

V3 Preceded by to be The work is done

V3 Preceded by have, has, had We have worked since this morning

Modal Followed by V1 We should go earlier

Adjective Preceded by to be, can’t stand it The girl is beautiful

self
Adjective Appear before noun, can’t stand it self My father bought a new car
Who, whom, Preceded by person The man who is wearing a hat is my uncle.
whose (relative
pronoun)
Who (relative Followed by verb / to be The girl who works in that office is my sister
pronoun)
Whom (relative Followed by Subject Pronoun The person whom we met yesterday is a teacher
pronoun)
Whose (relative Followed by noun The woman whose eyes are beautiful is my
pronoun) girlfriend
Which (relative Preceded by Thing (benda mati) The table which is bought by my father is brown
pronoun)
Gerund Preceded by verb that can cause gerund I love looking at your beautiful eyes
(ex: enjoy, love, like, mind, finish, stop,
etc.)
Gerund Preceded by preposition (ex :in, on, at, of, The government is very serious in implementing
for, from, by, etc.) the new policy
Gerund Can function as noun (as subject / object) Learning a new subject is sometimes difficult for
the students.
If clause type 1 Use V1/Vs and is, am, are in first clause, If I have time, I will see you tonight
and will / modal in first pattern +V1 in
second clause(klausa boleh dibalik)

If clause type 2 Use V2 and were in first clause,and If I were you, I would take the chance
would / modal in past tense +V1 in
second clause (klausa boleh dibalik)

If clause type 3 Use had+V3/been in first clause,and I wouldn’t have been hungry if I had had my
would / modal in past tense+have + V3 breakfast
in second clause (klausa boleh dibalik)

Positive Use as ADJ as My score is as good as yours

comparison
Comparative Followed by than She is better than me in English
comparison
Superlative Preceded by the She is the best student in my class
comparison
• Example:
1.) She must retyping the report before she hands it in to the director of
financing
a. Retyping b. before c. Hands it in d. To the
The answer is (a)
because the pattern of modal is followed by V1. Retyping must be
replaced with retype
2.) Travelling and to shop are the two of my favorite things to do during the
holidays

a. travelling b. To shop c. things d.during

The answer is (B)

Because to shop must be replaced with shopping ,because that’s
gerunds. Verb can function as noun (subject) if followed ‘ing’
 Part 7
Reading Comprehension
 Reading Comprehension
As in all reading comprehension exercises, a variety of
skills are required to deduce the correct answer. These
include skimming, scanning, paraphrasing, comprehension
and vocabulary in context. You should be able to identify
synonyms and implicit information. One clue is that the
order of the questions follows the order of information in
the reading passage. This should save time by scanning
for specific details. Make sure you choose the answer that
answers the question, since many of the answer choices
can simply repeat the information in the reading passage.
Finally, you may want to read the questions before
touching the passage, to give a better idea of what is to
come. Complete many practice TOEIC reading exercises
to familiarize yourself with common reading passage
topics.
 Tips 1 . Extreme Inferences

• Some wrong Answer Choices will use Extreme Adverbs

(“never”, “always”, “too”) or Extreme Helping Verbs (“must”,
“cannot”, “need to”) to make the Answer Choice
wrong. Every other word in the Answer Choice could be
correct, and the Answer Choice would be correct if the
Extreme Word was removed.
• Other Extreme Inferences can be about Emotions.
 Example:
• Sample Text: “…Because last month’s sales meeting ran over its scheduled
time by over an hour, we will be instituting new procedures regarding
meeting length…These changes will hopefully help us keep our meetings
to their normal 2 hours…”
• Question: Why are the meeting changes taking place?
A) Mr. Smith was angry at the length of the last meeting.
WRONG
No information is given about Mr. Smith’s emotions
B) Mr. Smith thinks staff people talk too much at meetings WRONG
. information is given about how much staff people talk at the meeting
No
C) Mr. Smith thinks last months’ meeting was too long.
CORRECT

D) Mr. Smith thinks sales must increase next month.

Maybe this is true, but the Text doesn’t tell us anything about this WRONG
 Tips 2. Topic-Related Wrong Answer Choices

• Many wrong Answer Choices use words related to the topic of

the Text, but give information that the Text does not
provide. Students are often tricked by these kinds of Answer
Choices because they try to use their personal knowledge, not
information from the Text.
• “NOT” Questions will usually use this Trick for the correct
answer!
• Example:
• Sample Text:
To: All sales staff
From: Randal Smith, Head of Sales & Marketing
Re: Future sales meeting
Date: June 2nd
Because last month’s sales meeting ran over its scheduled time by over an hour, we
will be instituting new procedures regarding meeting agendas. These changes will
hopefully help us keep our meetings to their normal 2 hours. Please read the new
procedures below.

1. Sales staff must write any topics they wish to discuss at the sales meeting on the
agenda sheet posted in the main office before the day of the meeting. Only 3 topics
can be added to the agenda sheet by any sales staff person. Two additional topic slots
will be reserved for myself.

2. Only topics already on the agenda can be discussed at monthly sales meetings.

These changes will take effect for our June meeting. If you have any questions
regarding these changes, don’t hesitate to contact me, but know that these changes
will occur. Thank you for your cooperation.
• Question: What is a new procedure for sales
meetings?”
• A) Ask Mr. Smith to add agenda topics WRONG
B) Email Mr. Smith new agenda topics WRONG
C) Vote to add topics to the agenda WRONG
CORRECT
D) Write new agenda item on a sheet
• Note that all the wrong answer choices are reasonable and
logical procedures for sales meetings, but the Text does not
give these as new procedures.