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Master the TOEIC®

Question-Response Strategies

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Question-Response STRATEGY #1

Recognize the Type of Questions

•Questions that ask for information.

•Yes/No questions.•Sometimes it’s a

statement.

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Information Questions Use WH-words like who, what, when,

where, why, how many/much/long/far.

Specific information about a person, thing, place, time, opinion or an explanation is required.Example:

Question: “When did you graduate from school?” Correct Response: “Two years ago.”Notice that answers providing “yes” or “no” answer may be eliminated immediately!

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Yes/No Questions Use auxiliary verbs like

Be: is, are, was, were, etc.Have: have, hasModals: can, will, should, could, etc.Do: do, does, didTag questions: She is cute, isn’t she?

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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: “Are you going to Cana’s party?” Correct Response: “I have to do my homework.”

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Also, you don’t need to hear “yes” or “no” in a response to a Yes/No Question.

So you must recognize words or short phrases that mean "yes" or "no" in common, everyday situations.Example:

Question: “Are you going to Cana’s party?” Correct Response: “I wouldn’t miss it.”

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Statement For this kind of question, you

must choose the best response to the statement.

Example:Statement: “They have reduced the price of these

cameras.” Correct Response: “Then let's get one.”

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Question-Response STRATEGY #2

Word Repetition• In English, people do not normally

repeat Key Words in their response to a question.

Example:Question: “Where did you put the book?” You would NOT normally answer this question with:Incorrect Response: “I put the book on the table.” In English, you would normally say:Correct Response: “I put it on the table.” or “On the table.”

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• 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 book?” Correct Response: “Which book?”Notice that this Response is actually a Question, too!

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•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.

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TIPS & TRICKS:• Listen carefully to the first word of

the question so you can decide what kind of question is being asked and what kind of answer it requires.

• Never allow yourself to get behind.• By the time the voice on the tape

recording announces the next problem, you should have put the last problem behind you.

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“Dream Big, Learn Big”

THANK YOU