TOEFL Reading Prep WorksheetTOEFL Reading Prep Worksheet:

Use this during the Webinar to Circle the Answers to the Practice Questions

Improve your TOEFL

Reading Test score: understand the questions and

practice important reading skills

>> >>>

Skimming and

Scanning: Find

Information Quickly

Solving the Mystery of Yellow Fever

It can be difficult to determine the cause of a disease and how it spreads. Often the evidence is hard to

interpret. Some diseases, like the plague or the flu or Ebola, are clearly contagious. If you have close

contact with an infected person, you will probably develop the disease yourself. Other diseases, like

yellow fever, are much harder to explain.

2 Why do some people get them while others nearby do not? How do they spread? And how can they be

controlled? People have made a great effort, and sometimes taken great risks, to find the answers--

because so many lives depend on them.

3 Imagine that you were alive in 1899. The U.S. had just won the Spanish-American war after heavy

fighting in Cuba, with a loss of far more men from yellow fever than from battle. Yellow fever had caused

havoc in the U.S. as well. In 1793 in Philadelphia 2,000 died and most of the population fled. New Orleans

and the southern U.S. had frequent epidemics throughout the 19th century. It was a terrible disease,

sudden and often fatal. No one knew how to stop an epidemic once it started.

4 Could people find a way to conquer yellow fever before it took the lives of thousands more?

5 In 1900, U.S. Army doctor Walter Reed and a team of researchers went to Cuba to find out. There they

talked to Carlos Finley, a Cuban doctor who was convinced that yellow fever was transmitted (passed on)

by mosquitoes. He had started investigating mosquitoes after an earlier commission had concluded that

somehow the disease was spread through the air. He did further research that showed that the yellow

fever infection had to get into the blood. How could it get there? Mosquitoes had direct access.

3 Imagine that you were alive in 1899. The U.S. had just won the

Spanish-American war after heavy fighting in Cuba, with a loss of far

more men from yellow fever than from battle. Yellow fever had

caused havoc in the U.S. as well. In 1793 in Philadelphia 2,000 died

and most of the population fled. New Orleans and the southern U.S.

had frequent epidemics throughout the 19th century. It was a terrible

disease, sudden and often fatal. No one knew how to stop an

epidemic once it started.

4 Could people find a way to conquer yellow fever before it took the

lives of thousands more?

5 In 1900, U.S. Army doctor Walter Reed and a team of researchers

went to Cuba to find out. There they talked to Carlos Finley, a

Cuban doctor who was convinced that yellow fever was transmitted

(passed on) by mosquitoes. He had started investigating mosquitoes

after an earlier commission had concluded that somehow the disease

was spread through the air. He did further research that showed that

the yellow fever infection had to get into the blood. How could it

get there? Mosquitoes had direct access.

Pronoun Reference

Questions

What noun does the ‘it’ in the

first sentence of paragraph __

refer to?

“…Some diseases, like the plague or the flu or Ebola, are clearly

contagious. If you have close contact with an infected person, you

will probably develop the disease yourself. Other diseases, like

yellow fever, are much harder to explain.

2 Why do some people get them while others nearby do not?”

1. Which of the nouns below does the pronoun ‘them’ in

paragraph two refer to?

A. diseases

B. “other diseases, like yellow fever”

C. contagious diseases

D. some people

“…Yellow fever had caused havoc in the U.S. as well. In

1793 in Philadelphia 2,000 died and most of the population

fled. New Orleans and the southern U.S. had frequent

epidemics throughout the 19th century. It was a terrible

disease, sudden and often fatal. No one knew how to stop

an epidemic once it started.”

2. The ‘it’ in the last sentence in this paragraph refers to:

A. havoc

B. yellow fever

C. an epidemic

D. New Orleans

“The Amazon rainforest is a commanding natural feature in

South America and one of the world’s richest biological

reservoirs, teeming with plant and animal life. Much of it is

situated in Brazil…”*

3. Which of the phrases below does the bolded ‘it’ on the last

sentence refer to?

A. a …natural feature

B. plant life

C. animal life

D. the Amazon rainforest

*http://www.voanews.com/a/amazon-rainforest-ancient-people-cultivated-trees/3747940.html

“President Barack Obama elevated Hayden from her post as

CEO of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library to head the

Library of Congress, which was established more than 200

years ago as the research arm for congressional officials.”*

4. What phrase does the relative pronoun ‘which’ in the sentence

above refer to?

A. her post

B. Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library

C. Congress

D. The Library of Congress

* http://www.voanews.com/a/library-of-congress-director-to-make-collection-more-

accessible/3738084.html

Sentence Restatement

(Paraphrasing)

Which is the best way to express

the essential information of the

first sentence?

Example sentence: There is no alternative.

Which of the sentences below has the same meaning as the

example sentence?

A. We don’t have any other options.

B. There are no possible choices.

C. We don’t need to decide yet.

D. There is only one other choice.

Example sentence: At many schools, participation in after-school

sports depends on maintaining good grades.

Which of the sentences below does NOT have the same meaning

as the example sentence?

A. Schools often require good grades if students want to be

involved in sports.

B. Students who are failing may not be allowed to play after-

school sports.

C. After-school athletics are a privilege often limited to good

students.

D. You must be strong and athletic to be allowed in school sports.

Example: The general’s careful analysis of the battlefield led to a decisive

victory.

Which of the sentences below has the same meaning as the example

sentence?

A. The general’s detailed study of all aspects of his opponents’ strategies

resulted in a clear victory.

B. The general’s background knowledge of the battlefield region was

almost enough to win the battle.

C. The general’s consideration of every detail of the area in which the

battle would be fought enabled a successful outcome.

D. The general’s understanding of strategy was responsible for his success.

Example sentence: Researchers should double-check the

evidence behind their conclusions before publishing them.

Which of the sentences below has the same meaning as the

example sentence?

A. Researchers need to be very sure no one else has published

their ideas before they do.

B. Researchers ought to fact-check several times before sharing

their results with the public.

C. Researchers should consider verifying their data before

publication of their research.

D. Researchers might want to check their facts before they

publish them.

Example sentence: The American Founding Fathers could not resolve

the contradiction between liberty and slavery.

Which of the sentences below has the same meaning as the example

sentence?

A. Some of the founders of the U.S. had slaves in spite of their

arguments in favor of liberty.

B. The Founding Fathers ignored the problem of slavery in a free

society.

C. The Founding Fathers were troubled by slavery, because it opposed

their ideals of liberty and equality.

D. The writers of the Constitution did not know how to settle the

conflict between slavery and liberty.

Example sentence: I still am amazed at the transformation of a

helpless infant into an independent, curious toddler.

Which of the sentences below does NOT have the same meaning

as the example sentence?

A. It’s surprising to see how quickly babies develop into toddlers.

B. Even after years of watching children grow, I am surprised at

the tremendous change that happens between birth and age two

or three.

C. I am always astonished at the dramatic development between

infancy and early childhood.

D. It’s wonderful how a tiny baby can turn into a confident three-

year-old.