How to Ace TOEFL Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension Section

Previously I had posted ways to acing listening and grammar section. Now I'd like you to consider the next; i.e. vocabulary and reading comprehension section. 

For your information, there are 45 minutes to complete the 60 questions for short-form TOEFL. For the longer form, however, there are 65 minutes to solve the 90 questions (20 extra minutes with 30 extra questions). 

This section is split into two parts:

• vocabulary (part A)
• reading comprehension (part B)

My tips to succeed at vocabulary part easily:

• read well-written books, magazines, newspapers in English : Try reading Time, Newsweek, Reader's Digest, BBC or VOA official website. If you can't subscribe to one of them (lack of funds perhaps), reading their virtual version on the Internet is similarly useful. These days internet connection costs less than years ago. Reading literary works may be good but the style of passages you'll find in this section is not literary style so it won't help much. But to improve your general vocabulary, reading literary works or informal-style writing pieces (non-academic by nature) is definitely OK;
  
• keep a vocabulary diary or journal : Look up in dictionary every unfamiliar word that you discover in any of those books, magazines, newspapers. If you don't have any dictionary with you, jot the unfamiliar word down in a small pocket-sized notebook and find the meaning after you manage to get a dictionary;
• make flashcards of vocabulary : Write words that you want to memorize on a card, with the meaning on the other side of the card. Use the flashcards on a daily basis.
• use pictures : Our brain recalls the stored information more easily if the information is associated with pictures (especially if you're a visual learner).
• create funny or unique association with anything that you like : For example, the word 'sophisticated' can be linked to a girl named Sophie who loves social life and other worldly enjoyment. Another example is associating the word 'indispensable' with '(water) dispenser' by thinking that a dispenser is a thing that is important (=indispensable) for you because you love drinking fresh water.
• link the unfamiliar words with your mother tongue vocabulary : For example, I associate the word 'portfolio' and Indonesian word 'portofolio'. They carry the exactly same meaning (= a set of pieces of creative work collected to be shown to potential customers or employers) and I take advantage of this similarity. Another example could be 'isolation' and 'isolasi'. If your mother tongue (first language) absorbs many English words to its vocabulary like mine (Indonesian), chances are you'll memorize English words' meaning better. Linguists call this phenomenon as utilizing our language background knowledge to acquire foreign language(s).
  

My tips on reading comprehension section:

• read each question first : You might disagree but this is what I usually do. By reading the question first, I know what information I must find in the text being discussed. Focus on answering the questions instead of forcing yourself to understand the whole text. Even if you don't understand what the text is actually about, it is OK as long as you can supply the correct answers in time.;
• scan, don't peruse! : Scanning means reading a passage/ text rapidly to grab the main points (general understanding). It is the opposite of 'perusing', which means examining a text in a great detail. Remember that TOEFL exam is timed. Perusing only wastes your time;
  
• develop good skill of paraphrasing : Paraphrasing means expressing similar ideas with different words. Most of the time, the correct answers are written in different words but still they carry the same ideas. Some logical reasoning is also required here because the questions ask the implicit information. Thus you have to read between the lines (drawing conclusions from the explicit information stated in the text);
  
• smart-guess : Find some 'strange' words in the text you're reading? Try to guess based on its context. Use logic as the justification of your reasoning. Resorting to dictionary is good for accuracy but on test you cannot do such a thing. Even if you can bring along a bulky and cumbersome dictionary with you, it takes time to flip around the pages, which means you lose those precious seconds and risk your TOEFL score.

Hopefully, they're helpful for you. Good luck!