TOEFL iBT Reading Question type 1 : Fact/Detail Questions

Detail questions test your basic comprehension of key facts in the passage.For each passage,you may receive from 3 to 6 questions about specific facts,or details.Like all question in the reading section,detail questions are multiple-choice questions.You have four choices and either one or two choices is correct.(The question will specify whether you should choose one or two correct answers.) The other choices are distracters,or incorrect answer choices.Detail questions ask about facts related to one of the interrogative pronouns : what,who,whom,whose,which,why,how,when,or where,even though the questions might not always use these pronouns.

Once you receive detail question,there are several actions you should perform in addition to the general strategies you`ve already learned.The strategies below review these recommended actions,but
first read the following short excerpt from a passage on the ancient Greek god Apollo :


Apollo
One of art`s earliest purpose was to serve as a marker of a holy place,either a place of worship or a place of protection.To illustrate the latter,consider ancient Greece,where statue of gods were placed on the city walls to safeguard the people.These statues were often of The Greek god Apollo,whose importance to the Greeks must be understood before the artwork dedicated to him can be fully appreciated.

Apollo was an embodiment of all the virtues that Greek society upheld as worthy.Physical beauty and talent were highly valued,so every depiction of Apollo is of a physical ideal body.The first statue of Apollo show him in a very limited pose,representing little or no activity,thus reminding onlookers that he was an authoritarian deity and not to be crossed.Some stances show Apollo with a serious,grave expression,extending an arm as a warming to those who have not followed his wishes.

However,the last representation of Apollo in ancient Greece allowed him more freedom of gesture and detailed expressions.This may be interpreted as a result of weakening cultural morals,but it was certainly meant as a tribute to the beauty and strength of Apollo`s mind.The grateful poses of his body,whether he is depicted holding a bow and arrow or a musical instrument,attest to Apollo`s intellectual power.His face,portraying pensiveness or determination,permitted the Greek people to identify themselves with him and celebrate his inner qualities,in addition to his attractive physique.

Unfortunately,the argument that the loosening of Apollo`s strict representation corresponded to a breakdown in public values may also be true.It`s unfortunate that the power wielded by the ancient religion began to decline precisely as the statues of Apollo`s became more lifelike.

Strategy 1 : Identify a key idea or set of ideas in the question.

Read every question to the exam carefully.Students often hurt their own chances when they read question too quickly.Each detail question involves a particular noun,action,or state,or set of nouns,actions,or states.Identify these and use them locate the relevant information in the passage.This is necessary even if the question refers to a specific paragraph number.Regardless of any directions in the question,the body paragraphs in the reading passage could be very long.Therefore ,even though the question may tell you to look at a particular paragraph,you must still locate the necessary information in that paragraph.

You must identify the idea(s),not the specific words or vocabulary.Often,the question will paraphrase,or restate,ideas from the passage.Of course,some words are not easily paraphrased,such as technical term(DNA) and names (Apollo),and so don`t assume every word is restated in the question. Usually,the restatement involves a synonym or different part of speech.Look at the following detailed question about the passage above :

According to the author,the final carved depictions of Apollo

A were superior to the early,serious versions.
B represented a warning to the people.
C possibly led to weakening cultural morals.
D represented more than just his physical beauty.

The key ideas in the question are in the phrase final carved depictions.Of course the noun Apollo is important,but it is repeated too often in the passage since it is the main topic,or subject,of the passage. The name is less useful,then,for locating the necessary information in the passage.


Strategy 2 : Scan the passage for the key idea(s).

Scanning is useful for locating information quickly to select the correct choice(s) as well as eliminate incorrect ones.Scanning is the opposite of reading actively or closely.It means to look over the passage without really reading the words.When you scan a passage,you don`t want to understand the sentences you want only to find some information.

You are probably looking for a restatement of the key idea(s) in the question,so you must still think about what you are seeing.However,you don`t need to reread the passage ; just look it over until you find a word.phrase,or clause that could be a possible paraphrase of the key idea(s).Since a detail question involves only specific facts from the passage,you have to read only a specific part of the passage closely.Scanning allows you to find that part by locating the key idea(s) quickly.

If the question directs you to a particular paragraph,then begin there.If the question does not mention a paragraph,use your outline or map of the passage to guide you.If your map is well organized,it can save your time by limiting the amount of scanning you must do.For example,the sample detail question above does not refer to a specific paragraph,so you should use your outline to give you a clue to the relevant information,or you can simply scan the whole passage.The following could be and outline for the Apollo passage :


P1 : early art purpose = holy,protect,Apollo - safeguard
P2 : first A.perfect body + talent,authority
P3 : last A.weak moral ?, movement,exercise,music - intellect
P4 : (stress up) lifelike = (stress down) public value

based on an accurate outline of the passage,the third paragraph contains the necessary information related to the final depictions of Apollo.

Strategy 3 : Read the relevant information closely and carefully.

Once you have found key idea(s),read the sentence and surrounding sentences slowly.Don`t skim them.Students often make avoidable mistakes by reading the passage too quickly and carelessly for detail questions.As you will learn below,detail questions contain distracters based on rearrangements of the ideas in the passage.In order to avoid confusion and error,pay close attention to the actors, actions,states,and their relationship.Identify the correct relationship of cause,effect,reason,intention,
and so on.Also, a correct choice may paraphrase the information in more than one sentence.

Strategy 4 : Look for accurate paraphrasing in the correct answer(s).

A correct answer for a detail question is usually paraphrased to some degree.Although certain ideas may not be restated,some of the information from the passage will certainly be in different words or sentence structure.As you will learn below,distracters often repeat the actual words form the passage. Correct answers restate some or all of the information from the passage.For instance,(D) is the correct answer to the detail question above,and it paraphrases key point in Paragraph 3 : the later statues of Apollo showed Apollo`s mental superiority as well as his physical perfection.

Strategy 5 : Choose an answer based on stated information,not inferences or assumption.

Detail question ask about stated,or written,information.Therefore,you should be able to find correct answer choice(s) restated somewhere in the passage.Don`t choose an answer based on idea that you think is true but can`t find in the passage.

Question Forms

fact detail questions ask about specific information related to people,places,things,times, methods, reasons,events,statements,etc.They may include interrogative pronouns such as who, whom, what, but they may not.You can recognize detail questions based on the following forms or some variation :

• According to the passage, X was ... 
• According to the paragraph 1, X did Y because ... 
• According to the paragraph 2, why did X do Y? 
• Which of the following statement about ... is supported by paragraph X ? 
• What does the author say about ...? 
• The author`s description of X mentions which of the following ? 

Distracters on this question type>>>