TOEFL STRUCTURE

Senin, 27 Mei 2013



STRUCTURE
SENTENCES WITH ONE CLAUSE
Some sentences in English have just one subject and verb, and it is very important for you to find the subject and verb in these sentences. In some sentences it is easy to find the subject and verb.  However, certain structures, such as objects of prepositions, appositives, and participles, can cause confusion in locating the subject and verb because each of these structures can look like a subject or verb. The object of the prepositions can be mistaken for a subject.
Therefore, you should be able to do the following in sentences with one subject and verb :
1)      Be sure the sentence has a subject and a verb.
2)      Be careful of objects of prepositions.
3)      Be careful of appositives.
4)      Be careful of present participles.
5)      Be careful of past participles.

STRATEGIES FOR THE STRUCTURE QUESTIONS
1.      First study the sentence. Your purpose is to determine what is needed to complete the sentence correctly.
2.      Then study each answer based on how well it completes the sentence. Eliminate answers that do not complete the sentence correctly.
3.      Do not try to eliminate incorrect answers by looking only at the answers. The incorrect answers are generally correct by themselves. The incorrect answers are generally incorrect only when used to complete the sentence.
4.      Never leave any answers blank. Be sure to answer each question even if you are unsure of the correct response.
5.      Do not spend too much time on the Structures questions. Be sure to leave adequate time for the Written Expression questions.




SKILL 1 : BE SURE THE SENTENCE HAS A SUBJECT AND A VERB
You know that sentence in English should have a subject and a verb. The most common types of problems that you will encounter in the Structure section of the TOEFL test have to do with subjects and verbs: perhaps the sentences is missing either the subject or the verb or both, or perhaps the sentence has an extra subject or verb.

Example :
Engineers _____ for the work on the new space program.
A.    Necessary
B.     Are needed
C.     Hopefully
D.    Next month

In this example you should notice immediately that the sentence has a subject (Engineers), and that there is no verb. Because the answer B, Are needed, is a verb, it is the best answer. Answers A, C and D are not verbs, so they are not correct.

SKILL 2: BE CAREFUL OF OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS
An object of a preposition is a noun or a pronoun that comes after a preposition, such as in, at, of, to, by, behind, on and so on, to form a prepositional phrase.
(After his exams) Tom will take a trip (by boat).
This sentence contains two objects of prepositions. Exams is the object of the preposition after and boat is the object of the preposition by.
An object of a preposition can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL test because it can be mistaken for the subject of a sentence.

Example:
With his friend ­­­_____ found the movie theater.
A.    Has
B.     He
C.     Later
D.    When

In this example you should look first for the subject and the verb. You should notice the verb found and should also notive that there is no subject. Do not think that friend is the subject; friend is the object of the preposition with, and one noun cannot be both a subject and an object at the same time. Because a subject is needed in this sentence, answer B (He) is the best answer. Answers A, C, and D are not correct because they cannot be subjects.

SKILL 3: BE CAREFUL OF APPOSITIVES
Apposites can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL test because an appositive can be mistaken for the subject of a sentence. An appositive is a noun that comes before or after another noun and has the same meaning.
Sally, the best student in the class, got an A on the exam.
In the sentence, Sally is the subject and the best student in the class can easily be recognized as an appositive phrase because of the noun student and because of the commas. The sentence say that Sally and the best student in the class are the same person. Note that if you leave out the appositive phrase, the sentence still makes sense (Sally got an A on the exam).

Example:
­­­______ George, is attending the lecture.
A.    Right now
B.     Happily
C.     Because of the time
D.    My friend

In this example you should recognize from the commas that George is not the subject of the sentence. George is an appositive. Because this sentence still needs a subject, the best answers is D (My friend). Answers A, B, and C are incorrect because the are not subjects.

SKILL 4: BE CAREFUL OF PRESENT PARTICIPLES
A present participle is the – ing form of the verb (talking, playing). In the Structure section of the TOEFL test a present participle can cause confusion because it can be either a part of the verb or an adjective. It si part of the verb when it is preceded by some form of the verb be.
The man is talking to his friend has a beard.
In this sentence talking is part of the verb because it is accompanied by is. A present participle is an adjective when it is not accompanied by some form of the verb be.
The man talking to his friend has a beard.
In this sentence talking is an adjective and not part of the verb because it is accompanied by some form of be. The verb in this sentence is has.

Example:
The child ­­______ playing in the yard.
A.    Now
B.     Is
C.     He
D.    Was

In this example, if you look at only the first words of the sentence, it appears that child is the subject and playing is part of the verb. If you think that playing is part of the verb, you might choose answer B (Is) or D (Was) to complete the verb. However, these two answers are incorrect because playing is not part of the verb. You should recognize that playing is participal adjevtive rather than a verb, because there is another verb in the sentence (Is). In this sentence there is a complete subject (Child) and a complete verb (Is), so this sentence does not need another subject or verb. The best here is A.

SKILL 5: BE CAREFUL OF PAST PARTICIPLES
Past participles can cause confusion in the Structure section of the TOEFL test because a past participle can be either an adjective or part of a verb. The past participles is the form of the verb that appears with have or be. It often ends in –ed, but there also many irregular past participles in English.
The family has purchased a television.
The television   purchased yesterday was expensive.
In the first sentence the past participle purchased is part of the verb because it is accompanied by has. In the second sentence purchased is an adjective rather than a verb because it is not accompanied by a form of be or have (and there is a verb, appeared, later in the sentence).
Example:
The packages ____ mailed at the post office will arrive Monday.
A.    Have
B.     Were
C.     Them
D.    Just

In this example, if you look only at the first few words of the sentence, it appears that packages is the subject and mailed is either complete verb or a past participle that needs helping verb. But if you look further in the sentence, you will see that the verb is will arrive. You will then recognize that mailed is an adjective and does not need a helping verb such as have or were. Answer C, is incorrect because there is no need for the object them. Answer D is the best answer to this question.



TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 1-5) : Choose the letter of the word or group of words that best completes the sentence.
1.      The Batteries in Cordless handhold Vaccum cleaners  _____ hundred of Time
A.    Can be recharged
B.     Recharging
C.     Rehearing
D.    Was recharged
Answer in the sentence, the best answer is A (Can be recharged) because the structure of sentence is correct.

2.      Birds make nest in trees ______  hide their young in the leave and brances.
A.    Can where they
B.     Where they can
C.     Where can they
D.    Where can
Answer in the sentence, after relative prounoun where is pronoun for this subject, because ststement it’s not to capital, the best answer is B (Where they can).

3.      A dolphin six _____ length can more as fast as a ship.
A.    Fot in
B.     Feet in
C.     Foot of
D.    Feet of
Answer in the sentence, feet plural for six, so the best answer is B (Feet in).

4.      The earth spins on its axis and  _____  23 hours, 56 minutes, and of 9 seconds for one complete rptation.
A.    Need
B.     Needed
C.     Needing
D.    Needs
Answer in the sentence, agreement with the subject ‘ the earth ‘ same meaning with verb ‘ spins so the best answer is D (Needs).

5.      The air we breath _____  oxygen, carbondioxide, and trace amounts of several other gases.
A.    consisting of nitrogen
B.     consist of nitrogen
C.     consists of nitrogen
D.    to consist from nitrogen
In the sentence, subject verb agreement for the air and consists, phrasal verb consists followed by of, the best answer is  C (consists of nitrogen).

6.      It was not until she had arrived home ______ rememmbered her appointment with the doctor.
A.    When she
B.     That she
C.     And she
D.    She
In the sentence, the best relative pronoun is that, the best answer is B (That she).

7.      The people at the party worried about susan, because none was aware _____ she had gone.
A.    Where that
B.     Of where
C.     Of the place where
D.    The place
   In the sentence, aware’ followed by of and where has shown place of . the best answer is B (Of where).

8.      In general by the second year of production the price of new price of technology _____  significantly.    
A.    Will decreased
B.     Has decreased
C.     Will have decroased
D.    Will has decreased
In the sentence, will have used before particple for description future with second year of production, the best answer is C (Will have decreased).

9.  Hawkeye was the character ______  James Fenimore cooper created for the last of the mohicans.
A.    Who
B.     Whom
C.     Which
D.    Whose
In the sentence, whom is compement from subject cooper and verb created, the best answer is B (Whom).

10.  It is ______ that i’d like to go on picnic
A.    A lovely day as
B.     Too lovely a day
C.     So lovely day
D.    Such a lovely day
In the sentence, such as followed by adjective and noun on frase couse, so followed by adjective : a, and noun. The best answer is D (such a lovely day).


TOEFL EXERCISE (Skills 1-5) : Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice in each of following sentences. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I).

1. Last week went fishing for trout at the nearby mountain lake.  (I)
2. A schedule of the day’s events can be obtained at the front desk.  (C)
3.The interviews by radio broadcasters were carried live by the station.  (C)
4. In the last possible moment before takeoff took his seat in the airplane.  (I)
5. The son of the previous owner, the new owner is undertaking some fairly broad changes in management policy. (C)
6. Last semester, a friend graduated cum laude from the university. (I)
7. Those travelers are completing their trip on  Delta should report to Gate Three.  (I)
8. The companies offering the lowest price will have the most customers.  (C)
9. The money was offered by the client was not accepted. (I)
10. The car listed in the advertisement had already stalled.  (C)