TOEFL iBT · full test
TOEFL iBT reading practice set 3
Nineteen practice items in the three task types of the updated TOEFL iBT Reading section: Complete the Words (five gaps in a paragraph about desalination), Read in Daily Life (a conference schedule and a building email) and Read an Academic Passage (two longer texts, on wetlands and on shipping containers). Harder than sets 1 and 2. It is untimed; the real Reading section is timed and adaptive, so the questions you meet depend on how you answer earlier ones, and it is reported on a 1 to 6 scale.
Exam mode: timed, answers at the end, like the real test. Practice mode: untimed, the answer and explanation after each question.
What is in this test
| Multiple choice, one answer | 14 questions | instant marking |
| Fill in the blank | 5 questions | instant marking |
Covers: complete the words (5) · detail (3) · schedule (2) · email (2) · rhetorical purpose (2) · vocabulary (2) · inference (2) · main idea (1)
A sample question
Wetlands such as marshes and swamps were once regarded as wasteland, and many were drained for farming or building. Today, engineers and ecologists increasingly value them for the protection they offer against flooding. A wetland acts rather like a sponge. When a river rises after heavy rain, the water spreads out across the low, flat ground, where dense vegetation slows its movement. The soil absorbs a large share of the water and releases it gradually over the following weeks. As a result, the peak of the flood is lower and arrives later downstream than it would have done if the river had been confined to a channel. Wetlands also trap sediment and remove some of the nutrients that run off farmland, which improves the quality of the water. Critics point out that a wetland can hold only a limited quantity of water and offers little help once the soil is already saturated. For this reason, many planners combine wetland restoration with conventional defences, such as embankments, rather than relying on either alone. Why does the author compare a wetland to a sponge?
- To show that wetlands are soft to walk on
- To illustrate how a wetland takes in water and lets it out slowly
- To explain why wetlands are often drained
- To suggest that wetlands cannot hold much water
Marked when you take the test; the explanation appears in your review.