Hi
I took my TOEFL exam last week on Saturday at Shiraz iBT center. It was not satisfactory at all. I realized that I won't score well while I was taking the exam, but this Friday when the results were available, it wasn't that much messy but still not satisfactory.
While I was preparing for the exam,I hoped to score above 27 on Reading and Listening sections to compensate for my weaknesses on Speaking and Writing sections. When the exam just started, I was shocked with how hard the first passage was. I've never had vocabulary problems on self-test on
Barrons and
Cambridge books, but the passage contained 4-5 keywords that I've never had heard of so I had a lot of problems with understanding the passage. But this wasn't the only problem. At the time I got to the last question, which worth 2 points, I clicked on the
"return to the passage" button to check on some details . After I checked the passage, when I wanted to go back to questions, I clicked on the
"Next" button mistakenly so it moved to the next passage therefore, I lost a 2-point and a 1-point question
. The other two passages( It was a short-format reading section) weren't that much hard and I didn't have much problems with it. After the exam I thought I might even score under 20 but surprisingly I scored 23! yeay
After the devilish reading section the Listening section started. the first lecture was really hard the topic was about something strange(defense systems in insects or something similar) and the speaker was talking damn fast and continuous. At that moment I was a bit desperate since I messed on reading section and the Listening section didn't start well either, but that was a turning point in the exam! after the first part in the Listening section( I had a long-format Listening section) everything went well! the second part was easier that the previous one and the last part was really a piece of cake
. Since I had a long-format Listening section, I kept the hope that the first part wouldn't be scored and my score would be something above 26 ,but unfortunately I scored 21! I did expect more
Speaking and Writing sections were good, not too hard and not too easy. I scored 23 on each, so my total score became 90
It's not good but I'm happy it wasn't that much messy!
I'm a little bit tired right now but I will be back and share my opinions about the books and other stuffs about the exam
EDITED:
About books
I practiced with
Cambridge preparation book (Gear & Gear) . If you want to learn skills and get familiar with the type of questions on TOEFL exam, I think Cambridge is the best because you learn these skills and get familiar with questions by exercising.
But for taking self-tests I think Barron's is better because it has more standard questions. However, for building skills it doesn't present anything much more than Cambridge. All of the self-tests are also included in its CD-ROM so if you can download or borrow the CD-ROM (not the listening CD) from someone else I think you don't have to buy the book.
BTW- The woman you see in this picture is censored in Iran markets
Barron also has a separate book for writing(
Barron's Writing for the TOEFL iBT). It was really a helpful book. I did write better essays by practicing with this book. If you have any problems with the writing section, as I had, I recommend this book:
I also practiced with the official ETS preparation book but the questions were easier than normal tests. I recommend it for practicing but not a good one for self-evaluation
About test-center
The exam held on Shiraz University Eng Building No.2 in Mollasadra St. The atmosphere and facilities was good (except the fact that typing with the keyboard was a bit inconvenient , but not very troublesome ). We were 15 participants, 6 of us (including my-self) took the exam in a room and the others went to the Conference room. The Administrator also noticed that microphones are sensitive that you don't have to shout and troubles for others
and so the participants also made no problems for others. Unfortunately the test-center didn't present anything to eat
but I was lucky my mother reminded me to bring something to eat. during the 10-minute break we were all free to go out and take air or go to bathroom if necessary
.gif "N Aggressive (8)")
.All together, test-center situation was good and I didn't have any problems with it
Gooooooood Luck
نوشته شده توسط Antonio Andolini
جواب بصورت نقل قول
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