TOEFL Experience

For My Brother Guang Yang

by Alexander Ezharjan

The process or result of learning is never a thing that can be calculated through an exact meter, but preparing for the exams has its own way that we can sometime apply to get good grades. Here are some of my experience on how to get decent scores in TOEFOL.

Recite 20 to 100 TOEFL words everyday.
Remember 2 things:
(1) Review of the past words are more important than reciting the new ones;
(2) Never ignore those words that looks familiar to you. Try to recite the familiar word’s all meanings and exampled cases.
Try to do a real exam practice first. You can download some applications or directly practice online.
Remember 2 things:
(1) Use the REAL OLD EXAMS, not the simulations, to measure your current ability, then you will find out your deficiencies and problems so that you’re able to solve them.
(2) Always try to make yourself in a real exam situation when you are taking the test. If you can’t, just try to make an atmosphere like that! For example, you can take your simulation test in a noisy classroom with people going in and out. Yeah, the real situation is somewhat noisy and people will go in and out from the exam hall, you have to be fully focused on your own exam and avoid those distractions.
Practice more! Always practice upon the TOEFL exam itself. DO NOT PRACTICE ANY OTHER THINGS THAT CAN SEEMS UNRELATED WITH THE EXAM ITSELF. (For example: listening to English songs, watching English films, speaking with foreigners online etc.) Note that the TOEFL is a test of your comprehensive ability rather than the test of your real foreign communication ability.
Always catch your mistakes and just calm down to think about the reason why you have mistaken, practice more.
Practice your speed! You should be clarified that the exam time is not enough, especially for your reading test. You can’t read thoroughly through all the details of a passage, so you have to view the current question first and then find out the answer for it. Time control is significant while doing the TOEFL reading test.
When it comes to the preparation of the listening test, find some ways to enhance your note-taking ability. Interpretation note taking methods are listed below in Appendix II for a reference from my point of view, but you may find some more suitable methods to enhance your ability.
While practicing your speaking ability, you have to link your speaking ability with the listening practice. Never separate them! Try to speak loudly so that your voice can be recorded by the microphone clearly. You can record your own voice while you are practicing.
Essay is important and you have to read some tutorials related to the TOEFL Essay Test and practice with those guides. Some of the mottos or sayings of the famous people is strongly recommended. Some of them is listed below in Appendix I.
Do at least 5 real-test-based simulation test before entering the exam day.
Sleep well before the exam day.
Eat well in the morning on the exam day.

Appendix I

Misfortunes never come alone/single.祸不单行。
Constant dropping wears the stone. 滴水穿石。
Life is a leaf of paper white, thereon each of us may write his word or two. 生活是一张白纸，每个人都在上面写上自己的一两句话。
For man is man and master of his fate. 人就是人，是自己命运的主人。
A good medicine tasks bitter.良药苦口。
Live and let live. 自己生活也让别人生活。
A great ship asks for deep waters.大船要走深水。
From small beginnings comes great things. 伟大始于渺小。
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.没有恒心只有力量是完不成伟业。
Two heads are better than one. 一人不及二人智；三个臭皮匠，胜个过一个诸葛亮。
The voice of one man is the voice of no one. 一个人的声音没有力量。
It is never too late to learn. 活到老，学到老。
Wise men learn by other men’s mistakes; fools by their own. 聪明人从别人的错误中学得教训；笨人则自己付出代价。他山之石可以攻玉。
Good company on the road is the shortest cut. 行路有良伴就是捷径。
It takes all sorts to make a world. 世界是由各种不同的人所组成的。
Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain. 智力投资绝不会白花。
On earth there is nothing at but man; in the man there is nothing at but mind. 地球上唯一伟大的是人，人身上唯一伟大的是心灵。
Wisdom in the mind is better than money in the hand.脑中有知识，胜过手中有金钱。
Misfortunes tell us what fortune is.不经灾难不知福。
While there is life, there is hope.有生命便有希望/留得青山在，哪怕没柴烧
Storms make trees take deeper roots.风暴使树木深深扎根。
It is never too late to mend. 亡羊补牢，犹时未晚。
Truth never fears investigation.事实从来不怕调查。
Misfortunes come on wings and depart on foot.遭祸容易脱祸难。
To an optimist every change is a change for the better.对于乐观者总是越变越好。
Every man is his own worst enemy.一个人最大的敌人就是他自己。
The secret of success is constancy of purpose.成功的秘诀在于持之于恒。
Actions speak louder than words. 行动比语言更响亮。
Saying and doing are two different things. 说和做是迥然不同的两回事。
Better late than never. 迟做总比不做好；晚来总比不来强。
Experience is the mother of wisdom. 经验是智慧之母。
Be honest rather clever. 诚实比聪明更要紧。
Being on sea, sail; being on land, settle. 随遇而安。
Be just to all, but trust not all. 要公正对待所有的人，但不要轻信所有的人。
Believe not all that you see nor half what you hear. 眼见的不能全信，耳闻的也不能半信。
Be slow to promise and quick to perform. 不轻诺，诺必果。
Be swift to hear, slow to speak. 多听少说。
Better an empty purse than an empty head. 宁可钱袋瘪，不要脑袋空。
Better an open enemy than a false friend. 明枪易躲，暗箭难防。
Better good neighbors near than relations far away. 远亲不如近邻。
Between the cup and the lip a morsel may slip. 功亏一篑。
Between two stools one falls to the ground. 脚踏两头要落空。
Beware beginnings. 慎始为上。
Big mouthfuls ofter choke. 贪多嚼不烂。
Bind the sack before it be full. 做事应适可而止。
Birds of a feather flock together. 物以类聚，人以群分。
Birth is much, but breeding is more. 出身固然重要，教养更且重要。
Bite off more than one can chew. 贪多咽不下。
Bite the hand that feeds one. 恩将仇报。
Bitter pills may have wholesome effects. 良药苦口利于病。
Blind men can judge no colors. 不宜问道於盲。
Blood is thicker than water. 血浓于水。
Bread is the staff of life. 民以食为天。
Brevity is the soul of wit. 言以简洁为贵。
Bring up a raven and he’ll pick out your eyes. 养虎贻患。
Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse. 投鼠忌器。
Burnt child dreads the fire. 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳。
Business before pleasure. 事业在先，享乐在后。
Business is business. 公事公办。
By doing we learn. 经一事，长一智。
By falling we learn to go safely. 吃一堑，长一智。
By other’s faults, wise men correct their own. 他山之石，可以攻玉。
By reading we enrich the mind; by conversation we polish it. 读书可以使我门的思想充实，谈话使其更臻完美。
pain past is pleasure. 过去的痛苦即快乐。
All things are difficult before they are easy. 凡事必先难后易。
Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. 心之所愿，无事不成。
Where there is life, there is hope. 有生命必有希望。
I feel strongly that I can make it. 我坚信我一定能成功。
Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. 与其诅咒黑暗，不如燃起蜡烛。
The shortest answer is doing. 最简短的回答就是行动。
Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. 成功的秘诀就是四个简单的字：多一点点。
All things in their being are good for something. 天生我才必有用。
Difficult circumstances serve as a textbook of life for people. 困难坎坷是人们的生活教科书。
Failure is the mother of success. - Thomas Paine 失败乃成功之母。
For man is man and master of his fate. 人就是人，是自己命运的主人。
The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates 混混噩噩的生活不值得过。 – 苏格拉底
None is of freedom or of life deserving unless he daily conquers it anew. -Erasmus 只有每天再度战胜生活并夺取自由的人，才配享受生活的自由。
Our destiny offers not the cup of despair, but the chalice of opportunity. So let us seize it, not in fear, but in gladness. – R.M. Nixon 命运给予我们的不是失望之酒，而是机会之杯。因此，梦颐呛廖薹惧，满心愉悦地把握命？- 尼克松
Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass. – John Ruskin 生活没有目标，犹如航海没有罗盘。– 罗斯金
What makes life dreary is the want of motive. – George Eliot 没有了目的，生活便郁闷无光。 – 乔治埃略特
Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored.– Lincoln 卓越的天才不屑走旁人走过的路。他寻找迄今未开拓的地区。
There is no such thing as a great talent without great will - power. – Balzac 没有伟大的意志力，便没有雄才大略。 – 巴尔扎克

TOEFL Experience

Appendix I

Appendix II