TOEFL iBT Reading Strategy
Once you locate the highlighted referent in the passage,read more than just one sentence.Read also the sentence before and after the sentence containing the highlighted word.Although the four choices might not be in all surrounding sentences,you should make sure you understand the full context,not just one part.
There could be clues to meaning in the surrounding sentences even if some choices are not there,so do not skim the sentences.Students often read too quickly and carelessly due to nervousness and pressure .Referent questions require careful attention and analysis.In the excerpt above about road rage,the highlighted pronoun this is the referent,and you should read at least form the beginning of the previous sentence (word officially entered ...)until the end of the next one(... by stressful traffic alone)
Strategy 2 : Pay attention to the pronoun`s number,gender and type(person or thing).
Since referent questions are multiple-choice,you need to eliminate obviously wrong answers.The specific qualities of the pronoun are clear indications of which antecedents might be incorrect. Therefore,identify whether the pronoun is singular or plural,male or female ,and so forth.For example, the pronoun this is singular and probably refers to a noun thing or idea,not a person,based on the known rules outlined above.
Strategy 3 : Identify the function of the referent and its immediate context.
You need to know how the pronoun relates to its own sentence.The immediate context is the action(s), states,and related detail (place,time,reason,contrast,etc.)within the sentence.Determine the pronoun`s relationship to those ideas.Is the pronoun a subject or object? If it is subject,what is the action or state and what or whom is it affecting? If it is a object,what action is it experiencing or receiving? Is the sentence a continuation of previous ideas (moreover,furthermore) or is it a contradiction of them (however,although,etc.)
The pronoun this is a subject that is described as inaccurate, so the correct antecedent must be something that can be inaccurate.Moreover,the inaccuracy is the judgement or opinion of a specific group,psychologists.Therefore,the antecedent must be something that psychologists could discuss or refer to.Finally,the sentence begins with but, which expresses contrast.The contrasting word fits the negative tone of the adjective inaccurate and suggests disagreements or debate.All of these details are part of the pronoun`s immediate context and they are important clues to the proper antecedent.
Strategy 4 : Relate the referent to the broader context.
The broader context refers to the actions,states,actors,objects,and details (places,times,reasons,etc) in the surrounding sentences.Ask yourself,"what is happening in the sentence before and after the pronoun?" and "Who or what is causing it?" Determine how the referent affects or is affected by these ideas around it.For instance,the pronoun this in the sample question comes after a description of the first use of the term road rage and a quoted definition from the Oxford English dictionary.The pronoun comes before a more specific explanation of what road rage involves.Therefore,the pronoun this ,which is described as inaccurate,comes in between two sentences that try to define and then redefine road rage.
Strategy 5 : Look for an antecedent before the referent in the same sentence or in thee preceding one.
As the chart above outlines,most antecedents come before the pronoun,so you should focus your attention on the choices that precede,or come before,the pronoun.The correct antecedent could be in the same sentence as the pronoun or in the preceding sentence,but it can not be two or more sentences away.In the excerpt above,(C) is in the first sentence,which is two sentences away form the pronoun this.That means you can eliminate (C),which is too far away.
Strategy 6 : Look for an antecedent after the pronoun in specific cases.
A pronoun may precede the antecedent (a word, phrase,or clause) when both are in the same sentence and when the sentence has very specific structure.When the sentence begins with an adverb clause, a pronoun in the adverb clause can come before the antecedent in the second,independent clause :
Although it can be hard to explain, road rage is not hard to recognize.
Since they began keeping records on road rage, government agencies have seen continual rises in the number of cases.
Almost as soon as it was defined ,experts began to debate the root causes of road rage.
When he arrived on the scene,the police officer separated the two drivers who fighting.
Note that the pronoun and antecedent are still in the same sentence in all four examples above. Antecedent do not normally come in a separate sentence after the pronoun because this would confuse the reader or listener.In the sample question above, the pronoun this does not fit the pattern above,so (C) cannot be chosen based on this specific rule.
Strategy 7 : Use sentence structure to eliminate some choices.
As you can see in the table above,many pronouns can replace only words with specific types,gender,number,and so on.For example, this has two key patterns : First,it can only replace a preceding noun,phrase,or clause.In other words,this must refer back to something that comes in an earlier sentence.Therefore,you can eliminate any choices that come after the pronoun,such as (A) in the sample question.The expression of anger is mentioned in the following sentence and can not be replaced by this.Moreover,as you learned in Strategy 6,pronouns very rarely refer back more than one independent sentence so any choices such as (C) in the first sentence of the excerpt can be omitted as well,based on grammar.
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