Okay, let's be real. The reading section is where most people, including me, lose their minds and their points because they simply run out of time and their brain just explodes from what's happening. So, how do you actually get a perfect score? What is the real strategy? How do people do it? Should you read the whole passage first, or is it just a waste of time? In this video, we're going to show you how to answer each question in about 35 seconds. Yes, it is possible. We're doing a full reading simulation so you can see the strategy in action. I've asked an assistia, our lead teacher at Lingua Trip, who by the way got 119 on her TOEFL test, to walk you through it step

by step. She's going to start with a quick breakdown of the structure and then we're diving straight into the practice. Welcome to Lingua Marina. Don't forget to like and subscribe to this video and let's welcome Anastasia. The TOEFL reading section has three types of tasks. Complete the words, read in daily life, and read an academic passage. They always appear in this exact order. On test day, you will see several tasks of each type. You will also have two modules. The number of tasks and questions varies from student to student, so you never know exactly how many questions you will get on test

day. Today, however, we'll do one task of each type. So, this video does not become too long and you still get a clear understanding of what to expect. For those of you who aren't familiar with the test, I'll quickly explain what you'll see on test day. If you already know this, feel free to skip ahead to the first task. As I just mentioned, the test will be different for each student. But on average, in module one, you will have one or two complete the words tasks, 10 questions each. Two to three reading daily life tasks, two to three questions each. One or two read and academic passage tasks, five questions each. So overall, module one will contain about 20 to 30 questions. Now,

your performance in module one determines which version of module 2 you receive. If you receive the easier module two, you will have one complete the words task and two or three additional reading daily life tasks. You will not have a read an academic passage task. Think of the easier module as similar to module one but without the academic text. This module typically includes 15 to 18 questions. If you add these to the 20 to 30 questions from module one, you will have a total of about 35 to 48 questions. On average, you'll receive around 35 questions. And all of my students who have taken the test so far have confirmed this. If you get the more difficult module, it will

include one additional complete the words task and one or two read an academic passage tasks. Again, you can think of this version as module one without the read and daily life task. Overall, this module typically contains about 15 to 20 questions combined with 20 to 30 questions for module one. This brings the total to approximately 35 to 50 questions. The time available per question varies depending on the number of tasks you receive. On average, however, you will have about 35 seconds per question. So, while the questions themselves are not extremely difficult and the texts are relatively short, the time allocated to each question is

limited. In addition, when you have to answer many questions within a short period, you need to be especially careful to avoid mistakes. As your concentration can easily decline under time pressure. Now, let's move on to the first task. Complete the words. Here, you read a short text of about 70 to 100 words. The first sentence always remains unchanged. Starting from the second sentence, every other word is partially deleted. Your job is to fill in the missing words. There are always 10 gaps to complete. This task can be challenging for two main reasons. First, as I mentioned earlier, time is limited.

Second, you must know which words to supply. Some words are simple such as and, only, and that, while others are more academic. You may need to supply words such as decline, record, transform, and impact. This means you should expand your academic vocabulary and use your knowledge of grammar and sentence structure. To determine the correct form of each word, let's take a look at our task. You will now have one minute to do it on your own. Then we will discuss the correct answers. Okay, the first word is transitioning. Why? Because at the beginning of this sentence, we need a jarn phrase functioning as the subject. In English, a gerand, the ing form of a verb used as

a noun can act as the subject of a sentence. For example, traveling is important for people. Dancing helps you stay in good shape. Walking along the beach in the evening is enjoyable. Listening to music with friends is always great. In our text, the sentence begins with a list of actions that function as the subject. Transitioning, improving, and implementing are all vital steps. So if you see a verb at the

beginning of a sentence, it will most likely appear in the ing form. Also, if you look at this sentence, you can see that it contains a list transitioning, improving, and implementing. We know that all items in a list must have the same grammatical form. This is called parallel structure. Since both improving and implementing are girens, the first item must also be a gerand transitioning. Remember, you cannot say walk, listening to music and dancing are my hobbies. You should always make sure all items in your list have the same grammatical form. So the correct sentence is walking, listening to music and dancing are my hobbies. Number two

is renewable. The collocation renewable energy is very common. It refers to energy that naturally replenishes itself such as wind or solar power. Again, if you're unsure about the word form, look at its position in the sentence. Since it appears directly before the noun energy, it most likely needs to be an adjective. Adjectives typically come before nouns and describe them. For example, a beautiful place, efficient resources, beneficial information. So, we know that the correct form is renewable. Number three is sources. Energy sources are forms of energy that can be used to produce power. They're classified as renewable if they naturally replenish themselves and can be used continuously

such as solar or wind energy. Any other type of energy source is considered non-renewable. We get the phrase renewable energy sources which is a standard noun phrase in environmental science. Here sources is a plural countable noun because there are different types of energy sources solar, wind, hydro and so on. So we now have transitioning to renewable energy sources. Great job. Number four is energy in the phrase improving energy efficiency. When one noun is placed before another noun, the first noun can function as an adjective. This is called a noun modifier or attributive noun. For example, railway construction, energy production, data analysis. A very

important rule for the writing section is that when a noun modifies another noun, it usually appears in the singular form even if the meaning is plural. Compare the construction of railways, railway construction. So when you use this type of noun plus noun structure in your writing, remember to keep the first noun in the singular form. Number five is and. Here is a small punctuation rule to remember. In a list of two items, you simply connect them with and no comma is needed. For example, I saw my friend and his sister. We have a list of three items transitioning, improving, and implementing. In lists of three or

more items, we separate items with commas and use and before the final item. This is called coordination in a series. For instance, I sum a friend, his sister, and their dog. The comma before is called the Oxford comma. It is optional in general English, but it is safer to use it in academic writing and on the TOEFL to avoid ambiguity. Also, remember to always include and before the last item in a list. In my one-on-one sessions, when I check students essays, I often see the same mistake. Students write sentences like, "Technology helps people work fast, achieve greater results, study quicker."

This is incorrect. The correct sentence is, "Technology helps people work fast, achieve greater results, and study quicker." So there should always be and before the final item in a list. Number six is policies. A policy is an official set of rules, plans or guidelines created by a government, organization or institution to guide decisions and actions. In simple terms, it's a rule or plan that people are expected to follow in certain situations. You can remember related words such as policies, rules, and guidelines. We often use the collocation implement policies, which means put policies into action. The verb implement commonly collocates with policies, measures, plans or strategies.

So policies is the natural plural noun here. The next word is limit. As you can see, we implement policies to limit emissions. Here to limit is an infinitive of purpose. We use to plus verb to express why something is done. For example, I stopped to talk to my friend. Why did I stop to talk to my friend? This is similar to saying in order to talk to my friend, but to is more natural and less formal. So we get to limit emissions from industry, transportation, and agriculture. We typically use the preposition from with the verbs to limit or to reduce when we talk about the

source or sector. Examples: reduce pollution from vehicles. Limit waste from manufacturing. Cut emissions from power plants. So to limit emissions from industry. Final two words are transportation and agriculture. We now see another list with three items industry, transportation and agriculture. Since the first item industry is a noun, the remaining items must also be nouns to maintain parallel structure. So the correct forms are transportation and agriculture. That's it. As you can see, this task checks how well read you are and how quickly you can recognize words in a text. It also tests your vocabulary. You should be familiar with terms such as renewable

energy, energy sources, transportation policies, and agriculture. It also tests your knowledge of grammar and sentence structure, especially which word forms and collocations fit naturally together. If you'd like me to post more videos focusing solely on this task, let me know in the comments below. And don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss the upcoming 2026 related videos. Now let's move on to the second type of task you will see in the TOEFL

2026 reading section. It is called read in daily life. There are two versions of this task. One version includes a short text with two questions while the other has a slightly longer text with three questions. The only differences are the length of the text and the number of questions. The texts may be notices, emails, campus announcements, or short social media posts. Most of my students reported that they typically received emails and notices on their tests. The questions may seem simple at first, but don't let that fool you. The majority of TOEFL takers have said that the questions in the official ETSS practice tests are much easier than what you will encounter on the actual test day. So,

make sure you prepare thoroughly for this section and use more challenging practice materials. So, you're not surprised on the day of the test. The first question always asks about the main idea of the text while second and third questions usually focus on specific details. For main idea questions, I suggest reading the question first, then quickly scan the text, formulate your own answer, and only after that look at the answer choices, select the option that matches your prediction. This is extremely important because it helps confirm that you understood the text correctly and did not fall for common TOEFL traps.

Also avoid option that contain too many exact key words from the passage or extreme words such as only, never, fully, completely as these are often incorrect. Keeping these strategies in mind will save you valuable time. Now let's look at task one. You will have 20 seconds to answer and then you will hear my explanation. As expected, the question asks what is the primary purpose of this notice? So this is the main idea question. As I read, I focus on the main idea, the core message of the text and avoid getting stuck on difficult or unfamiliar words.

The notice says that entry through the west doors of the central library will be suspended. In other words, temporarily closed from March 3. Even if you don't know the word suspended, you can infer the meaning from the next sentence. It says visitors should instead approach from Riverside Walk. If visitors must use a different entrance, it means the original one is closed for some time. The notice also says that visitors should anticipate slower screening procedures. What does the collocation screening procedures mean? These are security checks at the entrance to a place. Think of the checks you go through at an airport, for example. walking through a metal

detector to ensure you're not carrying anything dangerous. That is exactly what screening checks mean in this context. So, these checks will be slower because the main entrance is temporarily closed. Next, we learned that level one study areas will remain open, but occupants may encounter intermittent daytime disturbances. In simple terms, this means that people inside the building might sometimes experience noise or disruption during the day. Key vocabulary occupants people who use or stay in a building. May encounter, may experience or phase intermittent happening occasionally, not continuously.

Daytime during the day, disturbance, noise or disruption. So the correct answer is B. To outline temporary access adjustments and likely inconveniences. As we just saw, the notice focuses on the entrance closure, the alternate route, slower screening, and possible disturbances. In other words, it is entirely about changes to access and the effects these changes may have on people. My tip for this type of question um is to focus mainly on nouns and verbs. As you read the notice, try to get to the skeleton of the text, its core meaning, and ignore complicated or unfamiliar details. For example, I completely disregarded the phrase at the very beginning to accommodate seismic

retrofitting. Why? because it begins with to which signals the reason why a change will take place. I'm not interested in why something is happening. Instead, I'm interested in what is happening. So, I skip it and go straight to the main message. I do not need to know what seismic retrofitting means. That is not the purpose of the task. The goal is for you to understand the main idea even when the notice contains words you don't know. Let's look at question two. The good news is that in this type of task, answering the second question and the third question in longer texts is usually much easier. By this point, you already understand the text well and

know where to look for the answer. This is what we used to call a factual information question in the previous version of the test. The strategy is simple. Identify the keywords in the question. Locate the relevant part of the text. Read that sentence carefully. Focus on your own form, your own answer, and then choose the option that best matches it. You now have 10 seconds to respond. Give it a try. The question asks during the construction period what condition are library users most likely to experience.

Since we already understand the entire notice we can immediately see that a delays before entering the building is the correct answer. This is a paraphrase of the phrase anticipate slower screening procedures. If screening procedures are slower, library visitors will experience delays before entering. As you can see, you may spend more time in question one, but it allows you to save a lot of time on question two because you already know where the answer is and only need to confirm it in the text. And remember, correct answers are very often paraphrased. If you see an option that repeats too many keywords from the passage, it's usually a trap.

Avoid selecting it. Let's move on and complete the second read and daily life task. This time you will have a slightly longer text and three questions. You will have 35 seconds to answer the first question. Question one, why is the organization changing the function? function of rooms B and C. The correct answer is B. Teams lack dependable access to collaborative spaces. The text states that project leads have reported difficulty securing appropriate spaces for collaborative planning, which means they lacked reliable access to spaces for collaborative work. Key vocabulary project leads people who manage or direct a project. to secure, to obtain or get. For

example, secure a job, secure funding. Collaborative space, a space where people work together. So, if project leads had difficulty securing appropriate spaces, it means they have trouble finding or obtaining suitable places for teamwork. That is why the organization is changing the function of rooms B and C. Let's try to answer question two. You now have 35 seconds to respond. C is correct. The text states that reservations will be capped at 2 hours daily, which means the duration of access will be limited each day. Capped means limited to a maximum amount or level. Question three.

The correct answer is a sessions dependent on installed presentation systems. We first identify the keyword which is conference room A. Since this is the last question, the answer is most likely located near the end of the text. We can find it in the second body paragraph. It states meetings requiring fixed presentation infrastructure should continue in conference room A whose configuration will remain unchanged. If meetings require fixed presentation infrastructure, it means they depend on installed presentation systems. For those of you who may not know, installed presentation systems refer to presentation equipment that is permanently set up in a room such as

projectors, large screens, built-in monitors, or audio systems. If a meeting room has installed presentation systems, you can easily display slides or videos. In this case, fixed presentation infrastructure is a paraphrase of installed presentation systems. Great. The last task is the read an academic passage task. You can think of this task as a simplified version of the old TOEFL reading passages. Each passage is much shorter, about 200 words instead of the 700word passages in the old TOEFL, but the topics are similar even though they are presented in less detail. Each passage is followed by five questions.

The first is usually the main idea question, followed by familiar question types such as vocabulary, factual information, rhetorical purpose, and negative factual information questions. As always, we never read the entire text first. Instead, we go straight to the first question. The first question is again the main idea question. It asks what is the main idea of the passage? The correct answer is B. Scientific perspectives on sleep have shifted toward viewing it as cognitively active. How do I know it's B? I need to quickly skim the text and identify its main idea. Remember, we ignore the details and focus only on the main points. Imagine you want to explain

this text to a 12 or 13year-old. You want things to be simple and clear. So I skip the part about a temporary suspension of waking cognition. Then I read this view has been revised. Meaning it has changed. This change happened because research revealed new findings. Again I don't need to know exactly what was discovered. Just that research led to a change in how sleep is understood. The next sentence gives additional conclusions from the same research. So the first paragraph tells us that in the past sleep was regarded as a passive state but new research change that view. Then I see that the new findings have

prompted a reconceptualization of sleep. means understanding or viewing something in a new or different way. So sleep is now seen not merely as restorative downtime but as an active phase of cognitive reorganization. Merely means just or only. So sleep is no longer viewed as just a passive state but also as an active phase of cognitive reorganization. In other words, it's a time when the mind organizes and processes information. Cognitive relates to the processes of thinking and reasoning. So, it refers to brain activity. The next two sentences go into details explaining what happens during sleep and why it is now considered an active phase of cognitive

reorganization. Remember, just like in the old test format, ideas in each passage usually move from more general to more specific. Your job is to focus on the general ideas and ignore the supporting details that follow. Think of these texts as small pyramids. They begin with main points and then add details underneath. Finally, paragraph three tells us that the functional significance of specific sleep stages remains contested. The next sentence goes into detail and if you see many unfamiliar words you can move straight to the last sentence. It says ongoing debate therefore concerns not whether sleep influences cognition but how its diverse physiological features

contribute to adaptive behavior. If you put these ideas together we can see that the passage says the following. In the past, people thought sleep was simply rest, so it was considered a passive state. However, scientists now believe sleep is active and supports memory and learning. Yes, there are still some debates. Ongoing means still in progress about how its diverse physiological features contribute to adaptive behavior, but the idea that sleep influences cognition is already established. So the main idea is that our understanding of sleep has changed which is why B is correct. Time for question two. It asks according to the passage which process is associated with

slow wave sleep? This is a specific detail question so you can find the keywords locate the relevant part of the text. Form your own answer first and then match it with the options. You have 35 seconds to answer on your own. And we see that a stabilization of recently learned factual information is the correct answer. The key word is slow wave sleep. We locate it in the passage. We also know that the answer is most likely in the first paragraph which is indeed the case. We find the sentence in particular slowwave sleep has been linked to the stabilization of recently acquired declarative memories while

rapid eye movement sleep appears to support the integration of new information into existing knowledge networks. So since slow wave sleep stabilizes recently acquired declarative memories, option A is correct. Declarative memories are facts and learned information. Stabilization is the process of making them stable and lasting. Great. Let's proceed to question three. Which of the following is not stated about sleep research in the passage? This is a negative factual information question. For this type, we need to find the option that is false. I can actually spot it right away without even reading the text. I see that option C contains

the word all. that's an extreme or absolute word. Options like this are often false. And here we're specifically looking for the incorrect statement. Remember, this task may include answers that are contradicted by the passage, not just ones that are not mentioned. So, it helps to think of it as a true false question where you need to choose the false statement. So, the correct answer is C. All sleep stages contribute to memory consolidation. Now if we go back to the passage, we see that it never says that all sleep stages are equal. In fact, it explains that different stages have different roles.

So this statement is not supported by the text. As you can see, understanding the question types and nuances of the reading section is essential for a success in this part of the test. Without that knowledge, you can spend hours practicing without much improvement. This is exactly what we teach in our TOEFL course. We go through all question types in detail, explain the strategies, and analyze complete reading sections together so you learn how to apply these strategies on the real TOEFL test. This helps you feel confident on test day and achieve the score you need. You'll also get access to high-scoring templates for speaking

and writing, key vocabulary for every section, and practical tips to improve your timing. The link to the course is below. If you need support with your TOEFL preparation, click it and join our TOEFL community. Question four, the word epiphenomenal is closest in meaning two. This is our vocabulary question. I love this type because it can save you a lot of time on the test and leave more time for harder questions. Take a look and tell me what you think. You have 10 seconds to respond. B is correct. Abenomenal describes something that happens as a side effect of another process but doesn't actually influence or change that process. Simply put, it's something that appears

alongside something else but has no real power or effect. You can think of something epenomenal as a byproduct that doesn't affect the main thing. So the closest meaning here is option B, secondary. The passage says that some scientists think neural replay is just a byproduct and not useful for memory. So remember something epiphenomenal happens but has no real function. Finally, question five. Why does the author mention improved performance after sleep? This is a rhetorical purpose question. Give it a try. and the correct answer is a to provide evidence supporting an active role of

sleep in memory processing. Remember how I said that knowing the structure of the text really helps when answering questions two to five? That's because you already know the main idea of each paragraph, which is especially useful for rhetorical purpose questions. We remember that the second paragraph discussed findings showing that sleep can be considered an active phase of cognitive reorganization. Our sentence is the last one in this paragraph. It says this process may explain why performance on certain learning tasks improves after sleep even in the absence of additional practice since it begins with this process. It

refers to something mentioned earlier. We know that the previous sentence explained what happens during sleep. This in turn illustrates why we now think that sleep represents an active phase of cognitive reorganization. So this leads us to answer A to provide evidence supporting an active role of sleep in memory processing. Simply put, the author gives this example to show that sleep helps learning even without practice. This supports the idea that sleep actively reorganizes memory. That brings us to the end of the video. I hope you enjoyed it and found it helpful. As you

can see, the reading section of the 2026 TOEFL test isn't as scary as it might seem. Feel free to share in the comments which part of the reading section you find most challenging. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss new TOEFL 2026 practice videos. As always, I wish you all a stellar TOEFL score. See you in the next video. Bye.