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TOEIC -- hypothetical results of our check

2013-04-14 | TOEIC
Let me copy the file that I sent to our team members. I'll make my comments below each one. ご参考まで.
The basic assumption here is that all of my comments are hypothetical. This is what I "guessed" might have taken place. Of course, I would never reveal the actual contents of a real TOEIC test in a public forum . . .

Things to check on 14 April TOEIC:

1. Does TOEIC use numerals in Part 5 items or do these have to be written out (i.e., 5 vs. five)?

We couldn't find any examples of numbers from zero to nine. There were two examples of numerals, though: 10 and 75. I think we still need to check this on subsequent tests.

2. Does TOEIC use only first names in Part 3 conversation questions? I know that this is not true of Part 5 (i.e., family names always appear), but how about Part 3?

Yes, as we expected, first names do indeed appear in Part 3 questions. This test had "Pam" in one of the questions. No surprise, but good to confirm it explicitly.

3. Does Part 5 ever use "his or her" or "he or she" in the distracters (answer choices)? Or are all generic references made in 3rd person plural to avoid being gender specific (i.e., "they" or "their")?

It appears that all generic questions are put into 3rd person plural in order to avoid gender specificity. There were four examples of this in Part 5 today.

4. What is Part 5 formally called?

It wasn't clear from the actual test. I think we need to check this on the ETS website (TOEIC stylesheet: Web site).

5. How many negative factual questions appear on Part 7?

Two. Within the predictable range.

6. What is the exact wording of Part 7 dedicated vocabulary questions?

The word XXX in paragraph Y, line Z, is closest in meaning to . . . Again, as predicted. Good to confirm it again, though.

7. In which situations does TOEIC use hyphens? The English language is moving in the direction of omitting the hyphens if the relationship between the words is clear from the context. It'll be interesting to see if TOEIC is adopting this trend, or if it still uses many hyphens.

There was only one hyphenated adjective: long-term. It'll be good to continue to keep an eye on this.


8. Also, I want to confirm how TOEIC uses commas. I have a pretty good idea about this, but it's always good to confirm in a low-context way. For example, does TOEIC use commas after sentential adverbs?

No sentential adverbs appeared on this test, as far as I noticed. So, we really couldn't judge this one.

9. How common is the word “indicate” in Q-heads, especially in Part 7? Does it appear in other Parts, as well?

In Part 7, there were 4 instances of "indicate." 3 of "mention." 4 of "suggested" and 3 of "stated." This totally bears out Hiro's observations. やっぱり、these types of Part 7 Q's are increasing in frequency.

10. Does TOEIC use diacritics for resume, café, etc.?

By chance, both words appeared on today's test. They do, indeed, use diacritics.

11. Especially for Part 5, how common is it to see an item with all 4 choices beginning with the same cluster of letters, e.g. re- or con-? How about at the end of a word, e.g. –ation, -ize?

No good examples of this today. I'm not willing to admit that TOEIC has given up on this, however. At least not until we have some more examples of non-occurrence.

12. Is US American English still the standard for written English? How about in the Listening Section?

There was one passage in Part 7 which was completely written using British English, e.g. "favourite" or "25 February." なるほど!

If any of you have anything you would like to add to the list, please let me know. And for those of you taking the test on Sunday, April 14th, I'd appreciate any feedback on the above questions. That's of course assuming that you have the 余裕 to be able to check stuff like this, rather than worrying about getting the highest possible score.

If anyone did notice anything to share with others, it would be interesting to hear your ideas and observations.

Robert