IBTIL TOEFL iBT💎

Word of the Day: OMNIPOTENT (ahm-NIP-uh-tint) All-powerful, almighty, having unlimited power or authority. Omnipotent is formed from the word potent, powerful, and the combining form omni-, all. Whenever you see omni- in a word you have a good clue to its meaning, for you know that half the word means “all.” For example, omnidirectional (AHM-nee-di-REK-shi-nul) means all-directional, as an omnidirectional microphone, one that picks up signals from all directions. Omnipresent (AHM-ni-PREZ-int) means all-present, present everywhere at once. Omniscient (ahm-NISH-int) means all-knowing, having universal knowledge. Omnivorous (ahm-NIV-uh-rus) means eating all kinds of food or taking in everything: “She is an avid reader with an omnivorous mind.” Our keyword, omnipotent, means all-powerful, almighty.

Word of the Day: LACERATE (LAS-uh-rayt)To tear, cut roughly, rend, mangle: “The sharp thorn lacerated his thumb.” Lacerate may also be used figuratively to mean to wound, afflict, cause pain: “Her husband's vicious retort lacerated her pride and made her burst into tears.”

TOEFL iBT® Test Includes Native-speaker English Accents As of March 2013, the Listening and Speaking sections of the TOEFL iBT® test now include other native-speaker English accents. In addition to accents from North America, you may hear accents from: United Kingdom New Zealand Australia We will continue to add new items with accents to ensure the test reflects the variety of native English accents you may hear while studying abroad. Visit TOEFL iBT Test Content to hear examples of these items. Posted: January 7, 2016 http://www.ets.org/toefl/important_update/english_accents_added

Word of the Day: OBSTINATE (AHB-sti-nit) Stubborn, inflexible, unwilling to give in or compromise, not yielding to argument or persuasion. The obstinate person stubbornly adheres to a purpose or opinion, often regardless of the consequences: “First we reasoned with him, then we pleaded with him, but no matter what we said he remained obstinate and determined to have his way.” Obstinate is sometimes mispronounced as if it were spelled obstinant, with an n slipped in before the final t. Take care to spell and pronounce this word correctly. Synonyms of obstinate include hidebound, intractable, intransigent, and adamant.

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Word of the Day: RETORT (ri-TORT) A quick reply, especially one that is cutting or witty. A retort and a rejoinder are similar in meaning but not quite synonymous. Rejoinder may be used generally to mean any answer or response, but specifically it means a counterreply, an answer to a reply. A retort is a swift, pointed response. Retort comes from the prefix re-, back, and the Latin torquere, to twist, turn, and means literally “something turned back.” In its most precise sense, a retort is a quick reply that counters or turns back a statement or argument: “Phil's clever retorts kept his opponent on the defensive.”

Sample Passage: »Make sure to look up the new words and expressions: @aalaeeTOEFLiBT New Words: Extinct Interval Mass @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Perished Fluctuation Continent Evolution Bring about Gradually @aalaeeTOEFLiBT To account for Simultaneous Conventional In turn @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Abruptly Clay Determine Deposit @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Cases in which many species become extinct within a geologically short interval of time are called mass extinctions. There was one such event at the end of the Cretaceous period (around 70 million years ago). There was another, even larger, mass extinction at the end of the Permian period (around 250 million years ago). The Permian event has attracted much less attention than other mass extinctions because mostly unfamiliar species perished at that time. What could cause such high rates of extinction? There are several hypotheses, including warming or cooling of Earth, changes in seasonal fluctuations or ocean currents, and changing positions of the continents. Biological hypotheses include ecological changes brought about by the evolution of cooperation between insects and flowering plants or of bottom-feeding predators in the oceans. Some of the proposed mechanisms required a very brief period during which all extinctions suddenly took place; other mechanisms would be more likely to have taken place more gradually, over an extended period, or at different times on different continents. Some hypotheses fail to account for simultaneous extinctions on land and in the seas. Each mass extinction may have had a different cause. Evidence points to hunting by humans and habitat destruction as the likely causes for the current mass extinction. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Dissatisfaction with conventional explanations for dinosaur extinctions led to a surprising observation that, in turn, has suggested a new hypothesis. Many plants and animals disappear abruptly from the fossil record as one moves from layers of rock documenting the end of the Cretaceous up into rocks representing the beginning of the Cenozoic (the era after the Mesozoic). Between the last layer of Cretaceous rock and the first layer of Cenozoic rock, there is often a thin layer of clay. Scientists felt that they could get an idea of how long the extinctions took by determining how long it took to deposit this one centimeter of clay and they thought they could determine the time it took to deposit the clay by determining the amount of the element iridium (Ir) it contained. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

Sample Passage: »Make sure to look up the new words and expressions: @aalaeeTOEFLiBT New Words: Dramatic Harness(verb) Reign Windmill Abound @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Textile River bank Drought Constant To suit @aalaeeTOEFLiBT In Britain one of the most dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution was the harnessing of power. Until the reign of George ITI(l 760-1820), available sources of power for work and travel had not increased since the Middle Ages. There were three sources of power: animal or human muscles; the wind, operating on sail or windmill; and running water. Only the last of these was suited at all to the continuous operating of machines, and although waterpower abounded in Lancashire and Scotland and ran grain mills as well as textile mills, it had one great disadvantage: streams flowed where nature intended them to, and water-driven factories had to be located on their banks whether or not the location was desirable for other reasons. Furthermore, even the most reliable waterpower varied with the seasons and disappeared in a drought. The new age of machinery, in short, could not have been born without a new source of both movable and constant power. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

Sample Passage: »Make sure to look up the new words and expressions: @aalaeeTOEFLiBT New Words: Wealth To account for Shift Remarkable Decided(adj.) Pollen Decline Annual Impression @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Emerge Resilience Yield Precipitous Contract(v.) Dwindle Accordingly Capital @aalaeeTOEFLiBT Purchase Constriction Gradual After three hundred years of impressive gains in wealth and population, Europe's economy began to slow around 1300. Several factors accounted for the decline. One of the most important, though perhaps the least dramatic to relate, was a shift in climate. The remarkably fair weather of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries took a decided turn for the worse in the fourteenth. Chronicler's comments, tree-ring examination, and pollen analysis all indicate that over the course of the fourteenth century Europe's average annual temperature declined approximately two degrees Celsius- which may sound like very little at first, but if one considers current projections about the possible effects of global warming, in which the average annual temperature shift is only one degree Celsius, a rather different impression emerges. As the temperature dropped, shortening the summer growing season and affecting the resilience of certain vegetable species, the wind and rain increased. This meant that crop yields declined precipitously and the agricultural economy began to contract. As food supplies dwindled, costs rose accordingly and cut into the amount of capital that people had available for other purchases or investments. This in turn added to the gradual constriction of the commercial economy. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

Word of the Day: PLIANT (PLY-int) Bending easily, flexible, adaptable, workable. Pliant comes from the French plier, to bend, the same source as pliers, the tool commonly used for bending or manipulating wires or metal pieces. Pliant, pliable, and supple all mean bending or moving easily. Pliant and pliable usually refer to objects that are easily workable. Supple may apply to material things or to a human body that is flexible and limber.

TOEFL iBT January 9, 2016 Reading Passages Vocabulary Questions: @aalaeeTOEFLiBT durable=long-lasting simultaneously=at the same time hasten=hurry recognized= accepted case in point= good example @aalaeeTOEFLiBT the course of change=the way change developed spontaneous: unplanned bar(V)=exclude courteous =polite @aalaeeTOEFLiBT dismiss=reject incidence=frequency elevated=high readily: quickly and easily @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

TOEFL iBT January 9, 2016 Listening Passages Some Key Words:@aalaeeTOEFLiBT Theater setting, angler fish predator @aalaeeTOEFLiBT nocturnal blend in environment crop pest solar wind acoustic sound @aalaeeTOEFLiBT rotation velocity shell symbiosis mutualism parasitism commensalism @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

TOEFL iBT January 9, 2016 Writing Task 2:@aalaeeTOEFLiBT Some people think it is the best approach for students to learn if schools start the day at an early time in the morning. But some think the school should start the day at a late time. Which one do you prefer? Use specific reasons and detailed examples to support your answer. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

TOEFL iBT January 9, 2016 Speaking Task 6:@aalaeeTOEFLiBT In the lecture, the professor talked about two disadvantages of home based small business. The first one is that business owners would mix their work and their personal life together. They might be working while preparing for food; when someone is calling, they may hear kids crying from the phone which is totally not professional and it would be hard for customers to trust them. On the other hand, the neighbors would be unhappy about business in the neighborhood since there will be people visiting and taking their parking space which is very inconvenient. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT

TOEFL iBT January 9, 2016 Speaking Task 5:@aalaeeTOEFLiBT In the conversation, the man’s problem is that he wants to go to a concert, but there is an audition he also wants to go and they are scheduled at the same time. He has two solutions. One is go to the audition first and leave earlier to the concert. The other is that he can go to the audition on the second day. I think the first solution is much better. Because he won’t miss a lot. If he really wants a role in the play he should take the audition seriously and be prepared for that. If he went to the concert a little bit later, he might miss the beginning and it doesn’t really matter. However, if he goes to the second-day audition, there will be only some minor roles left. These roles do not require a lot of acting and they don' t have a lot of lines, which is not fine at all. That' s why I recommend the first solution. @aalaeeTOEFLiBT