Welcome to Michael Buckhoff’s TOEFL iBT Vocabulary List. After many years of teaching
students how to prepare for the TOEFL iBT Exam, Michael noticed he was seeing the same
words over and over again. He began to make a
...
Welcome to Michael Buckhoff’s TOEFL iBT Vocabulary List. After many years of teaching
students how to prepare for the TOEFL iBT Exam, Michael noticed he was seeing the same
words over and over again. He began to make a list of these words and did not find a
repetition until he reached 1,700 total words. There are 1,700 words in this list divided
into two categories. The first category is 200 words of intermediate level reading. The
second is 1,500 words of advanced level reading.
Instructions for Mastering Vocabulary Words
When you come across a word you do not know on the “TOEFL iBT Exam Vocabulary” list,
quickly write it down onto a 3 x 5 inch note card (use one word on each note card). On the
back of the note card, write down the meaning of the word and any other information (i.e.,
pronunciation, part of speech, sample sentence, origin of word) that might help you to
remember that word.
You can build your vocabulary by studying your note cards regularly. Write sentences
using the new words. Add synonyms and antonyms to your note cards everyday. Little by
little you will begin to increase your knowledge of informal, formal, and academic
vocabulary. Now let’s get started.
When reading passages for pleasure, for work, or for university coursework, you will
encounter unfamiliar vocabulary. In these situations, you should try to understand the new
word by looking at the context in which it is used. Examples, appositives, punctuation, the
conjunction “or,” clauses, referents, “be” verb, contrasts, and other words in the sentence
are contextual clues which may help you to understand a new word.
EXAMPLE
Examples in the form of a word or phrase may help to explain the meaning of a word: as,
case in point, for instance, for example, in fact, like, specifically, such as, and to illustrate.
This outcome is a reflection of strong sense of solidarity within the corporate
peasant community; for instance, this solidarity is apparent in the tendency for
almost every man to remain within his village over his lifetime.
The meaning of solidarity is identified by the example that most men remain within their
village during their lifetime; therefore, you can guess that solidarity means having an
identity or coincidence of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a certain
group.
APPOSITIVES
In some cases, an appositive [a noun or noun phrase which is set off by commas and which
modifies another noun] can help you to identify the meaning of an unknown word.
Whether psychology should be classified as a biological or social science was a
contentious issue among scholars until 1960, after which time it was increasingly
described as a behavioral science; the science of the behavior of
organisms.
The meaning of “behavioral science” is identified by its appositive, “the science of the
behavioral science.”
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