The TOEFL reading test takes about 60-100 minutes. You will be given 3-5 passages for reading. Here is an overview of the questions asked in this section.

Reading questions

There are mainly 10 different types of questions in the TOEFL reading section. They can be broadly divided into three categories.

Type 1: Questions that assess your understanding of English language

These questions are usually the first to appear. Some of these questions test your understanding of the meaning of a word. About half of the total questions in the reading section belong to this category.

Type 2: Questions that assess your basic comprehension skills

About one-third of the questions in the reading section belong to this category. They test your understanding of the main idea of a passage and the ability to make inferences.

Type 3: Questions that test your ability to read to learn

You don’t have to search for the particular words or sentences that questions refer to because they are highlighted in the passage.

Most questions in the reading section are multiple choice questions with four answer choices. Some questions are of the drag-n-drop category. In the drag-n-drop table completion task, you will have to drag correct answer choices with your mouse and drop them in their appropriate places in the table. Each multiple-choice question is worth 1 point. Drag-n-drop questions can be worth 2 or 4 points.