My 2-hurdle day is over! Yay!
The presentation in the morning went fairly alright, then TOEFL was tremendously tiring.
Have you ever taken an exam that lasted for 4 hours? With only a 10 minute break? In front of a computer screen the whole time? Well, I did today, and my back sure hurts.
The relatively new TOEFL iBT (internet-based test) is perhaps quite an effective way to gauge whether a student is ready for the kind of academic life in English-speaking countries. There are 4 sections to it — Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. However, they have modified the test from past years such that the Speaking and Writing sections actually integrate reading and listening skills as well. So they make you read and listen to something, and then you’re supposed to speak in response to them.
Reading: 3-5 passages, 12-14 qns each –> 60-100 mins
Listening: 4-6 lectures, 6 qns each, 2-3 conversations, 5 qns each –> 60-90 mins
Break: 10 mins
Speaking: 6 tasks: 2 independent and 4 integrated –> 20 minutes
Writing: 1 integrated task –> 20 minutes, 1 independent task –> 30 minutes
In the Reading and Listening sections, you are randomly selected to do the extra portions…I very unfortunately had to do 5 reading passages, which was really very tiring to read, and might have drained me of my energy reserves and thus left me rather lacklustre for the other sections. Bah. It’s over, I just hope for the best now. We shall see on 5 January 2007.
I was questioned as to why I was loitering outside the toilet during break time though. I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to do that?! Anyway, I was just eating my bread and didn’t want to go in because the toilet stank. The guy asked me for my test id number though. I hope I don’t get into any stupid unnecessary wronged trouble.
I took my test at East China Normal University. It was conducted in their computer lab, so there were no barricades for each desk, and we were separated by just one seat. It was very easy to get distracted by people speaking , as well as people walking in and out of the room since we were seated one by one and therefore had our tests started in a staggering fashion. So we had our breaks at different timings and finished at different times, so there was quite a lot of movement around so I cannot say that I was entirely focused.
I started the test at about 4.30pm and ended at about 8.40pm…I think it is already quite a feat, eh? I’ve never sacrificed dinner to take an exam before muahaha.
If you’re interested to take TOEFL in China, do take a look at this site, or the international TOEFL site for more information.
