TOEFL 100+ Vocabulary | 57 words YOU NEED to KNOW to pass the TOEFL test

Summary

This video provides essential strategies to help students achieve high scores on the TOEFL reading and listening sections. It emphasizes the importance of expanding vocabulary, both subject-specific and commonly used academic terms. The presenter shares a list of 57 frequently encountered words, explaining their meanings and contexts in TOEFL exams. Viewers are encouraged to test their knowledge and track their progress. The video also highlights the benefits of using synonyms to improve comprehension and offers a comprehensive TOEFL preparation course for further learning.

Takeaways

• 📚 Expanding vocabulary is crucial for scoring high on the TOEFL reading and listening sections.
• 📖 Study subject-specific vocabulary in areas like biology, psychology, and physics to better understand passages.
• 📝 The script provides a list of 57 common academic words that frequently appear in the TOEFL test.
• ⚖️ Words such as 'commodity,' 'exploit,' and 'demise' often appear in reading passages and are essential for answering questions.
• 🗣️ Some words, like 'sophisticated' and 'extensive,' are commonly used across multiple contexts in the TOEFL.
• 🎓 Learning synonyms for difficult words helps with quick recognition during the exam.
• ✏️ Regular practice and noting down words you don't know can improve your vocabulary retention.
• 🚨 Paying attention to transitional words like 'initially' and 'eventually' helps in understanding passage flow.
• 💡 Understanding both literal and metaphorical uses of words like 'cultivate' and 'exploit' is important for the test.
• 🎯 To succeed on the TOEFL, focus on building a comprehensive academic vocabulary, recognizing patterns, and understanding context.

Q & A

What is one common reason students struggle with TOEFL reading and listening tests?

One common reason students struggle with TOEFL reading and listening tests is that their vocabulary is limited, particularly in understanding common academic words.

How can studying subject-specific vocabulary help students in TOEFL exams?

Studying subject-specific vocabulary, such as words from biology, psychology, and physics, can help students better understand texts and lectures, increasing their ability to answer questions accurately.

Why is it important to know frequently occurring words in TOEFL reading and listening sections?

Certain words frequently appear in TOEFL reading passages and lectures, and knowing these common academic terms is essential for answering questions correctly.

What is the meaning of the word 'commodity' in the context of the TOEFL test?

In the TOEFL test, 'commodity' refers to any useful or valuable thing, especially something that can be bought or sold, such as food, clothes, or electronics.

How does the word 'exploit' typically appear in TOEFL passages?

In TOEFL passages, 'exploit' usually means making good use of something, such as natural resources, though it can also refer to unfairly using someone or something for personal gain.

What is the significance of the word 'prosperity' in TOEFL reading and listening sections?

'Prosperity' often appears in contexts related to economic or financial success, such as periods of rising prosperity in history, and understanding this term is critical for answering related questions.

How is the word 'intermittently' used in TOEFL passages?

'Intermittently' means something that happens at intervals, starting and stopping periodically, and this word is often used in TOEFL passages to describe events or processes that are not continuous.

What does the word 'cultivate' mean in academic texts?

'Cultivate' typically refers to preparing land for crops or gardening in agricultural contexts, but it can also mean developing or improving skills or relationships in a broader academic sense.

How can knowing synonyms help in the TOEFL exam?

Knowing synonyms can help students avoid confusion and save time when answering questions, as many TOEFL questions rely on recognizing different words with similar meanings.

Why is the word 'sophisticated' commonly used in TOEFL reading passages?

The word 'sophisticated' is often used in TOEFL reading passages to describe something complex or intricate, such as advanced computer models or systems, which are frequently discussed in academic contexts.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Vocabulary and Success in TOEFL Reading and Listening

The speaker emphasizes the importance of scoring well in the TOEFL reading and listening sections, stating that limited vocabulary is a common challenge for students. They suggest studying subject-specific vocabulary in fields like biology and physics. However, they also highlight the need to learn academic words that frequently appear across multiple TOEFL passages. To help, the speaker has compiled 57 common words to aid students in achieving a higher score.

05:00

✍️ Practice Method and Common TOEFL Word: 'Commodity'

In this section, the speaker introduces a method for practicing vocabulary: making two columns on a piece of paper—one for words you know and one for unfamiliar words. They begin the list with 'commodity,' a commonly tested word in TOEFL reading passages. It refers to any useful or valuable item, especially one that can be bought or sold, like food or electronics.

10:01

💼 'Exploit' and 'Cultivate': Key TOEFL Words

Here, two more essential TOEFL words are explained: 'exploit' and 'cultivate.' To exploit means using something selfishly or unfairly, but in TOEFL, it can also mean making good use of resources. 'Cultivate' originally refers to preparing land for crops but is also used metaphorically to mean developing a skill or relationship.

15:02

🕰️ 'Demise,' 'Prosperity,' and 'Decade' – Common Academic Words

The speaker introduces three more key words: 'demise,' meaning the end of something, often seen in formal or academic contexts; 'prosperity,' meaning financial success, with 'prosperous' as the related adjective; and 'decade,' referring to a period of ten years. These words appear frequently in TOEFL reading and listening passages.

20:03

🔄 'Alteration,' 'Intermittently,' and 'Extensive' – Frequent TOEFL Terms

'Alteration' means a change or modification, while the verb 'alter' is synonymous with 'modify' or 'change.' The word 'intermittently' describes something occurring periodically, and 'extensive' is used to describe something that covers a large area or has a wide range. These words frequently appear in TOEFL texts and questions.

Keywords

💡Commodity

A commodity refers to any useful or valuable thing, especially items that can be bought or sold, such as food or electronics. In the video, the term is highlighted as frequently appearing in TOEFL reading passages, often essential for answering questions. The concept is used to illustrate how understanding common, non-subject-specific vocabulary can aid in performing well on the test.

💡Exploit

To exploit means to use something or someone selfishly or for profit. In the context of the TOEFL, it is often used in the sense of making good use of resources, like 'to exploit natural resources.' This word demonstrates the need to be familiar with different meanings of the same word, as TOEFL questions may focus on subtle distinctions.

💡Prosperity

Prosperity refers to being successful, particularly in financial terms. The video mentions the prosperity in the U.S. post-World War II to illustrate the word. This term is common in TOEFL texts and shows how understanding vocabulary related to economics and history can be critical for comprehending reading passages.

💡Alteration

Alteration means a change or modification. The video emphasizes its importance by listing similar words like 'to alter' or 'to modify.' Knowing synonyms for key vocabulary is crucial for TOEFL, as it helps in comprehending paraphrased questions and avoiding confusion in reading and listening sections.

💡Intermittently

Intermittently describes something that happens at intervals, starting and stopping periodically. The video explains this term using the context of studying and provides a synonymous phrase, 'off and on.' This shows the importance of recognizing both academic vocabulary and its more casual equivalents.

💡Sophisticated

Sophisticated refers to something being complicated or intricate. In the TOEFL context, it’s often applied to technical or scientific topics, like 'sophisticated computer models.' Understanding this term is crucial because it frequently appears in academic texts discussing complex systems or processes.

💡Abruptly

Abruptly means suddenly or without warning. The video notes this word as appearing in many TOEFL passages to describe quick, unexpected changes. Recognizing such adverbs is vital in TOEFL reading and listening sections, where sudden shifts or changes in events are often tested.

💡Tremendous

Tremendous is used to describe something extremely large or significant, such as 'tremendous success.' The video includes this word as one that is essential to understand in both the reading and listening sections, where large-scale impacts or results are often discussed.

💡Diverse

Diverse means having a variety of different elements or parts, like 'diverse cultures' or 'diverse wildlife.' This term is frequently found in TOEFL readings that discuss variety in natural or social systems. Recognizing it helps in identifying the range or scope of topics in academic passages.

💡Decline

Decline means a decrease or reduction in quantity or quality, as in 'decline of a population.' The video emphasizes how often this word appears in TOEFL reading passages, especially in the context of natural and social changes. Understanding this word is crucial for interpreting trends and data in academic texts.

Highlights

Vocabulary limitations hinder high scores in TOEFL reading and listening tests.

Studying subject-specific vocabulary (e.g., biology, psychology, physics) can improve understanding of reading passages and lectures.

Some common words in academic articles and texts often appear in TOEFL reading and listening sections.

The video includes 57 of the most frequent words found on the TOEFL reading and listening tests.

Word example: 'Commodity' – a useful or valuable thing, such as coffee, grains, or electronics.

Word example: 'Exploit' – to use someone or something selfishly for profit, or to make good use of resources.

Word example: 'Cultivate' – to prepare land for crops, or to develop a skill or relationship.

Word example: 'Prosperity' – financial success, especially post-World War II in the US.

Intermittently and 'off and on' describe something happening periodically.

Extensive means covering a large area or having a great range, a common word on TOEFL tests.

Sophisticated – used to describe complicated systems like computer models, often found in TOEFL texts.

Diverse – used frequently in TOEFL, meaning different or varied, such as in diverse cultures or wildlife.

Words like 'drastically', 'dramatically', and 'spectacularly' are often used to describe extreme changes.

Common words to know: 'decline' (to decrease), 'coerce' (to force), 'retreat' (to withdraw).

Knowing synonyms helps avoid mistakes in TOEFL tests, as questions often rephrase words.

Transcripts

I need to score 30 out of 30 on the too

reading and listening sections but I

have no idea how to do it in my

one-on-one sessions I have lots of

students who struggle with the toal of

reading and listening tests and I've

noticed that one of the reasons they can

get high scores is that their vocabulary

is limited one thing you can do is study

subject specific vocabulary for topics

like biology psychology physics

astronomy and more this will definitely

help you understand understand the text

and lectures better but is that all not

really after studying tons of total

practice tests I've noticed that there

are certain words that appear very often

in Reading passages and lectures and

they don't belong to any specific

subject these are the words that you

will often find in academic articles and

texts and these are the words you'll

usually need to answer questions on the

TOEFL reading and listening sections so

in this video I have collected 57 of the

most common words you'll see on the

total reading and listening sections

that will help you get the score you

want don't forget to subscribe to our

channel to get more tips and tricks

about the test and click the Bell icon

to be notified when the next video comes

out let's see how ready you are for the

toal test take a piece of paper and make

two columns in one column put a plus for

the words you know in the second column

put a minus and write the word itself to

Mark the words you don't know at the end

of this video write winner in the

comments if you know all the words or

tell us how many words from the list you

know for example 26 out of 57 or 50 out

of 57 let's get started one

commodity this word is super popular on

the TOEFL and I often see it in the

reading passages what's more important

it's often necessary to answer the

questions so a commodity is any useful

or valuable thing especially something

that you can buy or sell like food

clothes or Electronics so coffee grains

or precious metals are all examples of

Commodities I've just seen this word

mentioned a few times in two random

reading passages so it's really common

for the total reading two exploit if you

use someone or something usually

selfishly or for profit you'll exploit

them Factory owners can exploit their

employees making them work over time so

to exploit is to use something or

somewhat unfairly for your own benefit

on the tol however you'll often see this

word used in a slightly different sense

it usually means to make good use of

something for example to exploit natural

resources the next word in our list is

cultivate

the original meaning of this word is to

prepare and use land for crops or

gardening so you'll often see it used in

text and lectures about agriculture

people can cultivate Fields Gardens or

land this word can also mean to develop

or improve something such as a skill or

relationship four demise demise is the

end of something it can be the end of a

person's life or anything else we often

use this word in medical or legal

language or one would want to sound

formal on the tol you'll often see this

word used to describe the final stage of

something for example the demise of a

company or the demise of a

relationship five Prosperity another

Super popular word on the tol test that

I see all the time Prosperity usually

means being successful especially

financially in the US the decades after

World War II were characterized by

Rising Prosperity with large numbers of

people moving into the middle class the

adjective prosperous is also very

typical for the tful reading and

listening sections it means financially

successful speaking of the word decade

from the example I just gave this is our

next word A decade is a period of 10

years we have a decade 10 years a

century 100 years and a millennium

1,000 years we actually have an entire

course dedicated to toal preparation

where we teach you all the words you

need to know to score consistently high

on each section of the test we have

lists of words organized by topic

templates for Effective speaking and

writing responses strategies for each

question type and more I'll leave the

link to the course below another

important word to know is alteration

alteration means a change or

ification the verb to alter means to

make something different or to change

something such as altering plan or

altering a law remember three words with

a similar meaning to alter to modify to

change you'll often need them for the

total reading eight

intermittently I can tell you how many

times they see this word it's a fancy

way of saying from time to time

periodically the adverb intermittently

describes something that starts then

stops and then starts up again if you

studied intermittently last night it

means that sometimes you studied but

sometimes you took breaks to do other

things a phrase with a similar meaning

is off and on we came across it just

recently in one of our reading videos

this phrase means that something happens

periodically like working off and on or

visiting off and on on so remember off

and on or intermittently mean at

intervals not continuously 10 extensive

for some reason this is one of the

favorite words of the toal creators they

use it in practically every reading

passage or lecture I've ever worked with

and believe me there have been many the

first and the most popular reading is

covering a large area for example if

extensive Road repairs extensive grounds

or extensive agriculture so imagine

something that covers a large area

that's

extensive extensive can also mean having

a great range if you knowledge of the

toal test is extensive you know a lot

about it if an event gets extensive

coverage in the newspapers it means many

people are writing about it next is the

word

sophisticated when something is

sophisticated it's complicated and

intricate the inner workings of a

computer are sophisticated it's

difficult to understand them unless

you're a computer expert high school

math is a lot more sophisticated than

grammar school math driving a car is

more sophisticated than riding a bike on

the TOEFL you'll often find mentions of

sophisticated computer models

sophisticated systems or sophisticated

tools used by Asian people 12 diverse

various very different it's another

common word that pops up in almost every

passage diverse means that something has

many different parts or elements such as

diverse culture or diverse Wildlife 13

abruptly subtly or without warning 14

result in to cause something to happen

for example High economic growth results

in higher

inflation 15 mild not severe or intense

we often use mild when talking about the

weather or climate mild weather isn't

too cold or too hot this is the meeting

that's most popular on the tofl test

however this word can also be used in

other areas for example mild criticism

not severe a mild heart attack not too

serious ious the next group of words

have similar meanings they are

drastically dramatically and

spectacularly I see all three of them

all the time both in the reading and

listening on the toofold they usually

mean extremely or a lot for example

their budget has been drastically

reduced reduced a lot the nature of

conflict has changed dramatically has

changed a lot

this attempt failed

spectacularly significantly failed 19

tolerate to accept or put up with

something you can tolerate noise or a

person some people don't tolerate rude

Behavior 20 threat an impending danger

that has the potential to cause serious

harm toll for reading passages usually

have many examples of threats such as

enemy threats Health threats death

threats and so on a popular cocation is

imminent threat it's a synonym for

impending danger one more very common

word on both the reading and listening

sections of the toal is decline to

decline means to decrease or diminish in

quantity or quality we use it when

something is getting smaller or worse

for example decline of a business or the

decline of a population 22 coers to

Force someone to do something against

their will you can coer a person to do

something or coer a decision or a

confession from a person again just

recently I saw this word in one of the

reading passages we were doing in a

one-onone session with my student 23

Retreat to go away from a place or

person to escape from fighting or danger

the tol likes to use this word in a

variety of contexts you can find

information about lizards retreating

into the shade or retreating shares of a

company we can even find it in the

integrated speaking questions for

example question three may be about a

psychological term in which the speaker

understands that their proposals were

clearly unreasonable and is forced to

retreat so expect to see this word in

many contexts 24 initially in the

beginning at first 25 eventually in the

end especially after a long time or a

lot of effort a similar word that is

often given as a paraphrase for the word

eventually is ultimately it means

finally after a series of things have

happened for example the company

ultimately succeeded or the company

ultimately failed 27 rival a few days

ago one of my students made a mistake in

the reading passage because she didn't

know this word so I decided to include

it in today's list arrival is a person

or thing that competes with another so

it's a synony for the word competitor

the question she had was the sentence

simplification question about

terrestrial plans that had the

advantages of not having rivals in the

text there was a line about the land of

opportunity free of

competitors because she didn't know the

word r R she couldn't find the right

answer this is a typical example of why

you should know synonyms otherwise

you'll waste time when answering the

questions and you may make mistakes 28

data information 29 conventional usual

traditional ordinary it's a super

popular word that I've also seen used in

vocabulary questions I also see it a lot

in the toal reading passages you can

find information about conventional

explanation of something conventional

farming conventional

medicine or weapons 30 suede to replace

or surpass something some common cations

are suped a law supered a record let's

look at a typical sentence you might see

on the TOEFL test they still used stone

tools similar to those superseded in

Europe by metal tools thousands of years

ago superseded replaced as you can see

the most effective way to remember all

these new and difficult words is to

think of simpler synonyms for them that

you already know that way the next time

you see the word supersede you'll

remember the word replace and we know

what it means another Super popular word

I decided to include in this list is

fossils this word means remains or

impressions of ancient plants or animals

fossils look like this you'll often find

lectures and texts about fossils of

dinosaurs again I see this word all the

time and you just have to know it 32

flourish to grow or develop successfully

just as your Tomatoes can flourish in

the summer countries companies cultural

life the ship building industry computer

technology and lots of other things and

spheres can flourish people can also

flourish which means that they are

successful remember we talked about the

word Prosperity earlier well a ctive for

to flourish is to prosper another

synonym for this word we have on our

list is to thrive your business or your

relationships can Thrive so remember

these three words to thrive to prosper

to

flourish all of them mean to be

successful 34 disruption an interruption

or disturbance 35 decay in other words

TOEFL creators love and use all the time

to Decay means to rot or become weaker

for example a building or a relationship

can both Decay I recently had a text

about how venice's role as a storage and

distribution center for spices silk and

gold decayed which means it became

weaker and ultimately the city lost its

Monopoly if you've taken at least a few

total practice tests you've probably

also come across the idea that carbon

decays in living things because carbon

is radioactive it decays over time which

means the older artifacts have less

carbon than younger ones this is why so

many readings and lectures mention

radiocarbon dating which is a method

that uses the decay of carbon to

determine the age of organic materials

36 rigid stiff or fixed something that

can be moved or bent 37 preserve to keep

something from Decay or destruction

simply put to keep something safe you

can preserve a culture or preserve a

historical site by the way site is a

place 38 depletion the act of reducing

or using something up some common

locations with this word are depletion

of resources soil depletion or depletion

of a population 39

estimate to guess or calculate the cost

size or value of something as a verb

this word is pronounced estimate it can

also be used as a noun in this case we'

say an estimate an estimate is a

judgment or calculation of approximately

how large or or how great something is

if the mechanics bill is much higher

than the estimate they gave you for

example you have a right to be angry 40

impact the effect or influence of

something on something else remember

these three words an impact an influence

an effect they are often used as

paraphrase on toofold the word impact

can also mean the force or action of one

object hitting another for example the

moment two comments Collide is called

the moment of impact 41 inhibit to

prevent or stop something from happening

you can inhibit a process or inhibit a

reaction for example this is the main

factor inhibiting online access

preventing online access 42

hibernation this word is extremely

common in academic lectures hibernation

is the type of deep sleep that some

animals such as bears for example go

into during the winter so simply put

hibernation is like taking a long nap 43

divert the verb to divert means to

change the direction or course of

something the police will divert traffic

if there has been an accident which is

blocking the road and it's a good idea

to divert some of your income into a

savings account so you don't spend it

all on the toofold you may find mentions

of diverted traffic information diverted

public attention or investigation 44

tremendous extremely large for example

tremendous success or a tremendous

failure a similar word is

enormous this word also means very big

an animal can be of an enormous size or

your parents can have an enormous

influence on your life 46 emerge to

appear to come out many different things

can emerge for example details patterns

Trends differences or theories a person

can emerge from the crowd or plans often

emerge from the ground 47

expand this word comes up all the time

on the TOEFL to expand means to increase

in size or scope you'll find texts about

the universe economy business or

Industries expanding markets or cities

can also expand 48

proliferation the act of increasing or

spreading rapidly 49 escalate to become

greater or more serious the situation

started to escalate around noon the

credit crisis is escalating as expected

50 Surplus a surplus is something extra

or left over if your tree produces more

apples than you can eat you can make

applesauce with the surplus of apples

you will often come across texts about

surplus food surplus money Surplus

supplies 51

eliminate this word is a must on the

reading and listening sections of the

TOEFL to eliminate means to REM move or

get rid of something this is what you do

with the four answer options you get

first you eliminate two options that are

definitely wrong you can also eliminate

a problem a possibility or a risk 52

purchase to buy something for example

purchase a house or a car 53 obtain to

get something you can obtain a degree

obtain information permission approval

or obtain a job the next three words on

our list have similar meetings they are

obligatory mandatory and compulsory if

something is obligatory mandatory or

compulsory you must do it because of a

rule or law for example this is

mandatory to help prevent fraud

registration was obl obligatory but

voting was optional the study skills

courses were almost always compulsory

you'll see these words all the time so

be sure to write them down if you don't

know them 57

predominant more noticeable or important

or greater number than others the

predominant colors however were black

and yellow we did it

congratulations these were the 57 words

you'll definitely need to to tackle the

tol reading and listening sections as

you've already noticed many of them can

also be used in your writing and

speaking responses thanks for watching

please note below how many words you

already knew if you want to master all

four sections of the toal exam and get a

great score on test day click on the

link below and don't forget to subscribe

to our channel to get more tips and

tricks on how to Ace the TOEFL test

remember scoring 100 plus on the TOEFL

isn't rocket science it's the little

things you do that make all the

difference as always I wish you all a

stellar total score until next time