Below are my self-designed exercises for teaching TOEFL complex sentences. This will help any teacher, regardless of their native language. You will need the attached pdf as a textbook.
(Blue parts were my notes when correcting the mistakes of my Chinese-speaking student.)
Complimentary Exercises
- 100: Answer – What happened to the small herd?
- They will become smaller and more closely knit breeding unit [as the desert takes hold].（它们不是一开始就在沙漠里，而是在沙漠不断形成时产生了这些变化）
- 101: Choose the correct interpretation of the sentence
- A: The heat from the outgoing vessels from the body naturally cools down as it flows through the body because it encounters cooled blood from ingoing vessels.
- B: Some of the heat in the outgoing vessel that reaches the flipper is lost [the blood vessels carrying cooled blood from the flippers…to pick up some blood from the warmer vessels，也就是说从身体出去的血的热量有一些会被进入身体的冷血吸收，所以出去的血管热量确实有部分减少了. 这个选项相当于是把原句的视角换了一下，原句是说进入身体的冷血血管如何得到热量，而选项句是说流出身体的热血管如何流失热量]due to the heat exchange with the ingoing vessel during the journey.
- C: The blood in the outgoing vessel to the flipper carries more heat than that in the ingoing vessel to the body. （这句话意思确实没有错，但是它完全忽略了原句前半段中关于热量转换的内容和后半段的内容，信息过于不完整的选项我们也要重新考虑一下，除非其他所有选项都一定是错的才会去选）
- 102: Answer – Why would the water be held if the pores are small?
- The water in pores will be too light to overcome the force of surface tension which hold them in place. 这个从句用得很好！
- 103: 这句句子的主要逻辑关系是哪类逻辑关系？
- 主句是主系表，主语是the images, 系动词是were, 表语是already familiar。produced by the camera obscura修饰images；a boxlike ….white paper是插入语修饰camera obscura；破折号后强调already familiar的结果。
- 104: 这句句子的主要逻辑关系是哪类逻辑关系？
- 分号前主句是主谓宾，主语是A maritime code, 谓语是won，宾语是acceptance，known as…century修饰主语，by a ..conduct说明acceptance的对象；分号后是主谓宾，主语是it，谓语是defined，宾语是such matters，as the…sea-lanes并列结构对matters进行举例
- 105: Choose the correct interpretation of the sentence.
- A: The pan-Australian geometric tradition tended to much greater regional diversity than the sequence suggested by Lesley Maynard.
- B: Lesley Maynard, having coined the phrase “Panaramitee Style”, discovered a sequence during the exciting stint of Australian archeology called “the pan-Australian geometric tradition.”
- C: The sequence was found by Lesley Maynard in the 1970s because the great antiquity of rock art became clearer[原文中没有找到清晰的因果关系，”with the great antiquity of rock art becoming clearer”, with这个词更多只是一个伴随的意思，也就是说这个石头艺术的趋势确实更清晰了，但它不一定是Maynard发现这个新风格的决定性原因，另外这个选项漏的信息比较多，相当于最后的并列关系和对比关系都没提到].
- D: Lesley Maynard discovered a clear sequence of rock art eventually, in which a geometric style gave way to a simple, figurative style while harboring more regional diversity than the pan-Australian geometric tradition.
- 106: What do you think is the purpose of this sentence?
- A: To showcase the danger for birds in the U.S.
- B: To contrast the number of bird deaths due to human activity in the U.S. with that of another country.
- C: To provide statistics of unnatural bird deaths.
- D: To promote environmental awareness for birds.
- 107: Answer – What are two possibilities of the friends who sing the farmer’s song?
- One of the friends might forget some of the words and make up new ones, while the other one will polish and add the melody and wording [polish这个词用得很好，但注意不要漏信息：不仅仅是improve a couple lines of text, 这个朋友还会加东西add a few decorative touches to the tone. 这句话是美式英语里比较常见的一个隐喻，意思是说事情从别人嘴里听到都是不准确的].
- 108: Fill in the blank – The sentence talks about the benefit of __
- A: goods exchange
- B: monetary trade
- C: communal sharing
- D: local friendships
- 109: Why does the author mention the early 1940s?
- A: To illustrate a drastic change that happened in the U.S. history [漏主要信息：deer].
- B: To warn the significant increase of deer in the U.S. at that time. [warn这个词的出现可能确实会让人有点害怕去选，但我们可以注意这句话的用词，比如than at any other time, indefinitely等，用了几个比较绝对的词，可以说明科学家应该是想警告人说这些年份之间鹿的数量实在过于庞大。这道题可能放你读过前文的语境下看会更清楚一些，不用太担心]
- C: To point out the importance of deer reproduction.
- 120: Answer – What is the “fact” that the author is referring to when they tell us to not forget about illiterate societies?
- Some societies domesticated animals and plants, discovered the use of metal tools, become literate and developed a state
- 121: Choice- What may kill insects that feed on plants? (Choose as many as you want)
- A: plant tissues
- B: resins
- C: tannins
- D: preformed chemicals
- E: alkaloids
- 122: Choice – Which is the most correct interpretation of the sentence?
- A: On higher tundra lands, there are occasional mosses and lichens while lower tundra lands only have a complete layer of low-lying shrubs and grasses due to its proximity to the timberline.
- B: The plant composition of tundra forms a bell curve due to its proximity to the timberline: first, the lower side consists of a complete layer of low-lying shrubs, herbs, and grasses, followed by the decrease in the diversity and number of plants during the middle section. On top, however, there are occasional mosses and lichens, in addition to some prostrate cushion plants.
- C: The diversity and number of species on the tundra decreases as the height of plants increase. For example, while the lower tundra ground is covered with a layer of shrubs, herbs, and grasses, higher up the ground is bare with occasional mosses and lichens. （这道题确实比较容易错，因为可能看到了“until”，但注意until并没有很强烈的转折意思，这边我们要把until后面的内容读完才能确定它的意思。可以看到后面内容说there is much bare ground with occasional…有大量贫瘠的土地只有偶尔的植物，那说明这边until后面表达得不是说植物密度在上层又增多了，而是说植物密度的下降到最上层这种只有灵性一点植物、其余大多都是空白土地的程度为止）
- 123: Answer – Describe the four characteristics of the emergence of farming in your own words
- 1- Having ability to build functional tools
- 2- Having tendency to utilize animals and plants as the way for social status improvement
- 3- Animals have tendency to develop social relationships as humans do (as, and这种词都是表示并列的连接词，前后结构要一样；前有develop作为谓语，那后面的谓语也不能忘了，但是为了避免重复使用develop两次，我们可以用do代替develop)
- 4- Having tendency to control resources
- 124: Choice – Which is the most correct interpretation of the sentence?
- A: Humans, even in prehistoric times, had some concept of number to an extent according to existing studies.
- B: Humans, despite having a basic sense of number in prehistoric times, were limited only to recognizing that some objects are added or taken away from a small group.
- C: It is fair to assume that humans, even in prehistoric times, possessed a limited sense of number due to existing studies.（注意这句话的主语是The argument that humans even in prehistoric times… 所以选项不能直接说humans怎么样，这句话表达的不是对人类是否具有语言能力的评判，而是对这个“人类具有语言能力”的论点的评判）
- 125: 本句的逻辑关系是什么？
- 前半句主句为主系表，主语是galaxies，系动词是are，表语是elliptical，其余都在修饰galaxies；后半句是主系表，主语是giants，系动词是be，表语是sources， of strong radio emission修饰sources，frequently修饰be（动作的状态？对的），in which…galaxies修饰前面整件事，条件状语从句 嗯嗯，也就是说galaxies在前面一整件事的状态下会被称为什么。
- 126: Choice – Which is the most correct interpretation of the sentence?
- A: The residence time is the average of the time a molecule would take to flow through a fast, direct route and that if pulled into a circle in backwater.
- B: The residence time is an approximate based on what route the molecule would take in a lake if we can follow it: a direct, fast route or a circular, back route.
- C: The molecular’s time spent in the lake is either short due to fast, direct current or indefinitely long due to circular, backwater current.
- 127: Answer – Describe the three principle locations in your own words
- 1- In the inhabited place with rock shelter and cave entrances
- 2- In the galleries which just outside the inhabited area of caves
- 3- In the depths of caves which had magical-religious activities.
- 128: Answer – Who populated the Pacific Islands?
- west mainland Asia
- 129: Answer – What are the pros and cons of early prairie settlements?
- Pro-good economic condition and population growth
- Con-Early marriage and enlargement of family size
- 161: Answer – When and how is the flour cooled?
- After grinding the flour, his machinery will convey the flour to the top of the mill and cool it down.
- 162: Choose the most correct interpretation
- A: Nestlings at a higher risk of predation should produce higher and more frequent begging calls than others as begging calls are presumed to have evolved properties.
- B: Baby birds produce softer high frequency begging calls when they are threatened by predators.
- C: The hypothesis that begging calls have evolved qualities predicts a pattern of baby birds’ begging calls in relation to the danger surrounding them.
- 163: Explain, in your own words, the four symptoms that can be used to detect mineral deficiencies.
- the one with the phenomenon of yellow and white on leaf tissue
- patches which are isolated
- having red pigmentation on leaves or stems
- herbaceous plant on woody tissue
- 164: Choose the most correct interpretation
- A: For the premiere of The Battleship Potemkin outside of the Soviet Union, the director Einstein worked with the composer Meisel on a music score that matches the sound to the image.
- B: The Austrian composer Meisel and the director Einstein worked together to produce a music score for the movie The Battleship Potemkin, which premiered across Europe, bringing international fame.
- C: The premiere of The Battleship Potemkin won international fame due to（只是”helped to bring the film its wide international fame, 不是直接的因果关系）the live music score that matched the image, created in collaboration by Einstein and Meisel.
- D: For only the non-Soviet Union premiere of The Battleship Potemkin, the director Einstein worked with Austrian composer Meisel to produce score that matches the image. Specifically, during the screening in Berlin, the live performance of the music helped the film achieve international reputation.
- 165: In order, describe the process of successful colonization in regards to cultural requirements.
- Acquiring the island, domesticating plants, tailoring gardening skills to marginal conditions, and developing an inventory of fishing implements and techniques.
- 166: 这句句子中出现了哪些逻辑关系？
- 前半句为主谓宾James Watt是主语，perfected是谓语，condenser是宾语，a separate修饰condenser，for the steam是目的状语，so that引导从句；后半句是主谓宾 he是主语，devised是谓语，a way是宾语，to后面是目的状语（嗯嗯很好，可以记住目的就是因果关系中的结果）
- 167: Choose the most correct interpretation
- A: Some societies retained certain rites essential to well-being in the form of oral myths.
- B: Despite being abandoned by some societies, well-being rites continue to exist as part of traditions and myths, admired for their artistic qualities.（注意抓关键词，这个句子有一个nevertheless，所以想表达的是一个转折关系：虽然这些宗教仪式不再继续了，但它们还是通过传统被保存了下来，因为它们的艺术特质被欣赏）
- C: Instead of religious usefulness, over the years rites essential to well-being have been admired by certain society for their artistic qualities by some societies as part of their traditions and myths.
- 168: Answer – Why does the writer claim that chondrites are similar in composition to the matter from which planets were assembled?
- They have the similar chemistry, and they are truly lumps of nebular matter
- 169: It can be inferred that the individual who settled in New Amsterdam had the following emotions toward the colonizing flowers except__
- A: curious
- B: admiring
- C: observant
- D: hateful
- 170: Answer – What are the increasingly popular characters of cities across the country?
- Activities for sponsoring art in public areas