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The migration from Asia to North America across the Bering Strait (perhaps by land bridge) was a monumental event in human history. The process of overspreading the Americas took more than 1,000 years, or 30 generations. This might seem to confirm common sense—that slow travel was inherent in any great migration without wheeled vehicles across unknown terrain.

Further thought shows that this process was remarkably fast—about 10 northsouthmiles per year, on average. The Americas were populated at an astounding pace, when one considers the physical limits of the human body and the physical features of the American continents. Legs of humans can move only so fast under the best of circumstances, and they work even slower over mountain passes or deserts.

Populations spread through the diverse regions of the Americas (grasslands, eastern forests, coastal swamps) and needed to adapt to their new environments. The migrants’ lifestyle had evolved over the years to that of professional nomads ensuring that they would find the resources needed to survive.

Questions :

1. Which sentence best expresses the essential information in this
passage?
a. Human migration across the Bering Strait was remarkably slow.
b. Physical limitations made migration across the Bering Strait almost
impossible.
c. Humans readily adapted to life in the Bering Strait.
d. The migration through the Americas was surprisingly fast.

2. In this passage, the word monumental is closest in meaning to
a. disastrous
b. evolving
c. important
d. physical

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TOEFL READING 2 :

Nature challenges humans in many ways, through disease, weather, and
famine. For those living along the coast, one unusual phenomenon capable
of catastrophic destruction is the tsunami (pronounced “tsoo-NAH-mee”).

A tsunami is a series of waves generated in a body of water by an
impulsive disturbance. Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions,
explosions, and even the impact of meteorites can generate tsunamis.

Starting at sea, a tsunami slowly approaches land, growing in height and
losing energy through bottom friction and turbulence. Still, just like any
other water waves, tsunamis unleash tremendous energy as they plunge
onto the shore.They have great erosion potential, stripping beaches of
sand, undermining trees, and flooding hundreds of meters inland.They
can easily crush cars, homes, vegetation, and anything they collide with.

To minimize the devastation of a tsunami, scientists are constantly trying
to anticipate them more accurately and more quickly. Because
many factors come together to produce a life-threatening
tsunami, foreseeing them is not easy. Despite this, researchers
in meteorology persevere in studying and predicting tsunami
behavior.

Questions :

1. Which sentence best expresses the essential information of this passage?
a. Tsunamis could become a new source of usable energy in the next
hundred years.
b. Tsunamis do more damage to the land than flooding.
c. Tsunamis can have an especially catastrophic impact on coastal
communities.
d. Scientists can predict and track tsunamis with a fair degree of accuracy,
reducing their potential impact.

2. In the first sentence, why does the author mention weather?
a. because tsunamis are caused by bad weather
b. because tsunamis are more destructive than weather phenomena
c. as an example of a destructive natural force
d. as an introduction to the topic of coastal storms

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TOEFL READING 3 :

In countries like Niger and Mauritania, the cultivation of land has changed little in the past several centuries. Additionally, these countries’ mono-modal rainfall pattern brings precipitation for only three months during the year. As a result, food production doesn’t nearly meet demand.

Several agencies and organizations have intensified their efforts to increase the productivity of land in these countries.They have introduced new strains of seed, improved irrigation techniques, and introduced new methods of fertilization and soil management. With ample sunlight for photosynthesis and modern irrigation techniques, sustainable farming techniques should allow farmers to boost aggregate production in order to meet demand.

Still, crop revitalization faces an unexpected adversary: institutional incompetence. Where crop specialists have convinced individual farmers to abandon old farming techniques in place of new, they can’t readily obtain the governmental cooperation they need. The biggest hurdles are
political corruption, incompetence, and the absence of a marketing infrastructure.

Vocabulary :
1. abandon : meninggalkan/mengabaikan
2. adversely : secara negatif
3. aggregate : total
4. cultivation :penyiapan lahan
5. fertilize : memupuk
6. intensify : mengintensifkan
7. irrigation : irigasi
8. obtain : mendapatkan
9. photosynthesis :fotosintesis
10. precipitation : curah hujan

Questions :

1. In this passage, the word adversary is closest in meaning to :
a. friend
b. helper
c. enemy
d. leader

2. In the last paragraph, the word they refers to :
a. crop specialists
b. farmers
c. farming techniques
d. adversaries

Quoted from : 400 Must Have Words for TOEFL by Lynn Stafford - Yilmaz and Lawrence J. Zwier.

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The Centipede
From : Joke Warehouse

A man goes into a pet shop and tells the owner that he wants to buy a pet that can do everything.
The shop owner suggests a faithful dog.
The man replies, "Come on, a dog?"
The owner says, "How about a cat?"
The man replies, "No way! A cat certainly can't do everything. I want a pet that can do everything!"
The shop owner thinks for a minute, then says, "I've got it! A centipede!"
The man says, "A centipede? I can't imagine a centipede doing everything, but okay... I'll try a centipede."

He gets the centipede home and says to the centipede, "Clean the kitchen."
Thirty minutes later, he walks into the kitchen and... it's immaculate! All the dishes and silverware have been washed, dried, and put away the counter-tops cleaned the appliances sparkling the floor waxed. He's absolutely amazed.
He says to the centipede, "Go clean the living room."
Twenty minutes later, he walks into the living room. The carpet has been vacuumed the furniture cleaned and dusted the pillows on the sofa plumped, plants watered.
The man thinks to himself, "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. This really is a pet that can do everything!"
Next he says to the centipede, "Run down to the corner and get me a newspaper."
The centipede walks out the door. 10 minutes later... no centipede.
20 minutes later... no centipede. 30 minutes later... no centipede.
By this point the man is wondering what's going on. The centipede should have been back in a couple of minutes. 45 minutes later... still no centipede!

He can't imagine what could have happened. Did the centipede run away? Did it get run over by a car? Where is that centipede?
So he goes to the front door, opens it... and there's the centipede sitting right outside.
The man says, "Hey!!! I sent you down to the corner store 45 minutes ago to get me a newspaper. What's the matter?!"
The centipede says, "I'm goin'! I'm goin'! I'm just puttin' on my shoes!"

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Let the Other do the Hard Work
From : Joke Warehouse

Two men went bear hunting. While one stayed in the cabin, the other went out looking for a bear. He soon found a huge bear, shot at it but only wounded it. The enraged bear charged toward him, he dropped his rifle and started running for the cabin as fast as he could.

He ran pretty fast but the bear was just a little faster and gained on him with every step. Just as he reached the open cabin door, he tripped and fell flat. Too close behind to stop, the bear tripped over him and went rolling into the cabin.

The man jumped up, closed the cabin door and yelled to his friend inside, "You skin this one while I go and get another one!"

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What are the three quickest ways of spreading a rumour (or gossip).
• Telegram
• Telephone
• Tell a woman

Submitted by: Dave & Brendan
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If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day.
If you teach a man to fish, he can always eat.
If you give a man a fire, he's warm for a day.
If you light a man on fire, he is warm for the rest of his life.

Submitted by: Anonymous
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A: Did you hear that a baby was fed on elephant's milk and gained twenty pounds in a week.
B: That's impossible. Whose baby?
A: An elephant's.

Submitted by: Ugur Yavuzturk
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"Am I the first man you have ever loved?" he said.
"Of course," she answered "Why do men always ask the same question?".
Submitted by: Ugur Yavuzturk
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When I was young I didn't like going to weddings.
My grandmother would tell me, "You're next"
However, she stopped doing that after I started saying the same thing to her at funerals.

Submitted by: Chris Fisher
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A: I'm in a big trouble!
B: Why is that?
A: I saw a mouse in my house!
B: Oh, well, all you need to do is use a trap.
A: I don't have one.
B: Well then, buy one.
A: Can't afford one.
B: I can give you mine if you want.
A: That sounds good.
B: All you need to do is just use some cheese in order to make the mouse come to the trap.
A: I don't have any cheese.
B: Okay then, take a piece of bread and put a bit of oil in it and put it in the trap.
A: I don't have oil.
B: Well, then put only a small piece of bread.
A: I don't have bread.
B: Then what is the mouse doing at your house?!

Submitted by: Genti Biraci
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A very drunk man comes out of the bar and sees another very drunk man.
He looks up in the sky and says, "Is that the sun or the moon?"
The other drunk man answers, "I don't know. I'm a stranger here myself."

Submitted by: Anonymous
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Teacher: Maria please point to America on the map.
Maria: This is it.
Teacher: Well done. Now class, who found America?
Class: Maria did.

Submitted by: Kmankoolman
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A Scotsman who was driving home one night, ran into a car driven by an Englishman. The Scotsman got out of the car to apologize and offered the Englishman a drink from a bottle of whisky. The Englishman was glad to have a drink.
"Go on," said the Scot, "have another drink."
The Englishman drank gratefully. "But don't you want one, too?" he asked the Scotsman.
"Perhaps," replied the Scotsman, "after the police have gone."

Submitted by: Ugur Yavuzturk
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A: Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?
B: Yes I am, I married the wrong woman.

Submitted by: Anonymous
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A man was pulled over for driving too fast, even though he thought he was driving just fine.

Officer: You were speeding.
Man: No, I wasn't.
Officer: Yes, you were. I'm giving you a ticket.
Man: But I wasn't speeding.
Officer: Tell that to the judge! (The officer gives man the ticket.)
Man: Would I get another ticket if I called you a jerk?
Officer: Yes, you would.
Man: What if I just thought that you were?
Officer: I can't give you a ticket for what you think.
Man: Fine, I think you're a jerk!

Submitted by: Nick Henry, ESL teacher in Korea

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