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Negative Detail Question Guide

Wording

“All of the following are mentioned in…EXCEPT”

“Which of the following is NOT…”

“It is NOT stated/mentioned/indicated…”

“Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 3 about hydroponics?”

“All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 4 about hydroponics EXCEPT”

Frequency
Expect 1-2 negative detail questions per passage. In the entire section, you will have between
4-6 negative detail questions. This is the third most popular question type, following
vocabulary and detail questions.

Time Management

Negative details take the longest amount of time to answer. For every question, you have to
find three wrong answers and one correct answer, but for these particular questions, it’s the
opposite. It will take time for you to find three correct answers. Still, you should take no
longer than two minutes to answer a negative detail question.

Step-by-Step Strategy

a. Make sure you understand this is a NEGATIVE question. (happens a lot!)
b. Identify the key words in the question and choice a
c. Go back to the passage, find the sentence with the key words
d. Read before and after the sentence with the key words and check: is A ok?
e. Scan choices b, c, d and continue to eliminate to the answer

***If you remember, this step-by-step strategy is exactly the same as the detail question
strategy, except you eliminate to the wrong answer instead of the correct one.
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***The step-by-step guides for each question have been developed after thousands of hours of
in-class experience with TOEFL students from all over the world. However, some will
disagree with my approach. Try it. See if it works for you, but I recognize that every student
has their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

Test Questions

Reading Passage #2, Question 19

___________________________________________________________________________________
Hatshepshut was the chief wife of Thutmose II, the fourth pharaoh of the same dynasty. When he
died around the year 1479 BC, Thutmose III – his son by another wife – succeeded him as ruler of
Egypt. As Thutmose III was just two years old, however, he could not rule on his own. So
Hatshepshut initially acted as his regent. The belief among early Egyptologists was that her entire
reign was spent as regent. As evidence from Egyptian tombs and references to Hatshepshut in
later writings by Roman authors were found, it became clear that she ruled as pharaoh in her own
right. And additional archaeological evidence from tombs makes it clear that by at least the
seventh year of her reign, Hatshepshut was viewed as the king of Egypt, not the queen. There are
images of her with a fake beard, wearing male attire, and holding traditional objects associated
with male rulers.

19. What point does the author NOT make about Hatshepshut in paragraph 2?
A. She was sometimes shown as a man
B. She was married to Thutmose II
C. She was mentioned by some Roman writers
D. She was known to all as the queen of Egypt
___________________________________________________________________________________

Step-by-Step Strategy

a. Make sure you understand this is a NEGATIVE question. (happens a lot!)
b. Identify the key words in the question and choice a

19. What point does the author NOT make about Hatshepshut in paragraph 2?

A. She was sometimes shown as a man

B. She was married to Thutmose II
C. She was mentioned by some Roman writers
D. She was known to all as the queen of Egypt

c. Go back to the passage, find the sentence with the key word

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Hatshepshut was the chief wife of Thutmose II, the fourth pharaoh of the same dynasty. When he
died around the year 1479 BC, Thutmose III – his son by another wife – succeeded him as ruler of
Egypt. As Thutmose III was just two years old, however, he could not rule on his own. So
Hatshepshut initially acted as his regent. The belief among early Egyptologists was that her entire
reign was spent as regent. As evidence from Egyptian tombs and references to Hatshepshut in
later writings by Roman authors were found, it became clear that she ruled as pharaoh in her own
right. And additional archaeological evidence from tombs makes it clear that by at least the
seventh year of her reign, Hatshepshut was viewed as the king of Egypt, not the queen. There are
images of her with a fake beard, wearing male attire, and holding traditional objects associated
with male rulers..

d. Read before and after the sentence with the key words and check: is A ok?

B. She was married to Thutmose II

C. She was mentioned by some Roman writers
D. She was known to all as the queen of Egypt

e. Scan choices b, c, d and continue to eliminate to the answer

Advanced Reading Strategy Bonus Unlocked

Words that imply 100% or 0% almost always signal inaccurate information. In other words,
choices with the adverbs all, always, and never are almost always incorrect.

In the last example, D is the correct answer because this is a negative detail question; we have
to find the wrong answer.

19. What point does the author NOT make about Hatshepshut in paragraph 2?
A. She was sometimes shown as a man
B. She was married to Thutmose II
C. She was mentioned by some Roman writers
D. She was known to all as the queen of Egypt

In all other question types, if you see the word all, always, never or any other strong modifier
that implies 100% or 0% of the time, it’s almost always wrong.

In academia, new discoveries are made everyday. There are certain rules that seem to be
consistent, but we never say that any other way is impossible. The words always and never
imply that there could never be any variation. For example, “I wake up at 6am everyday.”

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However, I would never say, “I always wake up at 6am”, because there might be circumstances
where I wake up at another time. Instead, I would use the modifier almost always.

Here’s an example from the third passage about hydroponics:

31. What does the author say about hydroponics in paragraph 2?

A. The food crisis will be greater without food from hydroponics farms
B. Food that has been grown hydroponically costs less than all other food
C. The goal of hydroponics farms is to produce food in a sustainable way
D. Hydroponically-grown plants need a source of water, energy, and food

As you continue to practice, you will find more examples, particularly in the listening section.

Test Questions

Reading Passage #3, Question 38

___________________________________________________________________________________
Hydroponics offers a number of benefits over conventional agriculture. It happens indoors, and
so does not require large areas of land. In fact, hydroponics farms can be located in industrial
warehouses in or near large cities. This gives them another advantage over traditional farms
since they can be located much closer to the markets for their produce, reducing distribution
and transportation costs for hydroponics farmers. The indoor location allows farmers to create
controlled environments. This means not only does the weather not affect crops, but farmers
can grow crops that would not normally thrive in a particular region, such as tropical
vegetables in Canada. But hydroponics farms are not without their drawbacks. For one thing,
some important food crop do not grow well hydroponically. Most herbs and vegetables thrive,
but important sources of nutrition like carrots, potatoes, and corn are either not suitable or hard
to grow. And so much space would be required to raise staple crops like rice and wheat cost-
effectively that their hydroponic cultivation is not practical. Further, most foods grow well
hydroponically are relatively low in protein, a vital nutrient for human health.

38. What point does the author NOT make in paragraph 3?

A. Certain crops are harder to grow hydroponically than others
B. Many herbs and vegetables do well when grown hydroponically
C. It is often not cost-effective to grow staple crops hydroponically
D. It is relatively easy to produce protein-rich crops hydroponically

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Step-by-Step Strategy

a. Make sure you understand this is a NEGATIVE question. (happens a lot!)
b. Identify the key words in the question and choice a

38. What point does the author NOT make in paragraph 3?

A. Certain crops are harder to grow hydroponically than others
B. Many herbs and vegetables do well when grown hydroponically
C. It is often not cost-effective to grow staple crops hydroponically
D. It is relatively easy to produce protein-rich crops hydroponically

c. Go back to the passage, find the sentence with the key word

Hydroponics offers a number of benefits over conventional agriculture. It happens indoors, and so
does not require large areas of land. In fact, hydroponics farms can be located in industrial
warehouses in or near large cities. This gives them another advantage over traditional farms since
they can be located much closer to the markets for their produce, reducing distribution and
transportation costs for hydroponics farmers. The indoor location allows farmers to create
controlled environments. This means not only does the weather not affect crops, but farmers can
grow crops that would not normally thrive in a particular region, such as tropical vegetables in
Canada. But hydroponics farms are not without their drawbacks. For one thing, some important
food crop do not grow well hydroponically. Most herbs and vegetables thrive, but important
sources of nutrition like carrots, potatoes, and corn are either not suitable or hard to grow. And so
much space would be required to raise staple crops like rice and wheat cost-effectively that their
hydroponic cultivation is not practical. Further, most foods grow well hydroponically are relatively
low in protein, a vital nutrient for human health.

d. Read before and after the sentence with the key words and check: is A ok?

C. It is often not cost-effective to grow staple crops hydroponically

D. It is relatively easy to produce protein-rich crops hydroponically

e. Scan choices b, c, d and continue to eliminate to the answer

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Advanced Reading Strategy Bonus Unlocked

You may have noticed in the previous question that no key word was included in the question:

38. What point does the author NOT make in paragraph 3?

Sometimes you will get a question on the TOEFL that either doesn’t include a key word, or
neglects to tell you in what paragraph to look for the answer. However, this isn’t a problem.

Remember, all questions in the TOEFL (besides summary and organization questions go in
sequential order. The answers each question will be in a one particular paragraph, and directly
follow the question that came before.

Essay #1

If the answer to #2 is here: ______________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

The answer to #3 is _________________________________

definitely NOT here:

______________________________

_________________________________

The answer to #3 is probably _________________________________

_________________________________

NOT here:
______________________________

_________________________________

The answer to #3 is probably _________________________________

somewhere around here: _________________________________

***Every paragraph in a TOEFL essay is important and will contain an answer to at least one
question.

If the answer to #3 is here: Essay #2

______________________________

The answer to #4 is definitely _________________________________

_________________________________

NOT here: _________________________________

______________________________

The answer to #4 is probably _________________________________

NOT here: _________________________________

_________________________________

The answer to #4 is probably ______________________________

_________________________________

somewhere around here: _________________________________

_________________________________

***Since there are at least 11 questions in each passage and, usually, five paragraphs per
passage, you should expect at least two answers per paragraph, especially in the bodies.

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Key Takeaways

1 - Follow this five-step system to answer negative detail questions:

a. Understand
b. Identify
c. Return and Find
d. Read Before and After: a OK?
e. Eliminate

2 - Do NOT take more than 120 seconds to answer

3 - Start with the Q and A, then go to B, C, D

4 - Words that imply 0% or 100% are usually wrong, like all, always or never

5 - Almost every body paragraph contains the answer to at least two questions

6 - Even if the question doesn’t provide you with any indication of where to look for the
answer, you can still know where to look based on the order of questions.

The Color Key

Words and phrases highlighted in yellow = from the reading passage

Words and phrases highlighted in green = important information

Words and phrases highlighted in pink = be careful

Words and phrases highlighted in blue = correct answers

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Negative Detail Question Bank

All of the negative detail questions from each passage of your TOEFL test are included below.

Reading Passage #1, Question 4

___________________________________________________________________________________
The most distinguishing features of ceratopsians can be found on their skulls. They typically have
parrot-like beaks, a frill of bone on their heads, and one or more horns on their faces. Indeed, the
name ceratopsian derives from the Greek words for ‘horn’ and ‘face.’ In chasmosaurines like
Triceratops, the horns and frill were usually long, but the frill rarely had spines; in centrosaurines
like Styracosaurus, the horns and frill were relatively short but the frill often had spines. The
function of the horns and bony frills is uncertain. One theory is that they served a defensive
purpose to protect the dinosaurs from attacks by predators such as Tyrannosaurus Rex. However,
in some species of ceratopsians, the horns were small and the frills were either small or relatively
fragile because they had large openings in them, which would have severely limited their
defensive value. Other theories are that they helped the animals rid themselves of excess heat, or
recognize others of the same species.

4. Which of the following is NOT true about the horns and frills of ceratopsians?
A. the characteristics of frills and horns changed depending on the species
B. researchers agree that the horns and frills were used to hunt other animals
C. the frills and horns were sometimes weak and easily breakable
D. some believe that the frills and horns helped ceratopsians cool down
___________________________________________________________________________________

Reading Passage #1, Question 6

___________________________________________________________________________________
The majority view among scientists is that ceratopsians were herbivores. In addition to their beak,
which is designed for biting through heavy vegetation, they have rows of teeth in their cheeks that
would have allowed them to extract nutrition by chewing and grinding plants. In terms of how they
lived, evidence from bone beds – areas in which fossils of dozens or hundreds of individual
dinosaurs of different ages and genders have been found – suggest that many, if not all, species
of ceratopsians lived together in herds. These herds may have contained hundreds of animals that
moved slowly across the land grazing the low-lying vegetation. In general, males had larger frills
and horns than females, and may have been correspondingly larger overall, too.

6. In paragraph 3, all of the following are mentioned about ceratopsian EXCEPT:

A. their teeth were designed to chew through animal bone
B. they preferred to live with other ceratopsia
C. they ate mostly plants
D. male ceratopsian features were usually bigger than females
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Reading Passage #2, Question 19
___________________________________________________________________________________
Hatshepshut was the chief wife of Thutmose II, the fourth pharaoh of the same dynasty. When he
died around the year 1479 BC, Thutmose III – his son by another wife – succeeded him as ruler of
Egypt. As Thutmose III was just two years old, however, he could not rule on his own. So
Hatshepshut initially acted as his regent. The belief among early Egyptologists was that her entire
reign was spent as regent. As evidence from Egyptian tombs and references to Hatshepshut in
later writings by Roman authors were found, it became clear that she ruled as pharaoh in her own
right. And additional archaeological evidence from tombs makes it clear that by at least the
seventh year of her reign, Hatshepshut was viewed as the king of Egypt, not the queen. There are
images of her with a fake beard, wearing male attire, and holding traditional objects associated
with male rulers.

19. What point does the author NOT make about Hatshepshut in paragraph 2?
A. She was sometimes shown as a man
B. She was married to Thutmose II
C. She was mentioned by some Roman writers
D. She was known to all as the queen of Egypt
___________________________________________________________________________________

Reading Passage #3, Question 38

___________________________________________________________________________________
Hydroponics offers a number of benefits over conventional agriculture. It happens indoors, and
so does not require large areas of land. In fact, hydroponics farms can be located in industrial
warehouses in or near large cities. This gives them another advantage over traditional farms
since they can be located much closer to the markets for their produce, reducing distribution
and transportation costs for hydroponics farmers. The indoor location allows farmers to create
controlled environments. This means not only does the weather not affect crops, but farmers
can grow crops that would not normally thrive in a particular region, such as tropical
vegetables in Canada. But hydroponics farms are not without their drawbacks. For one thing,
some important food crop do not grow well hydroponically. Most herbs and vegetables thrive,
but important sources of nutrition like carrots, potatoes, and corn are either not suitable or hard
to grow. And so much space would be required to raise staple crops like rice and wheat cost-
effectively that their hydroponic cultivation is not practical. Further, most foods grow well
hydroponically are relatively low in protein, a vital nutrient for human health.

38. What point does the author NOT make in paragraph 3?

A. Certain crops are harder to grow hydroponically than others
B. Many herbs and vegetables do well when grown hydroponically
C. It is often not cost-effective to grow staple crops hydroponically
D. It is relatively easy to produce protein-rich crops hydroponically
www.TOEFLSpeakingTeacher.com Josh MacPherson©