Customer Reviews

Kaplan TOEFL CBT With CD ROM

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Advantages:

(1) two good computer practice tests on CD-ROM; (2) reading section is satisfactory

Disadvantages:

(1) most of the explanations in the book are written in "native speaker English;" in other words, not in a clear, simple, direct way; (2) grammar section is too simple; (3) not enough grammar practice; (4) not enough grammar explanations; (5) many of the grammar questions are not like real TOEFL questions; (6) some of the listening samples are not like real TOEFL questions.

Review:

The CD-ROM with book has two computer practice tests, although I did find one mistake in the grammar section.

The grammar review is much, much too short and does not have enough exercises--most students need much more practice.

Furthermore, many of the questions use language that is TOO SIMPLE, in other words, you will not see this type of question on the real test.

Finally, the explanations seem to be written for native speakers of English; if you still have difficulty with English, some of the explanations will be hard to understand.

In short, I do NOT use this book with my students. However, I DO use the practice Computer TOEFL CD-ROM with my students when they have finished the other ones.

When I had to take the TOEFL test I was in a hurry so I didn't have time to prepare seriously.... but although I never studied English formaly, this book helped me to get a 290 in less than two weeks. On the negative side: It is true that the reading section is weak and some of the sample exercises are questionable, but I think that there is very little you can do about paragraph analysis anyways. It is also true that the sample tests in the CD are flawed (I guess they try to simulate an adaptative test) so you can't get more than 250/260 even with a perfect test. But on the positive side this book concentrates in what is important for the test. In my case they were a lot of grammatical constructs (including some custom uses and phrases) I never used before and they appeared in my actual test. If you have some previous background or need to refresh your grammar for the TOEFL this book may be a good investment.

I used this book to prepare for Toefl and found it to be very much lacking in most of the areas, especially the reading comprehension. The tests on the CD are total waste of time. I took two tests and my scores were around 190, without the writing part. I took the real Toefl and my score range was 240-293. The CD does not have the solutions to the test and therefore you don't know what was wrong with your answer choices. I cannot recommend another book but if you are really deficient in English, this book is not a good choice.

Very good book.
I was very satisfied with the content and the exercises.
With the aid of the CDROM you will not be surprised on test day.
Do not forget to practice writing essays.
I got a 290 and I am happy. (Their GMAT books is great as well.)

The simulated test is very good. You can do as much as three different test, including a good listening part. The most important part of this book is the Essay Redaction, with simple steps, allowing you to write several of them in a few minutes. Not by chance I got 5.5/6 in the essay. I studied this book and the CD room just a month before test, although I have been studying English for a long while. It was my first time at TOEFL and I got 257! That tells a lot of this book.

I bought this book to go through one of the computer based tests before I take the test itself. I ended up doing both, because my scores turned out to be pretty low. I think the Reading section is dreadful. I took the TOEFL CBT almost two years ago - and I have been in the US since then doing my Masters - and my score was 280 in 1998. I got a 240 and 250 from KAPLAN's tests (including an assumed score of 6 from the TWE). I don't believe I have lost my proficiency in English studying in the US. I can strongly argue that some of the answers I picked up for the reading comprehension are as true as the answers that were indicated as "correct". I also think there is something wrong with the scores are calculated.

I know that there isn't much available on the market for CBT, but this certainly cannot be a first choice.