This book covers the TOEFL iBT Reading section only; it does not cover Listening, Speaking or Writing.

You understand every passage perfectly well — and still score lower than your comprehension deserves.

Thirty-five minutes. Two passages. Roughly twenty questions, once per passage, no going back. TOEFL Reading isn’t testing whether you can read academic English — you already can. It’s testing whether you can locate specific information fast, recognize a paraphrase, trace a reference or an inserted sentence’s logic, and separate a passage’s main ideas from its minor supporting details, all under a strict clock.

Most candidates don’t lose points on understanding. They lose them to a few fixable habits: missing an EXCEPT question, picking a Prose Summary option that’s true but minor, running out of time on the second passage, answering from outside knowledge instead of the passage. That gap is completely closeable.

What’s inside

• All 9 official question types — Factual Information, Negative Factual Information, Inference, Rhetorical Purpose, Vocabulary-in-Context, Reference, Sentence Simplification, Insert Text, and Prose Summary — each with two full worked examples: a real passage excerpt, a real question, the correct answer, and the exact reasoning.
• An approximate scaled-score guide — how raw points convert to the 0–30 Reading scale.
• The current TOEFL iBT format, specifically — two passages, ~20 questions, no returning to a passage once you move on. Most free resources still describe the pre-2023 version.
• 9 strategy toolkits — a two-passage time budget, solving Insert Text through pronoun and transition clues, building academic vocabulary through Latin and Greek roots, and a dedicated breakdown of the Prose Summary trap.
• The 10 mistakes that cost the most points — named and fixed.
• Nine complete, exam-length mock reading tests — 18 academic passages across natural science, social science, and the humanities, 180 questions mixing every format, each test with its own separate Answer Key so you attempt every question genuinely blind.
• A quick-reference cheat sheet — every strategy for the morning of the exam.
• A bonus TOEFL Academic Vocabulary reference — the high-frequency words that appear constantly across TOEFL passages and lectures, organized by domain, with real example sentences.
• A bonus “Identity Shift” section — a short, neuroplasticity-backed mindset exercise.

Why nine mock tests

Most TOEFL Reading prep gives you strategy and one or two practice tests — enough to learn the traps, not enough to make catching them automatic under time pressure. Nine full tests means genuine repetition across a wide range of academic topics.

Who it’s for

Anyone preparing for the current TOEFL iBT who already reads academic English well but keeps losing points to the test’s structure. Written in clear B1–B2 English; works as a first pass or a final-week sharpening.

Who’s behind it

Written by Dr. Henry English, founder of Concord Black — a school director with a BA in English Language and Literature, a BA in English Language Teaching, a master’s degree in English Language Teaching, and a PhD in English Language and Philosophy — who has spent years watching strong readers underperform on structured academic tests simply because nobody explained the test’s actual mechanics.

Get instant access to TOEFL Reading Mastery — every question type, two worked examples each, nine full mock tests, and proven strategy — for $9.

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