Reading Study Guide for the TOEFL Test

General Information

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Reading section assesses your ability to read English on a college entry level. The passages used for the test are typical of what you would find during college study, and the skills tested are critical for successful performance in college and in the workplace. Whatever your purpose for taking the TOEFL, prepare by studying all of the concepts listed here.

Reading Tasks

The Reading section is the first section of the TOEFL. With the 2026 TOEFL revision came changes to this section, both in terms of length and the type of tasks required. Instead of only reading passages and answering questions about them, there are now three types of tasks to be completed:

• Complete the Words—Add letters to incomplete words in a short text.

• Read in Daily Life—Answer two or three questions about a short passage that is part of typical communication in everyday life.

• Read an Academic Passage—Answer five questions about a medium-length academic passage.

You will learn more about each of these tasks in the content below.

Structure of the Reading Section

The TOEFL Reading test is adaptive, meaning that your performance during the first part of the test dictates what tasks you will receive during the remainder of the test. There will be a total of 35 to 48 questions issued during a 30-minute time limit.

The Reading test is administered in a total of two modules:

Module 1:—This module of 20 to 30 questions is given to every student and evaluates your reading level, determining whether you receive Module 2 or Module 3 next. These are the tasks:

• Complete the Words—one or two of these tasks, with 10 questions (words to fill in) each

• Read in Daily Life—two to three of these tasks, with two to three questions each; one passage may be a little longer than the other

• Read an Academic Passage—one or two of these tasks, with two or three questions each

Then, based on your performance on Module 1, you will receive only one of the following:

• If you got less than 60% correct in Module 1, you will be given Module 2 (“easy”), which contains 15 to 18 questions and consists of these tasks:

  • one Complete the Words task
  • two or three Read in Daily Life tasks
  • NO Read an Academic Passage task

• If you got 60% or more correct in Module 1, you will receive Module 3 (“advanced”), which contains 15 to 20 questions and presents these tasks:

  • one Complete the Words task
  • one or two Read an Academic Passage tasks
  • NO Read in Daily Life task

TOEFL Reading Tasks

The only part of the 2026 TOEFL Reading test that is similar to the former test edition is the Reading an Academic Passage one; however, the passages for this task are now shorter than before, and there are only five, instead of ten, questions about each passage. The other two tasks are new to the TOEFL. The following is information about all three reading tasks and hints about how to approach them.

Complete the Words

This reading task is new to the TOEFL, and this is how it works:

• You will be given a short passage between 70 and 100 words. The first sentence will always be complete, with all words filled in.

• Other sentences will have every other word incomplete and you must choose the correct letters to fill in that make the word correct as it is used in the sentence and passage. There will be an underscore for each letter that is missing.

• There are always exactly ten words to complete in each passage. Some of the words are simple, and others are academic words.

Here is what a task of this type might look like:

When taking the actual TOEFL test, you will simply type in the missing letters. When practicing with our TOEFL practice questions, you will choose the correct letters to fill in each word from four answer choices.

The correct answers for this example are listed below:

1. ple
2. or
3. me
4. t
5. ity
6. t
7. e
8. o
9. rk
10. rom

So, the completed paragraph would read:

Today’s workplaces are changing quickly as more offices use digital tools. Many people enjoy working from home because it offers flexibility, but it can be hard to separate work life from home life. To do well today, workers need to be good at their jobs and also good at working with others. Companies that talk openly with their staff and care about their health tend to be more successful. In the end, the best businesses will be those that use technology while still making sure people feel connected.

Be sure to think hard about what message is contained in the paragraph when choosing letters to fill the spaces. The finished words need to contribute to the meaning of the sentence, as well as the overall passage.

Read in Daily Life

This TOEFL reading task assesses your ability to understand messages that you might receive during a normal day. They may concern career or personal business, family life, hobby enjoyment, etc. In other words, the passages in this task will not be heavily academic or contain high-level vocabulary. Approach them as you would any message you receive during your average day, such as an email, notice, or advertisement.

There are two types of tasks possible in this part of the test: a short text (40 to 50 words) with two questions and a slightly longer text (100 to 140 words) with three questions.

Here is an example of a short business announcement and the type of questions you might see about it:

(The correct answer is C.)

(The correct answer is B.)

Even the longer passages are fairly short, so be sure to reread the passage before choosing an answer.

Read an Academic Passage

This task was also on the previous TOEFL test edition, but for the 2026 test, the passages are much shorter (only about 200 words at most, instead of 700), and each passage is only followed by five questions, instead of the previous ten. Reading comprehension is still tested by the questions. However, instead of a daily type of communication as in the previous task, these passages present an introduction to a subject that might appear in a college-level textbook.

Here is an example of the type of passage you might see:

The rest of this study guide discusses the types of reading and comprehension skills you will need to score well on the TOEFL Reading Test.