Exam
date : April 22nd 2016-04-25
Exam time: 10:30 am
Test
center: Superlec, Rennes, France
Buy the test
Before buying the test, I bought a TPO test, volume 25, from ETS to evaluate my level. I got 101 points on the TPO test. This result was what I expected so I decided to take the test.
I had to
buy the test 3 months in advance because there was no place available at this
test center 2 months before the test date. In addition, there is only one test
section a month so I did not have choice.
Test time
When I purchase the test, it was indicated on the site Toeft.org the test time at 8:45am. However, I received an email prom Prometric two months before the test date that the test time was changed to 10:30 am. I then called the Prometric European center in Belgium to ask questions. They told me that there was no choice and I had to come to the test center 30 minutes before the test time because I had some papers to fill in.
On the test day
I got up at 7:00 am, took a good breakfast and a cup of coffee. Since I love Robusta coffee, I made a cup of very strong coffee my self. I felt good and had confidence in myself.
I took lunch at 9:30 am, 1 hour
before the test, when I was on my car. I drank some fruit juice to have some
vitamins.
At the test center
I arrived at 10:00 am. There was clear indication where the test rooms located so it was easy to find the center in a big campus.
The, I was
told to verify my name on the list hung on the door. The test administrator
then gave me a paper to copy by hand and to sign.
There were about 20 test takers at that day. The administrator allowed 1 person to enter the test room at one time. Another administrator proceeded the registration by verifying my ID and taking a photo.
Then, I was told to wait until all test
takers were registered. I then saw my photo on the screen of a computer so I
thought that it was my place.
When all test takers were registered, we were asked to sit in front of a computer where there was our picture. There was no partition between computers. Then, the administrator explained the rules of the test. For example, we were allowed to have only 3 sheets of paper at one time. When we finished three sheets, we could ask for another 3 sheets in exchanging for 3 used sheets. We were allowed to drink only mineral water during the test. Eating was not allowed.
The administrator came to each computer to start the test. Therefore, we all did not start the test at the same time. After the break, the administrator also came to key in the password so that we could continue the test.
I had a long reading section (4 passages, 14 questions each passage) and a short listening section. I kept the headset all the time during the test to avoid noise in the center. However, when I arrived at the two last listening lectures, other test takers started to speak. Thus, I was unable to concentrate even though I already wore the headset. Furthermore, the person next to me pressed often on his table. Since my table was in touch with his table, my table vibrated and therefore, my screen was also vibrated. As a result, it was difficult for me to read on the screen.
During the test, I managed my time as below:
Reading Section:
question 1 to 14: time left: 60 minutes
question 15 to 28: time left: 40 minutes
question 29 to 42: time left: 20 minutes
question 43 to 56: time left: 0 minutes
I did not
start right away the section. I read the
instruction to get familiar with the reading first and to prepare to
concentrate on the real reading passages. This short preparation was good to
get ready.
Listening section: for each part
question 1 to 5: time left: 7 minutes
question 6 to 11: time left: 3.5
minutes
question 12 to175: time left: 0
minutes
I did not
start right away the section. I listened
to the instruction to get familiar with the listening first and to prepare to
concentrate on the real listening passages. This short preparation was good to
get ready.
Speaking Section
The
computer asked to test my voice before the section began. I spoke right after
the beep. I continued to speak even the time left is zero. I had some stress
when I spoke because I did not hear my voice. The headset filtered quite well
my voice.
The
question 4 was a bit unfamiliar compared to the question 4 in TPO (Toefl
practice online) test. Otherwise, others questions were very similar to
questions in TPO.
The timing for the speaking questions are below:
Question 1:
Introduction + reason: 15
seconds
Example: 30 seconds
Question 2:
State opinion + reason: 15
seconds
Example: 30 seconds
Question 3:
States plan + opinion: 20
seconds
Reason 1: 20 seconds
Reason 2: 20 seconds
Question 4:
States definition in the
reading: 20 seconds
Example in the lecture: 40
seconds
Question 5:
States problem + 2 solutions: 20
seconds
Reason : 20 seconds
Reason 2: 20 seconds
Question 6:
States two points in the
lecture: 10 seconds
First point + example: 25
seconds
First point + example: 25
seconds
Writing Section
The two
questions were very similar to questions in TPO. The first question was about three theories of
fossils found in one area in a desert. The lecture refutes the reading. The
second question was about agree or disagree that present days media tend not to
tell factual information and this has consequence for the public. This writing
topic is not in the 185 writing essay topics given on the website of ETS.
I used 5 minutes at the end of each essay to check typing error. As I was not familiar with the keyboard of the test center, I typed very slowly at first.
I took 10
minutes break to go to toilets, drink a fruit juice and eat some cakes. I used
three minutes to speak English to prepare for the speaking section.
I was the last person to leave the center. I was not worried when the others left because I thought that I had to make use of my time to write good essays.
Now I’m waiting for the result, which will be downloadable in the PDF format next May 4th 2016. Wait and see!
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