TOEFL Writing Sample of e-Book: PART 1

The TOEFL iBT Grammar Course covers the following topics:

     Unit                       Topic

     1                           Negative Adverbs and Inversion

     2                           Adjective Order

     3                           Relative Pronouns

     4                           Past Perfect

     5                           Prepositions

     6                           Gerunds and Infinitives

     7                           Modal Verbs

     8                           Adjective Usage with "So" and "Such"

     9                           Phrasal Verbs - Part 1

     10                         The Definite Article

     11                         Expressing Agreement and Disagreement

     12                         Comparatives and Superlatives

     13                         Had Better/Would Rather

     14                         The Third Conditional

     15                         Phrasal Verbs - Part 2       

When a sentence begins with a negative adverb, the auxiliary verb is inverted.  In other words, the auxiliary verb is placed in front of the grammatical subject of the sentence, instead of being in its usual position, which is next to the main verb.  Therefore, an inverted sentence follows this pattern:

            Negative adverb + auxiliary verb + grammatical subject + main verb

Look at this example from the reading comprehension passage and notice how it follows the pattern given above:

Not only do sports exist as a source of entertainment for the American public, but also as a lucrative business enterprise for those who provide financial backing.

Not only (negative adverb)  + do (auxiliary verb) + sports ( grammatical subject) + exist (main verb)

If this sentence were not inverted, it would look like this:

Sports exist not only as a source of entertainment for the American public, but also as a lucrative business enterprise for those who provide financial backing.

Notice that the word "do" is added when the sentence is inverted.

Here are some negative adverbs that are commonly encountered on the MELAB examination:

never                                         never before

not                                            only when

only once                                  seldom

rarely                                        hardly ever

These negative adverbs can be placed into five categories:

TYPE 1:  If the original sentence contains an auxiliary verb, such as "would," "had," or "did" the auxiliary verb is inverted.

Example:

Original sentence:  I had seen her only once before then.

Inverted sentence:  Only once before then had I seen her.

TYPE 2: If the original sentence does not contain an auxiliary verb, the verb "do" is used in the inverted sentence.

Example:

Original sentences:  Sarah not only failed the driving test, she also had an accident.

Inverted sentence: Not only did Sarah fail the driving test, she also had an accident.

TYPE 3: If the original sentence is in the negative (i.e., if it contains the words "not" or "never"), the negative word is placed at the beginning of the inverted sentence.

Examples:

Original sentence:  Mary didn't tell a single person her secret.

Inverted sentence:  Not a single person did Mary tell her secret.

Original sentence:  I have never experienced anything like that before.

Inverted sentence:  Never before have I experienced anything like that.

TYPE 4: If the original sentence contains the word "when," the inverted sentence begins "Only when."  You may also need to add "do" to the second part of the inverted sentence.

Example:

Original sentence:  John remembered his co-worker's name when they had finished their conversation.

Inverted sentence:  Only when they had finished their conversation did John remember his co-worker's name.

TYPE 5: If the original sentence contains an adverb of frequency such as "often" or "not often,"  the inverted sentence can begin with "Seldom," "Rarely," or "Hardly ever."

Example:

Original sentence:  Mark doesn't go on vacation often.

Inverted sentence:  Rarely does Mark go on vacation.

Exercise:  Write a new sentence as similar as possible in meaning to the sentence provided, using the negative adverbial phrases indicated below.  It may be helpful to identify the type of sentence by looking at the examples above.

1)         Bread would not be available at the grocery store until noon.

Not until . . .

2)         Frank realized he had forgotten to fill up his truck when it ran out of gas.

            Only when . . .

3)         I have never changed a flat tire in my life.

Never before . . .

4)         I realized who he was when he took off his sunglasses.

Only when . . .

5)         I have never seen such an exciting football game in my life.

Never . . .

 .  .  .

TOEFL Writing Sample of e-Book: PART 2

Questions 1-100 are a review of grammar and vocabulary from the TOEFL iBT Word Power Vocabulary Course and the TOEFL iBT Grammar exercises.

 1)               - John is so shy.

                   - I know.  Very rarely __________ to me.

                   a. he speaks                                      c. he is speaking

                   b. does he speak                                d. he does speak

 2)               - Did you go to the mall today?

                   - Yes, I bought one of those __________ books.

                   a. good $5 paperback                         c. paperback good $5

                   b. $5 good paperback                         d. good paperback $5

 3)               - Mary's business is really a success.

                   - Yes, it's grown __________ leaps and bounds.

                   a. under                                             c. in

                   b. through                                          d. by

 4)               - Where are the compact disks?

                   - In the cabinet __________ we keep the CD player.

                   a. that                                               c. which

                   b. where                                            d. in that

 5)               - Do you see Rachel much these days?

                   - No.  __________  her only once since last summer.

                   a. I have seen                                     c. Did I see

                   b. Have I seen                                    d. I see

.  .  .

This is only a small TOEFL Writing sample e-book.  The actual e-book contains 4 parts and is 69 pages long!