TOEFL Reading is now short texts and missing letters: how to practise it

Candidates treat the missing-letters task as a warm-up. It is the largest single block of items in the whole test.

The three tasks

Reading takes about 30 minutes, and the section adapts to you in two stages. Some item counts are therefore ranges.

Reading, Listening and Build a Sentence are machine-scored, one point per item. So a missed Complete the Words item costs the same as a missed inference question, and there are many more of the first.

Complete the Words

The task rewards fast recognition of word endings and common collocations. You cannot do it by reading slowly for meaning alone, because meaning narrows the choices without settling them. Grammar finishes the job. A verb after "which" needs the right ending, and a noun after "many" needs a plural.

A daily routine takes ten minutes:

1. Read one short text, such as a paragraph from a news site.
2. Choose ten words in it and cover the second half of each.
3. Fill the gaps from memory, using grammar and meaning.
4. Check, and write down the endings you missed.

Your list of missed endings becomes your study list.

Read in Daily Life

These texts often test one small practical detail, such as a time, a condition or an exception. Read the question first, then find the line that answers it, and apply every rule in the text, including the small print. A notice that gives a quota and then a different rule for one kind of use will cost you if you stop at the first line.

For practice, take a real notice, menu or email and ask yourself three questions that need the small print.

Read an Academic Passage

The passages are short, up to about 200 words. Questions ask for main ideas, details, inferences and structure. On inference questions, the wrong options often sound plausible but add a fact the passage never states. Infer only what the text supports.

A harder second set is a good sign

Because the section adapts, harder questions halfway through usually mean the first set went well. Do not let a difficult item early in the second set rattle you.

Where to spend your hours

If your Reading is weak, give Complete the Words a large share of your Reading hours. It has the most items and it responds to short daily practice. Time every set, and use only materials that name the 2026 task types.