TOEIC cheat sheet

Structure: 100 items in about 45 minutes, audio played once - Part 1 = 6 photographs, Part 2 = 25 question-responses, Part 3 = 39 conversation items, Part 4 = 30 talk items.

Part 2 rule: if the prompt begins with who, what, when, where, why, or how, any yes/no response is wrong and can be eliminated immediately.

Part 2 rule: when the prompt is a statement or a yes/no question, an indirect reply (giving a reason, a time, or a related fact) can be the correct choice.

Part 1 rule: a statement that is only partly true - right object but wrong action or wrong location - is wrong; the answer must match subject, action, and place.

Parts 3 and 4: questions follow the order of the recording, so question 1 is answered early and question 3 near the end; a missed item should be abandoned, not revisited.

Similar-sound distractors: options echoing a sound from the audio (right/write, meet/meat, copy/coffee) are traps; matching sound does not mean matching meaning.

Numeric traps: recordings often give an original figure then a change (discount, delay, extra units); the correct answer is the corrected or computed value, not the first number heard.

Part 4 first questions typically ask the purpose of the talk, the speaker's job, or the audience; that information appears in the opening one or two sentences.

Some Part 3 sets include a printed graphic (schedule, chart, receipt); the answer must agree with both the spoken details and the printed data.

Structure: 100 items in 75 minutes - Part 5 = 30 incomplete sentences, Part 6 = 16 text-completion items (four passages, four blanks each), Part 7 = 54 comprehension items.

Time budget: roughly 45 seconds per item overall; Part 5 should average 20–25 seconds so that Part 7 keeps about 45 minutes.

Part 5 word-form rule: identify the part of speech required by the slot (article + noun, adverb modifying a verb or adjective, adjective before a noun), then match the suffix.

Part 5 preposition rule: the answer is fixed by collocation with the noun or verb - comply with, responsible for, interested in, according to, regardless of, subject to.

Part 5 connector rule: classify the link between clauses as contrast (however, although, nevertheless), cause/result (therefore, because, due to), or addition (moreover, in addition) before reading the options.

Part 6 rule: read the sentence before and after the blank; a blank may require a full sentence that continues the paragraph's logic, not just a single word class.

Part 7 multiple passages: at least one item per set can be answered only by combining information across texts, such as matching a request in an email to a rule in a notice.

NOT/EXCEPT items: three options are explicitly supported by the passage; eliminate those three and the remaining option is the answer.

Vocabulary-in-context items: return to the sentence, substitute each option, and keep the one that preserves the original meaning rather than the most common dictionary sense.