# TOEFL Read in Daily Life: Examples and Tips | topin TOEFL guidesRead in Daily Life Where Reading: the first module, and the easier second module Per set 2 questions for short texts, 3 for longer ones Text 15–150 words: notices, emails, menus, schedules, posts, forms, receipts Answer Four options, one correct Skills Purpose, detail, inference, informal language, reading tables and lists ## How it works You see a short everyday text, sometimes with a table, a list or a chain of messages, and answer two or three questions about it. Questions ask why the text was written, what a detail says, what can be inferred, or what an informal phrase means. ## Worked example Notice on a residence hall door: Laundry room update. From Monday 3 March, the laundry room will close at 10 p.m. instead of midnight. Machines now take the campus card only; coins will no longer be accepted. Card top-up points are in the library and the main café. Questions? Message the hall office. Question: What should a resident who usually pays with coins do? 1. AUse the laundry room before 10 p.m. only 2. BAdd money to their campus card 3. CBring coins to the hall office 4. DWash clothes in the library Show the answer Add money to their campus card The notice says machines "take the campus card only" and gives places to top up the card. The first option is true for everyone but does not solve the coin problem. The third reverses the point, and the fourth misreads where the top-up points are. ## A method for Read in Daily Life 1. 1 ### Read the question before the text Know what you are looking for: a time, a reason, a price or what someone should do. Then read the text with that one target in mind. 2. 2 ### Identify the text type A notice tells people to do something, an email usually asks for or gives information, and an advert tries to sell. Knowing the type answers most purpose questions. 3. 3 ### Scan tables by row and column For schedules and menus, find the right row and column before reading anything else. The answer is often one cell. 4. 4 ### Match meaning, not words The correct option usually paraphrases the text. Be wary of options that copy a phrase from the text but change what it says. 5. 5 ### Move on quickly These texts are short, so aim to answer in well under a minute each. Time saved here goes to the academic passages. ## Traps to avoid * Options that are true in the text but do not answer the question asked. * Options that repeat words from the text with a detail changed, such as the wrong day or place. * Inference questions where an option goes further than the text allows. * Informal phrases in messages and posts read literally instead of as the writer means them. ## Read in Daily Life FAQs What kinds of texts are in TOEFL Read in Daily Life? Short everyday texts such as notices, emails, menus, schedules, social media posts, adverts, forms, receipts and text message chains. How many questions does each Daily Life text have? Two for shorter texts and three for longer ones, each with four options. Why did I get more Daily Life texts in the second module? The second module adapts to your first. The easier path has more Daily Life texts, while the harder path has academic passages instead. Is Read in Daily Life easy? The texts are short, but questions on purpose, inference and informal language still catch people who skim too fast. Read the exact line that answers each question. ## Try Read in Daily Life under real timing Your first full-length TOEFL mock is free, with every section included. [Take the free mock ](/toefl/login)