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Details, NOT questions and words in context

Lesson 10 of 41 in the Test Ninjas TOEFL course: Read an Academic Passage, Reading. In Read an Academic Passage, most right answers don’t repeat the passage.

Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 1, 2026
Lesson at a glance
DetailThis lesson
ModuleRead an Academic Passage (Reading)
English focusParaphrase (synonyms, word-class shifts, active and passive) and words with several meanings
Task skillDetail, NOT and vocabulary-in-context questions: match the meaning, not the words
TimeAbout 55 minutes
AccessIncluded in the TOEFL plan

What this lesson teaches

In Read an Academic Passage, most right answers don’t repeat the passage. They say the same thing in other words. Many wrong answers do the opposite: they copy the passage’s words and change what they say.

This lesson teaches the English behind that difference: paraphrase (synonyms, word-class changes, active and passive, and limiters such as most and only) and words with several meanings. Then you’ll use both on three question types: detail questions, NOT questions and vocabulary questions.

By the end of the lesson, you can

  1. Recognize and write paraphrases that use synonyms, word-class shifts and active or passive voice, keeping limiters such as most, only, some and not.
  2. Choose the right sense of a word with several meanings from its subject, its object and the sentence around it.
  3. Answer detail, NOT and vocabulary questions by finding the sentence the question points to and matching meaning, and reject options that copy the passage’s words but change what they say.

What’s inside

Around the 3 teaching cycles below, the lesson opens with a quick check and closes with applied practice, a Check and a debrief. How every course lesson is built.

Teaching cycles in lesson 10
CycleFocusWhat it teachesDrills
Cycle 1EnglishParaphrase: same meaning, new words7
Cycle 2EnglishWords with several meanings7
Cycle 3Task skillDetail, NOT and vocabulary questions8

Word bank

The 10 words and phrases this lesson teaches. They come from the real course questions you practice on in the Apply step, so you meet each one again in context.

transmission noun

the sending of electricity, signals or broadcasts from one place to another

The concert was shown in a live transmission from the city hall.

Goes with:
a live / radio / data transmission
Word family:
transmit (verb); transmitter (noun)

quadruple verb

to become, or to make something, four times as big

The chess club quadrupled in a year, from five members to twenty.

Goes with:
quadruple in size / quadruple the cost
Word family:
fourfold (adjective): a fourfold increase; related: double (×2), triple (×3)

practical adjective

sensible and likely to work

Carrying all our books to the park wasn’t practical, so we studied in the library.

Goes with:
a practical way / solution / choice
Word family:
practically (adverb); impractical (adjective); practicality (noun)

limitation noun

something that stops a thing from being as good as it could be

The app’s main limitation is that it works only online.

Goes with:
overcome / remove a limitation
Word family:
limit (verb, noun); limited (adjective)

device noun

a small machine or tool made for a particular job

A small device on the door counts how many people enter the shop.

Goes with:
a simple / electronic / safety device
Word family:
devise (verb): to plan or invent something

step up phrasal verb

to increase an effort or activity; to raise a level, such as a voltage

The club stepped up its efforts to find new members before the fair.

Goes with:
step up efforts / security / production; stepped up to high voltage
Word family:
step down (the opposite: lower, reduce)

serve verb

to provide a service to a place or group

The new bus line will serve three villages north of the river.

Goes with:
serve customers / an area / a purpose
Word family:
service (noun); server (noun)

operate verb

to work or function; to run or be open; to use or control (a machine)

The campus café operates from 7 a.m. until midnight during exam weeks.

Goes with:
operate a machine / operate in a region
Word family:
operation (noun); operator (noun)

reverse verb

to change something to the opposite

The school reversed its decision and kept the pool open in winter.

Goes with:
reverse a decision / the order / direction
Word family:
reverse (noun): the reverse; reversal (noun); reversible (adjective)

core noun

the most important part; the central part of an object

Clear examples are the core of a good presentation.

Goes with:
the core of an argument / core subjects / an iron core
Word family:
core (adjective): core subjects
The takeaway: Right answers reword the passage and wrong ones often copy it: match the meaning, keep the limiter, and test each sense in the sentence.
In the full course

Details, NOT questions and words in context is part of the full TOEFL course

Unlock all 41 lessons with the TOEFL plan, or try one of the free lessons first.

  • All 3 teaching cycles of this lesson, with 22 drills and feedback on every answer
  • The 10-word bank, each word with a recall drill
  • A walk-through, guided practice and a Check on Read an Academic Passage
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Free lessons: Reading · Listening · Writing · Speaking

More in Read an Academic Passage

  1. Main ideas and why details are there
  2. Details, NOT questions and words in context (this lesson)
  3. Inference and full passage sets

For how this task works on test day, see the Read an Academic Passage guide.

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