Go home so she can get her book. c. Ask the professor if she can take the test another day. Call home and see if her roommate will bring it to her.

LISTENING 37 Question: An instructor describes the formation and effects of acid rain. Match each term with its definition. [Click on a sentence. Then click on the space where it belongs. Use each sentence only once.] precipitation fossil fuel pollutant something that contaminates the environment condensed vapor that falls to earth as a deposit like rain or snow a fuel formed in the earth from plant or animal remains Answer: precipitation fossil fuel pollutant condensed vapor a fuel formed in something that that falls to earth the earth from contaminates the as a deposit like plant or animal environment rain or snow remains WHAT’S UP WITH IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS You probably won’t see the greeting “What’s up?” in the reading portion of the TOEFL exam, but you might hear it—or another idiom—on the listening test. Idioms are words or phrases used in a particular region. Idiomatic expressions often have unusual grammatical structures or have a meaning that does not make sense when you add up the meanings of each word. Here’s an example of a test question that will ask you to identify the meaning of an idiomatic expression: Woman: The astronomy midterm is tomorrow Man: I know. I’m not ready. It’s going to be an all-nighter 38 TOEFL EXAM ESSENTIALS Question: What does the man mean? a. He’s going out past midnight.

b. He thinks the midterm is at night. c. He’s going to stay up late studying.

d. He’s not going to study—it’s too late.

The correct answer is c. If you don’t know an idiomatic expression, think about what makes sense in the situation. You can eliminate choices a, b, and d because they are not what is sug- gested in the context of the conversation. Keep Your Ears Open for Idioms “Keep your ears open” means to stay attuned—so keep your ears open for idiomatic expressions while you are listening to everyday conversations. Here is a sample of some idioms used in North America: all of a sudden: suddenly All of a sudden, the dog ran into the road. boil down: summarize; amount He boiled down the report to a page and a half. The report boiled down to a plea for more funding. catch up: to complete something belatedly I need to catch up on my sleep. drop off: deposit or deliver She dropped off the package at his house. find out: discover, learn I don’t know the answer, but I’ll find out for you.