TOEFL Reading Question Type - Reference Question

This is part of a series of TOEFL Reading Question Types. In today’s post, we will discuss a "Reference" question. In a "Reference" question, you are asked what the highlighted word refers to. If it's a pronoun then you need to identify what word the pronoun is replacing. Here are highlighted words you might be asked about:

1. Subject pronoun: it, they
2. Object pronoun: it, them
3. Demonstrative pronoun: these, those, this, that
4. Possessive adjectives: its, their
5. Other reference words: the former, the latter, one, ones, another, other, others

It is important to remember that you don’t need a full understanding of the complete passage in order to solve this question type. You just need to study the context surrounding the word. Usually, you just read the sentence where the highlighted word is mentioned, and then read a few sentences that come before it. 

Let’s see an example of a reference question.

TOEFL Reading Practice: Reference Question

Question: The word 'They' in paragraph 3 refers to?

1. Native Americans
2. Beavers
3. Europeans
4. Traits and characteristics

Conclusion

If you want to practice more TOEFL reading reference questions and learn strategies for successfully answering this question type, sign up for our TOEFL preparation course to access our 72 complete TOEFL reading practices and TOEFL reading reference lesson.