How many questions are in TOEFL Reading?

Thirty-five scored questions across two modules. The first module has 20 and everyone takes the same one; the second has 15 and is either the easier or the harder set depending on how you did.

How does the adaptive Reading section work?

Your answers in the first module decide which second module you receive. Do well and you get the harder set, which includes more academic reading; do less well and you get the easier set, with more daily-life reading. The route and the difficulty of the questions both feed into your score. ETS does not publish a simple public rule such as 'easier route = maximum band X.'

What is Complete the Words in TOEFL Reading?

A short paragraph with word endings removed, which you type in. There are 10 of them in every module, making it the single most repeated task in the section.

Can I go back and change a Reading answer?

Within a module you work through the questions as presented. Once a module ends you cannot return to it, because your performance there has already decided which module comes next.

TOEFL Reading

How TOEFL Reading is scored

Reading is one of the two adaptive sections of the updated TOEFL iBT. That single fact changes how you should sit it, and most candidates are never told why.

Two modules, and the first one decides the second

You answer 35 scored questions in two parts. Everyone sits the same first module of 20 questions. How you do there decides which second module of 15 you receive: the easier set or the harder set.

The 35 are the scored questions. On the real test you may also see a few extra questions that ETS is trying out for future exams. These are not scored, so the total number of questions you see can be higher than 35.

The second module changes the evidence in your score. ETS says the route and item difficulty are considered in official scoring, but it does not publish a universal route cut, path ceiling, or raw-correct conversion table. YourTOEFLPrep therefore reports a clearly labelled practice estimate rather than claiming to reproduce ETS's operational scoring.

The practical consequence is still clear: the first module is not a warm-up. Your performance there determines which second module you receive.

What is in each module

First, everyone takes Module 1. Based on how you do, you then receive either the easier or the harder Module 2. You do not take both.

Step 1 · Everyone takes this

Module 1

10Complete the Words
5Read in Daily Life
5Read an Academic Passage

20 scored questions

Based on your Module 1 performance, you receive either the easier or harder Module 2.

Step 2 · Easier route

Module 2

10Complete the Words
5Read in Daily Life

15 scored questions

Step 2 · Harder route

Module 2

10Complete the Words
5Read an Academic Passage

15 scored questions

Complete the Words contributes 10 scored questions in either route. That makes it the most repeated task in the whole Reading section, and the one where drilling pays back fastest.

The three task types

Complete the Words

A short paragraph with word endings removed, which you type back in. It tests high-frequency academic vocabulary and spelling together. Because the first sentence stays intact, the topic is never the difficulty: the difficulty is whether the word is genuinely in your active vocabulary.

Read in Daily Life

Practical texts of the kind you actually meet: notices, schedules, emails, instructions. Questions ask what the text tells you to do or when something happens. Straightforward if you read carefully, and easy to lose marks on by skimming.

Read an Academic Passage

Longer passages with questions about argument, detail and inference. These appear in module 1 and then again only in the harder second module. The harder route includes more academic reading, while the easier route includes more daily-life reading.

Common questions

How many questions are in TOEFL Reading?: Thirty-five scored questions across two modules. The first module has 20 and everyone takes the same one; the second has 15 and is either the easier or the harder set depending on how you did.
How does the adaptive Reading section work?: Your answers in the first module decide which second module you receive. Do well and you get the harder set, which includes more academic reading; do less well and you get the easier set, with more daily-life reading. The route and the difficulty of the questions both feed into your score. ETS does not publish a simple public rule such as 'easier route = maximum band X.'
What is Complete the Words in TOEFL Reading?: A short paragraph with word endings removed, which you type in. There are 10 of them in every module, making it the single most repeated task in the section.
Can I go back and change a Reading answer?: Within a module you work through the questions as presented. Once a module ends you cannot return to it, because your performance there has already decided which module comes next.

Practise the routing, not just the questions

A full practice test routes you the same way the real one does, so you find out which module your current level actually reaches. Free with an account, and you get a band per section.

Take a free practice test What the bands mean

Practice bands are an estimate to help you prepare. They are not an ETS score and are not reported to anyone.