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TOEIC Part 7 double passages: cross-reference practice

B1Reading40 questionsUpdated

The last sets in TOEIC Part 7 give you two or three linked documents — an advertisement and an email, a schedule and a reply, an invoice, a complaint and a response — and at least one question in each set can only be answered by combining them. This page drills the cross-reference itself: finding the shared value, carrying it across, and reading off the answer.

What this task tests

  • Identifying the link between documents: an order number, a date, a name, a price, a room.
  • Cross-referenced questions where neither document alone gives the answer.
  • Keeping the documents apart, so a fact from the reply is not attributed to the original notice.
  • Reading a schedule, a price list or a form alongside continuous prose.
  • Questions about a person mentioned in one document and described in another.
  • Working out what changed between an original plan and a later message.
  • Inference across documents: what one writer must have known when writing.
  • NOT questions spanning two sources.
  • Managing the clock so these sets are not attempted in the final three minutes.
  • Deciding fast which document a given question is asking about.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Skim the document types before anything else

    Advertisement plus email. Schedule plus memo. Invoice plus complaint plus reply. Naming them tells you which one holds prices, which holds dates and which holds opinions.

  2. Step 2:

    Find the shared value immediately

    There is always a hinge: an order number, a seat class, a session title, a date. Underline it in both documents before you read a single question.

  3. Step 3:

    Answer single-document questions first

    Most questions in the set are answered by one document. Clear those, and you will have read enough of both texts for the cross-referenced one to be quick.

  4. Step 4:

    Spot the cross-reference question by its wording

    *What rate will Ms Cole pay?* when the rates are in document one and her membership status is in document two. If the answer is not in the document you are in, it is a crossing question.

  5. Step 5:

    Do the lookup in two explicit steps

    Step one: what does document two say about this person or order? Step two: what does document one say about that category? Doing it in one leap is where errors come from.

  6. Step 6:

    Track the timeline

    The second document usually comes after the first and changes something. Ask what is different now: a price, a date, a room, an availability.

  7. Step 7:

    Keep the writers separate

    Note who wrote each document in the margin. Questions about *the writer of the second email* punish a blurred sense of who said what.

  8. Step 8:

    Reach these sets with time in hand

    They are not harder than the single passages, only longer. The marks are lost to the clock, not to the English, so protect these minutes in Parts 5 and 6.

  9. Step 9:

    If time runs short, take the single-document questions

    Read the shorter document, answer whatever it settles, and guess the rest. Abandoning a whole triple set gives away several marks that were within reach.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisAnswering a cross-referenced question from the first document alone.

    ThisChecking whether the second document changes the category you are in.

    The first document gives the rule and the second places the person under it. Stopping after the rule produces a confident wrong answer.

  • Not thisReading both documents fully before looking at the questions.

    ThisSkimming for type and hinge, then reading the questions.

    Triple sets are long. A full reading of all three documents can consume the time that the last two sets of the paper needed.

  • Not thisAttributing a fact from the reply email to the original advertisement.

    ThisNoting the source of each fact.

    NOT questions and *what is indicated about the company* questions are built on this confusion.

  • Not thisTaking the schedule's original time as final.

    ThisChecking the later message for a change.

    Second documents exist to alter something. When a time is asked about, look for the amendment before answering from the table.

  • Not thisUsing a discount from document one without checking eligibility in document two.

    ThisConfirming the person qualifies.

    Price questions are the commonest cross-reference, and the eligibility line is always somewhere in the other text.

  • Not thisLeaving the last set blank because time ran out.

    ThisFilling every space with a considered guess.

    There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so an empty row is a certain loss where a guess is not.

Language this task keeps reusing

as stated in
According to: as stated in your email of June 2.
refer to
To look at, or to be about: please refer to the attached schedule.
confirmation number
A code that identifies a booking.
purchase order
A buyer's formal document authorising an order, often abbreviated PO.
itemized
Listed line by line, as on a detailed invoice.
subtotal
The amount before tax and shipping are added.
member rate
A lower price available to members only.
early-bird rate
A reduced price for booking before a stated date.
in lieu of
Instead of: a credit in lieu of a refund.
apply to
To be relevant to: the discount applies to standard rooms only.
valid through
Usable up to and including that date.
per the agreement
In accordance with the contract.
discrepancy
A difference between two records that should match.
reissue
To send a corrected version of a document.

Practice: double and triple passages

40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.

DOCUMENT 1 — Riverton Conference registration: Standard $340; Member $260; Student $120. Early-bird rates end April 1 and reduce each price by $40. DOCUMENT 2 — Email, March 20, from Elena Cole: "I joined the association last year and would like to register today." How much will Ms Cole pay?

2Complete with one word from the price list.

In the set above, the two documents are linked by Ms Cole'sstatus.
In the same set, what would Ms Cole have paid if she had registered on April 10?
Decide whether each statement about the conference set is true or false.
  • The early-bird reduction applies to every category of ticket.
  • Ms Cole wrote her email after the early-bird deadline.
  • Student registration is the cheapest standard category.
3 to go

5Complete with a two-word phrase from the passage vocabulary.

A price available only to people who have joined is called the.
DOCUMENT 1 — Invoice 8812, Harbor Supply: 20 storage bins at $14 each, subtotal $280, shipping $25, total $305. DOCUMENT 2 — Email from the customer: "We received 18 bins, not 20." If the supplier credits the missing bins, what should the new subtotal be?

7Complete with one noun from an invoice.

The amount before tax and shipping are added is the.
In the invoice set above, what is the difference between the two records called?

9Describe the two steps you would use to answer "What rate will Ms Cole pay?" in a double-passage set.

10Complete with one preposition meaning *up to and including*.

The voucher is validDecember 31, so it can be used on that day.

Keep going

30 more questions on this page

Leave your email and the rest of the set opens straight away — on this page and every other exam page on the site. We read every address by hand and write back with practice suited to what you are preparing for. No list, no drip sequence.

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Note

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Frequently asked questions

How many documents are in these sets?

Two or three. Triple sets are longer but follow the same logic: one document states a rule or a list, and the others place a person or an order under it.

How many questions really need both documents?

Usually one or two in a set. The rest are answered from a single text, which is why clearing those first makes the crossing question much faster.

What is the most common cross-reference?

A price or a rate. One document gives the categories and their costs, the other tells you which category applies, including any discount deadline.

Should I take notes on the documents?

Minimal ones. Underline the hinge value and write the writer's name beside each document. Anything more is writing time taken from reading time.

How do I stop arriving here with no time left?

Fix a clock target for finishing Part 5 and another for finishing Part 6. These sets carry the most marks per minute of reading, so they deserve the protected time.