Tactics for TOEIC Listening and Reading Test Student Book

This book, approved by ETS (the company that conducts TOEIC), is a very well-organized and thorough TOEIC Strategies and Method book. But there are several major issues that make this book only "Good", not "Great".STRUCTURE:"Tactics" is divided into 28 Units. Each Unit focuses on a specific TOEIC strategy. For example, Unit 12 helps you build your "Gerund vs. Infinitive" skills, and Unit 18 talks about how Part 4 (Short Talks) uses numbers to confuse you and pick wrong answers. Each Unit also has a short quiz to practice those strategies.Each Unit also has a "Language Building" section, where you can build your Business English--it uses language quizzes like crosswords and "fill-in-the-blank" questions. In the back of the book, is a "Word list and Quizzes" section, which gives definitions of all the words found in the Language Building sections.NOTE: You can download transcripts of the quizzes/activities from Oxford University Press for free, but...this book DOES NOT INCLUDE TAPES OR CDs! You have to buy these separately!POSITIVES:The Strategies and Methods are very good to know--they are very similar to the techniques I teach in my class. Because each Unit has a practice quiz that focuses on that Unit's strategy, you can see how these techniques can help you. If you understand the strategies in this book, you will avoid almost all the tricks used on the TOEIC.Each Unit has a great variety of skill-building activities to improve your understanding of English grammar, Business English, and TOEIC test questions. Because there are different kinds of activities, you have a better chance to learning and remembering the strategy/grammar/vocabulary.This book will help anyone, at any English language skill level, understand how to "Think like a Test-maker". This is one of the most important skills to build before taking the test--it will help you spot wrong answers more quickly. For this reason alone, I recommend getting this book--no other book at Amazon gives you these Strategies.NEGATIVES:"Tactics" is very poorly organized. For example, instead of putting all Photograph strategies together, they are divided into Units 1, 8, 15 and 22--this is true for all the different parts of the TOEIC.Hidden on page 169 is a "Glossary of Terms"--words often used when talking about English grammar or test preparation--why is this at the end of the book, and not the beginning, where students more easily find it?This book does not come with CDs! You have to go to Oxford University Press and order them directly from them--which is likely very expensive (much more expensive than Amazon).This book does not include any complete tests. In order to practice these strategies more, you will want to buy "Target TOEIC"BOTTOM LINE:This book was designed for use in a classroom, with a teacher who has bought the CDs. Buy this book ONLY to practice strategies and methods. However, you will need another book (such as "Target TOEIC") to practice timed tests.

The TOEIC book was in good condition.However, this book was incomplete. There were CD's. I was unsatisfied.