TOEFL ibt: Integrated Skills

One of the new things in the TOEFL ibt is the inclusion of what is known as Integrated Skills.
There are Integrated Skills in the Speaking and in the Writing sections. 
An Integrated Skill is actually an activity where skills other than the one that is being tested are brought into the context of the exercise, e.g. if a  test taker is in the Speaking section of the exam, question 3 to be more precise, for he or she to respond to that question first there is a short text to be read (usually a memo to college students) and next there is the recording of a conversation between two students making comments about that text.  
The Speaking section contains four exercises with Integrated Skills. Questions 3 and 4 integrate Reading and Listening whereas questions 5 and 6 integrate Listening only. Questions 1 and 2 are not Integrated Skills.
The Writing section, the last in the test, contains only one Integrated Skill and it integrates Reading and Listening. 
Exercises that do not include the use of  other skills are called Independent Skill exercises..                                      

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