The First Time of Taking TOEFL Test Outside the window, only a few houses still had their light on. The street lamps turned the glow color from white to yellow, a warm color that could pacify the anxiety of the passerby. I looked up at the sky. The dark blue sky extended to the boundless distant place, to the other side of the earth—America—the country where I wanted to go to school. To achieve this goal, I had to take two exams, the TOEFL and SAT. I took a deep breath, thinking about my TOEFL exam. Test Of English as Foreign Language, the first barricade I need to go through, now bothered me a lot. I was forced to practice it again and again, to make sure my score was good enough to apply the American universities. But my reading, listening, speaking and writing skills could not assist me to get an excellent grade. I knew it well. So I could not stay outside for a long period of time. I needed to come inside and begin my practice once more. “It’s time”. Dad sipped his hot tea, reminding me to continue my work. “Go do your work.” His gentle voice sounded like a ringing clock, low and deep but powerful, pushing me to obey his order. “Yes”. I responded, and turned on the computer to listen to the online TOEFL course. I attempted to note down all the key point the teacher said. She then started a listening practice. As the lecture began, I worked on taking note of the key words for the questions that would come out after the lecture. Hours later, after finishing the practice and checking the answers, I watched the teacher’s mouth open and shut but I could not hear her voice. So I took off the headphone and leaned against the back of the chair. “Is everything OK?” Dad found that I looked tired and asked with concern. “It’s fine. But I could not go on”. I responded jadedly. “Go to sleep then. Don’t push yourself to much. Remember, you