Practice of A TOEIC Test

Since a TOEIC test is just a month away, today I practiced solve problems assuming an actual exam.

It took 2 hours to solve the 200 problems, and it took about 3 hours to score them and to understand their commentary, then I was very tired.

My score was 650 points... it's awful.

I have to acquire 730 points at least on the TOEIC test in order to satisfy graduation requirements.

But I think 730 points isn't enough because I have to write doctoral thesis in English next year.

From today, I will try to solve TOEIC problems every day.

And today, after I finished the practice, I played "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" that I bought six months ago.

It's really funny, so I'm afraid I can't stop playing it.

However, I decided the game play up to maximum an hour a day.

今日は、来月に控えたTOEICテストに向けて、実際の試験を想定した練習をしました。

問題を解くのに2時間、採点して解説を読むのに3時間かかり、とても疲れました。

テストの結果は約650点。ひどい結果です。

博士課程の卒業要件は730点ですが、博士論文を英語で書かないといけないので、そんなレベルでは足りないと思います。

これから毎日1回、TOEICの問題を解こうと思います。

TOEICの練習をした後は、半年前に買ったゼルダの伝説 スカイウォードソードをプレイしました。

すごく楽しくて、夜遅くまでやってしまいそうです。

しかし、ゲームは1日最大1時間までにしようと思います。

• It took 2 hours to solve the 200 problems, and it took about 3 hours to score them and to understand their commentary, then I was very tired.
• It took me 2 hours to solve the 200 problems, and it took about 3 hours to score them and to understand their commentary, then I was very tired.

• it's awful.
• it's awful. (or: It's an awful result)

• Practice of A TOEIC Test
• Practice for the TOEIC Test

  I think that this is more natural. Also, we should use "the" instead of "a" because I believe that you are referring to the upcoming TOEIC test. Recall that we use "a/an" for non-specific things, and "the" for specific things. We can actually use "a/an" when referring to a single TOEIC past test, because there are many of them. However, when we are referring to a specific single TOEIC past test, such as the 2012 TOEIC past test (I don't know if one really exists), then we use "the". :)

• Since a TOEIC test is just a month away, today I practiced solve problems assuming an actual exam.
• Since the TOEIC test is just a month away, today I practiced solving problems as if I were in an actual exam.

  We use "solving" instead of "solve" here because "solve" is used when we are talking about the future, or in general, such as in "I will solve" and "we're going to find out who it was and solve the mystery" respectively. "Solving" is used when we are talking about the present.
  
  (Remember that when the events described in a sentence actually happened don't really have to do with deciding between present-tense/past-tense/future-tense, or words that deal with the present/past/future... it depends on the "time-sphere" of the sentence.
  Here, we are describing you solving the problems as if it were happening right now, when in fact you did it some time before writing the lang-8 journal entry.)
  
  "Assuming" is a conjunction where the idea before it is used as a premise for which the statement coming after it can be based. It's also used for arguments, which are a set of reasons which hope to persuade someone about a topic, so we can't use it here. Maybe, just maybe you can use it like you did, but I really doubt it.
  
  I hope that this is clear to you. :)

• It took 2 hours to solve the 200 problems, and it took about 3 hours to score them and to understand their commentary, then I was very tired.
• It took 2 hours to solve the 200 problems in the practice test, and it took about 3 hours to score them and to understand their commentary, then I was very tired.

  We must write "in the practice test" because we use "the", which means that we are referring to not some random 200 problems, but the specific 200 problems from the practice test. :)

• My score was 650 points...
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• it's awful.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• I have to acquire 730 points at least on the TOEIC test in order to satisfy graduation requirements.
• I have to acquire at least 730 points at least on the TOEIC test in order to satisfy graduation requirements.

• But I think 730 points isn't enough because I have to write doctoral thesis in English next year.
• However, I think 730 points isn't enough because I have to write a doctoral thesis in English next year.

  "However" and "but" mean the same thing, but "however" should be used at the beginning of a sentence, or if used in the middle of a sentence, would be used with a semicolon and a comma (...; however,...). Note that when we use a semicolon in the middle of a sentence, the sentence that comes before it and the sentence after it will be sentences that can stand by themselves, for example, "Jane did keep her room clean; however, she did not keep her bathroom clean.
  
  "But" should be used in the middle of a sentence. Using "however" in the middle of sentences and "but" in the beginning of sentences aren't really wrong, but they are not really right either, if you get what I mean. The rules of "however" and "but" are twisted a lot because the people who write dictionaries, the big name grammarians, and reputable writers all have different opinions, but it is safer to use "however" and "but" the way that I have described.
  
  We are bringing up the doctoral thesis for the first time in this piece of writing, so we use "a/an". :)

• From today, I will try to solve TOEIC problems every day.
• From today onwards, I will try to solve TOEIC problems every day.

  I think that writing "from today onwards" is more natural. We can also write "tarting from today". :)

• And today, after I finished the practice, I played "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" that I bought six months ago.
• And today, After I finished the practice test, I played "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" that I bought six months ago.

• However, I decided the game play up to maximum an hour a day.
• However, I decided the game play up to a maximum of an hour a day.

  I think that this is more natural. :)

Good luck! :)