TOEFL essay practice

Tpo41 essay

255’

The reading passage explores issue of whether to institute new regulations for dealing with coal ash and provide some claims opposing it. The professor focuses on the same issue. However, he is in favor of creating new rules, which runs counter to what the reading states. And in the lecture, he uses several compelling arguments to support his idea.

 

To begin with, with the regard to the claim in the reading passage that effective regulation already exists, the professor points out the fact that liner-special material only used in the new ponds and landfills mentioned in the reading is far from sufficient to work nowadays. By stricter regulations we can probably handling all potential damages, including from the old ones.

 

Further, while the author of the reading passage asserts that there might be adverse effect on recycling of coal ash, the professor considers the dangerous material, mercury, for an example to illustrate the feasibility of using strict regulations and safely recycling at the same time. He contends that consumers will not be such concerned about it as imagine.

 

Finally, despite the concern of increased cost for power plants in the reading passage, the professor reckons it absolutely worthwhile to dedicate extra money to the pursuing of cleaner environment. She also shows us accurate statistic to prove that it is not a big price to pay in terms of average.

 

In conclusion, the professor thoroughly pinpoints the flaws in the reading passage and manages to make her point of view adequately convincing by the accounts above.

 

 

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Teachers were more appreciated and valued by society in the past than they are nowadays.

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

 

332’

In early times, teachers were regarded as extremely significant both in personal development and education progress. However, with the advance of new technology and far-reaching changes in universe concept, that huge importance seems to be slowly fading away to some extent.

 

To begin with, under the current circumstance, parents not only play the mere role of raising kids up but are better aware of the education system as well. They are widely equipped with the knowledge of what children are supposed to learn and which method should they employ to learn them well. By that I mean the authority of teachers are gradually weakened, in an unspoken way.

 

Beside, those recently emerging electronic devices applied to instruction are not uncommon any more. Children have various types of approaches to learning new knowledge and up-to-date skills which are easily available on the Internet. Humans' wisdom, which is embodied in advanced technology, has almost made it possible for anyone to learn anything at anywhere, instead of being restricted to the traditional form like class. Learning means much more than just taking class and being imparted by teachers. This might serve as a milestone in the social development.

 

Finally, this phenomenon of teacher being less appreciated might also be attributed to few irresponsible teachers who are not fully dedicated to their teaching career. For instance, my 12-year-old young cousin, Jack, have this math teacher who is far from duteous. He does not check kids’ homework carefully enough. I consider it practically impossible to reverse this damage to innocent students. In contrast, were it with a tablet or a website, that situation could hardly happen.

 

Granted, by no means could the necessity of teacher in the whole society be completely removed in a short run. Everyone are surely bound to show respect for teachers as they do give us more instructive advice for life than the machines, even though the overwhelmingly tendency of more diversified way to get educated for us is an undeniable fact .

 

 

 

Tpo 40 speaking

T3：

In the conversation, the woman agrees with the announcement about providing lounges for commuter students in the newspaper and she has given several reasons.

 

First, with the regard to the reason in the  announcement that lounge place gives commuter students socialization and relaxwill like the dormitary residents, she mentioned that students spend a lot of time and meet so many people there,and once she met some guy who helped her a lot with her school work, and thus those lounge places are central to students' life.

 

Also, as to the posting stuff, she points out that it is a good idea, since it is really helpful  to show sharing infomation for students to save money by sharing car ride to campus.

 

 

 

 

Tpo 40 essay

The reading passage explores the issue of human inhabiting on Venus and claims it impossible. The professor deals with the same issue but holds the view that runs counter to the reading. He puts forward the idea of living in the floating mechanics like a balloon rather than the close surface on Venus, which comes with the following compelling arguments.

 

First of all, while in the reading passage we can see the huge pressure might makes it impractical to live on Venus, the professor points out the fact that the pressure value on the height of the "balloon" is nearly equal to the Earth surface, and thus there is practically no danger of crushing the spacecraft.

 

Moreover, facing the concern in the reading passage that no sufficient water for human beings to survive on Venus, the professor gives a viable solution. It is feasible to produce enough water from the chemical materials filled in the atmosphere, which are easily accessible.

 

Finally, despite that the lack of sunlight caused by the thick cloud is seemingly reasonable in the reading passage, we are informed from the listen that abundant sunlight can be achieved in the middle air on Venus by two ways. We could both get sunlight directly above from the sun and indirectly below via the reflection of the cloud.

 

In conclusion, the professor thoroughly/clearly identifies the flaws lied in the reading material and offers convincing accounts to illustrate his standpoints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the wake of the rapid and diversified development of global economy and human society, there are plenty of new trends and far-reaching changes in common sense. Unlike simpler time, nowadays it is increasingly widespread for parents to offer reward in the form of money to their children when they perform well in school exams, which is measured by grades. There are heated divided debates about this phenomenon among individuals and both side have their basis.

 

I am more in favor of this kind of parental behavior. First of all, under this condition, children might be more active in study. It is a good incentive for children to work harder and get a better mark. Even if the long-term benefit of excellent academic performance is undoubted from the sight of us adults, young children' lack of identifying goodness and evilness might make them likely to fall prey to temptations at the moment like computer games. The money is supposed to effectively spur the enthusiasm of study and prevent them being preoccupied with meaningless things.

 

Besides, this can instruct children to understand the lesson of "No pains, no gains." Make it clear to children the fact that you want your allowance, you need to do something for it. There is no good for them to take the allowance for granted. It is the overall development of children, both academically and mentally, that ultimately brings them success.

 

Last but not least, living in such a modern world, it makes sense for parents to equip their children with a sense of economy as soon as possible. If children were well aware of the importance of managing money and familiar with the related basic skills, we could expect more competitive youngsters in the later. Only in this way can we make children better prepared for the challenges and obstacles await in the future.

 

In conclusion, there seems to be some necessary factors for parents to take this approach to stimulate children to strive for a brilliant future. Parents ought to bear it in mind that appropriate measures are essential for youngsters’ growth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

一、as作连词的用法

　　1. as...as的用法

　　as...as意为"和……一样",表示同级的比较.使用时要注意第一个as为副词,第二个as为连词.其基本结构为：as+ adj./ adv.

+as.例如：

　　(1)This film is as interesting as that one.这部电影和那部电影一样有趣.

　　(2)Your pen writes as smoothly as mine.你的钢笔书写起来和我的一样流畅.

　　其否定式为not as/so +adj./ adv. +as.例如：

　　This dictionary is not as/so useful as you think.这本字典不如你想象的那样有用.

　　若有修饰成分,如twice, three times, half, a quarter等,则须置于第一个as之前.例如：

　　Your bag is twice as expensive as mine.你的袋子比我的贵一倍.

　　几个关于as...as的常见句型：

　　(1)as...as possible

　　Please answer my question as soon as possible.请尽快回答我的问题.

　　(2)as...as usual/before

　　She looks as pretty as before.她看起来和以前一样漂亮.

　　(3)as long as... (引导条件状语从句)

　　It took us as long as three years to carry out the plan.我们花了长达三年的时间才完成这项计划.

　　(4)as far as

　　He walked as far as the railway station yesterday evening.昨天傍晚,他一直散步到火车站.

　　(5)as well as

　　She cooks as well as her mother does.她烧菜烧得跟她母亲一样好.

　　一些带有as...as结构的常见短语归纳：

　　as busy as a bee像蜜蜂一样忙碌

as easy as ABC像ABC一样容易

as deep as a well像井一样深

as light as a feather像羽毛一样轻

as soft as butter像黄油一样软

as rich as a Jew像犹太人一样富裕

　　2. as用作连词引导时间状语从句

　　as与when,while都是引导时间状语从句的从属连词,含义都是"当……的时候".但它们有区别：用when时,从句的动作可以与主句的动作同时发生,也可以先于主句的动作发生；用while时,从句的动作为一过程,主句动作与从句动作同时进行或在从句动作过程中发生；用as时,主句和从句的动作同时发生,具有延续的含义.例如：

　　(1)It was snowing when he arrived at the construction site.他到达工地时,天正在下雪.

　　(2)He was watching TV while his mother was cooking.他母亲做饭时他在看电视.

　　(3) You will grow wiser as you grow older.你会随着年龄的增长而越来越聪明.

　　3. as用作连词引导原因状语从句

　　as,because,since都可以表示因果关系,连接原因状语从句,含义是"因为,由于",但它们有区别：because表示的语气最强；as一般放在句首,语气较弱,较口语化；since常常用在书面语中,表示多为对方已知的、或稍加分析便可得知的原因,有时可译作"既然".例如：

　　(1) He will succeed because he is in earnest.他一定会成功,因为他很认真.

　　(2) Since you are so sure of it he”ll believe you.既然你对此如此有把握,他会相信你的.

　　(3) As rain has fallen, the air is cooler.因为下过雨,空气比较清爽.

　　4. as作连词引导让步状语从句

　　as与although (或though),however (或no matter how)等都可以引导让步状语从句,含义是"虽然,尽管",但它们有区别：although语气稍正式些,可放在句首,也可放在句中,主句中不能再用but,但可以用yet；as所表示的语气较强,引导的让步状语从句用倒装语序；however引导让步状语从句时,它的后面可跟形容词或副词,也要用倒装语序.例如：

　　(1) Although he is quite old, he still jogs every day.他虽然年纪相当大,仍然每天慢跑.

　　(2) Strange as it may seem, nobody was injured in the accident.这次意外虽然显得令人不可思议,却没有人受伤.

　　(3) However hard he may try, he will not attain his goal.无论他怎样努力也达不到目标.

　　二、as作关系代词的用法

　　关系代词as引导定语从句时,既可以单独使用,也可以与其他词连用,其用法要比that和which更为复杂.

　　1. as引导定语从句与其他词连用

①用于the same...as结构中

　　This is the same book as I read last week.这本书和我上周读的那本是一样的.

②用于such...as结构中

　　I don”t like such books as he recommends.我不喜欢他推荐的那些书.

③用于"so +adj. + a/an + n. (单数) + as "结构中

　　I am not so strong a man as I was.我已经没有从前那么强壮了.

　　2. as单独引导定语从句

　　as单独引导定语从句时,先行词可以是一个词,也可以是一个句子或短语.例如：

　　(1) She is late, as is often the case.她迟到了,这是经常的事.(先行词是整个主句)

　　(2) To shut your eyes to facts, as many of you do, is foolish.对事实视而不见--你们好多人都是如此的愚蠢.(先行词是不定式短语)

　　三、as作介词的用法

　　as作介词,意思是"作为","以……身份".例如：

　　He came to China as a tourist five years ago.他五年前以游客的身份来过中国.

　　四、as作副词的用法

　　to the same degree or amount; equally "相同地","同样地".例如：

　　They don”t have as many airplanes.他们没有同样多的飞机.

 

 

 

Tpo 32 speaking

T3:

In the conversation, the man agrees with the sugesstion in the letter.And he has given several reasons.

 

First, with the regard to the claim that offering free bus during winter and spring breaks could be helpful since there is no public transportation between campus and airport, the man mentioned that they usually can only drive there or take a taxi, which is relatively expensive for students. Free bus can save them money on transportation.

 

Also, facing the proponent's claim to use buses that ordinarily run on campus to serve between campus and airport for students who fly home, he points out that it is feasible because fewer students use buses to get around on campus during that time when most classes are over.

 

 

T4:

According to the reading material choice-supportive bias causes people to focus on the good side of their option and finally foget the shortcomings down the road.

 

In the lecture, the prof. uses a case to illustrate it, which is based on his friend's decision about buying a house. We heard from the prof. that when the friend narrowed down to that specific house, he only cared about its convenient location rather than the always wanted big size. which shows that advantage was partially favored.

 

As to how the friend forgot about the flaw in size later, the prof. tells us that the friend totally forgot about the size thing few years later when he asked him again in terms of the house size.

 

T5:

In the conversation, the woman is worried about the burden before the end of the semester because her three papers due simultaneously in two weeks and research paper usually takes much time.

 

The man suggested that she can cut down hours on her part-time job to save time for her papers, while the woman do not want to consuquently make a bad impression on her boss. She thought of an idea to ask for a delay from one prof. so that she can focus on the other two papers first. But in this way her score will be lower for fair.

 

If I were the woman, I prefer the former solution, in which she can try to work harder than normal to offset the possible bad impresson.

 

T6:

There are two ways roads can affect the environment. The first way is that they contribute to movement of plant species, and new plants compete for resources of other native plants. For example, when the yellow star thistle is stuck to tires, it would be distributed to a new area where it competes for water, so that it is hard for native plants to survive. The second way is that they become barrier for animals. Animals are afraid to cross highways, so they’re shut in small areas where they can’t get enough food. This is hard for animals that need food which are spread over a large expansion of land. For example, kit foxes hunt for mice that are spread out in a large expansion of grassland, When road is constructed, their numbers declined because they can’t get enough food.

 

 

 

Tpo 32 essay

The reading passage and the professor’s talk both explores the issue of “burning mirror” in ancient Greek. According to the lecture, the professor states several reasons accounting for the justification of the view that the mirror was used as weapon in defense of the Roman navy, which runs counter to what held by the reading passage. Here are her main compelling arguments.

 

First of all, with the respect to the claim in the reading that such a large sheep of copper was technically impossible back then, the professor points out that it could be dozens of small mirrors that constitutes a equivalent parabolic shape. Thus the same function could be obtained as well, without one single large sheep.

 

Beside, while the author of the reading passage reckons burning mirror would have been such a impractical weapon for the long time it took to set a fire, the professor mentions that it is not the case. The essential thing to help set a file quickly is the pitch used in the Roman ship, which could catch fire in second. Then the whole wooden ship starts burning quickly.

 

Finally, the professor explains how mirror could act as a more effective weapon than the normal flaming arrows. Soldiers was alert to such attention-calling weapons like flaming arrows and might be get well prepared to defend, rather, mirrors may surprisingly cause them deadly attack. It substantially provides the motivation to make the change.

 

In conclusion, by the above accounts, the professor clearly identifies the flaws in the reading passage and thoroughly conveys to us that the reading is not convincing enough.

 

 

 

 

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

 

It is more enjoyable to have a job where you work only three days a week for long hours than to have a job where you work five days a week for shorter hours.

 

Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

 

 

In such a advanced modern world full of choices for individuals, working pattern is not a exception. Either to work for long hours with less days a week or shorter hours a day with more workday, inevitably, has been confusing most of employees. I personally reckon that the latter might be a better option.

 

First of all, working five days a week can be conductive for workers to practice their skills, which may in turn improve the product quality. In contrast, only three days a week could result in degradation in the specialization degree(专业程度) of their professions. As the old saying goes, 'Practice makes perfect.' Let me consider my old friend Micheal as an example, who works in a small company as a software engineer. He works in a three-day fashion and I frequently hear his complaint about how he feel uncomfortable about all aspects of his job on his first work day each week. That undoubtedly exerts an adverse effect in his job content.

 

Moreover, I think working fewer hours each day contributes to higher production. We can safely believe that this pattern can make sure to avoid any employee being too exhausted to function well, which serves as a guarantee to work efficiency. If employees were not energetic enough, there might never be any high-caliber products. It is the productive staff that ultimately brings a enterprise high profit, not how much time they daily consumed. The productivity can by no means be the same between those employees who get proper break and those don't.

 

Last but not least, this working pattern offers us a relatively steady tempo of life, which is extremely precious nowadays. In this way, we can spend more daily time with family members and friends and thus create a harmonious atmosphere. Good mood can be brought to workplace as well. It facilitates most of us to lead a happier life and what is calls for more attention is that we could maintain health, both physically and emotionally.

 

To sum up, it is more wise for employees to choose the five-day working pattern. Only by employing this method taking this approach can employees and employers achieve the double-win simultaneously.

 

 

 

Tpo 25 essay

 

 The professor explains several statements about the electric usage of the discovered vessels, which are contradictory to those views displayed in the reading passage. Here are the main points according to the lecture.

 

First of all, given the fact in the reading that there are no electricity conductors around the vessels, the professor thinks the case might be that local people, who were not trained, overlooked or threw it away by occasion. Therefore we are not supposed to be simply convinced that the conductors did not exist.

 

Moreover, while in the author of the reading passage claims that the resemble between the copper cylinders in the jars and those from Seleucia could be enough to illustrate the possibility of holding scolls of sacred texts. The professor, however, points out it could just be the original purpose. It was probably during this process that the new usage was discovered and first born.

 

Finally, the professor enumerates several possible scenes using electricity, despite the claim in the reading passage. She mentioned that the mild shock might not only be viewed as some invisible power, but be applied by doctors in healing patients as well.

 

In conclusion, the professor reckons the reading passage is not convincing enough by the supporting accounts above.

 

 

 

 

Independent writing (undue)

 

With the advances of modern technology, people's ways of life are more and more diverse and colorful. It is inevitable that nowadays the young spend more time and energy on struggling with over-burdened peer pressure, fierce competition or enjoying electronic entertainment, instead of dedicating them to helping communities. By no means should we deny the existing phenomenon, which needs more social attention.

 

First of all, young people are facing up to greater pressure from their parents to be outstanding among their counterparts. Parents nowadays put too much premium on education and cultivation of their offspring. Therefore, young people are more engaged in academic performance and standardized tests. There is little spare time left. Let me consider my cousin Jack, whose parents are so rigorous, as an example. He is a such a young man with a heart filled with a sense of responsibility. Every time he saw someone in need around the neighborhood, he was always willing to give a hand. Although active in community stuff, his parents reckon it a waste of time and a barrier in his way to some sort of success.

 

Besides, there is no denying the fact that modern product like computer games or online virtual reality are extremely attractive to youngsters. They practically would rather stay inside all day alone with electronics than step out to contribute to community activities, which substantially does harm to them, both physically and emotionally. Getting involved in helping the community seems to be much less appealing. It does happen to me. I missed several opportunities to serve in nursery and kindergarten just because I was in plan to play my favorite game with my friend online.

 

Last but not least, the lack of allocation from government or community administration is also one thing to be blamed. This is another reason accounting for the phenomenon which calls for even more attention. If there were not enough motivation, it is undoubtedly that people might not intend to do them voluntarily.

 

From my point of view, it is high time that effective measures should be taken to raise the young people's awareness of how significant influence could community activity exert to them. We all need to see some changes. Only when the young themselves realized and authorities related truly did can we improve the situation.

 

 

 

 

Sample:

 

 

Since the end of last century, a lot of criticism of the young generation has diffused through out the world. Till now those young people have been yet labeled as “selfish”, “apathetic” and “lazy”. Particularly, someone point out that, the youth are tepid in their participant in community activities. However, such a presumptuous judgment neglects the simultaneous change of human society, and deliberately covers the contributions made by the young.

 

Decades ago, frequent exchanges within one community were significantly in need as to ensure the quality of people’s daily life. The youth regarded as the most energetic group, therefore, should take more responsibilities to contribute to the whole community. Whereas, time has changed, with ①the boom of service industry and ②the great development of artificial intelligence, people became more autonomic—we are not like people beforewho need much physical help from our neighbors. For example, before, the old in one community might need young people to take care of their daily life. But recently, we have more service agencies to look after the old. Staffs there are well educated and have rich professional knowledge about how to take account of the aged. Moreover, people are liberated from tedious housework—we have cleaners to sweep the floor and dishwasher to wash the dirty plates, and, those artificial machines are also easy-use for the old. In this sense, people now are more independent than ever before, and need less help from the outside. Hence, it could be understandable that the youth reduce their work time in the communities.

 

Although the development of technology and a finer division of labor free us from some bland work in a community, young people attempt to contribute more to the community and do what they could do as they are. If we look around, we could find those cherubic teenagers active in kindergarten, nursing home and orphanage—playing with kids, accompanying the lonely old and bringing their own books and clothes to those orphans. For instance, several friends of mine, even though they are quite busy with their academic study, they still keep going to a nursing home every weekend to cook with those old, and have lunch together. Also, they go to a local kindergarten each month to play with those kids: teach them drawing and recognizing the national flags.The youth are doing more than we expect, and they do care about the others, especially those who are vulnerable. Therefore, it would be prejudicial and unfair if we yet (仍，还)claim that the young people nowadays have not put in the time to their communities, and ignoring effort they made.

 

Society should be more lenient to the youth, at least, not harsh. On one hand, we should understand the change of the world, and the potential influence such a change might bring to our life. We could not falsely conclude the development of our human society into complain about the teenagers. On the other hand, we should notice and admit every attempt made by the young people—they are doing their best

 

 

 

 

 

Tpo 23 essay

 The author of the reading passage displays three possible hypotheses toexplicite(×) explicate the decline of yellow cedar. The professor in the lecturedeals with the same topic, holding contradictory standpoints to those in the reading .

 

First, even though the reading passage attributes the decline to insect parasite like beetles on the basis of some recorded instances, the professor does not reckon it the fundamental factor. He points out that insect parasite only exits more often in the already dying trees since healthy yellow cedars are resistant to insect infestation.

 

Besides, the professor describes that the population decrease of yellow cedar is evenly occurs in the mainland region and the island area. Since the fact that there is no bears on the island, it can not be concluded that trees are killed by bears, which is states in the reading passage.

 

Finally, despite the hypothesis in the reading passage that freezing damage caused by climate changes influencing the root system leads to the decline. The professor claims the statement is indefensible by pointing out the natural phenomenon that trees decrease more dramatically in relative warm lower elevation rather than colder high elevation. In other words, climatic factor is not supposed to be regarded as the main one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In such a fast-changing world, it is increasingly necessary for us to decide whether to work quickly with the high risk of making mistake or to work slowly without any mistake. Heated debate is right on its way. In my opinion, this is a issue about efficiency v.s. quality, which by no means can be achieved simultaneously.

 

When it comes to choices like this, I am more in favor of the latter one. The first reason accounting for my point of view is that high-caliber work is the most important aspect ever. It is the reliable and convincing results in your work task that makes sense. As a professional employee, essentially, it is your basic responsibility to make sure the quality of your work. If we neglected this point, a pink slip might not far away any more.

 

Besides, never forget to keep your project always correct. As the old saying goes, 'Devils are in the details.' Saving time and energy from detecting the existing or potential mistakes might offers contemporary convenience, but it is not the case in the long run.If you neglect some seemingly tiny flaws ,then you are more likely to face up to the ultimate one accumulated from those small defects, which could be more time-consuming trouble to handle with.

 

Last but not least, it is commonly accepted that the more perfect your accomplishment is the higher payback you might obtain. From this respect, working slowly to make every detail correct is definitely worthwhile for each individual to do. Not only will you get well paid, you might be highly appraised by your colleagues and superiors as well.

 

Granted, with the tempo of life accelerating, improving efficiency in order to spare time for other kind of work is of great significance. Even so, if we lost our quality of work in the sole pursuit of efficiency, we might just end up being at opposite poles. What we need to do is to strive to be as efficient as possible under the precondition of quality assurance. Only in this way can we be more competitive in the fierce modern society.