TOEFL 累積英語能量講座
2008/05/27
Crystal(尚勤） 老師 主講
The Writing Section on the iBT TOEFL
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The integrated task consists of a 250-300 word reading passage and a 1-2 minute lecture
on the same academic topic. The information in the reading passage and the information
in the listening passage are related, but the listening passage does not simply repeat
what is in the reading passage. You take notes on the information in each of the
passages, and then you must write a 150-225 word response about how the information
in the two passages is related.

The independent task consists of an essay topic. You must write an essay containing a
minimum of 300 words on the topic that is given. The ideas in your essay come from
your personal experience rather than from material that is given to you.
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STRATEGIES FOR THE INTEGRATED WRITING TASK
Be familiar with the directions. Dismiss the directions as soon as they come up.
Do not worry if the material in the integrated task is on a topic that is not familiar to you.
Read the reading passage carefully. Take notes as you read the passage.
Listen carefully to the passage. Take notes as you listen to the spoken material.
5. Use transitions to make your response cohesive. Stick to vocabulary, sentence structures,
and grammatical points that you know.
6. Monitor the time carefully on the title bar of the computer screen. Finish writing your
response a few minutes early so that you have time to edit what you wrote.
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STRATEGIES FOR THE INDEPENDENT WRITING TASK
Be familiar with the directions. Dismiss the directions as soon as they come up.
Read the question carefully, and answer the question exactly as it is asked.
Whenever you make a general statement, be sure to support that statement.
Use transitions to make your response cohesive. Stick to vocabulary, sentence structures,
and grammatical points that you know.
5. Monitor the time carefully on the title bar of the computer screen. Finish writing your
response a few minutes early so that you have time to edit what you wrote.
INTEGRATED TASK EXAMPLE
Reading Passage
It is common knowledge that forecasting is an attempt by meteorologists to determine
what weather will be like in the future. Hindcasting is the opposite of forecasting, an attempt
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to determine what weather was like in the past. Meteorologists wish that records of weather
had been kept in full for at least a few millennia, but it has been only in the last century that
detailed records of the weather have been kept. Thus, meteorologists need to hindcast the
weather, and they do so by using all sorts of information from other fields as diverse as
archeology, botany, geology, literature, and art. These pieces of information from other fields
that are used as a basis for drawing conclusions about what the weather must have been like a
t some point in the past are called proxies.
Listening Passage (professor):
Now let me talk about how hindcasting was used in one particular situation. This
situation has to do with the weather in seventeenth-century Holland. It appears, from proxies
in paintings from the time by numerous artists, that the weather in Holland in the seventeenth
century was much colder than it is today. Seventeenth-century paintings show really cold
winter landscapes with huge snow drifts and ice skaters skating on frozen canals. Since it’s
unusual today for snow to drift as high as it is in the paintings and for the canals to freeze
over so that skaters can skate across them as they are in the paintings, these paintings appear
to serve as proxies that demonstrate that the weather when the paintings were created in the
seventeenth century was much colder than it is today.
Now answer the following question:
How does the information in the listening passage about the weather in seventeenth-century
Holland shed light on the information on hindcasting in the reading passage?
INDEPENDENT TASK EXAMPLES
Essay Topic
Some people prefer to work in groups on projects, while other people prefer to work alone.
What are the advantages of each, and which do you prefer? Use details and examples to
support your response.
Essay Topic
Many families have important traditions that family members share. What is one of your
family’s important traditions? Use specific reasons and details to support your response.
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Writing 模式參考
(1)
(2)_________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(3) First of all,_(4)_________________________________________
(5) For example,_______________________
_____________________________________________________________
(6) Furthermore, _______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(7) In addition, (8)
______________
(9) For instance,______
(10) Moreover,_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(11) Finally, (12)__________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(13) For example, ______________________________________________
(14) Moreover,_______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
(15)In summary, (16)_______________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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說明: (1) 第一段第一句可照抄題目。
(2) 三個主要論據。
(3) 第二段第一個 transition word。
(4) 重複第一個主要論據。
(5) 舉第一個例子前必用的 transition word。
(6) 舉第二個例子前必用的 transition word。
(7) 第三段第一個 transition word。
(8) 重複第二個主要論據。
(9) 舉第一個例子前必用的 transition word。
(10) 舉第二個例子前必用的 transition word。
(11) 第四段第一個 transition word。
(12) 重複第三個主要論據。
(13) 舉第一個例子前必用的 transition word。
(14) 舉第二個例子前必用的 transition word。
(15) 結論段必用的 transition word (亦可用 To summarize)。
(16) 重複三個主要論據。
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Some people agree with the statement that a person should never make an
important decision alone, and others disagree. I agree with this statement,
because second opinions are always valuable, the consequences of our
decisions often involve others, and the participation of others helps us to
stick to our decisions.
First of all, second opinions are always valuable. For instances, even
complete outsiders who know very little about us can sometimes see our
problems in a different and useful light. Moreover, explaining a situation to
someone else is often the best way to make it clear to ourselves. For example,
we often think that we understand a certain point, and then discover that we do
not when we find it difficult to explain to someone else.
In addition, the consequences of our decisions often involve others. For
instance, our family members will certainly be affected by such decisions as
whether to invest money in a risky venture, or whether to move to another city
to take a new job. They deserve to be consulted.
Finally, the participation of others helps us to stick to our decisions. For
instance, if we wish to do something difficult, such as losing weight, our efforts
are more likely to be successful if we share our decision with other people.
Furthermore, when other people help in making a difficult decision, they are
often willing to share the responsibility for its consequences. For example, if
they help us decide to quit smoking, they will also help us deal with the side
effects.
In summary, second opinions are always valuable, and by explaining a
decision to others, we get a clearer view of it ourselves. Moreover, the
consequences of our decisions often involve others, such as family and friends,
so it only seems fair to include them when we make the decision. Finally, the
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participation of others helps us to stick to our decisions, and makes it easier for
them to assist us with consequences. For these reasons, I agree with the
statement that a person should never make an important decision alone.
附：Transition Words
因果 consequently / thus / therefore / as a result / hence
附加 in addition / furthermore / moreover / besides
轉折 however / yet / nevertheless / nonetheless / otherwise / on the contrary
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