Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TOEFL iBT 60
WRITING
(Student’s Course Book)
Ta Tu Quynh
Dinh Tran Hanh Nguyen
Pham Nguyen Huy Hoang
Vu Quoc Anh Truong Son
SECTION 1
WRITING
WRITING
PARAGRAPH
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TOEFL iBT 60 Writing – Student’s Course Book
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WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?
TOEFL iBT 60
I. WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?
Letter
Word
Sentence
Paragraph
Topic sentence
(topic + controlling idea A, controlling idea B, controlling idea C, ...)
Supporting idea A
Example A
Supporting idea B
Statistic B
Supporting idea C
Reason C
Concluding sentence
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The topic sentence is the foundation for the paragraph. It can be at the beginning, in the middle,
or at the end, but it is usually at the beginning. The topic sentence helps the reader understand what
the paragraph is about.
Example paragraph:
Computers are excellent machines to help students. Before computers, students had to go to the
library to do long, boring research. Many times students would read for four or five hours before finding
something that was useful. These days, however, students can even use computers in their home to
obtain the information that they need. Some computers are very expensive. My friend bought a computer
that cost almost three thousand dollars. Computers have certainly made stu dent’s lives much easier.
Questions:
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PART I – READ EACH PARAGRAPH AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.
At some point, most parents have to decide whether to allow their children to have pets. Some
parents believe that pets teach children a sense of responsibility because children have to learn how to
take care of pets. In addition, many parents feel that pets can be fun for the family. Pets can also help
children become more compassionate. On the other hand, some parents are afraid that their children
might hurt the animals, or that these animals might hurt the children. Cats are good pets, but I don’t
like them when they shed hair on the furniture. Often these parents do not allow their children to have
any kind of pet. Other families do not have the extra time or money that pets require. Although many
children want a pet, parents are divided on this issue for a variety of important reasons.
Questions:
3. Draw a line under the topic sentence. (Remember, the topic sentence is the sentence that helps the
reader understand the main idea.)
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6. Draw two lines under the concluding sentence. How is the information in the concluding sentence
related to the information in the topic sentence?
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William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States, is famous for several things. He
was the only president who studied to become a doctor although he did not finish medical school. On
March 4, 1841, he made the longest inaugural speech by any president. A few days later, he caught a
cold that developed into pneumonia. On April 4, 1841, he became the first president who died in office
after serving the shortest term of any president – less than a month. His widow was also the first First
Lady to receive a pension - $25,000. It is ironic that William Henry Harrison, who was President for
such a short time, is best known than many of the Presidents who served full terms.
Questions:
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3. Are all the sentences related to the topic? If not, write the unrelated sentences here.
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First, South Carolina is an important manufacturing and farming state. One of its most important
crops is tobacco. The second reason involves American history. Many important battles of the
American Revolution took place in South Carolina. In addition, on December 20, 1860, South
Carolina became the first state to leave the United States. Four months later, the Civil War
between the North and the South began in Charleston, a seaport in this state.
Questions:
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3. Are all the sentences related to the topic? If not, write the unrelated sentences here.
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Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold medals in 1912, but he wasn’t allowed to keep them. In the 1912
Games, Thorpe won both the pentathlon (five events) and decathlon (ten events). However, a month
later, the U.S. Olympic Committee took away his medals because Thorpe had played baseball for money.
An athlete who takes money for sports is called a professional, and at that time, professional athletes
were not allowed to take part in any Olympic Games. In 1982, the U.S. Olympic Committee reversed
this ruling. Seventy years after his achievements, Thorpe’s name was finally returned to the list of 1912
Olympic winners.
Questions:
3. Are all the sentences related to the topic? If not, write the unrelated sentences here.
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5. What time phrases in the concluding sentence make the sentence sound like the ending of the
paragraph?
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TOEFL iBT 60
In the integrated task in the Writing section of the Next Generation iBT TOEFL test, you will
need to read an academic passage as part of the task. In this part of the integrated task, it is important
for you to be able to read an academic passage of 250-300 words and take notes on the main points of
the reading passage in a short period of time. Look at the following example of a reading passage that is
part of the integrated writing task.
Reading passage
As you read the passage, you should take notes on the topic and main points of the reading
passage. Look at these notes on the topic and main points of the reading passage.
Topic of reading passage: hind-casting (trying to determine what weather was like in the past)
Main points about hind-casting:
- Detailed weather records kept for less than a century.
- Proxies (information from various other fields) used to hind-cast weather
These notes show that the topic of the reading passage is hind-casting, which means trying to
determine what the weather was like in the past. The main points about hind-casting are that detailed
weather records were kept for less than a century and that proxies, which are pieces information from
various other fields are used to hind-cast weather.
The following chart outlines the key information you should remember about dealing with the
reading passage in the integrated writing task.
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Make sure that you understand (and take notes on) the topic of the reading
TOPIC
passage.
Then focus on (and take notes on) the main points that are used to support
MAIN POINTS
topic of the reading passage.
EXERCISE 1
Read the excerpt. Then, with a partner, discuss the answers to the following questions.
Many people around the world believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
In most societies, polygamy-when a man has more than one wife at one time-is not practiced. In fact, it
is illegal in most societies, including the United States.
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, three of the world's major religions, do not encourage polygamy.
In fact, Christianity and Judaism strictly prohibit polygamy. It is not acceptable according to their
religious teachings.
Islam, on the other hand, does not encourage polygamy, but it does not completely prohibit it
either. In some countries where the government is run according to Islamic law, polygamy is sometimes
possible. Islam recognizes that there are cases in life when polygamy might be the best choice. For
example, if a man dies, leaving his wife and children alone, another man who is married might marry
this woman in order to give her the social support of a husband and family.
1. What is polygamy?
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Judaism: _______________________________________________________________ ____________________
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Islam: __________________________________________________________________ ____________________
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EXERCISE 2
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Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is giving human abilities or traits to an animal or an object that is not human.
The word anthropomorphism comes from the Greek word anthropos, which means ‘human’, and from
morphi, which means ‘shape’ or ‘form’. Therefore, together the words mean ‘human form’.
Anthropomorphism is common in the literature of ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks explained
natural events, emotions, and experiences through anthropomorphism. In Greek literature, Aphrodite
was the goddess of beauty and love. Literally, she was love and beauty in the shape of a woman.
Anthropomorphism is not limited to literature, however. People in everyday life use
anthropomorphism for a number of reasons. Imagine that you have a plant sitting near your window.
Day after day you see it leaning toward the window. You think to yourself that it wants to see out the
window. The plant cannot sit, nor can it look out the window; however, in an attempt to explain why the
plant was moving toward the window, we anthropomorphize the plant. We might say that it sits and
looks out the window, reaching for the light. A scientist might tell us that plants grow in the direction
of light. By using an anthropomorphic technique, someone who is not a scientist can make sense out of
an interesting or confusing experience.
Anthropomorphism can certainly make a story more interesting. However, more importantly, it
helps people to better understand events and experiences.
Anthropomorphism
Definition: ___________________________________________________________________________________
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Example 1: ___________________________________________________________________________________
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Example 2: ___________________________________________________________________________________
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EXERCISE 3
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Antarctica
Antarctica is important for scientific research, and it must be preserved for this purpose. Scientists
are now looking at the effects of the ozone hole that was discovered above Antarctica in 1984. They are
also trying to understand global warming. For instance, if the earth's temperature continues to increase,
the health and safety of every living thing on the planet will be affected. Astronomers are able to see
planets and stars very clearly from Antarctica. Biologists have the chance to learn more about the
animals that live in this frozen land. Other scientists study the plant life to understand how it can live
in such a harsh environment. They also study the Earth to learn more about how it was formed. There
are even psychologists who study how people behave when they live and work together in such a remote
location.
However, when tourist groups travel to this part of the world, they take scientists away from their
research. The work that scientists do there is difficult, and some projects can be damaged by such
simple mistakes as opening the wrong door or bumping into a small piece of equipment. In addition,
tourists in Antarctica can also hurt the environment. Members of Greenpeace, one of the world's leading
environmental organizations, complain that tourists leave trash on beaches and disturb the plants and
animals. In a place as frozen as Antarctica, it can take 100 years for a plant to grow back, and tourists
taking pictures of baby penguins may not pay close attention to what their feet are stepping on. Oil
spills are another problem caused by tourism. In 1989, one cruise ship caused an oil spill that killed
many penguins and destroyed a five-year scientific project.
1. ___________________________________________ 5. ___________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________ 6. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________ 7. ___________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________
Effects of tourism:
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2. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
EXERCISE 5
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Cosmetic Surgery
Although diet and exercise are still popular ways of improving one's appearance, there are some
parts of the body that cannot change without the help of a cosmetic surgery.
In the past, American women used to spend weeks repeating words that started with the letter p
because they wanted to change the shape of their mouths. Today, a cosmetic surgeon can reshape the
nose or lips in a few hours. Rhinoplasty, the reshaping of the nose, can greatly improve a person's
appearance. People who cannot lose weight in certain areas of their bodies through diet or exercise can
use liposuction, which is the surgical removal of body fat, to make their bodies slimmer.
Surprisingly, cosmetic surgery has been used for centuries in China and India. In India, for
instance, in the sixth century, noses were actually recreated with plastic surgery and had been cut off as
a punishment. Today, cosmetic surgery is used in many countries to improve the appearance of people
who have been hurt in fires or in car accidents. Cosmetic surgery is also used to improve the appearance
of children who are born with physical problems.
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EXERCISE 6
A well-known example of a different style of marriage is found among the early Mormons, a
Christian religion that began in the United States.
The group's first leader, Joseph Smith, believed that a man should be allowed to have several
wives. As the Mormon Church developed, many of the men followed Smith's teaching and married a
number of women. In 1854, one Mormon leader became a father nine times in one week when nine of
his wives all had babies.
At that time, the Mormons believed that it was a woman's duty to marry at a young age and to
raise as many children as possible. The Mormons viewed having children as a way of increasing the
number of faithful and making the church stronger.
Today, the Mormon Church, which calls itself the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
teaches that marriage should be a partnership between one man and one woman who will be together
not only during this life but also forever.
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TASK 2
READING
Read the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage.
The library at Alexandria was said to have been a marvel, the greatest collection of scholarship in
the ancient world. It was founded by Ptolemy I, the general that Alexander the Great installed as ruler
of the city named after himself. It was Ptolemy's son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who had the vision of
expanding the library to make it the largest collection imaginable.
Under Ptolemy II and those who followed, the library was expanded tremendously. Ptolemy II's
vision was to create a library with every Greek work ever written as well as with as many works from
other parts of the Western world as could be gathered together. The number of volumes , or scrolls, in
the library has been estimated at anywhere between 300,000 and 700,000.
A huge number of people were employed in preparing scrolls for the library, in as much as each
scroll to enter the library had to be copied by hand. Manuscripts were bought or borrowed ten from all
over the Western world to be copied and placed in the library (although it was rather common to copy
an original manuscript and then return the copy to the owner and keep the original for the library).
Ptolemy II often asked for manuscripts from foreign powers in return for traded goods, and manuscripts
were often demanded from citizens to pay debts to the government. In addition, any time that
manuscripts were found on trading ships in the port at Alexandria, the manuscripts were taken and
copied and added to the library. It was in these ways that so many manuscripts were collected in the
library at Alexandria.
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LISTENING
Listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening
passage.
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WRITING
What further information does the listening passage provide to add to the information
presented in the reading passage?
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WRITING TASK 1
READING
Read the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage.
LISTENING
Listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening
passage.
QUESTION
How does the information in the listening passage add to the ideas presented in the
reading passage?
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TOEFL iBT 60 Writing – Student’s Course Book
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WRITING TASK 2
READING
Read the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage.
Garlic, a member of the lily family with its distinctive odor and taste, has been used throughout
recorded history because it was considered to have beneficial properties. The earliest known record of its
use is in Sanskrit records from 3,000 B.C.
It was used as a medicine in ancient Egypt, where it was used to cure 22 different ailments. It was
also fed to the slaves who were building the pyramids because the Egyptians believed that, in addition
to keeping the slaves healthy so that they could continue to work, garlic would make the slaves stronger
so that they could work harder.
The ancient Greeks and Romans found even more uses for garlic than the Egyptians had. In
addition to using garlic to cure illnesses, as the Egyptians had, the Greeks and Romans believed that
garlic had magical powers, that it could ward off evil spells and curses. Garlic was also fed to soldiers
because it was believed to make men more courageous.
Quite a few seafaring cultures have also used garlic because they believed that it was beneficial in
helping sailors to endure long voyages. Homer used it on his Odysseys, the Vikings always carried garlic
on their long voyages in the northern seas, and Marco Polo left records showing that garlic was carried
on his voyages to the Orient.
Finally, even as late as early in the twentieth century, it was believed that garlic could fight
infections. Because of this belief, garlic juice was applied to soldiers’ wounds in World War I to keep
infections at bay and to prevent gangrene.
LISTENING
Listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening
passage.
QUESTION
How does the information in the listening passage support the information presented in
the reading passage?
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WRITING TASK 3
READING
Read the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage.
Many species of Asian bamboo have rather unique flowering and seeding cycles. What makes these
cycles unique is that all the members of a species tend to flower and then seed at the same time;
something else that is unique is that these simultaneous seeding cycles generally occur at rather lengthy
intervals of perhaps fifteen to sixty years or more. This means that a particular species of Asian bamboo
may not flower and seed for many, many decades and then, when this species does flower and seed, all
of its members tend to flower at the same time and then simultaneously set tremendous quantities of
seeds before they die so that the seeds can grow into new plants.
One particular species of Chinese bamboo is a rather extreme example of the unique flowering and
seeding cycles of Asian bamboo. This species tends to flower and seed less than once a century, and,
when it does flower and seed; it does so throughout the world. This special Chinese species is known to
have flowered and seeded in the early 1700s and in the mid 1800s and then once again in the late
1960s. Its twentieth century flowering was quite well documented and showed how amazing the species’
flowering and seeding cycle is. Astoundingly, when this species of bamboo flowered and seeded in the
late 1960s, it flowered and seeded in widely divergent areas; the flowering and seeding of this species of
bamboo was noted in many parts of the world, including northern and southern Asia, North America,
South America, and Europe.
LISTENING
Listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening
passage.
QUESTION
How is the information in the listening passage about the giant panda related to the
ideas in the reading passage on Asian bamboo?
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WRITING TASK 4
READING
Read the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage.
Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961) is one of the most acclaimed novels of the twentieth century. It is a
black comedy about life in the military during World War II. It features bombardier John Yossarian,
who is trying to survive the military's inexhaustible supply of bureaucracy and who is frantically trying
to do anything to avoid killing and being killed. Heller was able to use his own experiences in the Air
Force during World War II to create this character and the novel.
Even though Catch-22 eventually became known as a great novel, it was not originally considered
one. When it was first published in 1961, the reviews were tepid and the sales were lackluster. It was
not well received at this point at least in part because it presented such a cowardly protagonist at a
time when World War II veterans were being lauded for their selfless courage.
Within a few years of the release of the book, as an unpopular war in Southeast Asia was heating
up, Heller's Catch-22 found a new audience eager to enjoy the exploits of Heller's war-averse
protagonist. It was within the framework of this era that Catch-22 was newly discovered, newly
examined, and newly credited as one of the century's best novels.
LISTENING
Listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening
passage.
QUESTION
How does the information in the listening passage add to the ideas presented in the
reading passage?
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WRITING TASK 5
READING
Read the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading
passage.
Hemophilia is a condition in which the blood either clots slowly or fails to clot at all. Most
people who get a little cut on a finger can put a bandage on the cut, and the cut on the finger will
heal because the blood will clot. A blood clot forms from the polymerization of protein fibers that
circulate in the blood. A number of protein factors take part in the process, and it is necessary for all
of the protein factors to function correctly for blood to clot. Hemophilia exists when any of the
factors is either missing or not functioning.
The most common kinds of hemophilia are hemophilia A (or classic hemophilia) and hemophilia
B (or Christmas hemophilia), which was named after the first person known to have contracted it.
Hemophilia A occurs when clotting factor 8 is not functioning properly; 85 percent those who suffer
from hemophilia have hemophilia type A. Hemophilia B occurs when factor 9 is not functioning
properly; almost all of the rest of those who suffer from hemophilia have hemophilia B.
Hemophilia is generally passed from mother to son, though sometimes it seems to develop
spontaneously in some women. Women carry the recessive gene but do not generally develop the
disease. A mother who carries the defective gene mayor may not pass it on to her children. If a
mother passes the defective gene to a daughter, the daughter will carry the gene but will most likely
not develop the disease. If a mother passes the defective gene to a son, then the son will most likely
develop the disease.
LISTENING
Listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening
passage.
QUESTION
How is the information in the listening passage related to tile information presented
in the reading passage?