Writing: Original Classroom Practice
TOEFL iBT Sujet 4 11:25 Narration en anglais · Sous-titres anglais + 中文 incrustés
Chapitres
Transcript
This supplement gives original classroom practice for two Writing tasks: building sentences and joining an academic discussion. Nothing here is a real test question. Work through it in four steps. First, build four sentences from the fixed parts and the word chunks. Second, read each explanation, but only after you have written your own answer. Third, study one complete discussion reply and compare it with yours. Finally, fix two weak sentences and read the reason behind each correction.
Every task has the same parts. A fixed start comes first: copy it exactly. Then come the chunks, small groups of words that you place in the correct order, using each one exactly once. Then a fixed end: copy it exactly too. Put nothing between the fixed parts except the chunks. Your finished sentence must be real written English: a question, or a statement that could appear in genuine writing.
Here is the first task. The fixed start reads: Could you tell me where. The fixed end is a question mark. The two chunks are: is, and: the library. They are printed in a mixed order, so do not treat the printed order as the answer. Use each chunk exactly once, keep the fixed parts exactly as given, and add nothing else. Your finished sentence must be one ordinary written English question. Write your answer now, before the answer frame appears.
The second task builds a statement. The fixed start is: The notice. The fixed end is: explains the new room rules. The three chunks are: posted, that, and: the tutor. The printed order is mixed on purpose. Use each chunk once, keep the fixed parts exactly, and put nothing between them except the chunks. The finished sentence must be one ordinary written English statement. Think about which word opens the describing part before you fix the whole order.
The third task keeps a reason with because. The fixed start is: The class moved to Room 12 because. The fixed end is a full stop. The two chunks are: was broken, and: the projector. Because introduces a cause, so the cause needs its own subject and its own verb inside your finished sentence. Keep the stated cause complete, and add no extra word between the fixed parts. Write your sentence now.
The last sentence task expresses a required action. The fixed start is: The draft. The fixed end is: by Friday. The three chunks are: be, must, and: submitted. The mixed order is part of the task. Use each chunk once and keep the fixed parts exactly. The finished sentence must be one ordinary written English statement, and this pattern is normal English, not a rule made only for tests.
The finished question is: Could you tell me where the library is? By itself, this question would put the verb first: Where is the library? Inside the polite request, the order changes. After the question word where, the subject comes before the verb: the library is. This subject-before-verb order is the normal one inside a polite request. Each chunk is used once, and nothing else is added. If your sentence placed the words differently, compare it with this order now.
The finished statement is: The notice that the tutor posted explains the new room rules. The word that opens a relative clause. This clause modifies the given noun notice: it tells you which notice the sentence is about. Inside the clause, the subject comes before the verb: the tutor posted. After the clause, the fixed predicate explains the new room rules completes the sentence. Notice where the describing part sits: between the noun and the predicate.
The finished statement is: The class moved to Room 12 because the projector was broken. Because introduces the cause of the action in the main clause. The cause keeps its own subject before its verb: the projector was broken. The stated cause stays complete, and no extra word is added between the fixed parts. If your order differed, read the fixed start again: the word because already belongs to it, so your chunks only build the cause.
The finished statement is: The draft must be submitted by Friday. Must is a modal verb. After it, be and the past participle submitted build the passive voice: must, be, submitted. This order is fixed. The sentence is ordinary written English, and the fixed parts, the subject and the deadline by Friday, stay unchanged. This pattern reports a requirement, which is exactly where the passive voice is natural in real writing.
The discussion task begins with the professor's question: which plan would help students more, keeping the library open longer, or buying more e-books? The prompt states two invented details for this practice: the library now closes at nine p.m., and each e-book licence might allow only one reader at a time. These details are made up for practice. Your job is to add your own reply to the discussion, answering the professor's question with your own reasons.
Two classmates have already replied. Mei supports longer library hours. She says many students study best at night in a quiet place, and she argues that a midnight closing time would let them work there after evening classes instead of returning to a noisy flat. Daniel prefers more e-books. He claims students can read them anywhere, at any hour, even when the building is closed, and that an e-book collection can grow without new rooms. These are each speaker's views, not facts. Your own reply will speak to these two.
Here is the first part of the complete model reply. The model states its position at once: it supports longer library hours, and it agrees with Mei that a quiet place at night matters when you revise. Then it marks an example with the word suppose: if the library stayed open until midnight during exam weeks, students who share a noisy flat could revise there, and those who finish classes late would still find time to study. The model continues on the next two frames.
The model now answers the second classmate. Daniel's point about reading anywhere is a real strength of e-books, but a screen is not a desk: long hours of reading tire the writer's eyes, and a licence might allow only one reader at a time. Notice that the model admits Daniel is partly right before it answers him. Notice also the word might: the one-reader limit stays a possibility inside this practice prompt, not a fact.
The model ends by choosing one plan. If the campus could do both, that would be best; choosing one plan, the model picks the hours, because a quiet desk in the building solves a problem a download cannot. The final sentence names one clear group, students who need that desk late at night, instead of claiming that longer hours help every reader. That complete reply is the model you compare with your own answer.
Why does this model work? It states its position first, then agrees with Mei and develops the point with its own example and reason. The word suppose marks the example as hypothetical, so the model claims nothing about how busy the real library is, or about real costs. It admits Daniel's point is partly right before answering it. Remember, these are choices in this one reply, not rules for every answer: a different reply may agree with Daniel instead, or speak to only one classmate.
The model also keeps every claim inside the evidence. The licence point keeps the word might, so the one-reader limit stays a possibility, not a fact. The last sentence names one clear group, students who need a quiet desk late at night, instead of claiming that longer hours help every reader. And the model reply is in English. It states no official timing, minimum or scale.
Here is the first weak sentence: She will attend an university interview next week. Something in it is wrong. Do not look ahead. Write your own correction on paper now, and say aloud what you changed and why. The improved sentence, with the reason, appears on the next frame. After you see it, compare it with your own version.
The weak sentence says: She will attend an university interview next week. The improved sentence says: She will attend a university interview next week. Choose a or an by the first sound, not the first letter. University begins with a sound like the word you, so the article before it is a, not an. The meaning of the sentence does not change. Now compare this reason with the correction you wrote on paper.
Here is the second weak sentence: Although the email was short, but it answered both requests. One word in it is not needed. Do not look ahead. Write your own correction on paper now, and be ready to say which word you removed. The improved sentence, with the reason, appears on the next frame. After you see it, compare it with your own version.
The weak sentence says: Although the email was short, but it answered both requests. The improved sentence drops but: Although the email was short, it answered both requests. One contrast word is enough here. Although already marks the contrast, so but is not needed as well. Keep although and drop but, or drop although and keep but: The email was short, but it answered both requests. The meaning stays the same. Compare this reason with your own correction.
Finish by checking yourself without looking back. First, rebuild each sentence and say why the order is correct: the polite question, the describing clause after a noun, the because cause, and the modal passive. Second, return to the model reply and find its position, its agreement with Mei, its marked example, and its answer to Daniel. Third, explain both corrections: the article chosen by its first sound, and the single contrast word. Then write one fresh sentence of your own for each pattern.