Integrated Writing Skills Practice.

▪ Understanding the Structure of the Article and Lecture

▪ Taking Notes
▪ Paraphrasing
▪ Writing Your Essay with Templates
▪ The Introduction
▪ The Body Paragraphs
▪ The Concluding Paragraph
PRACTICE 1
TOEFL IBT WRITING SECTION
®
▪ Writing Practice Set 1 (Integrated)
▪ Passage, Lecture and Question
▪ Directions: Give yourself 3 minutes to read the passage.
▪ Reading Time: 3 minutes
Reading Passage
▪ In an effort to encourage ecologically sustainable forestry practices, an international
organization started issuing certifications to wood companies that meet high ecological
standards by conserving resources and recycling materials. Companies that receive this
certification can attract customers by advertising their products as "ecocertified." Around the
world, many wood companies have adopted new, ecologically friendly practices in order to
receive ecocertification. However, it is unlikely that wood companies in the United States will do
the same, for several reasons.
▪ First, American consumers are exposed to so much advertising that they would not value or
even pay attention to the ecocertification label. Because so many mediocre products are labeled
"new" or "improved," American consumers do not place much trust in advertising claims in
general.
▪ Second, ecocertified wood will be more expensive than uncertified wood because in order to
earn ecocertification, a wood company must pay to have its business examined by a certification
agency. This additional cost gets passed on to consumers. American consumers tend to be
strongly motivated by price, and therefore they are likely to choose cheaper uncertified wood
products. Accordingly, American wood companies will prefer to keep their prices low rather than
obtain ecocertification.
▪ Third, although some people claim that it always makes good business sense for American
companies to keep up with the developments in the rest of the world, this argument is not
convincing. Pursuing certification would make sense for American wood companies only if they
marketed most of their products abroad. But that is not the case—American wood businesses
sell most of their products in the United States, catering to a very large customer base that is
satisfied with the merchandise.
Lecture
▪ Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.
Professor Well, despite what many people say, there's good reason to think that many
American wood companies will eventually seek ecocertification for their wood
products. First off, consumers in the United States don't treat all advertising the same.
They distinguish between advertising claims that companies make about their own
products and claims made by independent certification agencies. Americans have a lot
of confidence in independent consumer agencies. Thus, ecologically minded
Americans are likely to react very favorably to wood products ecologically certified by
an independent organization with an international reputation for trustworthiness.
▪ Second point—of course it's true that American consumers care a lot about price—
who doesn't? But studies of how consumers make decisions show that price alone
determines consumers' decisions only when the price of one competing product is
much higher or lower than another. When the price difference between two products
is small—say, less than five percent, as is the case with certified wood— Americans
often do choose on factors other than price. And Americans are becoming increasingly
convinced of the value of preserving and protecting the environment.
▪ And third, U.S. wood companies should definitely pay attention to what's going on in
the wood business internationally, not because of foreign consumers, but because of
foreign competition. As I just told you, there's a good chance that many American
consumers will be interested in ecocertified products. And guess what, if American
companies are slow capturing those customers, you can be sure that foreign
companies will soon start crowding into the American market, offering ecocertified
wood that domestic companies don't.
Directions: Give yourself 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your
response is judged on the quality of the writing and on how well it presents the
points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage. Typically, an
effective response will be 150 to 225 words. You may view the reading passage
while you respond.
Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how
they cast doubt on specific points made in the reading passage.
PRACTICE 2
TOEFL IBT WRITING SECTION
®
This section is now a standard part of the TOEFL iBT. Previously, a writing test was
administered as a separate test (TWE) from the paper and computer based TOEFL.
The iBT writing section is divided into two parts: Integrated Writing and Independent
Writing.
▪ Integrated Writing
▪ Writing Based on Reading and Listening
Here you will read a passage about an academic topic. Then you will listen to a lecture
about the same topic. You are permitted to take notes while you read and listen. You will
be asked a question that relates to both the text and the listening. Your response should
be 150-225 words. Hint: Look for three many points that are related. Your score will
depend on the quality of your writing as well as how well you answer the question. After
you have heard the lecture you will have twenty minutes to plan and write your
response.
Reading Passage
Conference on August 24th, 2006, Pluto lost its status as a planet in our solar system.
Pluto was originally discovered in 1930 when scientists were searching for something
that was interfering with Uranus's orbit. Though Pluto was estimated to be similar in size
to Earth, it was later discovered that it was even smaller than our own moon, as well as
many other moons. It is now known that there are thousands of planetary objects similar
to Pluto, including Eris which is slightly larger than Pluto. Choosing to reclassify Pluto to
a dwarf planet honors the fact that science is about making new discoveries. While it
was a sad day for Pluto lovers, people in general have accepted the idea, and the next
generation of children will grow up knowing only eight planets and thinking nothing of it.
As Mike Brown, the astronomer who discovered Eris, noted following the IUC's
decision, "science is self-correcting."
▪ Next you will listen to part of a lecture on the same subject..
Lecture Script (Please Go to writing practice 2 mp3)
As you all likely know by now, Pluto has been officially demoted to a dwarf planet. What this means is that we will no longer
include it as part of our solar system. The debate about whether or not Pluto should hold its status as a planet created sucha
conflict within the community of world astronomers that it has been called the Great Pluto War. The decision on whether or not
to demote Pluto was put to a final vote by astronomers from around the world at the International Astronomical Union
Conference. However, when I say from around the world, I don't mean worldwide. In fact, less than 10% of the world's
astronomers voted, and most of those who were at the conference had already gone home by the last day when the vote took
place. Of more than 10 000 potential voters, less than 500 took part, mainly because there was no way for them to cast their
vote without actually being at the conference. Many astronomers believe that if electronic voting had been an option, Pluto
along with two other celestial objects, would now be considered planets. Furthermore, the definition that was decided upon for
a planet - that it must clear the neighborhood around its orbit - doesn't technically hold up, since Earth, Mars, Neptune, and
Jupiter all have asteroids as neighbors.
The IUC decision disappointed many people outside the astronomy community too. You see, there are more than a few Pluto
lovers out there. Some were so angry at the resolution that they began putting petitions together to have the ruling overturned.
In New Mexico, where Pluto's discoverer was a resident, state officials have declared March 13th, Pluto Planet Day. Children
in particular have a thing with Pluto and are perhaps the least willing to part with it. The name for the now dwarf planet was
put to a vote in 1930. And incidentally, Pluto, which was chosen unanimously by a group at the observatory where it was
discovered, had been submitted by a young schoolgirl.
▪ Summarize the points made in the lecture, explaining how they cast doubt on the
points made in the reading passage.
▪ Swap your work with your partner.
▪ Read for main ideas (stand point in the lecture and reading passage)
▪ Check for organizing ideas
▪ Check for sentence structures mistakes
▪ Check grammar
▪ Check vocabulary
▪ Have a good day