Tài liệu Delta''''s key the toefl test part 50 ppt

Use specific details and examples to explain why these qualities are important.. In the above question, key phrases are important qualities, good grandparent, specific details and exampl

OVERVIEW OF THIS SECTION

41 Prewriting and Organizing ldeas {nà 484

42 Supporting the Main ldea - Ốc SỈ nho 489

43 Writing the Introducfon co co SH nh nhe nà 493

4.4 Writing the Body and Conclusion 497

4.5 Checking Paragraph and Sentence Structure 501

47 Analyzing and Scoring EssayS cà co nen 508

DELTA'e Key 10 THE TOEFL® Test

WRITING

483

4.1 Prewriting and Organizing Ideas

Q Focus

Read the following essay question

What are some important qualities of a good grandparent? Use specific details and examples to explain why these qualities are important

How would you plan a response to this question? Check the steps you would take

_ Just begin writing the essay

Make a list of qualities of grandparents you know

Think about what the question wants you to do

Choose three qualities

Describe your own grandmother

State your opinion about grandparents

The first thing you would probably do is think about what the question is asking In the above

question, key phrases are important qualities, good grandparent, specific details and examples,

and explain why These phrases tell you that the question requires you to do three things:

1 Identify important qualities of a good grandparent

2 Explain why these qualities are important

3 Give specific details and examples

Your next step might be to make a list of qualities You might add exampies from your own life

to illustrate these qualities (for example, your own grandparents) You might choose two or three

of the most important qualities to explain in your essay

Another thing you would probably do is decide what the main idea of your essay will be Your

main point should restate in your own words some of the key ideas from the question and

communicate your opinion about the topic For example, a main idea for this essay might be:

So many qualities make a good grandparent, but the most important are patience, love,

and a strong sense of family

The steps described above are part of the prewriting phase of writing an essay Prewriting is an

important part of the writing process because very few people can just begin writing and still be able

to produce a thoughtful and well-organized essay

4.1 PREWRITING

©) DO YOU KNOW ?

i An essay is a written work that is composed of three or more paragraphs The purpose of an essay

is to communicate to a reader an opinion about a topic and to provide information that supports or

defends this opinion

The essay you write in response to a TOEFL question will do one or more of the following:

®s state one side of an argument and defend it

“~« explain or describe something

®s show the similarities or differences between two things

An essay has three parts:

1 Introduction The introductory paragraph tells your reader what the essay is about It

restates the question in your own words and states your main idea The main idea of your essay is called the thesis statement The thesis is often stated in the last sentence of the introductory paragraph

2 Body The body paragraphs each contain a supporting point to develop your thesis The

body paragraphs are sometimes called developmental paragraphs They contain specific details, examples, and reasons On the TOEFL, your essay will probably contain two or three body paragraphs

3 Conclusion The concluding paragraph summarizes your position and completes the essay

2 Your essay will be evaluated on how effectively it

®~« addresses the writing task (answers the question)

&—< shows organization and development

? supports a thesis or main idea

Consider the above criteria as you plan your essay during the prewriting phase

3 Prewriting is the thinking and planning you do before you begin writing your essay Prewriting

consists of:

®*s¿ reading and thinking about the question

®s đeciding what your thesis or main idea is going to be

®~s brainstorming, making notes, and writing an outline

Brainstorming is quickly generating ideas—examples, details, reasons—in the form of a list or

diagram Brainstorming is thinking on paper It is coming up with as many ideas as possible in a

short amount of time

Outlining is organizing your ideas into a logical structure for your essay Before you write your

outline, decide what your thesis is going to be Then, choose ideas from your brainstorming that

will support this main idea Choose two or three of your best examples or reasons and discard the

rest Decide the most effective order for arranging these ideas, and write your outline The outline

is the plan for writing your essay

Note: Spend at least five minutes, but no more than seven minutes, on prewriting

DELTA’s Key To THE TOEFL® Test 485

Look at this example:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

The teacher is responsible for motivating students to learn

Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion

Brainstorming:

Disagree—Student responsible, not teacher -learning before & after school, w/o teacher -self-discipline

~If S not self-motivated, T can’t help much

—parents should motivate -people naturally want to learn

—my fifth grade teacher -work/ail life

~learning — no teacher

Thesis:

Although many people believe it is the teacher's responsibility to motivate students

to learn, students will not learn much unless they are motivated within themselves

Outline:

1 Natural love of learning

2 Learning during whole life

3 Developing self-discipline Look at another example:

Some people like to spend their leisure time doing activities with a lot of people Others prefer to spend their leisure in quiet ways by themselves

or with one other person Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and

Brainstorming:

Activities with people

reason — _ job is desk job, alone (computer)

active things/play tennis & basketball

good for exercise, health

socializing with friends college basketball team

enjoy ~ hiking, rafting/teamwork important

safety

develop important skills Thesis:

Since | work mainly by myself in my job as a compuier specialist, | prefer leisure activities

that provide enjoyment, exercise, and an opportunity to interact with other people

Outline:

1 Enjoyment and exercise: tennis, hiking

2 Interaction and teamwork: basketball, rafting

486 De.ta’s KeY To THE TOEFL® Tesr

4.1 PREWRITING

Yes PRACTICE

Timed Exercises ~ 5 minutes each

For each essay question in Exercises 4.1.A through 4.1.E, take five minutes to brainstorm and outline a

response that will

®~« answer the question

® show organization

® support a thesis

In these exercises, you do not have to write the essay Concentrate only on producing a good thesis and

outline in five minutes

Exercise 4.1.A

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Children should not have to work or help with household tasks Their only responsibility

should be to study

Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion

Exercise 4.1.B

Some people argue for a broad university education in which students learn about many different

subjects Others argue for a specialized university education in which students learn only about a

specific field of study Which position do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to

support your opinion

Exercise 4.1.C

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change? Use specific reasons and

details to support your answer

Exercise 4.1.D

Society benefits from the work of its members Compare the contributions of farmers to society

with the contributions of business men and women Which type of contribution do you think is

valued more by your society? Give specific reasons and examples to support your answer

Exercise 4.1.E

What are some important qualities of a good teacher? Use specific details and examples to explain

why these qualities are important

With your classmates and teacher, discuss which is better: organizing your ideas from least to most important, or from most to least important What other ways can ideas be organized?

Choose one of the outlines you wrote for Exercises 4.1.A through 4.1.E and exchange papers with a classmate, Evaluate how successfully your classmate’s outline (1) answers

the question, (2) shows organization, and (3) supports a thesis With your classmate, discuss both of your outlines Make necessary changes to improve your outline

Write an essay, using your outline from #2 above Allow yourself 25 minutes to write

the essay

4.2 MAIN IDEA

4.2 Supporting the Main Idea

Q Focus

Read the following essay question and two essay outlines

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

A student must like a teacher in order to learn from the teacher

Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion

Outline 1

A student must like a teacher in order to learn from the teacher

Good teachers Learning is more fun

Learning is easier Some teachers nicer than others Subject interesting

Outline 2

Disagree—Students do not have to like a teacher to learn from that teacher

More important:

1 Knows subject, good questions

Mr Powell — arrogant but knowledgeable

2 Discipline Algebra teacher - strict, but discipline, practice

Swimming coach

Contrast:

3 H.S history — nice guy, didn’t learn anything

Which outline will probably produce a better essay? Why?

Outline 1 has several ideas, but do these ideas support the writer’s opinion, A student must

like a teacher in order to learn from the teacher?

Outline 2 also has several ideas and examples Do these ideas support the writer’s opinion,

Students do not have to like a teacher to learn from that teacher?

A very important part of the essay question is Use specific reasons and examples to support

your opinion The readers who rate your essay are not interested in what your opinion is, but

they are interested in how you support your opinion with specific reasons and examples

Because Outline 2 includes these, it will probably produce a better essay

Ñ DO YOU KNOW ?

1, The readers who score your essay will look at

S~e how the ideas in your essay are organized

°~a how well your thesis is developed and supported

The readers will check to see if your essay is organized with an introduction, body, and

conclusion (See 4.1) The introduction contains the thesis, or main idea, which communicates

your opinion The body paragraphs contain supporting ideas

Supporting ideas are the points you make to develop your thesis Each body paragraph should

contain one supporting idea which is developed with details Details are specific facts, examples,

reasons, descriptions, or personal experiences

All supporting ideas and details in the body paragraphs must support your thesis

2 Most of the TOEFL essay questions remind you to support your thesis

4.2 MAIN IDEA

PRACTICE

Exercise 4.2.A

Read the following essay question and essay Underline the thesis and supporting ideas Circle details

in the body paragraphs

How does advertising influence people’s behavior? Use specific details

and examples to explain your answer

People are influenced by the world around them People see a lot of advertising in

newspapers and magazines, on signs, and on television Today people even see ads in the

movie theater! All of this advertising influences how people spend their money, how they

look at themselves, and how they communicate with other people

Advertising influences how people spend their money People sometimes buy things

they can’t afford or don’t need | read a story of a family that bought a computer for their

children, but they were living in a tent They didn’t even have electricity for the computer

People spend too much because they have to be better than everyone else In my country,

weddings are a big industry, and families spend too much money because of advertising This

is a negative influence of advertising

Advertising affects how people view themselves Sometimes it makes people feel bad

if they can’t buy something For example, a lot of sports and movie stars advertise shoes,

clothes, and so on Children see this on television and pressure their parents to buy it There

are a lot of crimes because teenagers kill to get designer jackets Advertising makes them

feel like they are nobody without designer clothes Also, teenagers start to smoke because

this looks cool Moreover, some girls want to be thin like girls in the ads

Finally, advertising changes people's communication | hear a lot of little kids saying

the phrases they hear on television They also sing the songs from the commercials Also,

advertising influences spelling | have seen “night” spelled like “nite.” Therefore, advertising

affects the ways that people speak and write English

Advertising has a lot of good points It is a way to sell things in a capitalist country

However, there are also a lot of bad influences on people’s behavior because of advertising

Could you identify the thesis, supporting ideas, and supporting details?

How well does the essay

“<a answer the question?

&« show organization and development?

® support a thesis?

Analyze and evaluate the essay with your teacher and classmates

DeLrA'e Key To THE TOEFL® Test 491

Directions for Exercises 4.2.B through 4.2.F: For each essay question, write a thesis statement and two

to four supporting statements Make a list of details that will develop each supporting point

Exercise 4.2.B

Food is an important part of culture What have you learned about a country from its food? Use

specific examples and details to support your response

Exercise 4.2.C

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Youth is wasted on the young

Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion

Exercise 4.2.D

Some people think that teachers and education professionals should make all of the important

decisions about what is taught in schools Others think that business and industry professionals

should make all of the major decisions Which view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and

examples to support your opinion

Exercise 4.2.E

Compare and contrast the experiences of children today with the experiences of children thirty

or forty years ago Use specific details and examples to support your answer

Exercise 4.2.F

Choose one of the following occupations and explain why it is important to society

artist banker engineer police officer Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer

4.2 EXTENSION

=

=y

Choose one of the essay questions from Exercises 4.2.B through 4.2.F and write an essay

Allow yourself 30 minutes to plan and write the essay Exchange papers with a classmate

Read your classmate’s essay and identify its thesis Make an outline of your classmate’s

essay, showing supporting points and details With your classmate, discuss and evaluate

how well both essays (1) answer the question, (2) show organization and development, and

(3) support the thesis