2019-01-24 TOEFL: independent writing again

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-poisonous-animals-poison-themselves-rebecca-d-tarvin
natural selection: natural processes which “select” which members of a species survive and reproduce
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Homework: answer the “test questions” for the rest of the handout (p. 31, 33, 35-37, 39-40)
1L8
1 c
2 a
3 a - “to make matters worse” means this is some additional bad thing on top of everything else
4 c d
5 b d
6 f m m f m f
1L10
1 c
2 c d e
3 c (“the major difference between working in a family business versus working for a company seems to be a sense of belonging”)
4 b
5 c (The student mentions “competence of the employees” as a disadvantage, so he’s talking about lack of competence, or incompetence.)
6 A D D A A D
1L13
1 b
2 d
3 a
4 b c
5 b
6 - 2 2 1 1 2 2
1L14
1 b
2 b
3 b
4 a b
5 b c
1L15
1 b
2 d
3 d
4 c
5 a b
6 - 3 2 1 4
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Look at your graded writing from last week. Do you understand my comments?
The problem with content was that many of your points didn’t clearly support your opinion.
- “reasons for your opinion” means reasons I should agree with you, not causes of the situation you’re writing about
In the one about how we spend our time, a key phrase in the prompt is “too much”. You need to argue not just that people spend a lot of time on enjoyment, or more time than before, but also that this is a problem.
Regarding cars, you can’t just write about how people like cars or how cars have disadvantages. You also need to connect this to your prediction about the future number of cars.
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BREAK
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Indepdent writing practice (ETS 1 tests 4 and 5)
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Which one was more difficult? Why?
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https://www.typingtest.com/ is one website you can use to test and improve your typing speed in English.
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Someone forgot ____ book.
- Someone forgot his book. - sexist; possibly confusing with another specific “he”
- Someone forgot his or her book. - correct, but can be awkward, especially if you need more than one pronoun
- Someone forgot their book. (singular “they”) - very common in speaking, increasingly common in writing; some people still argue that this is incorrect

If possible (i.e. you’re talking about a generic person instead of a particular but unknown person), switching to plural makes everything fine.
- Someone who makes ___ own decisions… (problems like above)
- People who make their own decisions… (no problems)