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TOEFL Academic Discussion Writing Sample: Your professor is teaching a class on political science. Write a post responding to the professor' s question.

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Task Overview

Professor

Today we' re going to discuss whether the government should tax unhealthy products, such as sugary drinks and junk food. On one hand, taxing these products could discourage people from consuming them and reduce health problems. On the other hand, some argue that such taxes unfairly target lower-income families who may rely on these products as affordable sources of food. If you had to choose, would you support or oppose taxing unhealthy products? Why?

Sam

I support the idea of taxing unhealthy products. These products are often high in sugar, salt, and fat, which can lead to serious health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. As you said, by taxing these products, the government can discourage people from consuming them and resolve some of these health issues. Moreover, the revenue generated can be used to fund advertising campaigns that promote healthy eating habits.

Tanya

I believe that such taxes are unfair to families that don' it have a lot of money. Wealthy people will not care about the taxes and their habits won' t change. Additionally, when prices go up, people usually try to save money by purchasing lower-quality products that are cheaper to begin with. If people start buying low-quality food they could suffer even more health problems. There are better solutions to this problem than taxes.

User Samples & Evaluation Results

User Sample

I concur with Sam's viewpoint that the government should tax unhealthy products. Although it will have some effects on the low-income families, healthy is the most essential issue for everyone including people who in low-income. For example, if a family that do not have a lot of money buys some unhealthy food, they may experience hard time to care for their unhealthy body caused by eating the bad food. Also, the healing time will spend a multitude of money that the family cannot afford it. If the government want to support these poor families, they can initiative some charities and offer some free food and public service for them. That will be more fair for the society. All in all, I support that it is necessary for the government to tax unhealthy products.

Evaluation Result

1. 子项得分

  • Relevance and Contribution to Discussion: 4.5

  • Clarity and Elaboration of Viewpoint: 4.0

  • Language Use and Grammar: 3.5

2. 预估分数

25. 3 任务完成度

这篇文章基本上满足了任务要求,表达了作者对政府征收不健康产品税的支持,并给出了一些理由。但是,文章在语言和语法方面还有一些不足,需要改进。建议在以下方面进行改进:1)使用更准确的词汇和表达;2)注意语法错误和拼写错误;3)尝试使用更多的句型和词汇,使文章更丰富。

Example 1: Original: "Although it will have some effects on the low-income families, healthy is the most essential issue for everyone including people who in low-income." Improved: "Although it may have some impact on low-income families, health is the most crucial concern for everyone, including those with low incomes."

Example 2: Original: "If the government want to support these poor families, they can initiative some charities and offer some free food and public service for them." Improved: "If the government wants to support these impoverished families, they can initiate charitable programs and provide free food and public services for them."

4. 文章结构与组织

文章的结构和组织方面基本合理,包括引言、正文和结论。但是,在逻辑性和段落之间的过渡方面还有待提高。建议在以下方面进行改进:1)在段落之间添加过渡词或短语,使文章更连贯;2)确保每个段落都有一个明确的主题句,以便读者更容易理解文章的结构。

Example 1: Original: "For example, if a family that do not have a lot of money buys some unhealthy food, they may experience hard time to care for their unhealthy body caused by eating the bad food." Improved: "For instance, when a financially struggling family purchases unhealthy food, they may face difficulties in managing health issues resulting from consuming such low-quality products."

Example 2: Original: "All in all, I support that it is necessary for the government to tax unhealthy products." Improved: "In conclusion, I firmly believe that it is essential for the government to impose taxes on unhealthy products to promote public health and create a more equitable society."

5. 语法批改

I concuragree with Sam's viewpoint that the government should tax unhealthy products. Although it will have some effects on the low-income families, healthyhealth is the most essential issue for everyoneeveryone, including people whothose in low-income.low-income brackets. For example, if a family that do notdoesn't have a lot of money buys some unhealthy food, they may experience hard time to caredifficulties in caring for their unhealthy body causedbodies, which may be weakened by eating the badunhealthy food. Also,Additionally, the healing time will spendprocess may require a multitudesignificant amount of money that the family cannot afford it.afford. If the government wantwants to support these poorlow-income families, they can initiative someinitiate charities and offer some free food and public service for them.services. That willwould be more fair for the society. All in all,In conclusion, I support that it is necessary for the government to tax unhealthy products.

Section Title: 6 Article Revision

I agree with Sam's perspective that the government should impose taxes on unhealthy products. Although this may impact low-income families, health is a paramount concern for everyone, including those with limited financial resources. For instance, if a family with limited means consumes unhealthy food, they may face difficulties in addressing the health issues arising from their poor dietary choices. Moreover, treating these health problems can be costly and potentially unaffordable for such families. Instead of relying on unhealthy products as affordable food sources, the government could establish charities and provide free food and public services to support these families. This approach would promote fairness within society while prioritizing health. Therefore, I firmly believe that taxing unhealthy products is a necessary measure for the government to take. (131 words)

I concur agree with Sam's viewpoint perspective (changed "concur" to "agree" for a more natural tone) that the government should tax impose taxes (changed "tax" to "impose taxes" for clarity) on unhealthy products. Although it will this may impact (changed "will have some effects on the on" to "may impact" for conciseness and a more natural tone) low-income families, healthy health is a paramount concern (changed "healthy is the most essential issue for everyone issue" to "health is a paramount concern" for better word choice and grammar) for everyone, including people those with limited financial resources (changed "people who in low-income. low-income" to "those with limited financial resources" for better grammar and clarity). For example, instance, if a family that with limited means (changed "that do not have a lot of money buys some money" to "with limited means" for conciseness and clarity) consumes unhealthy food, they may experience hard time to care for face difficulties in addressing the health issues arising from their unhealthy body caused by eating the bad food. Also, the healing time will spend a multitude poor dietary choices (rephrased sentence for better grammar and clarity). Moreover, treating these health problems can be costly and potentially unaffordable for such families. Instead of money that the family cannot afford it. If relying on unhealthy products as affordable food sources, the government want could establish charities and provide free food and public services to support these poor families, they can initiative some charities and offer some free food and public service for them. That will be more fair for the society. All in all, families. This approach would promote fairness within society while prioritizing health. Therefore, I support firmly believe that it is taxing unhealthy products is a necessary measure (changed "it is necessary" to "a necessary measure" for better word choice) for the government to tax unhealthy products.take.

Title: 8 思维导图


1. Introduction
   - Agree with Sam's perspective
   - Importance of health for everyone

2. Impact on low-income families
   - Unhealthy food consumption consequences
   - Costly treatments for health issues

3. Government actions
   - Establish charities
   - Provide free food and public services

4. Promoting fairness and prioritizing health

5. Conclusion
   - Taxing unhealthy products is necessary

Title: 9 关键词

WordPhonetic SymbolPart of SpeechEnglish DefinitionSimplified Chinese TranslationSample Sentence
perspective/pərˈspektɪv/nouna particular attitude or way of considering things观点I agree with Sam's perspective that the government should impose taxes on unhealthy products.
paramount/ˈpærəmaʊnt/adjectivemore important than anything else至关重要的Health is a paramount concern for everyone, including those with limited financial resources.
consequences/ˈkɒnsɪkwəns/nouna result or effect of an action or condition后果They may face difficulties in addressing the health issues arising from their poor dietary choices.
unaffordable/ʌnəˈfɔːrdəbl/adjectivetoo expensive for people to be able to buy无法承受的- Treating these health problems can be costly and potentially unaffordable for such families.
rely/rɪˈlaɪ/verbto depend on with full trust or confidence依赖Instead of relying on unhealthy products as affordable food sources, the government could take action.
establish/ɪˈstæblɪʃ/verbto set up or create建立- The government could establish charities and provide free food and public services to support families.
fairness/ˈfeərnəs/nounthe quality of treating people equally公平- This approach would promote fairness within society while prioritizing health.
measure/ˈmeʒər/nounan action taken to achieve a particular purpose措施- Taxing unhealthy products is a necessary measure for the government to take.
prioritize/praɪˈɒrətaɪz/verb-to decide which of a group of things are most important so that you can deal with them first.优先考虑- This approach would promote fairness within society while prioritizing health.

How Academic Discussion Is Scored

The TOEFL Academic Discussion task is evaluated based on the official ETS scoring rubric. AI evaluation analyzes each response across multiple dimensions.

Relevance & Contribution

Does the response address the question and contribute meaningfully to the discussion?

Language Use

Grammar accuracy, vocabulary range, and sentence structure quality.

Development & Support

Are ideas well-developed with specific examples and clear reasoning?

Common Patterns Across Responses

Based on analysis of user submissions for this task, here are common patterns observed in student responses.

Many students provide clear opinions but lack specific supporting examples.

Strong responses directly reference the reading passage and other speakers' viewpoints.

Higher-scoring responses use varied sentence structures and academic vocabulary.

Time management is a key factor — responses that feel rushed tend to score lower on development.

Learning Tips

1

Read the prompt carefully and identify all parts of the question before writing.

2

Reference the reading passage and the other students' opinions in your response.

3

Use specific examples to support your main point — avoid generic statements.

4

Aim for 120-150 words. Longer responses are not always better; clarity and focus matter more.

5

Practice timed responses (10 minutes) to build fluency under exam conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the TOEFL Academic Discussion task?
The TOEFL Academic Discussion task requires you to contribute to an online classroom discussion. You'll read a professor's question and other students' responses, then write your own post expressing and supporting your opinion in about 10 minutes.
How is the Academic Discussion task scored?
The task is scored on a scale of 0-5 based on relevance to the discussion, quality of language use (grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure), and how well you develop and support your ideas with specific examples and reasoning.
What are the user samples on this page?
These are real responses submitted by TOEFL test-takers who practiced this question on LingoLeap. Each sample has been evaluated by our AI scoring engine, which provides a score and detailed feedback on strengths and areas for improvement.
How accurate is the AI evaluation?
LingoLeap's AI evaluation engine is trained on official ETS scoring rubrics and calibrated against human rater scores. While no automated system is perfect, it provides reliable feedback for practice purposes and helps identify specific areas for improvement.
How can I practice this Academic Discussion task?
You can practice by signing up for a free LingoLeap account. Write your own response to this exact question, submit it, and receive instant AI evaluation with detailed feedback on your writing.
How long should my Academic Discussion response be?
Aim for 120-150 words. The task gives you 10 minutes to write your response. Focus on clarity, supporting your opinion with specific examples, and referencing the discussion context rather than writing a longer response.

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