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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.In your response you should do the following.• Express and support your opinion• Make a contribution to the discussionAn effective response will contain at least 100 words.

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2 user-submitted samples available

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Task Overview

Professor

As I mentioned in class, governments make public policies to describe their responses to various problems that affect a community. Part of this process involves setting and defending priorities about which issues deserve the most attention and resources. For example, governments need to decide whether they should spend more money on education or on environmental protections. If you were a policy maker, which issue would you argue is more important— education or environmental protections? Why?

Student A

We all live on planet Earth, and it is the only planet we have Therefore, we must take care of it. Clearly, protecting the environment should be the government's priority over education. I think the REAL question is, which approach to protecting the environment—restricting pollution, regulating population, promoting clean energy, or something else—should be the government's priority.

Student B

I disagree with Amy that the environment is more important than education. Education is actually the best way to protect. the environment. Educated people can see how their decisions affect the world around them. Also, with better science and technology education, we can develop solutions to environmental problems. Therefore, I think the government should spend more money on education.

User Samples & Evaluation Results

User Sample

I believe governments should spend money on education, since it is the essentional thing for a society. To be more specific,it is very cricual for society to put a lot of effort on education.As people get education from the college,they can get a lot of knowledge fromm the lessons and can try to solve some problems around us.For example, the enviroment problem, after got education from the college, the bahavor quality of people are increase instead of low qulity,they won not throw rubbish everywhere,and they can do some research about the enviorment that difficult to solve and give a way to solve them. Still,some people may think government should solve the enviorment problems first, making a good enviroment for people to live.However,receive education from the college can help government to solve the enviroment more effective and easily,which can make two things best.

Evaluation Result

1. 子项得分

  • Relevance and Contribution to Discussion: 4.0

  • Clarity and Elaboration of Viewpoint: 3.5

  • Language Use and Grammar: 3.0

2. 预估分数

  • Estimated Score: 22 (out of 30)

3. 任务完成度

在这篇文章中,你表达了支持教育的观点,并提供了一些论据。然而,你的观点需要更详细的阐述和解释。此外,文章中存在一些语法错误和用词不当的地方。为了提高文章质量,建议你在阐述观点时给出更具体的例子,并注意检查语法和用词。

英文改进建议1: Original: "To be more specific,it is very cricual for society to put a lot of effort on education." Improved: "To be more specific, it is crucial for society to invest a significant amount of effort in education."

英文改进建议2: Original: "However,receive education from the college can help government to solve the enviroment more effective and easily,which can make two things best." Improved: "However, receiving education from college can help the government address environmental issues more effectively and efficiently, thus benefiting both areas."

4. 文章结构与组织

文章的结构和组织方面需要改进。虽然你有一个简短的引言、主体段落和结论,但是整个文章缺乏清晰的逻辑顺序。另外,段落之间缺少明确的过渡。为了提高文章的结构和组织,建议你在每个段落中明确阐述一个观点,并在段落之间使用过渡词或短语。

英文改进建议1: Original: "To be more specific,it is very cricual for society to put a lot of effort on education." Improved: "To be more specific, it is crucial for society to invest a significant amount of effort in education, as it has numerous benefits."

英文改进建议2: Original: "Still,some people may think government should solve the enviorment problems first, making a good enviroment for people to live." Improved: "On the other hand, some people may argue that the government should prioritize solving environmental problems first, in order to create a better living environment for people."

5. 语法批改

I believe governments should spend money on education, (Two consecutive spaces)since it is the essentionalessential(misspelling) thing for a society. To be more specific,it, it(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) is very cricualritual(misspelling) for society to put a lot of effort (Two consecutive spaces)on education.As As(Missing space between sentences) people get education from the college,they, they(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) can get a lot of knowledge frommFromm(misspelling) the lessons and can try to (Two consecutive spaces)solve some problems around us.For For(Missing space between sentences) example, the enviromentenvironment(misspelling) problem, after got education from the college, (Two consecutive spaces)the bahavorbehavior(misspelling) quality of people are increase instead of low qulityquality(misspelling),they, they(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) won not throw rubbish everywhere,and, and(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) they can do (Two consecutive spaces)some research about the enviormentenvironment(misspelling) that difficult to solve and give a way to solve them. Still,some, some(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) people may think (Two consecutive spaces)government should solve the enviormentenvironment(misspelling) problems first, (Two consecutive spaces)making a good enviromentenvironment(misspelling) for people to live.However However(Missing space between sentences),receive, receive(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) education from the college can help government to solve the (Two consecutive spaces)enviromentenvironment(misspelling) more effective and easily,which, which(Use of whitespace before comma and before/after parentheses) can make two things best.

Title: 6 文章修订

In my opinion, governments should prioritize spending on education, as it serves as the foundation for a thriving society. Education is critical for societal development, equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to address various issues, including environmental concerns. For instance, well-educated citizens are more likely to adopt eco-friendly behaviors and contribute to research aimed at finding solutions to pressing environmental challenges.

Some may argue that governments should focus on resolving environmental problems first to create a better living environment for their citizens. However, investing in education can empower individuals to tackle these issues more effectively and efficiently. By fostering a well-educated population, governments can facilitate the development of innovative solutions to environmental problems while simultaneously promoting overall societal growth.

In conclusion, prioritizing education funding enables governments to cultivate a knowledgeable and skilled population capable of addressing not only environmental issues but also various other challenges that societies face. This approach ultimately leads to a more sustainable and prosperous future for all. (166 words)

I believe governments should spend money on education, since education, as it is the essentional essential (corrected spelling) thing for a society.

To be more specific,it specific, it is very cricual crucial (corrected spelling) for society to put a lot of effort effort on education.As education. As people get an education from the college,they can get (added "an") from college, they can gain (changed "get" to "gain" for better word choice) a lot of knowledge fromm from the lessons and can try to to solve some problems around us.For us. For example, the enviroment problem, environment (corrected spelling) problem; after got receiving (changed "got" to "receiving" for better verb tense) education from the college, the bahavor college, the behavior (corrected spelling) quality of people are increase increases (changed "are increase" to "increases" for proper verb form) instead of being low qulity,they won not quality. They won't (corrected spelling and contraction) throw rubbish everywhere,and everywhere, and they can do do some research about the enviorment environment that is difficult to solve and give a way to solve them. provide ways to address these issues (rephrased for clarity).

Still,some Still, some people may think think government should solve the enviorment environment problems first, first, making a good enviroment for people to live.However,receive environment for people to live in. However, receiving education from the college can help government to solve the enviroment solve the environment more effective and easily,which effectively and easily, which can make two things best.better (changed "best" to "better" for proper word choice).

Title: 8 思维导图


1. Introduction
   - Importance of education
   - Foundation for thriving society

2. Education and societal development
   - Knowledge and skills acquisition
   - Addressing various issues, including environmental concerns

3. Well-educated citizens
   - Adopt eco-friendly behaviors
   - Contribute to research on environmental solutions

4. Counterargument: focus on resolving environmental problems first
   - Better living environment for citizens

5. Investing in education empowers individuals
   - Tackle environmental issues effectively and efficiently
   - Foster innovative solutions to problems

6. Promoting overall societal growth
   - Well-educated population benefits society as a whole

7. Conclusion
   - Prioritizing education funding leads to sustainable and prosperous future

Title: 9 关键词

WordPhonetic SymbolPart of SpeechEnglish DefinitionSimplified Chinese TranslationSample Sentence
prioritize/praɪˈɒrətaɪz/verbto treat something as more important优先考虑Governments should prioritize spending on education.
foundation/faʊnˈdeɪʃən/nounthe basis on which something is built基础Education serves as the foundation for a thriving society.
eco-friendly/ˌiːkəʊˈfrendli/adjectivenot harmful to the environment环保的Well-educated citizens are more likely to adopt eco-friendly behaviors.
empower/ɪmˈpaʊər/verbto give someone the power to do something赋予权力Investing in education can empower individuals to tackle environmental issues.
innovative/ˈɪnəveɪtɪv/adjectiveintroducing new ideas or methods创新的Governments can facilitate the development of innovative solutions.
sustainable/səˈsteɪnəbl/adjectiveable to be maintained at a certain level可持续的Prioritizing education funding leads to a more sustainable future.
prosperous/ˈprɒspərəs/adjectivesuccessful and wealthy繁荣的This approach ultimately leads to a more prosperous future for all.
environmental/ɪnˌvaɪrənˈmentl/adjectiverelating to the natural world环境的- Governments should focus on resolving environmental problems first.
societal/səˈsaɪətl/adjectiverelating to society or social relations社会的Education is critical for societal development.

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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