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TOEFL Academic Discussion Writing Sample: Your professor is teaching a class on public policy. 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 discussion in your own words. An effective response will contain at least 100 words.

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Task Overview

Professor

This week, we will be discussing a shortage of affordable housing that exists in many countries. In these places, housing-both apartments (flats) and houses are expensive.because populations are growing faster than new housing is being built. Now, think about places in your country that have a housing shortage. In your post, I would like you to indicate the most effective way for the government to address a housing shortage in your country. Please explain why you think so.

Claire

In my country, there is a lack of affordable housing in the big cities. Low-cost housing exists in areas outside of the cities, but that means workers have long commutes to reach their jobs in the cities. I recommend that my government create initiatives to encourage the construction of large buildings with many affordable apartments in cities.

Paul

Claire's recommendation is fine, but many people prefer to live in a house rather than an apartment, even if they have longer commutes. Living in a house can be quieter and more private. So, I believe my government should give subsidies or tax reliet to construction companies to build small, affordable single-family houses on unused land that surrounds many cities.

User Samples & Evaluation Results

User Sample

Both Claire's and Paul's recommendations are reasonable, but I advocate from Claire's suggestion that the government should construct large buildings with many affordable apartments. This suggestion can more effectively solve the problems and bring more benefits to both the government and residents. Specifically, those poor people who cannot afford high cost houses did not really care about the condition of their surrounding areas. Those people just require a space to reside and conveniently commute to work. Therefore, compared to a single small house in an unused area, these large buildings will contribute to providing more room at low cost to poor people. This was truly helpful to release their pressure on high loans of expensive houses. What's more, these people who have an apartment in the city can save their time commuting which gives them more free time to have a rest. Therefore, these ideas that Claire suggest not only benefit to government use less place provide more place for people, but also benefit to people who have problems finding a place to live

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: 4.0

2. 预估分数

26. 3 任务完成度

整体来说,这篇文章在完成任务方面做得不错。你对问题的回答与讨论内容高度相关,观点清晰。但是,你可以在以下方面进行改进:首先,在支持观点时,可以提供更具体的例子或数据。其次,在语言使用和语法方面,要注意避免出现一些小错误。

示例1:为了支持政府建设大型住宅楼的观点,你可以提供一些关于城市人口密度、交通拥堵等问题的数据。 示例2:在语言使用方面,注意使用更准确的词汇和表达。例如,“These ideas that Claire suggest not only benefit to government use less place provide more place for people, but also benefit to people who have problems finding a place to live” 可以改为 “Claire's suggestion not only benefits the government by using less land to provide more housing, but also helps those who struggle to find affordable living spaces.”

4. 文章结构与组织

从结构和组织角度来看,这篇文章基本上满足了要求。文章有明确的结构(引言、正文和结论),逻辑清晰。然而,在以下方面仍有改进空间:首先,可以在文章开头部分简要介绍一下两个观点,使读者更容易理解。其次,在段落之间使用更明确的过渡词或短语,以帮助读者更好地理解文章的逻辑。

示例1:在文章开头,可以简要介绍一下Claire和Paul的观点:“In this discussion, Claire suggests constructing large apartment buildings in cities to address the housing shortage, while Paul believes that the government should subsidize the construction of small single-family houses on unused land surrounding cities.” 示例2:在段落之间使用过渡词或短语。例如,在正文部分,可以加入 “On the other hand” 或 “However” 来引出与Paul观点相对立的论点。

5. 语法批改

Both Claire's and Paul's recommendations are reasonable, but I advocate from Claire's suggestion that the government should construct large buildings with many affordable apartments. This suggestion can more effectively solve the problems and bring more benefits to both the government and residents. Specifically, those poor people who cannot afford high cost houses did not really care about the condition of their surrounding areas. Those people just require a space to reside and conveniently commute to work. Therefore, compared to a single small house in an unused area, these large buildings will contribute to providing more room at low cost to poor people. This was truly helpful to release their pressure on high loans of expensive houses. What's more, these people who have an apartment in the city can save their time commutingcommuting,(This rule identifies whether commas are missing in a sentence.) which gives them more free time to have a rest. Therefore, these ideas that Claire suggest not only benefit to government use less place provideto provide(This rule identifies whether the preposition 'to' is missing in a sentence.) more place for people, but also benefit to people who have problems finding a place to live

Section Title: Addressing Housing Shortages

Both Claire's and Paul's recommendations hold merit, but I lean towards Claire's suggestion that the government should construct large buildings with numerous affordable apartments. This approach can more effectively address the issue and yield benefits for both the government and residents. Specifically, low-income individuals who cannot afford high-cost housing are primarily concerned with having a place to live and easy access to their workplaces. Thus, compared to small single-family houses in undeveloped areas, these large buildings can offer more low-cost living spaces for those in need. This solution would significantly alleviate their financial burden from expensive housing loans.

Moreover, having an apartment in the city allows residents to save time on commuting, providing them with more leisure time to rest and recharge. Consequently, Claire's proposal not only enables the government to efficiently utilize limited urban space but also benefits individuals struggling to find affordable housing within city limits. (153 words)

Addressing Housing Shortages

Both Claire's and Paul's recommendations are reasonable, hold merit (reason: "reasonable" sounds too formal, "hold merit" is a more natural expression), but I advocate from lean towards (reason: "advocate from" is not a natural phrase in English, "lean towards" is more appropriate) Claire's suggestion that the government should construct large buildings with many numerous affordable apartments. This suggestion approach can more effectively solve the problems and bring more address the issue (reason: "solve the problems" is vague, "address the issue" is more specific) and yield benefits to for both the government and residents. Specifically, those poor people low-income individuals who cannot afford high cost high-cost housing are primarily concerned with having a place to live and easy access to their workplaces (reason: rephrased for clarity and to sound more natural). Thus, compared to small single-family houses did not really care about the condition of their surrounding areas. Those people just require a space to reside and conveniently commute to work. Therefore, compared to a single small house in an unused area, in undeveloped areas, these large buildings will contribute to providing more room at low cost to poor people. can offer more low-cost living spaces for those in need (reason: rephrased for clarity). This was truly helpful to release solution would significantly alleviate their pressure on high financial burden from expensive housing loans of expensive houses. What's more, these people who have (reason: rephrased to sound more natural).

Moreover, having an apartment in the city can allows residents to save their time commuting which gives on commuting, providing them more free with more leisure time to have a rest. Therefore, these ideas that Claire suggest rest and recharge (reason: rephrased for clarity and to sound more natural). Consequently, Claire's proposal not only benefit to enables the government use less place provide more place for people, to efficiently utilize limited urban space (reason: rephrased for clarity) but also benefit to people who have problems finding a place to livebenefits individuals struggling to find affordable housing within city limits (reason: rephrased for clarity and conciseness).

8 思维导图


- Addressing Housing Shortages
    - Claire's suggestion
        - Government constructs large buildings with affordable apartments
            - Benefits for government and residents
                - Low-income individuals can afford housing
                - More low-cost living spaces available
                - Alleviate financial burden from housing loans
    - Paul's recommendation (not discussed in detail)
    - Advantages of Claire's proposal
        - Save time on commuting for residents
        - More leisure time to rest and recharge
        - Efficient utilization of limited urban space
        - Affordable housing within city limits

9 关键词

WordPhonetic SymbolPart of SpeechEnglish definitionSimplified Chinese translationSample sentences
merit/ˈmɛrɪt/nounthe quality of being good and deserving praise优点Claire's suggestion has merit in addressing the housing shortage.
affordable/əˈfɔːrdəbl/adjectiveinexpensive; reasonably priced负担得起的The government should construct large buildings with affordable apartments.
alleviate/əˈliːviˌeɪt/verbto make something less severe减轻This solution would significantly alleviate their financial burden.
urban space/ˈɜrbən speɪs/nounland or area within a city城市空间Claire's proposal enables the government to efficiently utilize limited urban space.
low-income/loʊˈɪnkəm/adjectiveearning a relatively small amount of money低收入的Low-income individuals cannot afford high-cost housing.
financial burden/faɪˈnænʃəl ˈbɜrdən/nounthe pressure caused by financial responsibilities and debts财务负担Expensive housing loans create a heavy financial burden for many people.
commuting/kəˈmjuːtɪŋ/verbto travel regularly between home and work or school通勤Having an apartment in the city allows residents to save time on commuting.
leisure time/ˈliʒər taɪm/nounfree time that is not spent working or studying休闲时间More leisure time allows people to rest and recharge.
city limits/sɪti ˈlɪmɪts/nounthe boundaries of a city市区范围Affordable housing within city limits is crucial for low-income individuals.

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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