TOEFL TPO -1 Writing Task 1 Sample: Summarize the points made in the lecture. Be sure to explain how they cast doubt on the specific points made in the reading passage.
Historical user samples and AI evaluation results from an older TOEFL format.
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Older TOEFL Format
This task is from a previous version of the TOEFL exam. The current TOEFL has a different structure. These archived samples remain available as a reference for practice.
Task Overview
Reading Passage
Some companies in the United States have developed 'wellness' programs that give rewards or incentives to employees for achieving certain health-related goals, such as stopping smoking or losing weight. The rewards and incentives include cash prizes, extra vacation days, or reduction of the employee's portion of health insurance fees (in the United States, health insurance fees are usually shard between the employer and the employees). Several arguments have been put forward in favor of the incentive programs. First, the awards and incentives are an excellent motivational tool for people to adopt healthy lifestyles. Many people would like to quit smoking or lose weight, but have difficulty getting started. The incentives provide the extra motivation they need. One study suggest that giving people a cash incentive of $750 significantly increases their chances of quitting smoking, And in another study, people who got cash incentives were more likely to lose weight than those who did not. Second, the advocates of incentive programs argue that rewarding people who are willing to adopt healthier lifestyles is only being fair. People who exercise, eat healthy diets, and maintain a healthy weight, for example, are less likely to incur medical costs. Such people deserve to pay smaller health insurance fees or get more vacation days. Third, although the wellness incentives costa lot of money for companies, the incentives save companies money in the long term. Losses in employee productivity due to illness can be very expensive for employers, programs that help prevent health problems are cheap by comparison. For example, incentive programs have been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. The cost of the incentives given by a company to its employees to maintain their health through prevention programs is much less than the financial losses to a company caused by employees missing work due to illness and hospitalization.
Question
Summarize the points made in the lecture. Be sure to explain how they cast doubt on the specific points made in the reading passage.
User Samples & Evaluation Results
User Sample
The incentive programs that companies provide is a topic of debate between the author and the lecturer. The author presents three advantages of the programs, however, the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions, asserting that they are not good ideas. First, contrary to the author’s suggestion that giving cash incentives motivate employees to have healthy lifestyles, the lecturer argues that those motivational tools cannot last long and those lifestyle can be some immediate results. She explains that for some similar studies that last about years, people went back to their bad habits again, making the benefits not impressive in the long run. Second, the lecturer also challenge the author’s claim that it is fair to reward employees who insist healthy lifestyles, by pointing that maintaining depend on many factors. She highlights that some people has busy family life, taking care of their kids and parents, some people do not has the ability to control their weigh since the tendency is genetic. In that case, those people should not to pay extra insurance fees or get less vacation days because they do not have same control. Lastly, the lecture contradicts the idea presented by the author that the companies can save money in the long run by doing incentives. She contents that this benefit is not clear since it would take years to show. Additionally, she points that people would not stay in the single company for long, and companies cannot get financial benefits because people leave their job for other companies.
Evaluation Result
1.子项得分 任务完成度：4 组织：4 连贯与衔接：4 语言使用：3
2.预估分数
25. 3.任务完成度
总体来说，你的文章较好地回应了题目要求，概括了听力材料中的观点，并对阅读材料提出的论点进行了质疑。然而，你可以更深入地讨论这些反驳观点，以便更清楚地表达它们。此外，在引用听力材料中的例子时，请确保准确无误。
示例1： 原文：“She explains that for some similar studies that last about years, people went back to their bad habits again, making the benefits not impressive in the long run.” 改进：“She explains that when similar studies followed the participants of incentive programs over a longer period, such as two years, they found that a lot of people went back to their old habits again, making the benefits less impressive in the long run.”
示例2： 原文：“some people do not has the ability to control their weigh since the tendency is genetic.” 改进：“some people have difficulty controlling their weight due to genetic factors.”
4.文章结构与组织 你的文章结构清晰，包括引言、正文和结论。每段都集中讨论了一个特定的观点，并提供了支持细节。然而，可以加强段落之间的过渡和连接词使用，使文章更连贯。
建议1： 在引言部分，可以更明确地指出文章将讨论听力材料中的三个观点，以及它们是如何质疑阅读材料的论点的。
示例1： 原文：“The author presents three advantages of the programs, however, the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions, asserting that they are not good ideas.” 改进：“The author presents three advantages of the programs, while the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions by providing counterarguments. This essay will discuss the lecturer's points and how they cast doubt on the reading passage's claims.”
建议2： 在正文段落之间使用更多的过渡词或短语，以便更自然地连接各个观点。
示例2： 原文：“First, contrary to the author’s suggestion...” 改进：“Firstly, in contrast to the author’s suggestion...”
原文：“Second, the lecturer also challenge...” 改进：“Secondly, the lecturer further challenges...”
5. 语法批改
The incentive programs that companies provide is a topic of debate between the author and the lecturer. The author presents three advantages of the programs, however, the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions, asserting that they are not good ideas.
First, contrary to the author’s suggestion that giving cash incentives motivate employees to have healthy lifestyles, the lecturer argues that those motivational tools cannot last long and those lifestylethis lifestyle('this' vs. 'these') can be some immediate results. She explains that for some similar studies that last about years, people went back to their bad habits again, making the benefits not impressive in the long run.
Second, the lecturer also challengechallenges(punctuation + singular noun + plural verb) the author’s claim that it is fair to reward employees who insist healthyto healthy(This rule identifies whether the preposition 'to' is missing in a sentence.) lifestyles, by pointing that maintaining depend on many factors. She highlights that some people hashave(people + 3rd person verb) busy family life, taking care of their kids and parents, some people do not hashave(don't ... 3rd person verb) the ability to control their weigh since the tendency is genetic. In that case, those people should not to pay extra insurance fees or get less vacation days because they do not have samesome(Detects potentially wrong usage of "same" instead of "some") control.
Lastly, the lecture contradicts the idea presented by the author that the companies can save money in the long run by doing incentives. She contents that this benefit is not clear since it would take years to show. Additionally, she points that people would not stay in the single company for long, and companies cannot get financial benefits because people leave their job for other companies.
Section Title: 6.文章修订
The debate between the author and the lecturer revolves around the effectiveness of incentive programs offered by companies. While the author presents three advantages of these programs, the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions, asserting that they are not as beneficial as they seem.
Firstly, the author suggests that cash incentives motivate employees to adopt healthy lifestyles. However, the lecturer argues that such motivational tools do not have lasting effects and only yield immediate results. She explains that in some similar studies spanning two years, people reverted to their old habits, rendering the long-term benefits unimpressive.
Secondly, the lecturer challenges the author's claim that it is fair to reward employees who maintain healthy lifestyles by pointing out that various factors influence one's ability to do so. She highlights that some individuals have busy family lives or genetic predispositions that make it difficult for them to control their weight. Consequently, it would be unfair for these people to pay higher insurance fees or receive fewer vacation days due to circumstances beyond their control.
Lastly, the lecturer contradicts the author's idea that companies can save money in the long run through incentive programs. She contends that this benefit is unclear since it takes years for positive effects to manifest. Additionally, she points out that employees often do not stay with a single company for extended periods; thus, companies may not reap financial benefits from their investment in such programs as workers leave for other job opportunities. (247 words)
Revised essay: Section Title: 7.文章批改
The debate between the author and the lecturer revolves around the effectiveness of incentive programs that companies provide is a topic of debate between the author and the lecturer. The offered by companies. While the author presents three advantages of the programs, however, these programs (clarifies that there are three points), the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions, asserting that they are not good ideas. as beneficial as they seem (emphasizes disagreement).
First, contrary to the author’s suggestion that giving Firstly, the author suggests that cash incentives motivate employees to have adopt healthy lifestyles, lifestyles (corrects grammar). However, the lecturer argues that those such motivational tools cannot last long do not have lasting effects and those lifestyle can be some only yield immediate results. results (improves sentence structure). She explains that for in some similar studies that last about years, spanning two years (specifies study duration), people went back reverted to their bad habits again, making the old habits, rendering the long-term benefits not impressive in the long run. unimpressive (rephrases for clarity).
Second, the lecturer also challenge the author’s Secondly, the lecturer challenges the author's claim that it is fair to reward employees who insist maintain healthy lifestyles, lifestyles by pointing that maintaining depend on many factors. out that various factors influence one's ability to do so (corrects grammar and phrasing). She highlights that some people has individuals have busy family life, taking care of their kids and parents, some people do not has the ability lives or genetic predispositions that make it difficult for them to control their weigh since the tendency is genetic. In that case, those weight (adds detail for clarity). Consequently, it would be unfair for these people should not to pay extra higher insurance fees or get less receive fewer vacation days because they do not have same control. due to circumstances beyond their control (rephrases for better flow).
Lastly, the lecture lecturer contradicts the author's idea presented by the author that the that companies can save money in the long run by doing incentives. through incentive programs (corrects grammar). She contents contends that this benefit is not clear unclear since it would take takes years to show. for positive effects to manifest (improves sentence structure). Additionally, she points that people would out that employees often do not stay in the with a single company for long, and extended periods; thus, companies cannot get may not reap financial benefits because people from their investment in such programs as workers leave their for other job for other companies.opportunities (rephrases for clarity and flow).
8. Mind Map
- Essay Structure
- Introduction
- Debate between author and lecturer
- Effectiveness of incentive programs
- Point 1: Motivation for healthy lifestyles
- Author: Cash incentives motivate employees
- Lecturer: No lasting effects, only immediate results
- Point 2: Fairness of rewards for healthy lifestyles
- Author: Fair to reward employees who maintain healthy lifestyles
- Lecturer: Various factors influence ability, unfair for some individuals
- Point 3: Companies saving money in the long run
- Author: Incentive programs save money over time
- Lecturer: Unclear benefits, employees often change companies
9. Keywords
| Word | Phonetic Symbol | Part of Speech | English Definition | Simplified Chinese Translation | Sample Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incentive | /ɪnˈsɛntɪv/ | Noun | Something that encourages a person to do something | 激励 | The company offered an incentive to employees who quit smoking. |
| Motivate | /ˈmoʊtɪveɪt/ | Verb | To provide with a reason or desire to do something | 激发 | The coach motivated the team with an inspiring speech. |
| Revert | /rɪˈvɜrt/ | Verb | To return to a previous state or condition | 恢复 | After the trial period ended, the software reverted to its limited free version. |
| Predisposition | /priːdɪspəˈzɪʃən/ | Noun | A tendency to be affected by something, especially a disease | 倾向 | She has a genetic predisposition to diabetes. |
| Circumstance | /ˈsɜrkəmstæns/ | Noun | A fact or condition connected with or relevant to an event or action | 情况 | Due to unforeseen circumstances, the event was canceled. |
| Manifest | /ˈmænɪfɛst/ | Verb | To show something clearly, especially a feeling, attitude, or quality | 显示 | The symptoms of the disease began to manifest after several weeks. |
| Contend | /kənˈtɛnd/ | Verb | To argue or state that something is true | 声称 | The defense attorney contended that his client was innocent. |
| Unclear | /ʌnˈklɪr/ | Adjective | Not easy to see, understand, or decide | 不清楚的 | The instructions were unclear and led to confusion among the students. |
| Investment | /ɪnˈvɛstmənt/ | Noun | The act of putting money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit | 投资 | He made a wise investment in the stock market and earned a significant return. |
| Opportunity | /ˌɑpərˈtunəti/ | Noun | A set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something | 机会 | She seized the opportunity for advancement when her boss retired. |
Section Title: 6. Article Revision
The debate between the author and the lecturer revolves around the effectiveness of incentive programs offered by companies. While the author presents three advantages of these programs, the lecturer disputes each of these assumptions, asserting that they are not as beneficial as they seem.
Firstly, the author suggests that cash incentives motivate employees to adopt healthy lifestyles. However, the lecturer argues that such motivational tools do not have lasting effects and only yield immediate results. She explains that in some similar studies spanning two years, people reverted to their old habits, rendering the long-term benefits unimpressive.
Secondly, the lecturer challenges the author's claim that it is fair to reward employees who maintain healthy lifestyles by pointing out that various factors influence one's ability to do so. She highlights that some individuals have busy family lives or genetic predispositions that make it difficult for them to control their weight. Consequently, it would be unfair for these people to pay higher insurance fees or receive fewer vacation days due to circumstances beyond their control.
Lastly, the lecturer contradicts the author's idea that companies can save money in the long run through incentive programs. She contends that this benefit is unclear since it takes years for positive effects to manifest. Additionally, she points out that employees often do not stay with a single company for extended periods; thus, companies may not reap financial benefits from their investment in such programs as workers leave for other job opportunities.
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