TOEFL IBT – Writing Exercice 2

Les consignes de TOEFL Writing Exercice 2

Dans l’exercice 2 de la section Writing du TOEFL, il vous est demandé d’argumenter au sujet d’une affirmation ou question.

Vous devez répondre à une question de type « Do you agree or disagree with this sentence ? » ou « What is your opinion about this sentence ? » en :

• 30 minutes ;
• 300 mots minimum.

Vous serez évalué sur :

• Votre capacité à présenter, expliquer et défendre votre opinion à propos d’un sujet donné ;
• Votre habilité à formuler un argumentaire pertinent et bien articulé.

Top tips pour réussir l’exercice 2 du TOEFL Writing

Voici nos meilleurs conseils pour réussir l’exercice 2 du TOEFL Writing:

Conseil : utilisez des mots de liaisons

Pour réussir l’exercice 2 de la section Writing du TOEFL, révisez vos mots de liaison exprimant :

• l’opposition (ex : nevertheless, however) ;
• la conséquence (ex : therefore, consequently) ;
• etc. (ex : in other words, in that case).

Ils vous aideront à structurer votre essai et démontreront votre richesse de vocabulaire.

Exemples pour s’entraîner à l’Exercice 2 de la partie Writing

Retrouvez ci-dessous quelques exemples de questions proposés dans l’exercice 2, intitulé Independent Writing Question, de la section “Compréhension écrite” :

Question 1

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A mother is more essential to a child’s upbringing than a father. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Question 1

Time is Up!

Time's up

Explication

Always try to evaluate both sides of the argument, even though you are agreeing with one perspective over another.

Suggestion

Throughout history, parents have always been a vital part of a child’s upbringing. Indeed, the children who usually fare the worst in society are those who don’t have a mother or father. There is, however, some debate as to which parent is more crucial to a child’s development, and both sides have a case to make. What I intend to do throughout this essay is analyse both points of view, and come to a conclusion based on it.

Although studies have shown that parental input from both sides is the best-case scenario, in terms of a child’s mental development, which is most vital? This is a difficult question to answer, not least because every family is different. In my family, for example, a case could be made for either parent. My mother is in charge of the house, including looking after myself and making sure I’m fed and at school. My father, on the other hand, is the primary breadwinner, which enables my mother to look after me more effectively. However, a better way to ask the question is, which of these parents could I more effectively survive without. The answer, in my particular case, would be my mother. There are many other family members who could help out my mother financially. However, my father isn’t very domesticated; he would have no idea how to raise me.

This is a trend which carries over into many other families. In China, for example, a majority of people are raised primarily by their mothers, and typically, it is the father who works long hours to support his family, which, while admirable and necessary, means that he is not around very much to help her to develop personally. My friend Qing Li is a classic example of this. His father is a businessman who is often away on business trips, meaning that his mother is left to cook, clean up after and care for him. Of course, when his father comes home, he helps out as much as he can, but it just is not possible for him to have a lot of input in his psychological development.

In summary, although a father is likewise vital to a child’s upbringing, a child could likely get by without one, in many cases. Generally speaking, the same could not be said for the mother. And while the ideal situation for a child is to have both parents on hand, I believe that a mother is more indispensable than a father.

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Question 2

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The internet has been a good thing for society. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Question 1

Time is Up!

Time's up

Explication

Always try to evaluate both sides of the argument, even though you are agreeing with one perspective over another.

Suggestion

With the advent of new technologies such as the internet, many people have started to wonder whether they do us more harm than good, and if they are really as beneficial as some people claim. Although it is without doubt that the benefits of the internet are sometimes exaggerated, I nevertheless believe that its benefits outweigh its costs.

First of all, it is helpful to consider what life was like before the introduction of the internet to society. Research in schools and universities was, at times, painstakingly slow, and limited by whatever books happened to be in your particular school’s library. My own university studies are demonstrative of this. For one of my papers, I had to review a lot of business literature for two of my essays, a task which would have become horrendously long without internet access and a search engine to help me.

Secondly, it’s also worth mentioning the convenience of having the internet in our daily lives. Many business people do ecommerce, which is great for the economy, and more beneficial for both consumers and business leaders. My friend is a case in point. He sells shoes, and, since he started selling them via his website, his business makes twice as much money as before. The convenience of shopping from home also saves people lots of time, which they can use instead to do more productive things, such as working or taking better care of their children.

Some people might argue that there are also things online which are detrimental to society, for example, pornography or gambling websites. Indeed, there are problems in some countries with this. People have also been known to use the internet to cheat people. However, with self-control for adults and parental controls for children, the first two things can be mitigated. As for the last problem, cheating people predates the internet, and there’s no reason to believe that it will stop existing if the internet does. It’s far better to develop safeguards against such things.

In conclusion, although there are some arguments to be made against the internet, I believe that the arguments for it are far more compelling, and that the internet is far too necessary in daily life to remove, simply because there are a handful of problems with it.

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Question 3

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People who work in public services, such as doctors, nurses and teachers, should earn more money than people who are paid to entertain, like actors and sports stars. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Question 1

Time is Up!

Time's up

Explication

Always try to evaluate both sides of the argument, even though you are agreeing with one perspective over another.

Suggestion

There is some debate as to whether doctors, nurses, educators and other public servants should get paid more than sports or entertainment stars, as they contribute far more to our society. What I intend to do in this essay is to talk about the pros and cons of each position, and conclude by giving my personal opinion and my justification for reaching such a conclusion.

It can be said, in fact most people probably would say, that health care and education professionals make a greater difference in our day to day lives. Indeed, the fields which they are in charge of; namely, keeping us healthy and educated, far outweigh in importance the entertainment industries. Also, while it could be argued that athletes, as well as actors, singers and other entertainers, need to have talent and skill in order to perform their jobs well, the skills acquired in medical school or teacher training can, in many cases, be just as difficult to attain, and require just as much effort to carry out successfully. When you add that to the fact that their jobs are naturally more important, the case for agreeing becomes quite compelling indeed.

However, that is not to say that no case can be made for the opposing point of view. Certain sports can require an incredible amount of skill, patience and training, and some of the more dangerous sports can result in death if a certain action is executed poorly. Likewise singing and acting. Many actors spend years training in their professions, and for a long time don’t earn a lot of money. There is also an element of luck involved in acting; with so many qualified actors and only a handful of lead actor roles, most actors are rolling the dice as to whether they’ll ever have a lucrative career. The bravery involved in this could easily be considered a justification for a higher salary later in their careers. It might also be argued that, while entertainment is not a prerequisite to human survival, it is something which we need, not to live, but to feel alive.

Be that as it may, however, it is a tough sell to argue for the entertainment industry’s overinflated salaries, while arguing that people doing jobs as important as teachers and doctors have to make do with average or even poor salaries. For this reason, I would argue wholeheartedly that doctors and teachers should earn more than entertainers, regardless of how talented they may be.

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N’oubliez pas « d’utiliser des raisons et exemples spécifiques », comme le préconise ETS (Educational Testing System) !

Pour en savoir plus vous pouvez également consulter notre article sur les consignes de la section Writing du TOEFL ou revoir l’exercice 1 de la section Writing.

S’entraîner en ligne avec GlobalExam

Notre plateforme vous propose différents exercices et examens blancs pour préparer cette section du TOEFL IBT.

Vous pouvez commencer à vous entraîner avec notre version gratuite. Celle-ci vous donne partiellement accès aux modules d’entraînement suivants :

• Test de niveau.
• Mode “entraînement”.
• Fiches et révisions.
• Parcours personnalisé.
• Statistiques et corrections.
• Mode “Examen”.

La version gratuite de l’exercice 2 de la section Writing vous propose 12 questions de niveau moyen au sujet desquelles vous aurez à rédiger un essai de 300 mots minimum.

Chaque question doit être traitée en un temps imparti. Vous suivrez votre progression grâce à l’affichage de vos résultats.

Une suggestion de texte sera donnée en correction pour chacune d’elles.