What are the TOEFL Writing Topics and what is the best preparation and the best writiing practises. Please do the exercises at the end of each lesson.
TOEFL Writing topics
Lesson 8 Dialogue
Transition words make your writing easier to understand and create a link or relationship between two sentences and ideas. Be certain that you understand their meanings before you use them look at the subtitles. Look out for a slight, but significant, difference between two apparently similar words. Use transitions in context in a sentence or paragraph to make the relationships between ideas clear.
To State the Reasons for
- There are different reasons why.
- There are several explanations for.
- There are many positive/negative reasons for.
- There are some/more/fewer benefits/disadvantages to.
To Give an Opinion
- (Why). I believe.
- I’d like to explain why.
- Personally.
- I’d enjoy.
- I would prefer.
- I think.
- In my opinion.
- As far as I’m concerned.
- It seems to me.
- I suggest.
To Set Up a Condition
- If
- Even if
- If I could
- Whether (or not)
- . . .may/might
- . . .can be
To Further the Argument
- First (of all), Second, Third
- In addition,
- There are three reasons why,
- Similarly,
- Furthermore,
- Moreover,
- Further,
- As an example,
- For instance,
- What’s more,
- Not only, but also,
- Including,
- More than,
- Also,
- Coupled with,
- Both, and
To Summarize/Conclude
- In conclusion
- Finally
- As a result (of)
- In summary
- Therefore
- To sum up
- In other words
- To summarize
- Then
- In brief
- On the whole
- To conclude
- As we have seen
- As has been said
To Restate or Repeat an Argument
- To put it differently
- To repeat
- Namely
- That is
- In other words
To Show Cause, or, Reason and Effect, or, Result
- Consequently.
- Because (of).
- Due to.
- Thanks to.
- If this occurs, then.
- To this end.
- Since.
- For this reason.
- As a result.
- Caused by.
TOEFL writing topics
The number of overweight children in developed countries is increasing. Some people think this due to problems such as the growing of number of fast food outlets. Others believe that parents are to blame for not looking after their children’s health.
Generating ideas
After you’ve read the question, you can clearly determine the problem: growing number of overweight people.
But before you start to write your essay, it’s a good idea to think of 2-3 causes and 2-3 possible effects of the problem.
Causes of obesity:
inactive lifestyle (relying on cars instead of walking, fewer physical demands at work, inactive leisure activities)
unhealthy eating habits (eating fast-food, drinking high-calorie beverages, consuming large portions of food, eating irregularly)
Effects of obesity:
physical health problems
loss of productivity
depressions and mental disorders
Now, after we’ve generated the main ideas for causes and effects, it’s time to use these ideas in our essay.
As you know, there are many ways to structure your essay, but we’ll use a structure that has been approved by many TOEFL examiners to be high-scoring and coherent.
Essay structure:
- Introduction
- Body paragraph 1 – causes
- Body paragraph 2 – effects
- Conclusion
Let’s take a look at each of these sections in detail.
Introduction
Write your introduction in two sentences:
Sentence 1 – paraphrase the statement (you can use ‘nowadays/today/these days’ to start):
Nowadays the number of overweight people is constantly growing.
Sentence 2 – say what you’ll write about in your essay:
This essay will discuss the main reasons of this epidemic and then describe the possible effects of the problem.
Body paragraph 1 – causes
Sentence 1 – state all the main causes of obesity:
In my opinion, the foremost causes of obesity are inactive lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits.
Sentences 2-3 – describe the first cause. Assume that your examiner has no knowledge in this area and you have to explain all the details to him.
Today more and more people rely on cars instead of walking, have less physical demands at work and prefer inactive leisure activities. This results in burning less calories and gaining weight.
Sentences 4-5 – describe the second cause. Don’t forget that it’s useful to give examples while describing causes!
Moreover, the problem is accentuated by the growing number of people, who eat irregularly and consume large portions of high-calorie food. For example, about 50% of the adult population in Europe with so-called disordered eating suffer from obesity.
Body paragraph 2 – effects
Sentence 1 – state all the possible effects:
The possible effects of this problem include physical health problems and loss of productivity.
Sentences 2-3 – explain the first effect and give an example:
First of all, obesity results in incorrect functioning of the human body and contributes to the risk of developing some chronic illnesses. For example, as body fat percentage increases, the person’s metabolism worsens, which in turn may result in diabetes or heart diseases.
Sentences 4-6 – explain the second effect and support it with an example:
Secondly, overweight people are very unhealthy and often suffer from stress and tiredness. This lessens their work capacity and results in lower productivity. For example, it has been proven that an obese person needs to put more effort to complete some task than a person with normal weight.
Conclusion
For the conclusion you need simply to restate the problem and sum up the causes and effects that you described in your body paragraphs:
To sum up, obesity is a big problem that affects a lot of people nowadays. It’s mainly caused by inactive lifestyle and eating disorders and results in severe health problems and loss of productivity.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
SAMPLE ESSAY for the TOEFL WRITING TOPICS.
Nowadays, developed countries are suffering due to high rates of obese young citizens. Some people believe that the boom of convenient restaurants and improper guidance of parents are the reasons that have affected the health of children.
The convenient restaurants and processed foods are seen everywhere, especially in the prosperous countries, where almost all the people are amenable due to the accessibility, affordable prices and time saving for busy people. Some people are practicing their selves this way of life in order to lessen the burden of preparing of foods at home. For instance, because of my busy scheduled duties it is convenient and I prefer to eat in fast food restaurants so that I will not waste my time and energy preparing food at home.
In addition to this, lack of knowledge of parents about the importance of proper food and neglecting their children causes their children’s health to get worse and for children to become obese in the society. For instance, my parents are giving us allowances to buy our food outside and that is why my sister turned obese.
However others cannot stop the growth of convenient outlets because these are their livelihood and source of income. Moreover, parents cannot control the preferences of the children’s taste buds which make them eager to eat processed foods than nutritious foods.
I therefore agree that fast food causes the citizens to depend on fast food because of accessibility, affordable prices and convenience to lessen the burden of preparing foods and also parents lack guidance about proper foods that result in their children becoming fat.
Exam Questions for the TOEFL Test
Write an Essay
People engage in a lot of distinct actions to preserve their health. What actions do you undertake to stay healthy? To substantiate your response, utilize precise motivations and instances.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
California State University Northridge
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