These are some questions in question 1 that appeared before in TOEFL past papers. I found them pretty challenging (probably because that I have never prepared for them before, so here I am to prepare them!).
Question 1 Familiar topics:
34: Your university plans to open a café inside the campus library. Do you think this is a good idea? Explain why or why not.
- good idea
- people do not need to walk to the cafe in the canteen to get coffee. It is much nearer.
- helps people to not be dizzy when reading books or studying
- energetic
- helps students to have different feeling with a book when reading
- although some careless students might make the library floor a little bit dirty, but just remind them to be a little bit more careful.
35: Your friend is planning to take a year off to travel before starting university. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?
So if my friend is planning to take a year off,
- gap year, good idea
- students can experience more about the society
-explore the roles and see how they suited
- gain work experience
- have a chance to “find yourself”
- before deciding which major they should be taking in the university
36: What advice would you give to a child just starting school? Why do you think this advice will be helpful to the child? Use details and examples to explain your answer.
- to start to organize your time
- how much time do you have everyday, how long do you need to spend on your homework?
- how much time do you have left to play?
- write the answers to these questions on a sheet of paper
- Try to follow your plan because if not, you will not have enough time to do your homework or to play?
37: In order to teach young people about good nutrition and health, your school is planning to require students to take cooking classes in addition to other subjects. Do you think this requirement is a good idea? Why or why not?
- I do not think this is a good idea.
- not everyone likes cooking
- things about nutrition and health can be learnt from researching, reading books, etc.
- students do not have to take cooking classes to learn good nutrition and health
38: Your friend is thinking about getting a pet and asks for your advice. What kind of pet would you recommend for your friend? Explain the reasons for your recommendation.
- depends on the personality of the friend and the environment of their house
- if passionate, dog
- if careful, smaller dog or cat
- if house is too big, dog
- if water (like swimming pool) in the house, cat
- only advices, do not have to take them
39: A friend of yours is thinking of taking a year off to work before going to a university. Explain to your friend why this is or is not a good idea.
So if my friend is planning to take a year off,
- gap year, good idea
- students can experience more about the society
-explore the roles and see how they suited
- gain work experience
- have a chance to “find yourself”
- before deciding which subject they should be taking in the university
(same as the one before)
40: Talk about a country or culture that you would like to learn more about. What is the country or culture and why would you like to learn more about it.
- I would like to learn more about China and its culture
- I am originated from China, and it is good to know about my own culture
- China has profound culture of five thousand years
- It is different in every dynasty
41: Talk about a famous person that you admire. Explain why you respect this person.
- Emma Watson
- take the role of Hermione in the HP series
- persevere to study while acting in HP
- woman goodwill ambassador
- promote people to read and cherish books by launching the underground railroad project of hiding books in the subway and tell people to take books back to their after reading
42: Choose an accomplishment that required you to work very hard. Explain what the accomplishment was and why it was important to you.
- I would like to take part in a math competition
- I like math
- improve my math a lot
- the process of working hard and feeling the sense of accomplishment
43: People set a variety of goals for themselves throughout their lives. Describe one goal you would like to achieve in the future, and explain why this goal is important to you. Include specific details in your explanation.
Take the math competition example. AMC 8
- people do not need to walk to the cafe in the canteen to get coffee. It is much nearer.
- helps people to not be dizzy when reading books or studying
- energetic
- helps students to have different feeling with a book when reading
- although some careless students might make the library floor a little bit dirty, but just remind them to be a little bit more careful.
35: Your friend is planning to take a year off to travel before starting university. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?
So if my friend is planning to take a year off,
- gap year, good idea
- students can experience more about the society
-explore the roles and see how they suited
- gain work experience
- have a chance to “find yourself”
- before deciding which major they should be taking in the university
36: What advice would you give to a child just starting school? Why do you think this advice will be helpful to the child? Use details and examples to explain your answer.
- to start to organize your time
- how much time do you have everyday, how long do you need to spend on your homework?
- how much time do you have left to play?
- write the answers to these questions on a sheet of paper
- Try to follow your plan because if not, you will not have enough time to do your homework or to play?
37: In order to teach young people about good nutrition and health, your school is planning to require students to take cooking classes in addition to other subjects. Do you think this requirement is a good idea? Why or why not?
- I do not think this is a good idea.
- not everyone likes cooking
- things about nutrition and health can be learnt from researching, reading books, etc.
- students do not have to take cooking classes to learn good nutrition and health
38: Your friend is thinking about getting a pet and asks for your advice. What kind of pet would you recommend for your friend? Explain the reasons for your recommendation.
- depends on the personality of the friend and the environment of their house
- if passionate, dog
- if careful, smaller dog or cat
- if house is too big, dog
- if water (like swimming pool) in the house, cat
- only advices, do not have to take them
39: A friend of yours is thinking of taking a year off to work before going to a university. Explain to your friend why this is or is not a good idea.
So if my friend is planning to take a year off,
- gap year, good idea
- students can experience more about the society
-explore the roles and see how they suited
- gain work experience
- have a chance to “find yourself”
- before deciding which subject they should be taking in the university
(same as the one before)
40: Talk about a country or culture that you would like to learn more about. What is the country or culture and why would you like to learn more about it.
- I would like to learn more about China and its culture
- I am originated from China, and it is good to know about my own culture
- China has profound culture of five thousand years
- It is different in every dynasty
41: Talk about a famous person that you admire. Explain why you respect this person.
- Emma Watson
- take the role of Hermione in the HP series
- persevere to study while acting in HP
- woman goodwill ambassador
- promote people to read and cherish books by launching the underground railroad project of hiding books in the subway and tell people to take books back to their after reading
42: Choose an accomplishment that required you to work very hard. Explain what the accomplishment was and why it was important to you.
- I would like to take part in a math competition
- I like math
- improve my math a lot
- the process of working hard and feeling the sense of accomplishment
43: People set a variety of goals for themselves throughout their lives. Describe one goal you would like to achieve in the future, and explain why this goal is important to you. Include specific details in your explanation.
Take the math competition example. AMC 8
44: Talk about a special job you have had in the past or would like to have in the future.
- coding
- grade 8
- design things on my blog in blogger for a year
- learn css and like to use it to realize my designs on my website, for example, the color, thickness, animation of input boxes, and the background color, patterns of the whole page
- from knowing nothing and strive to learn this language and realize my goals
- the process is challenging and interesting
45: Which of the following qualities do you think is most important for a university student to be successful? ● Highly motivated ● Hard working ● Intelligent. Choose one of these qualities and explain why it is important.
- I think the most important thing for a university student is to e highly motivated.
- in this way we can work hard with the motivation
- with passion and motivation, although you might not be very intelligent, lack of understanding things perhaps, you can achieve significant progress.
- you can be more persistent when facing problems and you will think of ways to solve it, whereas when you are hard-working or intelligent, you will not be as persistent.
46: Talk about one way in which you have benefited from using the Internet. Use specific examples and details in your response.
- in humanities class
- research about the middle ages and the life of people from different status
- too many books in the library
- reading speed is slow
- cannot find the resources I need
- go onto the internet and search the keywords in Google
- find the sources immediately
- cite faster
47: Which one of the following forms of transportation do you consider to be most enjoyable? Bicycle? Automobile? Train? Explain why you enjoy it.
- train
- can often slow down and we are able to see the beautiful scenery outside the window
- with air conditioner, heater, which makes the temperature comfortable for us
- fresh air, fresher than riding an automobile
- travels faster than bicycle and automobile
48: Students study in a variety of ways. Explain how your study habits are different from those of other students you know.
- prepare for the topic we are going to learn about in the next lesson, which my classmates do not usually do
- prepare a question to ask my teacher the next lesson
- know more about that lesson so easier to understand on class
- resulted in more interested in the lesson and learn more effectively
49: One of your friends is often late for events and appointments, which makes other angry. You would like to help your friend. What advice will you give your friend to help avoid this problem in the future? Use specific details and examples in your advice.
- two ways
- first way is to use calendars or planners
- list out all the events of the day, calculate the usable time in the day
- plan the work to do in the usable time so not spending too much time on it
- second way is to set alarms
- 5 minutes before the thing needs to be done or before you need to get prepared
50: Talk about a social or political event that is celebrated in your country. Describe the event and explain how people in your country celebrate it. Use details and examples in your explanation.
- National day 50th in Singapore
- Hang flags in home
- Sing songs, fireworks
- wear in the color of the Singapore flag
- eat the most popular food in Singapore
51: A friend of yours is going to have an important job interview and has asked for your advice. What do you think your friend should do in order to have a successful job interview? Explain why.
- three points
- wear formal clothes--suits
- no exaggerated jewelries (not formal)
- be confident
- look onto their forehead
- smile
- prepare your interview well
- know all the things about yourself
- know about the company job
-know why you are suitable for the job.
52: What characteristic in a house or apartment do you think is the most important for making it a good place to live? Choose one quality or characteristic. Explain why you think it is important.
- suitable for myself
- be big enough to store things
- a place to put two bookshelf- one for books, one for files
- organize and plan different spaces, different parts
- better natural lighting / daylighting. Sun light shining into the house etc.
- design it by yourself
- for example, minimalist
53: Talk about a special gift you once gave someone.Describe the gift and explain why it was special.
- a gift I gave to my science teacher that I really admired
- science teacher in my last school, did not see her in a long time and miss her
- a link with lots of photos inside. I photoshop some photos of me and my science teacher, adding some text like “best science teacher”, “science is fun”, etc.
- it is a very special gift because of its style, and also because of the amount of effort and time I put into this.
- She is very touched and really thanked me
54: Think of one place where you have never visited but where you would really like to go. Explain what it is that interests you about this place.
- I have never been to New Zealand
- my classmates told me that it has a very good environment with lots of birds wherever you are.
- it is in the southern hemisphere, so from there you can see lots of things that you have never seen:
--> Water swirling in a different direction
--> Stars that I have never seen before - they could only be seen in the southern hemisphere.
- because of the above reasons I really want to go to New Zealand.
