Lesson 26: Giving Opinions and Connecting Ideas in the Independent Response 679 EXERCISE 26.3 Focus: Using the vocabulary of showing preference and connecting ideas Directions: Complete the following Independent Response with transition words/phrases and with verbs that show preference For this exercise, you may use words from the list more than one time In some cases, more than one word or phrase may be correct Note: You may have to change the form of the verb to fit the context of the sentence Transition Words/Phrases moreover furthermore on the other hand however but therefore Verbs of Preference prefer would rather while personally because enjoy Some people like to go to the same place for their vacations Other people like to take their vacations in different places Which of these two choices you prefer? Give specific reasons for your choice There are certain people who _ to take their vacations in the same place When they return from a vacation, they ask themselves, “When can | go back there again?” , there are people who _ visit many places , they ————— doing many different things on their vacations When they return from a vacation, they ask themselves, “Where can | go next and what can | there?” My parents are perfect examples of the first kind of people They always go to a lake in the mountains They first went there on their honeymoon, and several years later they bought a vacation cabin there They have gone there two or three times a year for over thirty years They have made friends with the people who also own cabins there and often get together with them My mother sailing and swimming _—_—_—_—— myfather — to go fishing My parents like variety, they say they can get variety by going to their cabin at different times of the year They particularly like to go there in the autumn when the leaves are changing color , | feel it’s important to visit different places Of course, when | was a child, | went to my parents’ cabin with them for my vacation, _ when | got older, | began to want to travel to many different places.| skiing; _, the ski resorts in my country are very crowded and expensive | go skiing in Switzerland or in Canada My favorite subject at the university was ancient history; , | like to visit historic places Several years ago, | traveled to Angkor Wat in Cambodia with my uncle and aunt | also want to visit the pyramids in Egypt; , I’d like to see Machu Picchu in Peru 680 Section Guide to Writing My parents believe understand their point places is more exciting the that you can never get to know a place too well | of view , I find that going to strange | don’t want to go to the same place twice world is so huge and exciting EXERCISE 26.4 Focus: Using the vocabulary of giving opinions and connecting ideas to write short paragraphs DIRECTIONS: Write one-paragraph answers to the following questions, using a number of the vocabulary words and phrases that are discussed in this lesson The first one is done for you What was the most important decision that you have ever made? Why was this decision important to you? | believe that the most important decision | ever made was to major in economics as an undergraduate student at my university There are several reasons why this was an important decision for me One is that my studies at the university led to my job with the Ministry of Trade Because of my position at the Ministry, | was chosen to travel to the United States to get a master’s degree Finally, this decision was important to me because I met my future wife in a micro-economics class at my university If you could spend a year living in any city on the world, which city would you choose to live in? Give the reasons why you would want to live there What you think of this statement? Failure often leads to success Give an example of why you think this is sometimes true Give another example of why you think this statement is sometimes NOT true Then state your opinion of this statement Lesson 26: Giving Opinions and Connecting Ideas in the Independent Response 681 | There are many types of television shows: comedies, news programs, dramas, reality series, and so on What is your favorite type of television show? Why you prefer this type of show? Give some examples from your own experiences watching television | You have received a full scholarship to a good university in your country You have also been offered a full scholarship to a top university in another country Which of these two scholarships would you accept? Why? = z on) LESSON 27 WRITING THE INDEPENDENT RESPONSE After spending about five minutes on pre-writing, you are now ready to get down to the real task: writing the response You have only about twenty minutes in which to write it, and you need to produce a 200- to 300-word response That’s about ten to fifteen words a minute You can this if you concentrate and keep working steadily According to ETS, quality is more important than quantity in the response, but typically only longer responses get top scores A long response does not guarantee a good score on this section, but a short response almost guarantees a low one This lesson will discuss writing all three parts of a typical response (A) Writing the Introduction The introduction for an Independent Response can be fairly simple It does not need to be more than two or three sentences long There are a number of functions that a good introduction can serve (but no introduction will serve all of these functions) vvvvyv y To get the reader's attention To restate the ideas of the prompt To present some general background information about the topic To preview the main points that will appear in the response To present a clear statement of the main idea of the response (This is called the thesis statement; it typically is the last sentence of the introduction, but sometimes it appears in the conclusion.) Here are three sample introductory paragraphs, written in response to the three prompts presented in the Independent Writing Pretest and About the Independent Writing Task Samples Prompt Some people believe that zoos serve useful functions Other people believe that it is cruel and wrong to confine animals in zoos Tell which point of view you agree with and explain why, using specific details and reasons 682 Lesson 27: Writing the Independent Response Introduction 683 If there were no zoos, some species of animals would not exist at all That is one of several good reasons why | believe it is important to support zoos Some people, however, have a negative view of zoos They think zoos are unnatural and inhumane This introduction begins with a strong, rather startling statement about zoos that gets the reader's attention: “If there were no zoos, some species of animals would not exist at all.” The writer goes on to say that she thinks it is important to support zoos for this and other reasons However, the introduction also mentions the opposite point of view: that zoos not serve good purposes Prompt Do you agree or disagree with this statement? It is much easier to learn in a small class than in a large one Use specific examples and reasons to support your answer Introduction Many students believe that small classes offer much better educational opportunities than large ones However, in my experience, that is not necessarily true | believe that, with a good teacher, a large class can provide as good a learning opportunity as a small one In the introduction, the writer paraphrases the prompt in the first sentence However, in the second sentence the writer disagrees with the idea stated in the prompt In the last sentence of the introduction, the writer gives his thesis statement: learning depends on good teaching, not class size Prompt Developments in transportation such as the automobile have had an enormous impact on modern society Choose another development in transportation that you think is of great importance Use specific examples and reasons for your choice 684 Section Guide to Writing Introduction | believe that one of the most important developments in transportation has been the development of international jet transport Jet airliners first appeared in the early 1960's Since then, planes have gotten bigger and faster and capable of flying longer distances Jet transport has had some revolutionary effects Because of the high speeds, the convenience, and the relatively low costs of this type of travel, it has changed the way people look at the world In the first sentence of the paragraph, the writer answers the question brought up in the prompt The writer then goes on to provide a little background information about this development, and then provides a preview of the main points that the body of the response will discuss: speed, convenience, and low costs, and how these have changed people’s view of the world (B) Writing the Body of the Response The body of the paragraph makes up most of the response It is in the body of the response that the writer develops the thesis statement (That’s why these paragraphs are sometimes called the development paragraphs.) In the body, the writer provides information to convince the reader that his or her opinion is correct or that his or her ideas are valid A typical body paragraph begins with a topic sentence that contains the main idea of that paragraph (just as the thesis statement contains the main idea of the response) It also contains several sentences that support this main idea The writer should provide specific details, reasons, examples, and/or personal experiences to support these sentences Topic sentence Supporting sentence Detail/reason/example/personal experience Detail/reason/example/personal experience Supporting sentence Detail/reason/example/personal experience Detail/reason/example/ personal experience Remember to the main Look at response to that the supporting sentences and the details must be directly relevant idea of the paragraph; not include irrelevant material these sample paragraphs from the body of responses written in the prompts provided on pages 682-683 Lesson 27: Writing the Independent Response 685 Samples eS In the first body paragraph, the writer “admits the opposition,” giving reasons why the opinion that zoos are harmful places could be valid The writer says that some people prefer to think of wild animals as living only in wild settings These people find zoos undignified, and they think that animals are forced to live in small, uncomfortable cages The writer here points out that this view of zoos is outmoded because new‘zoos and even some older zoos now provide more space and try to duplicate animals’ natural habitats In the second body paragraph, the writer then gives her own reasons for supporting zoos The writer says that zoos protect both endangered species and endangered individuals In the third paragraph, the writer explains an additional reason for supporting zoos She says that zoos serve an educational function They allow people to see animals from faraway places and learn about endangered species rũ The idea that zoos are cruel to animals is somewhat understandable People like to think of wild animals in their natural habitats, living free in the way they have done for thousands or millions of years They think of zoos as prisons for animals They think that displaying animals in cages for the benefit of visitors takes away from the animals’ dignity and confines them in small, uncomfortable spaces In part, however, these people’s belief is based on a misconception It’s true that in the past, animals in zoos generally lived in cramped, dirty cages Newer zoos, however, try to duplicate animals’ natural habitats as much as possible and give animals a comfortable amount of space Even many older zoos are upgrading their facilities for their animals There are a number of reasons why | think that zoos’ functions are mainly positive One reason is that zoos protect not only species of animals but also individual animals Many species are endangered because of human development or other environmental problems As mentioned, some species only exist in captivity Zoos around the world have cooperative breeding programs to increase the number of endangered animals In the future, it may be possible to re-introduce these species into the wild Furthermore, some animals’ native habitats have become dangerous for them, not just because of predators but because of humans Tigers, for example, are often killed because parts of their bodies are used in very expensive “medicines.” In zoos, at least these animals are protected Another reason to support zoos is that they provide an educational experience How many of us would be able to see elephants from Africa, penguins from Antarctica, or koala bears from Australia if we did not see them in a zoo? Moreover, zoos provide information about which animals are endangered and tell us why these animals are in trouble ĐNILIHAA Body 686 Section Guide to Writing Body When | was an undergraduate student, most of the large classes | took were introductory classes for first- and second-year students For example, | took classes in world history and economics that had over 100 students and met in large lecture halls | think these classes were as good as some of the smaller classes | took later At the introductory level, the lectures that the professors gave were basically the same no matter what size the class was Moreover, the professors who taught these classes seemed more enthusiastic and energetic than the teachers | had in smaller classes Personally, | think they enjoyed having a large audience! One supposed advantage of small classes is that there is usually a lot more interaction among students and between the teacher and the students than in large ones However, in the large classes | took, discussion sessions were held every week with a graduate teaching assistant in which there was a lot of interaction Besides, the teachers for these classes had office hours, and they were always willing to answer questions and talk over problems The writer uses personal experiences with large and small classes in both paragraphs to support the thesis statement In the first paragraph, he says that in introductory classes the teachers’ lectures were basically the same no matter how many students there were In fact, in his experience, teachers were more dynamic in larger classes The second paragraph says that people think there is more interaction in small classes than in large ones, but that, in fact, the writer found that there was a lot of interaction in the weekly discussion sessions held in conjunction with the large classes He also says that the teachers held office hours in which to answer questions Body The most obviously important characteristic of jet travel is the high speed involved A hundred years ago, it.took weeks to cross the Atlantic or Pacific oceans by ship However, today, those same trips can be completed in a matter of hours One can attend a meeting in Paris and have dinner in New York on the same day These amazing speeds have changed people’s concepts of space Today the world is much smaller than it was in the past Convenience is another reason why international jet travel is so important In the past, if someone wanted to travel between Europe and North America, he or she might have to wait days or even weeks before a ship sailed Furthermore, there were only a few ports in Europe where one could board a large ship, and almost all of them went only to New York City Today, however, there are probably several hundred flights a day connecting the two continents and one can board international flights in the airport of almost every large European city and fly to any large city in the United States or Canada Lesson 27: Writing the Independent Response 687 Another important aspect of jet travel is its relatively low cost An international journey one hundred years ago was extremely expensive Only wealthy people could afford to travel comfortably, in first class Poor people had to save for years to purchase a ticket, and the conditions in which they traveled were often miserable Today, it is possible for more and more people in every country to travel in comfort Thus, it is possible for business people to business all over the world, for students to attend universities in other countries, and for tourists to take vacations anywhere in the world In its topic sentence, the first paragraph gives the first reason why jet transport is an important development: its speed The writer compares the speed of jets with that of ships one hundred years ago, gives an example of the speed of jets (attending a meeting in Paris, having dinner in New York on the same day), and shows the effect of this speed on the way people view the world In the second paragraph, the writer mentions the convenience of travel by jet, explaining how passengers can fly on almost any day and leave from and arrive at any large city In the past, ships left only every few weeks and from only a few ports The third paragraph begins by stating another important aspect of jet travel: its relatively low cost The writer again compares travel today with travel in the past and shows how more and more people travel comfortably He gives examples of specific types of people who have been affected by the affordability of jet travel: business people, students, and tourists (C) Writing the Conclusion Like the introduction, the conclusion for a response can be fairly short and simple It does not have to be more than a few sentences in length The conclusion should give the reader the feeling of completion, not a feeling that the writer has simply run out of ideas or out of time Here are some of the functions a conclusion can serve: vvvvy To present the thesis statement (if this is not presented in the introduction) To restate the thesis statement (if this is given in the introduction) To summarize the main points presented in the body To show the significance of the points made in the body To present one last compelling reason why the writer's opinion is the correct one Look at these samples of concluding paragraphs: 688 Section Guide to Writing Conclusion All in all, | agree with the concept that zoos are desirable institutions Opposition to zoos, | think, is mainly based on outmoded ideas of zoos Today’s zoos protect animals and educate people about animals and the environmental dangers they face This conclusion begins with the thesis statement for the response—that the writer agrees with those that support zoos The writer also summarizes key points from the body: that opposition to zoos is based on ideas about zoos that are no longer valid, and that modern zoos protect animals and provide educational experiences for visitors Conclusion In conclusion, | don’t think that the size of a class is very important | think that learning depends more on the quality of the teaching than on the number of students in the class This is a very simple conclusion that restates the thesis statement from the introduction and summarizes the main point of the body paragraphs Conclusion To summarize, the speed, the convenience, and the low cost of international jet travel have changed the world Individual nations are not as isolated as they were in the past, and people now think of the whole planet as they once thought of their own hometowns This conclusion summarizes points made in the body paragraphs and shows the significance of these points Lesson 27: Writing the Independent Response 689 EXERCISE 27.1 Focus: Writing Independent Responses DiRECTIONS: Write responses for prompts 1, 2, and below Give yourself about twenty minutes per response (Note: You may use the notes and informal outlines that you wrote for these prompts in Exercises 25.1 and 25.2, pp 665-670.) If possible, write your responses on a computer Otherwise, you may use the spaces provided below Prompt Some people believe that schools should primarily teach students how to best compete with others Other people believe that schools should primarily teach students how to cooperate with others Which of these approaches you favor? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer Response I = bai = va ep) 690 Section Guide to Writing Prompt Imagine that you can talk for one hour with any person who has lived at any time in history Which person would you choose to meet? Use specific details and examples to explain your choice Response Lesson 27: Writing the Independent Response 691 Prompt Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? When people are traveling, they often behave differently from the way they behave at home Use specific details and examples to support your answer ĐNILIHAA Response 692 Section Guide to Writing EXERCISE 27.2 Focus: More practice writing Independent Writing Responses DIRECTIONS: Write responses for prompts 4, 5, and below Give yourself about twenty minutes per response (Note: You may use the notes and informal outlines that you wrote for these prompts in Exercises 25.1 and 25.2, pp 665-670) If possible, write your responses on a computer Otherwise, you may use the spaces provided below Prompt Some university students prefer living in campus housing such as dormitories Other students prefer living in off-campus housing such as apartments If you were faced with this decision, which of these two options would you choose? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice Response Lesson 27: Writing the Independent Response 693 Prompt Do you agree or disagree with the following It is better for university students to first classes in many fields, than it is for them field of study Use specific details and examples to support statement? get a general education, taking to take classes only in their own your answer lì = ONIRE RIM, Response ... In the introduction, the writer paraphrases the prompt in the first sentence However, in the second sentence the writer disagrees with the idea stated in the prompt In the last sentence of the. .. of the response It is in the body of the response that the writer develops the thesis statement (That’s why these paragraphs are sometimes called the development paragraphs.) In the body, the. .. introduction) To summarize the main points presented in the body To show the significance of the points made in the body To present one last compelling reason why the writer''s opinion is the correct