TOEFL Outlines ( 1 – 50 ) TOEFL question #26: Decisions can be made quickly, or they can be made after careful thought. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The decisions that people make quickly are always wrong. Use specific examples to support your opinion. I. People make decisions in different ways. Some do so quickly and others take a lot of time. I do not believe that you must always take a lot of time making a decision. Sometimes it is better to make a quick decision. II. You may lose an opportunity a. If you always take a long time to make decisions, you may lose an opportunity to do something. b. For example: your friend has two tickets to a sporting event but you have to decide immediately whether you want to go or not. c. For example: you have a chance to meet the president of your country but you must act right away. III. You may put yourself or others in danger a. For example: driving requires that you make quick decisions to avoid accidents b. For example: someone may be choking and you need to help immediately or they could die. c. For example: a child may run into the street and you need to react right away to save him/her IV. Spontaneous decisions can be the most fun a. People should occasionally live spontaneously in order to enjoy life b. For example: you unexpectedly decide to buy a friend a gift even though there is no special occasion .get enjoyment out of giving the gift V. In conclusion, it is wise to think through important decisions but you should not always have to take a lot of time making decisions. Sometimes the best decisions are the ones you make spontaneously. TOEFL question #27: You need to travel from your home to a place 40 miles (64 kilometers) away. Compare the different kinds of transportation you could use. Tell which method of travel you would choose. Give specific reasons for your choice. I. I live in a big city and there are many options for traveling. If I had to travel 64 kilometers from my home I could choose a car, a train or a bus. I would choose my own car for several reasons. II. My car is quicker a. When you take a bus or train you have to go on their schedule (which may be limited). When I take my own car, I can travel on MY schedule b. Buses and trains are not as direct as cars. They must stop to pick up people so it takes longer to go by bus or train. III. My car is cheaper & more convenient a. If I have to travel 64 kilometers from my home, it will cost only a few dollars in gas, but a bus or train would cost about 10 times as much. b. In my car, I can listen to music or sing a song but on a bus or a train these activities would bother the other passengers. IV. I trust myself more than the bus driver or train conductor a. If I drive myself, I am in control. If I take a bus or train, someone else is in control and I don’t know if that person has been drinking, is depressed, etc. I feel safer if I drive. b. I prefer to drive in varying weather conditions because I don’t like to be a passenger in these conditions. I feel that I have no control over the vehicle. V. In short, I would take my own car if I had to travel far from my home. It is quicker, cheaper, more convenient and safer than either a bus or a train. TOEFL question #28: People have different ways of escaping the stress and difficulties of modern life. Some read; some exercise; others work in their gardens. What do you think are the best ways of reducing stress? Use specific details and examples in your answer. I. People experience stress in their daily lives. There are many ways to alleviate stress, but I think the best ways include reading and walking. II. Reading provides an escape a. When you read a book, you can escape from your own life and read about someone else’s life b. You can forget about your problems and enjoy the story c. You can pretend that you are a character in the story and imagine your life as a different person, away from the stress. III. Walking provides physical activity and mental relaxation a. Walking is a nice way to forget about stressful things b. For example: you can look at the scenery, think about pleasant things c. Physical activity helps the mind relax, so it reduces stress IV. In conclusion, people relieve stress in different ways. What is useful for one person may not be useful for another so you should experiment and see what works best for you! TOEFL question #29: Schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. I. Teachers are important to schools and they should be good at their jobs. One way to know if they are effective is to have students evaluate them. II. Teachers need to be evaluated by the students who learn from them a. Students have contact with their teachers everyday. Their evaluation would be useful to the administration. b. Students are honest. If a teacher is bad or if a teacher is good, students will say so III. Teachers need to get information about their own teaching from more than one source. a. Teachers are evaluated by administration b. Teachers should be evaluated by students (for another opinion) c. Perhaps teachers should even be evaluated by other teachers (for a third opinion) IV. Teachers should not be afraid of student evaluations a. If teachers are doing a good job, they will not fear more evaluations b. If teachers are not doing a good job, the school can fire the teacher c. If teachers need some extra help, they can take more classes to improve their teaching V. In short, if students evaluate their teachers, everyone wins. The students give input on their teacher’s skills and the teachers really understand how well they are teaching their lessons and how well their students are learning. TOEFL question #30: Some people like to travel with a companion. Other people prefer to travel alone. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. I. Some people travel alone and others travel with a companion. There are pros and cons to each. I prefer to travel with a companion. A companion provides someone to talk to, someone to share the experience with and someone to share the cost with. II. Someone to talk to a. Traveling can be lonely especially if you are alone. If you have a friend with you, you always have someone to talk to. b. For example: talk about the place you are visiting, talk about mutual friends, talk about serious subjects, talk about anything. III. Someone to share the experience with a. If you travel alone, all your experiences are your own, but if you go with someone you will always have that in common (memories) in later life b. You can each give your opinion about the new places you are going or the new things you are seeing. This is especially important when traveling to a new country. IV. Someone to share the cost with a. Traveling is not cheap, you can share the cost of many things b. For example: hotel rooms, groceries, tolls, etc. V. To conclude, I prefer to travel with a companion so I can have someone to talk to, share all the new experiences and share the costs. . TOEFL Outlines ( 1 – 50 ) TOEFL question # 26: Decisions can be made quickly, or they can be made. the ones you make spontaneously. TOEFL question #27: You need to travel from your home to a place 40 miles (6 4 kilometers) away. Compare the different kinds