新托福:学生头疼的社会背景话题

新托福：学生 头疼的社会背景话题

 

朗阁海外考试研究中心 Jamie Jane Cheng

 

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　　The question II of TOEFL iBT is about Personal Preference. It asks you to express your preference from a given pair of choices. In this task, the questions mostly ask you to express an opinion and support it. Some other questions let you take a position and defend it. When responding to this question, you are to give some details and examples as well as reasons to rationalize your answer. A candidate will be given a preparation time of 15 seconds and have to make a response for 45 seconds. There are variety of topics in question II such as personal life, society and things and school. Below are examples of personal life topics:

 

Personal Life

1. Some people go straight to their destination when they travel. Other people visit the nearby sights as they go to their destination. Which kind of traveling do you prefer to do and why?
2. Some people work at home by themselves. Other people work at a company with coworkers. Which method of work do you prefer and why?
3. Is it better to have friends with different interests that oneself. Do you agree or disagree?
4. Some people enjoy eating familiar food. Others like to try new kinds of food. Which kind of food do you prefer and why?
5. Some people lead relaxed lives. Others lead active and busy lives. Which kind of life do you prefer to lead and Why?

 

Example TOEFL question

　　Some people prefer to make many friends. Others prefer to have a small number of close friends. Which approach do you think is better and why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your preference.

 

Reasons for making many friends:

1. Some people would want to make many friends simply because they like to socialize and mingle with other people
2. All people have different personalities. When you are friends with many different kinds of people, new personality traits emerge, and you decide whether you like yourself with a certain type of people or not.
3. Interacting with friends can help them gain variety of knowledges and informations about different fields, places and things.
4. Many friends can help them fulfill their ambitions and dreams since they could receive help from them especially if they have friends working in the government or people who has high social status.
5. They like to build sport teams such as basketball team , volleyball team or frisbee that needs many people on it so they can invite their friends to join .
6. When you have many friends you can share your passion around and persuade them to like it too. For example, passion in playing on-line games , passion in teaching , passion in singing and dancing.
7. If you have many friends you can compare or share your collection with them or they can help you to collect you collections such as stamps, shoes , coins .
8. People with many friends can feel that they belong to the society , they can adapt to different characters, habits and thinking and at the same time learning from them.
9. Some people think they are famous or feel very popular when they have many friends because wherever they go they would meet people they know and that makes them feel good.
10. When you have a large group of friends, you don't have to stifle your creativity as much because of everyone's differences in opinion. Learning how to make friends is an important skill, and one should be friends with a person because they are interesting and make one feel good, whether they have the exact same interests as you or not.
11. True friendships are important to everyone. People hang out with their friends when they feel bored, they have fun together, they share each other's joys and triumphs, and confide to them.
12. It is nice to always have a shoulder to cry on, and having more friends means that you will be able to receive more interesting perspectives on things.
13. Having a large group of friends will ensure that you have a life full of plans, fascinating conversations, and situations. It will help mold you as a person, teach you social skills, and expand your mind
14. Some people want to have a huge circle of friends because they want to build a networking company

 

Reasons for having small number of friends:

1. Having a small group of friends is maybe better because you focus more easily on them. Throughout your life you have different kinds of friendship as well as different stages. Those who claim that they have a large group of friends are deluding themselves. They have a lot of acquaintances but real friends are few.
2. You concentrate more easily with them. You have more quality time to spend with them. You always have time for them.
3. Your friendships are more intense, honest and beautiful because you have time for each one of them. Juggling among large group of friends is difficult
4. When you have small group of friends, you get to know your friend gradually and through spending your time together in many situations. Thus, it is important to have friends who are unique and there for you.
5. The concept of friendship is more recognized and appreciated through a small circle of friends. A large group is more superficial. You simply cannot have time for all of them if you want to have a real and loving friendship.
6. If you have small number of friends, you can remember their faces, smiles, words. And this is absolutely charming! To have them all in your heart! And knowing that they really love you and accept you!
7. Size does not matter and that less is more! Sometimes small group is more intimate and tight.

 

Sample Response

　　My preference is to have many different friends. For starters, I have many different interests . By maintaining a large group of friends, I can maintain all of them. For example, I can watch movies with some friends, visit museums with others, and hang out at home with even more friends. If I only had a small circle of friends, I probably wouldn’t be able to engage in as many activities as I do now. Another important thing is that I love meeting all kinds of people. My friends all have different personalities. This means I get to associate with people who are completely different from one another. So, depending upon my mood, I can choose which of my friends I’ll talk to or go out with that day.