Friday, January 3, 2014

TOEFL Writing Topics

Following Topics list may appear in actual TOEFL test. You should become familiar with these topics before you take the computer-based TOEFL test.
Remember that when you take the test you will not have a choice of topics. You must write only on the topic that is assigned to you.

•    People attend college or university for many different reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge). Why do you think people attend college or university? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

•    Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

•    If you could change one important thing about your hometown, what would you change? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer.

•    Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television has destroyed communication among friends and family. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

•    A company has announced that it wishes to build a large factory near your community. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this new influence on your community. Do you support or oppose the factory? Explain your position.

•    Some people prefer to live in a small town. Others prefer to live in a big city. Which place would you prefer to live in? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

•    Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should give the same amount of money to their students’ sports activities as they give to their university libraries. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

•    “When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.” Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

•    Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

•    Some people believe that university students should be required to attend classes. Others believe that going to classes should be optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.

•    Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.

•    What are some important qualities of a good supervisor (boss)? Use specific details and examples to explain why these qualities are important.

•    Neighbors are the people who live near us. In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good neighbor? Use specific details and examples in your answer.

•    Should governments spend more money on improving roads and highways, or should governments spend more money on improving public transportation (buses, trains, subways)? Why? Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay.

•    In general, people are living longer now. Discuss the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay.

•    We all work or will work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important.

•    It is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big city. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to develop your essay.

•    In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Do you think this is a good idea? Support your opinion by using specific reasons and details.

•    A person you know is planning to move to your town or city. What do you think this person would like and dislike about living in your town or city? Why? Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay.

•    It has recently been announced that a new high school may be built in your community. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details in your answer.

•    It has recently been announced that a large shopping center may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

•    It has recently been announced that a new movie theater may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

•    Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

•    Some people believe that the Earth is being harmed (damaged) by human activity. Others feel that human activity makes the Earth a better place to live. What is your opinion? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

GRE Data Interpretation

Introduction
Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is of two types, the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Tests. The GRE Subject Tests assess applicant knowledge in a particular subject while the GRE General Test evaluates verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing skills. The GRE scores are accepted by many graduate schools across the United States, Canada and many other countries as one of the criteria for evaluating your fitness for admission to programs of study offered. The GRE General Test consists of three scored sections which are Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and the Analytical Writing sections.

Types of questions
The Quantitative Reasoning section of the GRE is designed to test your knowledge of the fundamentals of Algebra, Arithmetic and Geometry. You should be careful with the essentials of these subjects in order to score high in this section of the GRE. The paper based GRE contains two sub sections in the Quantitative Reasoning section with thirty questions in each section and you will have thirty minutes to reply each of these sections. In the computer based GRE, the Quantitative Reasoning section consists of 28 questions that have to be answered in 45 minutes. The questions presented in the Quantitative Reasoning section of the GRE can be generally classified into data comparison, interpretation and problem solving questions.

GRE Data Interpretation Questions
The GRE data interpretation questions will need you to carry out data analysis. You may be presented with data in the form of a graph or table. This information may be followed by 2 or more questions that are based on the given data. You need to read information from the graphs and tables and then address the GRE data interpretation question that has been presented. It will be mentioned that the graphs are not drawn to scale, however they are quite exact and you may pick up approximate values by study the graphs carefully.

Prep for GRE Data Interpretation Questions
The official website of the GRE, is  www.ets.org , which contains links to genuine information about GRE exam format. You can access to a wide range of GRE preparation materials from the official website. You should perfectly start your preparation for the GRE by surfing  this website. Collect all related matter pertaining to the GRE data interpretation questions including sample questions. It is significant that you practice solving as many GRE data interpretation questions as possible so that you are relaxed while solving them on the actual exam day.

Examination Techniques and Guidelines

A key factor to exam achievement is getting the techniques right.
Students can have all the needed knowledge and yet fail an exam because they have run out of time, not used their knowledge to the situation or answered the question they desire had been asked instead of the one on the paper. This post provides a real opportunity to help students capitalize their chances of passing by ensuring that they know the key skills. Making sure these skills are second nature will guarantee that students do not forget them when they are really in the exam.
Below are some key messages about exam techniques.

Pay attention to instructions
Make sure students know where they should be for their exam and what time they should be there. Once in the exam, they should read the instructions carefully; how many questions are to be attempted and how long do they have? Remind them to read the requirements for each question carefully, underlining key words and remembering to look for the verb in the requirement.

Manage your time properly
Students should allocate the correct time to each question and requirement the ‘magic’ number is 1.8. They should attempt all parts of the question, and stick to the time allocation. All 3 hour papers now have an additional 15 minutes reading and planning time.
During this time, students may write or make notes on the question paper but not the answer paper. To use this additional 15 minutes most effectively, read and understand all question requirements carefully to make sure they are able to make the best attempt at answering. For the professional papers, this will also allow them to make an informed choice about which optional questions to attempt where applicable; read through and highlight relevant information and financial data, noting why it is included; take note of the marks awarded for each question and the allocation of marks between different requirements within a question; start to plan their answers, particularly for discursive questions; think about the order in which to attempt questions; make preliminary calculations.

Present answers well
Students should plan their answers, laying them out clearly to make life as easy as possible for the marker. Using headings, sentences, paragraphs and bullet points are all useful techniques. Use black ink and to
leave enough white space, not cramming too much text on to one page. Good presentation can gain professional marks where appropriate.

Make answers relevant
It is important that students answer the question they have been asked, not the one they would have liked to answer. They should read the requirement at least twice to make they understand it. Students should not be tempted to write down everything they know about a topic – this will not get them more marks and may result in fewer being awarded if they spend too long on a question and then miss out on others.

Gain easy marks
Students should have a plan of attack, and go for the easier marks first.
Remember, students can still earn easy discursive marks even when they have struggled with the calculations or suspect their numbers are flawed.

Don’t panic
Student should focus on the parts of the exam they can do, not what they can’t do. Even if they feel an exam is going badly, they should keep going, moving on from question to question and answering as much as they
can.
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