Sample TOEFL Multiple Choice Essay – Best Type of Neighbor

The Question

Our neighbors affect our lives in many ways. In your opinion, what type of neighbor is the best to have?

-someone who is quiet
-someone who we are similar to
-someone who is supportive

Use specific details and examples in your answer.

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The Sample Essay

          Our lives can certainly be affected by the people in our neighborhood, even if we do not interact with them on a daily basis.  In my opinion, it is critically important to have neighbors that are very supportive of us. I will explore the reasons why I feel this way in the following essay.

           First of all, our lives are full of unplanned emergencies and supportive people in our neighborhood are likely to help us when they occur.  Oftentimes, the people living close to us are the only ones who can provide essential assistance when things go terribly wrong. For instance, my family experienced a major house fire several years ago.  It was a traumatic experience that happened in the middle of the night, and we lost many of our personal belongings. No one was injured, but we suffered an extreme amount of emotional trauma. However, the damage was reduced thanks to the quick thinking of a compassionate neighbor who immediately called the fire department when he saw what was happening, and who also provided us with clean clothes, food and a place to stay for the night.  This example demonstrates how important it is to have kind and supportive neighbors when a crisis happens.

          Secondly, it is a lot easier to raise a family in today’s hectic society if our neighbors are willing to lend a hand.  In addition to unexpected disasters, today we often have to face unplanned professional requests. My own experience demonstrates this reality. Five years ago, I was living with my wife and two sons in our apartment in Tokyo. My wife was at work, and I was home taking care of the children. All of a sudden I received a call from my boss who needed me to drive across the city to give a presentation to one of our company’s new clients. I panicked at first because I knew I could not take the kids along; however I simply called the woman living next door and asked if she would keep an eye on them for the rest of the evening. She readily agreed, so I was able to meet the clients. Had she not been so supportive, I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill my boss’s request, and I would have faced some repercussions the next day.

          In conclusion, I strongly believe that it is incredibly helpful to live near supportive people.  This is because such people can help us handle life’s unexpected emergencies, and can make it easier to deal with both family and work obligations.

Note:

This is a sample TOEFL essay written by a native speaker.  It follows our TOEFL Writing templates for independent essays.  If it is useful, please remember that we have many more sample essays for you to read!