Sample Questions and Answers
The “Writing for an Academic Discussion” task is the second TOEFL writing question.
You will see a question written by a professor and responses written by two students. Your job is to read everything and then answer the question. You will have ten minutes to do everything. You should write about 120 words.
Each link below includes a complete sample question and response. I also have a guide to answering this question.
- Economic Growth vs the Environment
- Targeted Advertising
- Social Media
- Grading Students
- Taxing Unhealthy Products
- AI
- Longevity
- University Spending
- City Spending
- Corporate Impact
- Work From Home
- Online Classes
- Smartphones
- Learning Styles
- Influencers
- Starting a Business
- Space Exploration
- More sample questions from ETS
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Question Guide
I’ve written a detailed guide for this question. It includes updated templates and strategies.
Answer Template 1
- This is a challenging topic, but I think that [respond directly to the question].
- I strongly agree with [student]’s idea that [mention one point made by the student].
- I’d add that [expand on the point with your own idea].
- While [other student] raised the relevant point that [mention one point made by the other student], he/she didn’t mention that [challenge that point].
- For example [elaborate on your challenge with your own ideas].
Answer Template 2
- While I appreciate the points mentioned by both [name] and [name], I think that…
- [elaborate on your idea for a few sentences]
- Remember that [elaborate on your point], so [elaborate on your point].
- Some people may feel that [mention a potential challenge], but [respond to this challenge].
Video Guide
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