Example of a dialogue:
Maggie: Hey Joe, you look so tired.
Joe: I am. I can't get any sleep.
Maggie: What's wrong?
Joe: My dorm roommate asked me for a favor. He said his dad was coming to town to visit him and the dad didn't want to spend money on a hotel.
Maggie: So you agreed to let the dad sleep with the two of you in your dorm room?
Joe: Yes, for one week. He sleeps on a blanket on the floor in our room; we have the two beds. And he snores. He snores like a wild animal! In fact, I think he snores louder than a wild animal. He wakes me up 6 or 7 times a night with his loud snoring. I can't take it any more.
Maggie: Well, just buy some earplugs. It's only for a week. And, you promised to help. Sometimes helping a person requires a little pain and sacrifice.
Joe: I bought some but I hate wearing them at night. They feel so weird in my ears. I have a little trouble going to sleep with that stuff in my ears and then it's hard to hear the alarm in the morning.
Maggie: Well, you look terrible. You have bags under your eyes. You need to tell your roomie to have his dad spend money on a hotel room or you'll just report him to the school and get his dad thrown out.
Joe: I can't do that. I am stuck with him as a roommate. I don't want to sleep in the same room with a guy who hates me. That would be hell. I need to come back to my room for peace and quiet, not conflict.
Maggie: Well, do something because you look bad.
--------------------------
The key to answering a question number 5 is that both choices to solve the problem usually suck, but one choice is often slightly better than the other. Or, sometimes one choice is impossible and the only choice left sucks, but it is the only option.
In this case one choice is impossible: he can't offend his roommate because he lives with the guy. Therefore he cannot get the dad kicked out of the room or ask the dad to leave.
A good format to answer this type of question is:
State the problem very simply.
State the two suggestions or options very simply (with no reasons)
State which option you'd choose and why (use reasons from the dialogue if you can)
State why you would reject the other option
Possibly make one concluding sentence or sentences
For example:
In this dialogue a student can't get enough sleep. As a favor, he has allowed his roommate's father to sleep for a week in their dorm room and the dad snores very loudly. The snoring wakes the student up a lot.
First his friend recommends that he should wear earplugs.
When Joe is hesitant to do this because earplugs are uncomfortable, she recommends that he simply ask the student to ask his father to leave, or he can report the dad to the school.
If I were Joe I would just wear ear plugs. After all, it is just going to be for a week and he promised the roomie he would help him. (notice you can often get your reason/s from the dialogue itself) Sure the earplugs are uncomfortable but he can sleep with them. He will just have to place the alarm closer to his bed.
Furthermore, the other solution is just a bad idea. He made a promise and if he backs out now his roommate will be very angry. If he reports the roommate to the school, this will create a horrible situation.
In the meantime, if he suffers through this week, his roomie will really be happy and grateful to him. He just needs to suffer through this.
Showing posts with label toefl 2016. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toefl 2016. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Monday, April 8, 2013
50 Practice Speaking Topic 1 and 2 Questions (To Use with Your Tutor Or Language Exchange Partner)
Here are some (sometimes strange) TOEFL speaking questions for type 1 and type 2 questions. I hope practicing with these will help you. (It's good to answer strange questions because you never know what will be asked on the test...)
For low-cost TOEFL speaking and writing help, please e-mail me at djg51qu@gmail.com (free initial meeting over the internet).
1) Should a person shower the night before work or in the morning?
2) When a man takes a woman to dinner, should he pay or should they go "dutch"? (Each pays for him/herself.)
3) Do you prefer reading e-books or real books?
4) Describe something you do during your favorite season.
5) Which is better to lose weight: dieting or exercising?
6) Which is better for a history class: online or classroom learning?
7) Which is the best month for a holiday?
8) What is good advice for a person who is having trouble falling asleep?
9) Now that you are in America, should you keep your foreign name or adopt an American name?
10) When you are in a Chinese restaurant, do you use chopsticks or a fork? Why?
11) Which is better for you, texting someone or calling him/her?
12) Some people think there should be a tax on soda to encourage people to stop drinking it. Agree or disagree?
13) Do you agree: You should always give a waitress a tip even if her service is bad?
14) In an airport do you prefer to go through the body scanner or to be "frisked"? (The security guard runs his/her hands over your body.)
15) What's the worst place to take a tourist in your current city?
16) What's the most stupid holiday you can think of?
17) What was the most important time in your life?
18) If you were in Spain and someone gave you tickets to a bullfight, would you go?
19) Do you think it is important to use capital letters in e-mail messages or is it OK to just use small letters?
20) Should cell phones be prohibited in schools?
21) Should bullying be a crime?
22) Should you give money to people begging in the street or on the subway?
23) Should we have shorter work weeks and longer hours (i.e. 4 days at 10 hours each day)?
24) Would you prefer to go to an art museum or a movie?
25) If you were convicted of a murder, would you prefer the death sentence or life in prison?
26) Is it better to save your money or to spend it as soon as you get it?
27) Do you prefer the white meat of a chicken or the dark meat?
28) Should people be of the same religion when they get married?
29) Is it better to wake up early in the morning or later in the day?
30) Do you believe pet animals should be cloned?
31) Should parents be allowed to choose the sex of their child ahead of time?
32) Should marijuana be legalized?
33) Do you think zoos are generally good or bad?
34) In Mexico there are "pink" taxis, only for women driven by women. Is this good or bad?
35) Should really fat (obese) people have to pay more for their plane tickets because they use up more fuel?
36) An airline had a somewhat abstract painting by Picasso of a nude woman on a wall at an airport and some people complained that it should be taken down. What do you think?
37) Describe the worst teacher you ever had.
38) Describe your morning routine.
39) Are you more like your mother or father in personality?
40) Describe the last fashionable piece of clothing you bought.
41) Is it good or bad that English is becoming the world language?
42) Are tourists generally good or bad for a city?
43) What should you do if your roommate is very noisy and keeps you up at night?
44) What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a smart phone?
45) What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of studying literature as a major in college?
46) What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning English in the USA?
47) What are the advantages and disadvantages of attending a US graduate program?
48) What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing volunteer work?
49) What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning a dog?
50) What are the advantages and disadvantages of just having one very close friend?
OK, there are 50 good and sometimes weird TOEFL questions!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!
More questions:
http://danstoefl.blogspot.com/2016/07/6-thoughtful-1-and-2-speaking-questions.html
More questions:
http://danstoefl.blogspot.com/2016/07/more-challenging-topic-1-and-2-toefl.html
Please look at other links in this blog - there are many good pieces of advice and examples of how to do well on the speaking section. :)
For low-cost TOEFL speaking and writing help, please e-mail me at djg51qu@gmail.com (free initial meeting over the internet).
1) Should a person shower the night before work or in the morning?
2) When a man takes a woman to dinner, should he pay or should they go "dutch"? (Each pays for him/herself.)
3) Do you prefer reading e-books or real books?
4) Describe something you do during your favorite season.
5) Which is better to lose weight: dieting or exercising?
6) Which is better for a history class: online or classroom learning?
7) Which is the best month for a holiday?
8) What is good advice for a person who is having trouble falling asleep?
9) Now that you are in America, should you keep your foreign name or adopt an American name?
10) When you are in a Chinese restaurant, do you use chopsticks or a fork? Why?
11) Which is better for you, texting someone or calling him/her?
12) Some people think there should be a tax on soda to encourage people to stop drinking it. Agree or disagree?
13) Do you agree: You should always give a waitress a tip even if her service is bad?
14) In an airport do you prefer to go through the body scanner or to be "frisked"? (The security guard runs his/her hands over your body.)
15) What's the worst place to take a tourist in your current city?
16) What's the most stupid holiday you can think of?
17) What was the most important time in your life?
18) If you were in Spain and someone gave you tickets to a bullfight, would you go?
19) Do you think it is important to use capital letters in e-mail messages or is it OK to just use small letters?
20) Should cell phones be prohibited in schools?
21) Should bullying be a crime?
22) Should you give money to people begging in the street or on the subway?
23) Should we have shorter work weeks and longer hours (i.e. 4 days at 10 hours each day)?
24) Would you prefer to go to an art museum or a movie?
25) If you were convicted of a murder, would you prefer the death sentence or life in prison?
26) Is it better to save your money or to spend it as soon as you get it?
27) Do you prefer the white meat of a chicken or the dark meat?
28) Should people be of the same religion when they get married?
29) Is it better to wake up early in the morning or later in the day?
30) Do you believe pet animals should be cloned?
31) Should parents be allowed to choose the sex of their child ahead of time?
32) Should marijuana be legalized?
33) Do you think zoos are generally good or bad?
34) In Mexico there are "pink" taxis, only for women driven by women. Is this good or bad?
35) Should really fat (obese) people have to pay more for their plane tickets because they use up more fuel?
36) An airline had a somewhat abstract painting by Picasso of a nude woman on a wall at an airport and some people complained that it should be taken down. What do you think?
37) Describe the worst teacher you ever had.
38) Describe your morning routine.
39) Are you more like your mother or father in personality?
40) Describe the last fashionable piece of clothing you bought.
41) Is it good or bad that English is becoming the world language?
42) Are tourists generally good or bad for a city?
43) What should you do if your roommate is very noisy and keeps you up at night?
44) What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a smart phone?
45) What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of studying literature as a major in college?
46) What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning English in the USA?
47) What are the advantages and disadvantages of attending a US graduate program?
48) What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing volunteer work?
49) What are the advantages and disadvantages of owning a dog?
50) What are the advantages and disadvantages of just having one very close friend?
OK, there are 50 good and sometimes weird TOEFL questions!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!
More questions:
http://danstoefl.blogspot.com/2016/07/6-thoughtful-1-and-2-speaking-questions.html
More questions:
http://danstoefl.blogspot.com/2016/07/more-challenging-topic-1-and-2-toefl.html
Please look at other links in this blog - there are many good pieces of advice and examples of how to do well on the speaking section. :)
Oh! Please buy my e-book! New York City Sucks But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway! It has 22 chapters of really good stories of life in New York City with a huge number of new vocabulary words and grammar reminders. It's amazing! Read about it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301236827&sr=8-1
By the way, some students in Asia can't seem to buy the book from amazon.com. If this is the case, just send me email at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll try to send you a free copy of the book via email attachment. :) I'm a teacher, not a businessman. :P
By the way, some students in Asia can't seem to buy the book from amazon.com. If this is the case, just send me email at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll try to send you a free copy of the book via email attachment. :) I'm a teacher, not a businessman. :P
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