Unit 24

Writing • Independent Writing Task 2 – Single Opinion Questions

Unit Focus
1. Write the following sentences on the board (or on a handout) for students to read.
There are two tasks in the writing section of TOEFL.
A. To answer these questions, you must express one opinion about a familiar topic.
B. The most common questions among these three types are Single Opinion questions.
C. The second task, which is the independent writing task, has three types of questions.
D. There are several key skills for answering Single Opinion questions effectively.
E. These include coming up with relevant ideas, and planning a good response.
F. In your answer, you must also support your opinion with two reasons.
Learning and using natural expressions and avoiding basic mistakes are also key skills.
2. Have students work with a partner to put sentences A to F in the correct order to make a
coherent paragraph. Make sure they understand that the first (“There are two …”) and last
(“Learning and using …”) sentences of the paragraph are already given. Allow them some time to
discuss. Then have students read the first paragraph in the Unit Focus section to check their
answers.
Answers: C.  B.  A.  F.  D.  E.
3. Explain to students that the sentences in well-written paragraphs have a clear, logical order. This
exercise is designed to give them some practice at recognizing the most logical order for
sentences. Being able to recognize the logical order will help them to write more logical, coherent
paragraphs.

Teaching Note
The Unit Focus section mentions that there are three types of Writing Task 2 questions in the TOEFL
Test, including Single Opinion questions. This information, including the names for the question types,
is not widely mentioned in other books, so students may not be familiar with it. If students have
questions, you can explain that these types were recognized after analyzing dozens of official TOEFL
questions published by ETS.

Test Note
Based on an analysis of dozens of official TOEFL questions published by ETS, Single Opinion questions
are more common than either Double Opinion questions (which are covered in unit 25) or Contrast
Opinion questions (unit 26). However, all question types are relatively common and anecdotal
information from students who have taken the TOEFL Test recently suggests that Contrast Opinion
questions are being seen more frequently. This means that you should give your students
opportunities to practice answering all three types of Writing Task 2 questions.

A Warm-up
Exercise A1
1. Have students do the task as outlined in the book. For tasks 3 and 4, you can either have
students give short spoken responses like Speaking Task 1 questions, or have them write short
responses. Answers will vary, of course, but call on individual students to share their ideas and
provide feedback.

B Practical Vocabulary
Exercise B1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Answers: 1. supervisors | 2. colleagues | 3. salary | 4. position | 5. overtime | 6. promotion | 7.
employees | 8. workplace

Teaching Note
The vocabulary coverage in the writing units may seem confusing because some units include
academic vocabulary and others include practical vocabulary. Make sure students understand that the
vocabulary focus of each unit depends on the writing task that it covers. Because Independent Writing
Task 2 focuses on familiar topics, students will learn practical vocabulary related to these topics in
units 24, 25, and 26.

Extension Activity
This extension activity is designed to help students better understand and use the vocabulary items
from exercise B1.
1. Write the following questions on the board (or on a handout) for students to read.
A. Look at headline A in exercise B1. Why do you think many workers socialize with their
colleagues but not with their supervisors?
B. Look at headline B. Do you agree that the perfect position has a high salary and a lot of time
off? Why or why not?
C. Look at headline C. One advantage of working overtime is making extra money. What are
some disadvantages?
D. Look at headline D. Do you think that employees spending 9.3 hours per day in the workplace
is too much? Why or why not?
2. Divide students into four groups. Assign each group two questions from A to D and ask them to
discuss the questions in their groups. While they are discussing, provide support and feedback as
necessary.
3. After some time, call on individual students in each group to share the ideas they discussed. Write
these on the board for group analysis.

C Analyzing Writing Task 2 – Single Opinion Questions

1. Have students read the information about Writing Task 2 Single Opinion questions and ask if
there is anything they do not understand.
Test Tactic – page 261
1. Read the information in the Test Tactic aloud while students follow and ask questions if there is
something they do not understand.

Teaching Note
As the Test Tactic implies, there are many different approaches to writing responses to Writing Task 2
questions. Because each student is different, there is no such thing as the perfect approach, but the
template-based approach that the book takes has been tested with thousands of students and found
to be both simple and effective.

Exercise C1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Answers: 1. Option 1 – get a job in another country / Option 2 – get a job in my country | 2.
Option 1 – work part time / Option 2 – not work part time | 3. Option 1 – need good computer
skills / Option 2 – not need good computer skills / 4. Option 1 – doing overtime to make extra
money is good / Option 2 – avoiding overtime to enjoy free time is good

Teaching Note
Exercise C1 is designed to help students recognize why Single Opinion questions are called Single
Opinion questions. Although the questions have two options, students should choose and write about
just one of them. As exercise C1 demonstrates, sometimes the two options are slightly different from
each other (e.g., get a job in my country versus get a job in another country) and sometimes they are
opposite each other (e.g., needing good computer skills versus not needing them).

D Mastering Writing Task 2 – Planning an Effective Response

Exercise D1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Answers: 1. No | 2. Yes | 3. No | 4. Yes | 5. Yes

Exercise D2
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Answers: 1. The teacher says “recognize” instead of “notice.” The teacher also says “options”
instead of “choices.” | 2. “Supporting” instead of “detailed,” and “select” instead of “choose.” | 3.
“Review” instead of “Look at,” and “simpler” instead of “easier.”

Exercise D3
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
 Answers: 1. first option – 1 get job overseas / second option – 2 get job in my country | 2. first
reason – more money / first supporting example – salaries in my country low | 3. second reason
– easy to get job / second supporting example – lots of jobs in my country now | 4. answers will
vary

Exercise D4
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Provide support and feedback while
students are planning their responses. After sufficient time, call for volunteers to share their plans
with the class. Answers will vary, of course, but give constructive feedback and suggestions.

Test Tactic – page 263

1. Explain to students that when they write the introduction of their Writing Task 2 response, they
will need to include information from the topic in their sentences. They can either copy the
information directly from the topic or, preferably, paraphrase it.
2. Read the information in the Test Tactic aloud while students follow and ask questions if there is
something they do not understand.
3. If you have time, have students get some paraphrasing practice by paraphrasing the Test Tactics
on pages 261, 263, and 264.

E Mastering Writing Task 2 – Writing an Effective Introduction

Exercise E1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Answers: Sentence 1 – C | Sentence 2 – A | Sentence 3 – D

Exercise E2
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. While they are writing, make sure that
they are copying the phrases exactly and provide feedback if necessary.
Answers: I can see why some might feel that university students should not work part time. On
the whole, however, it is my opinion that students benefit when they work part time. This piece
of writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.
I can see why some might feel that good computer skills are useful but not necessary to find
work. On the whole, however, it is my opinion that without such skills, finding a job is very hard.
This piece of writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.

Exercise E3
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Allow them about five minutes per
introduction. While they are writing, provide individual support and feedback. After students have
finished, call on a few volunteers to share their introductions with the class. Write these on the
board, if possible, and analyze them. Pay particular attention to mistakes with the model phrases.
Suggested responses:
 I can see why some might feel that work is the main part of their life. On the whole, however, it
is my opinion that other aspects of life are definitely more important than work. This piece of
writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.
I can see why some might feel that hard work is the only way to be successful. On the whole,
however, it is my opinion that success can come in a variety of ways, not just through hard work.
This piece of writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.

F Mastering Writing Task 2 – Writing Effective Body Paragraphs

Exercise F1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Answers: 1. Step 1 – B | 2. Step 2 – A | 3. Step 3 – C

Test Tactic – page 264

1. Call on a student to read the information in the Test Tactic aloud while other students follow and
ask questions if there is something they do not understand.

Teaching Note
A common format for writing academic essays is the five-paragraph essay, which consists of an
introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Because this format is
so common, some teachers and some TOEFL books recommend that students follow it when writing
responses to Task 2 questions in TOEFL. However, although the five-paragraph essay model works
well for college essays, it is less effective for TOEFL essays.

The reason is that for most students, 30 minutes is not enough time to write five well-developed
paragraphs. Further, many students struggle to come up with ideas for their TOEFL essays, which
makes the five-paragraph essay a problem because students have to come up with three ideas. As a
result, a better approach for many students is to write a four-paragraph essay (introduction, two body
paragraphs, and conclusion).

You may wish to explain to students that the four-paragraph essay that the book recommends has
been tested by thousands of students over many years and found to be a successful model. Many
students get a high score using the model – including a fair number who get a perfect score.
Typically, students who adopt the four-paragraph model from the book actually get a better score
than those who try to write a five-paragraph essay.

To really emphasize the point that a four-paragraph essay is acceptable in the TOEFL Test, you may
also wish to review the scoring criteria for Writing Task 2 (see pages 231 and 232) with your
students. These scoring criteria do not specify that responses need to have five paragraphs.

Exercise F2
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Allow them about 15 minutes. While they
are writing, provide individual support and feedback. After students have finished, call on a few
volunteers to share one or more paragraphs with the class. Write these on the board, if possible,
and analyze them. Pay particular attention to mistakes with the model phrases.
Suggested response:
I can see why some might feel that getting a job in my country has advantages. On the whole,
however, it is my opinion that looking for and finding working overseas is preferable. This piece of
writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.
First of all, I am reasonably sure that working overseas would be less stressful than working in
my country. Recently, I read an interesting article about this subject. According to what I read,
workers in my country have much higher levels of stress than people who work in other nations.
The article also mentioned that the typical job in my country has long hours, a low salary, and
poor conditions, which is why workers have so much stress.
In addition, I am completely confident that I could find a job in another country more easily and
quickly than a position in my country. In my experience, these days many companies in my
country are not hiring new workers, but companies in other countries are always looking for new
employees. To give an example, my sister and her friends recently graduated from college, but
none of them have found a job in my country. My friends who live overseas, however, say that it
is very easy for them to find good jobs.

Exercise F3
1. Plan and write a partial response to question 1 as a group. Elicit ideas from students and discuss
which ideas are the best ones and why. Then write the introduction and two body paragraphs
sentence by sentence on the board. As you write each sentence, elicit words and phrases from
students. Explain why their suggestions are good (or not good). Make sure you use the model
phrases used in exercises E2 and F2. (Note that planning and writing the partial response as a
group activity may take 45 minutes or longer.)
2. Then have students write a response to the exercise as outlined in the book. To make the task
more authentic, have them type their answers if possible. Challenge students to complete their
response in 25 minutes or less.
3. While students are writing, provide individual support and feedback. After students have finished,
call on a few volunteers to share one paragraph with the class. Write these on the board, if
possible, and analyze them. Pay particular attention to mistakes with the model phrases.
Suggested response to question 1:
I can see why some might feel that education is important at work but not “the key to success.”
On the whole, however, it is my opinion that education really is the most important factor in
success at work. This piece of writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.
First of all, I think that education teaches many useful skills that allow us to be successful at
work. Recently, I read an interesting article about this subject. According to what I read, highly
educated people make the best salaries and have the best positions because they have so many
key skills. The article also mentioned that these skills include being able to use computers well,
 speaking more than one language, having the ability to analyze and solve complex problems, and
being good at dealing with other people.
In addition, it is my belief that education teaches us to deal with new situations, which is very
important at work. In my experience, many jobs require using the same skills and doing the same
things every day, but also dealing with new situations and using new skills regularly. To give an
example, my sister’s job usually involves doing the same things, but sometimes she has to do
things she has never done before. She told me that her education gives her the confidence to
manage these new situations well and because of this she is successful.

Suggested response to question 2:

I can see why some might feel that getting a job with good pay would be attractive. On the
whole, however, it is my opinion that a job which offers a great deal of vacation time and other
time off is the better option. This piece of writing will explain my views on this topic in more
detail.
First of all, I believe that people who work too hard are likely to have health problems. Recently, I
read an interesting article about this subject. According to what I read, people with high-salary
jobs usually have to work more than 50 hours each week, which causes them stress and other
health issues. The article also mentioned that taking time off is a great way to improve these
health problems, but people with high salaries usually cannot take time off.
In addition, it is nice to make a lot of money, of course, but if you hardly have any time off, you
cannot enjoy that money. In my experience, high-paying jobs are usually stressful and require
long hours, so it is hard to find time to relax and enjoy life. To give an example, my father
worked at a job with an excellent salary for many years, but he was unhappy because he never
had enough time to take a vacation or do something fun with his money. He was not happy until
he quit that job and found a lower-paying job with more time off.

G Mastering Writing Task 2 – Writing an Effective Conclusion

Exercise G1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up the answers.
Answers: First sentence – C | Second sentence – B

Exercise G2
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up the answers.
Answers: 1. C A E F | 2. C D E B

H Mastering Writing Task 2 – Using Natural Expressions

Exercise H1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up the answers.
Answers: 1. Not likely | 2. Likely | 3. Likely | 4. Not likely
Exercise H2
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. While they are writing, offer individual
suggestions and feedback. Allow them some time to compare sentences with a partner. Then call
on individual students to share their ideas with the class. Their sentences will vary, of course, but
provide constructive feedback, error correction, and analysis.

I Mastering Writing Task 2 – Avoiding Common Problems

Exercise I1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. Then take up and explain the answers.
Make sure students do write out the corrected response (or type it) as this will help them learn
the template phrases.
Answers: enjoy → enjoyable | advantage → advantages | earned → earn | the college → college
| years → year | than → as | on → in | Because of → Because | travel → travel to | many →
much | be definitely → definitely be | majer → major

Test Tactic – page 267

1. Call on a student to read the information in the Test Tactic aloud while other students follow and
ask questions if there is something they do not understand.
2. Emphasize that this is something students can and should do when they are answering practice
questions at home. If students are not certain how to turn off spelling and grammar check, the
easiest solution is to search the Internet for something like “turn off spelling check in [software
name]” and follow the instructions they find.

J Test Challenge
Exercise J1
1. Have students do the exercise as outlined in the book. If possible, make the task authentic by
having them type their answers. Make sure they spend no more than 30 minutes planning and
writing their responses. When students have finished writing, give feedback and support. Try to
give suggestions for how each student could raise his or her score.
Suggested response (question 1):
I can see why some might feel that a good supervisor can be friendly as well as a friend. On the
whole, however, it is my opinion that supervisors should be friendly but not friends with the
people they supervise. This piece of writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.
First of all, I think that when supervisors are friends with the people who work for them it can
lead to problems. Recently, I read an interesting article about this subject. According to what I
read, most workers feel that supervisors should not be friends with employees because they may
not treat employees equally. The article also mentioned that supervisors may give difficult
assignments only to workers who are not their friends. This means that these workers are
 unhappy because they only get tough assignments so they quit their jobs, which causes problems
for the company.
In addition, supervisors sometimes need to criticize or fire employees. In my experience, they
may find it very hard to do these things to their friends. To give an example, when I had a part-
time job at high school, my supervisor was also my friend. I made a big mistake that cost the
company a lot of money, so my friend was supposed to fire me. However, because she was my
friend, she did not want to do that, which caused more trouble for the company.
In conclusion, for the reasons given, I definitely think that good supervisors are friendly with the
people who work for them, but they should not be friends with those people. In the future, if I
become a supervisor, I will try to be friendly but not make friends with workers.
Suggested response (question 2):
I can see why some might feel that being allowed to wear casual clothes at work is good. On the
whole, however, it is my opinion that it is better to work at a firm that requires professional
clothes. This piece of writing will explain my views on this topic in more detail.
First of all, I think that people work harder when they wear professional-looking clothes, like a
suit, than when they wear casual clothes, like jeans and a t-shirt. Recently, I read an interesting
article about this subject. According to what I read, many people claim that they feel relaxed
when they wear casual clothes at work. The article also mentioned that because they feel
relaxed, these workers say they often do not work very hard, take longer to complete
assignments, and take longer breaks for lunch or a coffee.
In addition, I think that customers and clients prefer it when workers dress in professional
clothes. In my experience, workers who wear casual clothes do not look professional, which gives
me the feeling that the workers will not do a professional job. To give an example, my sister
works at a company that allows employees to wear casual clothes on Fridays. She told me that
the company has meetings with new customers every day. From Monday to Thursday, when
workers wear professional clothes, about sixty percent of new customers will buy something, but
on Fridays, when workers look casual, only about thirty percent of new customers make a
purchase.
In conclusion, for the reasons given, I definitely think that people should wear professional
clothes in the workplace. In the future, I will look for a job that requires me to wear these clothes
rather than casual clothes.

Extension Activity
This extension activity is designed to get students to reflect on their performance and think about how
they can improve in the future. This kind of self-criticism is often helpful in giving students insights
into what they can do better.
1. Write the following tasks on the board (or prepare them on a handout). Ask students to complete
the tasks.
A. Did you choose to answer question 1 or question 2? Why? Discuss with a partner.
 B. Work with a different partner. Review your responses to find basic grammar, vocabulary, and
spelling mistakes.
C. Discuss each mistake and how to correct it. Then discuss how you could avoid making the
same mistake (or similar mistakes) again in the future.
D. Write your response again with each grammar, vocabulary, or spelling mistake corrected.

Next Steps
1. Call on two or three students to read the information in the Next Steps section aloud while other
students follow and ask questions if there are any words or phrases that they do not understand.
2. For the information about vocabulary related to work and jobs, do the activity in class with a
previously prepared job advertisement. This will help students understand how to do the activity
and its value. (If you feel that having students write a cover letter does not provide a direct
benefit for TOEFL, create a TOEFL-style Task 2 question based on the job advertisement. For
example, if the job advertisement mentions that applicants must have a university degree, you
could create a question like this: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A
university degree is necessary in order to get a good job. Support your answer.)
3. For the key skills for Writing Task 2 questions, do the suggested activity in class so that students
understand how to do the task and its value.
4. Assign both of the activities in the Next Steps section for homework. Encourage students either to
bring you their homework for checking or to keep a homework diary that you can review
regularly.