2016年8月20/21日托福写作/口语预测

　环球教育托福考试今天为大家带来了2016年8月20/21日托福写作/口语预测。

　　感谢环球教育教研中心的老师们，给大家提供的托福考试预测~

　　托福考试预测和真题回忆均由环球教育教研中心供稿，转载请注明。

　　独立写作

　　1.Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? We should state our honest opinions even though other people may disagree with them.

　　Nowadays, most projects at school or in workplaces are completed by group work. When we work as members in a team, it is common that everyone in this team needs to present his or her opinions. Some people believe that it is better not to state our honest opinions sometimes so that out team members will non consider us as aggressive. However, to my understanding, always stating our honest opinions could benefit our teamwork in different ways.For students, making our ideas known to classmates or group members is one of the most important steps when doing an assignment. It is true that the majority of our team members might hold different opinions from us. However, there is no guarantee that the majority is always correct about everything. It happens that the minority’s opinions are more advisable than what most people believe. Moreover, if everyone has the opportunity to state their honest opinion, the team could create an atmosphere that all team members could feel free to express their ideas, which will simulate the students’ critical thinking ability. When one student expresses his or her opinion that is different from others’, all group members will discuss about it together, thus to analyze whether it is correct or not, providing evidence to support their standpoints. This process of discussion will definitely lead to critical thinking. Therefore, I believe that students should state their honest opinions even when their classmates disagree with them.In workplaces, many people refuse to state their opinion honestly in order not to offend their colleagues and supervisors. As far as I am concerned, if we express our opinions in appropriate and polite ways, others will not feel uncomfortable even if they disagree with us. On the contrary, our co-workers and supervisors will tend to consider us as honest person, and thus will be more wiling to cooperate with us.Admittedly, in certain cultures, it is impolite to always express opinions in a straightforward and honest way. Based on what I have learned about Japanese culture, the local people will keep silent and avoid stating honest opinion if they believe that others hold the opposite opinion. If someone speaks up in this situation, he or she will be perceived as a person who “does not read the atmosphere”, which means that the speaker fails to taking others’ feelings into consideration.Although people from different cultures have different conventions in terms of how to express ideas different from others, I still prefer to make our voices be heard. This is because that our society is advancing when everyone feels free to discuss and interact with each other. Only in this way our discussions and daily work could elicit innovative ideas, which might be different from what the majority believes.

　　2.Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Nowadays, it is much easier to achieve success with help from one's family than what is like before. Use specific reasons and examples or details to support your answer.

　　In order to succeed in this competitive society, people have to ask for help of others, particularly your family members, in terms of financial stability and career potential. I personally believe that with the assistance of family, people can be successful smoothly now. I in this essay, my purpose is to elaborate on this opinion, and I will offer two arguments to support my case.To begin with, freedom from the pressure of money, or rather the lack of it, can contribute to one's confidence in the financial credibility. For instance, those young people from well-to-do families may become aware that rarely do they have to achieve success the hard way. In contrast, most of their peers from families that are short of money must depend largely on their own to succeed economically. Truly, stories have repeatedly been told about persons starting from scratches to prosperity; nevertheless, these examples are exceptions that prove the rule. Actually ,it is hard to achieve success without counting on help from the family in such a society where money can make the mare go.Secondly, there is no secret that being successful in life is often associated with one's recommendable educational background. This implies your reliance on your family to pay for your college education in the hope of having a rewarding career. It is the same today as it was in the past that higher education is usually available to those who can afford the high tuition fee, even though the effort is worthwhile. Education being concerned with the financial background, parents who can afford it are anxious to send their children to get career preparation either because they went to university or they did not. This goes to illustrate the importance of a financially support from family. On the other hand, although young people with low-income parents might as well make efforts to work hard so as to make a good preparation, lack of money hinder their improvement.In conclusion, in order to achieve economic and career success, the need to benefit from help provided by family members is more obvious than before. Without such help, the road to success seems often under construction. For those young people who can make use of the financial advantage, there appears to be always a short cut to success.

　　3.Your community has a piece of land and is considering introducing a business to this land. Which business would you prefer? 1. A shopping mall 2. A performing art center 3. A hotel.

　　Without a doubt, the business I would prefer is a shopping mall if my community happens to have a piece of vacant land. The benefits of introducing a shopping mall are bound to outweigh a performing art center as well as a hotel.To begin with, people living in the community would live a more convenient and colorful life. Shopping plays a pivotal role in every family. If there is a shopping mall within walking distance, it will be a fantastic for everybody. They don’t have to spend half an hour or even an hour on the way to the nearest shopping mall. It is definitely a great place for kids who are eager to buy toys and for girls who are crazy about shopping, since there are a wide range of products in the shopping mall. Basically, people could buy whatever they want to satisfy their needs. It is also a fantastic place for young people to have a date. A Shopping mall usually have a cinema and a certain number of restaurants. After shopping, they could watch a romantic movie and enjoy a fancy meal.In addition, it is more profitable to build a shopping mall than a performing art center and a hotel. Everyone is in need of buying things. Buildings a shopping mall is going to profit. On the contrary, a performing art center could not be used frequently. There are enough art events to be held. What’s worse, not so many people in China are interested in arts. Some of them are not able to afford a ticket of a concert or even that of an art gallery. And it takes much money to maintain this art center in case those audio and visual equipment are broken. As for hotels, it is totally unnecessary, for the number of hotels in the city is more than enough. A number of factors will be taken into consideration when it comes to choosing a hotel, such as price, location, facilities and service.In sum, it is a better idea to introduce a shopping mall in a community, since people in the neighborhood could enjoy a more convenient and colorful life. Besides, it is more profitable to build a shopping mall.

4.Some people think that giving students time during a class to discuss ideas with each other is a good way to help students learn; others think giving students time for discussion is ineffective or a waste of time. Which idea do you agree with, and why?"

　　As is known to all, the education in China is exam-oriented. Everything students learn in class is for passing the exams. There are few open topics for students to discuss in Chinese class. It is believed by both Chinese teachers and students that discussion in class is an ineffective way to learn. I totally agree with it.To begin with, Chinese students have got used to the way they are educated. Most students are required to listen carefully to the teachers and take as many note as possible in the class from primary school to senior high school. It will be too much to ask for students to accept class discussion within a short period of time. It is possible that students might not know what to say in the first place. When topics were given in class, it would be possible that the whole class would be silent. It is not only a waste of time, but also embarrassing.In addition, the effectiveness of class discussion depends on the students’ personality. Unlike students from western countries like the United States, Chinese students are introverted who are reluctant to express their ideas in front of their fellow classmates. Some students might be afraid of speaking in public. They are worried if they do something wrong, it will be quite humiliating. Some students are just not interested in sharing although they have plenty of amazing ideas in mind.Moreover, in order to conduct successful class discussion, the teacher plays the most crucial role. It is quite tough for the teacher to supervise the process. He is supposed to be capable of dealing with various challenges. He has to know how to start the topic when the whole class remains silent. Also he has to know how to engage as many students as possible. He has to know what to do when the discussion is absolutely off the topic.In sum, class discussion might be an effective teaching method in other countries. However, it is not the case in China. It takes time for Chinese students to get familiar with it. It might be good when students become more extraverted. The qualification of the teacher matters the most in carrying out a successful class discussion.

　　5.Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Technology designed to make our life simpler actually makes our life more complicated.

　　It cannot be denied that technology enables people to live a better and more convenient life today. People have been enjoying high-tech products such as smart phones, car navigation system, and laptops, to name a few. However, it does not mean that those high-tech tools make our life easier now than in the past. In fact, technology makes our life far more complicated today as illustrated in the following parts.High-tech tools can save lots of labor work, but sometimes they are not as “smart” as we expect. I would like to use car navigation system as an example. In the past, people could only refer to printed maps to find ways to their destinations. Nowadays, car navigation system can automatically find the right path for us. It seems that car navigation system is far more convenient than printed maps. However, in order to install the system, we need to download the digital maps before ahead and make sure that our destinations are recognizable. If the system fails to recognize the destination, it sometimes does not stop navigating, but lead us to somewhere else. Once I was driving from California to a Native American Reservation in Arizona, the car navigation failed to find the right path and led me to a small town that I had never heard of. Fortunately, I found a gas station and the employees there showed me the correct way. My own experience shows that high-tech products might not be always as reliable as we expect.Another example of how technology has made our life more complicated is online shopping. Nowadays, more and more people choose to shop clothes online, so to save time and efforts. Admittedly, shopping online is convenient to some extent compared with going to a shopping mall, because we could stay at home and check out with several clicks. All we need to do then is to wait until our new clothes are delivered to us. However, many people had terrible shopping experience in that the colors and designs of those clothes are not exactly the same as they are described online. Moreover, the size might not fit us, which is not expected either. In this case, we need to follow a complicated returning process, completing forms needed for returning and going to the local express service to send the clothes back. The process of returning is extremely daunting, which usually takes a long time for us to get our money back.Based on the above discussion, it could be concluded that sometimes technology is not as convenient as we expect. Should we just refuse to use high-tech products? I do not think so. I believe that modern technology is still developing, and it will definitely make our life more and more comfortable and convenient in the future.

　　6.The government should give priority to improving healthcare than to solving environmental problems. Do you agree or disagree?

　　Many people have been complaining that the health care system in my home country needs to be improved. Thus they believe that it is the government’s top priority to build more hospitals, to purchase advanced equipment, as well as to provide patients with more medical subsidies. However, to my understanding, the government should focus more on handling environmental issues in that it is closely related to our living environment. Besides, some environmental problems are also causes of certain diseases.To begin with, environmental problems such as pollution has become the cause of certain diseases, which means that only by solving those problems could help prevent people from getting sick. For example, in big cities, air pollution resulted from gas emission could probably cause asthma or even lung cancer. According to a recent survey, the particles of PM 2.5, one type of air pollution today, contain harmful substance, and could stay for a long time in the air. Once people breathe those particles in, the substance will definitely harm our physical health. In this sense, solving air pollution problem is the best way to prevent people from those diseases. Otherwise, no matter how many hospitals are built and how innovative the facilities in hospitals are, people still cannot stay away from diseases. Therefore, before improving health care system, it is better for the government to handle environmental issues in the first place.Moreover, solving environmental problems could help improving our living condition in general. Based on my own experience, when living in a pleasant environment, I could maintain a positive mental status. Being positive could benefit us both physically and mentally. On the contrary, if the pollution problems are not solved and the endangered animals are still skilled constantly, it is not difficult to imagine that the earth will become a place that is no longer suitable for people to live in. If we do not give a country’s priority to solving environmental problems from now on, we will regret for today’s choice sooner or later.Based on the above discussion, I strongly advocate that the government considers handling environmental issues as its top priority rather than improving health care system. This is because that improving our living condition and reducing different types of pollution could benefit human beings in a long run.

口语预测

　　Task 1

　　1.Describe a day that you enjoyed the most or was the most special to you. Include reasons and details to support your response.

　　Well the most important day for me is the college graduating ceremony last summer because that's the last day i spent at school and after that, i would say goodbye to all my student life. And I still remember that in this ceremony, a lot of professors and students gave speeches and we received the diplomas individually and after that we went out and took pictures with classmates and professors around the campus. And that is seriously the last day I remember i spent at school and after that I would be on a new page and i felt really excited about it.

　　2.If you have an opportunity to go to a free class during the weekend，which of the following would you choose to go to public speaking, starting your own business, or photography and why? Please include details and examples in your explanation.

　　Personally，I would choose to take a class on public speaking because speaking in public is such an important skill both at school and at work. For example，when I was in college, some of the seminars required us to make presentations in front of everyone in class. However, I always struggled with those activities because I used to have stage freight and most people had a difficult time understanding the main ideas I was trying to convey to them. Now I’ve become an engineer. I spend most of the time in front of a computer, but there are still times when I still have to pitch some ideas to our clients. It would be really helpful if someone can teach me how to make a public speech effectively. Therefore, I would take the public speaking class.

　　3.An environmental group is planning to organize an activity to help protect the environment. What activity do you suggest and why?

　　It is a fact that the earth is suffering from severe environmental problems. Measures should be taken to protect our environment. I’d like to suggest an activity. I would invite many people who want to contribute to protecting the environment to go cycling around the west lake. Each bicycle would have a flag with some slogans concerning environment protection on it. There are two reasons why I would do this. Firstly, cycling is an eco-friendly activity. And it’s beneficial to our health. If more people choose to go to work or go to school by bicycle, the environment will be much better. Besides, West Lake is the most popular tourist attraction in HZ. It would be really easy to draw a lot of people’s attention.

　　4.If a high school is planning to organize an after-school activity for its students, what kind of activity would you recommend and why?

　　I strongly recommend that the high school should organize basketball matches for the students. The most important reason is that basketball matches will help students build up their stamina, which brings great benefits to their study and the activities will certainly encourage more students to take part in sports rather than spend all day long on their academic study, which leads to a poor health condition and low efficiency in study. Second, Basketball matches are able to help students learn cooperation and competition, which are essential for them when they get started to work.

　　5.Which one you will learn: play a piano, swim, and repair a car.

　　Personally, I would probably learn how to play the piano. Firstly, learning how to play the piano is definitely a good way to cultivate myself. I could not only enjoy the music created by prominent pianists, but also learn much about music itself. In addition, if I am really good at playing the piano, I could perform in front of a large number of people. It could give me a sense of achievement. What’s more, it’s easy for me to make a great deal of money, being a qualified piano teacher. Last but not least, I would be able to make some friends who have much in common with me. That’s why I am so jealous of those people who can play the piano.

　　6.Your friend has to work a lot. Please suggest a hobby to him to help him spend his weekend more delightful.

　　I suggest that my friend should join a hiking club which organizes hiking on weekends, which I consider will bring great benefits to my friends’ physical health and psychological health. To begin with, hiking is definitely a beneficial outdoor activity for my friend to keep fit. After working hard during weekdays, he needs a way to free himself from the heavy workload and he’ll be able to strengthen his stamina, which will definitely give him more energy to cope with his job. Moreover, having a tighter connection with nature tends to bring him a good mood and hopefully he’ll forget his worries and stress from work.

　　7.If you can have a part-time job at the university, what position would you choose; a lab assistant, a campus tour guide, or a library assistant? Why?

　　Personally speaking, I’d like to be a library assistant. There’re a couple of reasons. First of all, being a library assistant would enable me to be exposed to a sea of books. As we all know, libraries are the main study resources for students and there’re novels, encyclopedias and all kinds of reference books thus I could have more chances to read more if was a library assistant. In addition, I adore the peaceful environment in the library so I could enjoy the peace and let off my steam if I worked there. Every time I visit the library in my school, the environment there will help me concentrate better.

　　8.Describe a memorable experience in a restaurant or cafe.

　　I’d like to talk about my experience in a well-known restaurant in my city which is named the Grandma’s. A fortnight ago, I ate out with my friends there and the service was impeccable. The waiters and waitresses who wore a friendly smile all the time were so hospitable and helpful that a great number of customers were attracted to eat out there. In addition, the food they served was mainly Chinese traditional dishes which were not only mouth-watering but also nutritious. Better still, the price was moderate while the potion was extremely big. So I pretty enjoy the time eating there.