Directions: This section measures your ability to use writing to communicate in an academic environment. There will be two writing tasks. For the first writing task, you will read a passage and listen to a lecture, and then answer a question based on what you have read and heard. For the second writing task, you will answer a question based on your own knowledge and experience.
Now read the directions for the first writing task.
Writing Based on Reading and Listening
Directions: For this task, you will have three minutes to read a passage about an academic topic. You may take notes on the passage while you read. Then you will listen to a lecture about the same topic. While you listen, you may also take notes.
Then you will have 20 minutes to write a response to a question that asks you about the relationship between the lecture you heard and the reading passage. Try to answer the question as completely as possible using information from the reading passage and the lecture. The question does not ask you to express your personal opinion. You can refer to the reading passage again when it is time for you to write. You may use your notes to help you answer the question.
Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words long. Your response will be judged on the quality of your writing and on the completeness and accuracy of the content. If you finish your response before time is up, go on to the second writing task.
On the day of the test, you will be required to type your response into a computer. Therefore, if you are taking this test in the book, practice typing your response on a computer.
INTEGRATED TASK
Directions: You have three minutes to read and take notes from the reading passage. Next, listen to the related lecture and take notes. Then write your response.
Dowsing
Dowsing is the millennia-old practice of finding hidden things. The most well-known activity of dowsing involves the use of a device such as a forked stick to locate underground water. To this end. the dowser walks slowly back and forth over an area of ground holding the dowsing tool out in front with both hands. It is said that the dowser, by concentrating carefully, is somehow able to feel the energy of the flowing underground streams vibrating through the rod at certain frequencies, and thus is able to tell precisely where to dig or drill to find water. Sometimes the dowsing tool will twist and jerk or suddenly point downward. Some dowsers hold two L-shaped rods, one in each hand. In this case, when he or she walks over an area of underlying water, the rods cross over indicating the place where digging should commence.
In recent years dowsing has gained in popularity not only as a method for finding underground water but also for trying to uncover other objects including buried treasure, oil, or even dead bodies. A recent application has been the search for what some consider harmful energy fields in an attempt to avoid them. Even large businesses and official organizations pay dowsers for their detection skills. Although no one is completely sure how dowsing works, the testimonials of satisfied customers bear witness to the success of this ancient art.
START
Now listen to a professor's response to the reading passage.
STOP ■
Directions: You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged based on the quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words.
Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard. explaining how they cast doubt on the points made in the reading.
Writing Based on Knowledge and Experience
Directions:For this task, you will write an essay in response to a question that asks you to state, explain, and support your opinion on an issue. You will have 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise your essay.
Typically, an effective essay will contain a minimum of 300 words. Your essay will be judged on the quality of your writing. This includes the development of your ideas, the organization of your essay, and the quality and accuracy of the language you use to express your ideas.
On the day of the test, you will be required to type your response into a computer. Therefore practice typing your response on a computer.
INDEPENDENT WRITING TASK
Directions: Read the question below. You have 30 minutes to plan, write, and revise your essay. Typically, an effective response contains a minimum of 300 words.
Question:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
There is nothing that an uneducated person can teach an educated person.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.