TOEFL iBT Writing for an Academic Discussion Are major discoveries more often the result of collaborative effors or individual genius? - revised -

Lesson 29   Are major discoveries more often the result of collaborative efforts or individual genius??

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.  What is the difference between discovery and invention?

Note: While inventions are creations of something new,

discoveries are findings of something that had existed all the time.

 

2.  Name examples of major discoveries. Are they results of collaborative efforts or individual genius? Why?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

Collective efforts

1.      Two heads are better than one.

 

2.      These days, novel prizes of science are often shared by a group of scientists. Very often, major discoveries occur as a serendipity to a member of a group of researchers who are doing the same researches.

 

3.      Today’s important discoveries are products of strenuous efforts financed by those in power. Governments and big businesses support scientific projects for profits and power. Atomic energy, DNA, semi-conductors workable at room temperatures, iPS cells, Higgs boson, and gravitational waves are all crucial scientific discoveries that were made systematically with huge subsidies and through the collaboration of a large number of people in the related fields after some geniuses constructed the theories.

 

4.      No genius can discover anything without cumulative knowledge as an asset of humanity. Columbus’s discovery was based on the theory of Galileo Galilei, and Galileo’s theory was impossible without observations by unknown ancient thinkers.

 

Individual genius

1.      Historically, major breakthroughs have been attributed to individual researchers, who were often ridiculed by the neighbors who didn’t understand what they were doing.

 

2.      Chance discoveries would have been overlooked had it not been for a genius. Numerous people had seen the same phenomenon as Newton saw, but no one else discovered gravity. Only Flaming had the insight to find penicillin when he saw common molds in his laboratory. Few people still understand Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. He solely came up with the idea although helped by a mathematician in calculation.

 

 

☆Sample Response Structures

【Thesis】As long as a mind is a product of knowledge accumulated by a group of people or all humans, major discoveries are results of collaborative efforts rather than a genius in a broader sense of meaning.

【Supporting Details】First of all, thoughts are in sync with language, and the language the thinker uses has been made by the people of the individual’s ethnicity. Also, the pieces of knowledge the individual puts together to reach the “Eureka!” moment are the results of the efforts of other individuals. The finding that apes are social animals was made by a Japanese team, and the groundbreaking discovery is attributed to their Asian cultural background that, unlike the Western culture, sees humans as part of nature that share their lifestyles with other animals.

【Counterargument-treatment】Of course, it is genius that leaps to the insight that leads to the final stage of a discovery, but what makes the genius is not just the genius themselves.

【Conclusion】Thus, major discoveries are made by countless number of people. (169 words)

 

【Thesis】People intuitively regard major discoveries as products of prodigy, and I think they are right because key to breakthrough is in unconventional areas that most people other than geniuses aren’t interested in or stay away from.

【Supporting Details】Breakthroughs need unconventional ideas of extraordinary minds that see something remarkable in what ordinary people see nothing special. Historic major discoveries were made by such names as Galileo Galilei, Issac Newton, and Albert Einstein, who were then unknown and even treated as failures or touched when they were working on what was later going to be a discovery of the century. Other less extraordinary spotting like the discovery of the oil well in America was treated at first as a folly of the person who alone dug the ground.

【Counterargument-treatment & Conclusion】Putting aside the cumulative knowledge that the breakthroughs were based on, significant discoveries are made by the gifted that their contemporaries never took them seriously, and therefore a major breakthrough is achieved not by a group of people but by a solitary giant. (167 words)

 

Write your draft on this topic. Give feedback to other people’s drafts, asking questions and making suggestions.

 

 

DRAFT

 

 

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

TOEFL iBT Writing for an Academic Discussion Are major discoveries more often the result of collaborative effors or individual genius? - revised -

Are major discoveries more often the result of collaborative efforts or individual genius?? 

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1         What is the difference between discovery and invention?

Note: While inventions are creations of something new,

discoveries are findings of something that had existed all the time.

2         Name examples of major discoveries. Are they results of collaborative efforts or individual genius? Why?

 

 

☆Hints for Points

Collective efforts

1.     These days, novel prizes of science are shared by a group of scientists. Very often, major discoveries occur as a serendipity to a member of a group of researchers who are doing the same researches.

 

2.     Today’s important discoveries are products of strenuous efforts financed by those in power. Governments and big businesses support scientific projects for profits and power. Atomic energy, DNA, semi-conductors workable at room temperatures, iPS cells, Higgs boson, and gravitational waves are all crucial scientific discoveries that were made systematically with huge subsidies and through the collaboration of a large number of people in the related fields after some geniuses constructed the theories.

 

3.     No genius can discover anything without cumulative knowledge as an asset of humanity. Galileo’s discovery was based on the theory of Copernicus, and Copernicus’s theory was impossible without observations by unknown ancient thinkers.

 

Individual genius

1.     Historically, major breakthroughs have been attributed to individual researchers, who were often ridiculed by the neighbors who didn’t understand what they were doing.

 

2.     Chance discoveries would have been overlooked had it not been for a genius. Numerous people had seen the same phenomenon as Newton saw, but no one else discovered gravity. Only Flaming had the insight to find penicillin when he saw common molds in his laboratory. Few people still understand Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. He solely came up with the idea although helped by a mathematician in calculation.

 

 

☆Sample Response Structures

【Thesis】As long as a mind is a product of knowledge accumulated by a group of people or all humans, major discoveries are results of collaborative efforts rather than a genius in a broader sense of meaning.

【Supporting Details】First of all, thoughts are in sync with language, and the language the thinker uses has been made by the people of the individual’s ethnicity. Also, the pieces of knowledge the individual puts together to reach the “Eureka!” moment are the results of the efforts of other individuals.

【Counterargument-treatment】Of course, it is genius that leaps to the insight that leads to the final stage of a discovery, but what makes the genius is not just the genius themselves.

【Conclusion】Thus, major discoveries are made by countless number of people. (128 words)

 

【Thesis】People intuitively regard major discoveries as products of prodigy, and they are right.

【Supporting Details】Breakthroughs need unconventional ideas from extraordinary minds. Historic major discoveries are attributed to such names as Galileo Galilei, Issac Newton, and Albert Einstein, who were actually unknown and even treated as failures or touched when they were vigorously working on what was later going to be a discovery of the century.  

【Counterargument-treatment & Conclusion】Putting aside the cumulative knowledge that the breakthroughs were based on, significant discoveries are made by the gifted that their contemporaries never took them seriously, and therefore a major breakthrough is achieved not by a group of people but by a solitary giant. (106 words)

Write your draft on this topic. Give feedback to other people’s drafts, asking questions and making suggestions.

 

 

DRAFT

 

 

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                      

Writing for an Academic Discussion Should children be forced to do housework? - revised -

Question: Should children be forced to do housework? 

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.        Read the following and talk about other good effects of children doing housework. What chores have you done? How have they affected you?

 

Scientists say kids doing chores helps their development   BBC 15^th June 2022

“You might not be a big fan of chores but new research suggests that they can get help you develop problem solving skills and even do better in school.

The study has come from La Trobe University in Australia and was carried out with more than 200 parents and children aged 5-13.

Parents were asked about their child's engagement after doing chores.

They reported that chores helped to boost a child's executive functions: These include the ability to focus, to plan, to switch between tasks, to remember instructions and control their behavior.”

 

2.        Is it ok to force children to do something? When necessary, parents must force their children to do something. For example, they must make them take medicine when they are sick even if they resist it, while forcing them to do some activity they don’t like, say boxing or playing the piano, may be traumatic.

 

 

☆Hints for Points

Agree:    Chores teach children skills necessary for independence.

Chores encourage children to use their body and brain.

By doing chores, children can acquire patience, a sense of responsibility, confidence, and self-esteem.

Housework teaches children knowledge about traditional seasonal events and family cultures.

Through helping with parents, children can effectively communicate with them and bond with them.

Children will come to appreciate work done by parents and gain respect for labor in general.

 

Disagree: Forcing children to do against their will will adversely affect their development.

Children must play, study, and interact with people and nature instead of working.

Doing a simple task for hours disrupts their physical and mental health.

 

 

☆Sample Essay Structure

【Thesis】Chores can be a part of education. It is important for children to be required to help with household work commensurate with their abilities unless it interferes with other crucial activities for growth, because doing chores helps children’s development in many aspects and brace them for independence.

【Supporting Details】Assigning children chores not only helps their emotional, mental, and physical development but also give them basic skills of daily life, which helps them become independent. They can learn basic domestic duties such as making beds, cleaning, washing, and cooking. There is no denying that having these skills will make their lives easier in the future than not having them.

【Counterargument-treatment】Disciplining often involves compulsion, and the negative effect can be minimized or avoided by parents’ love and ingenuity such as introducing the tasks as part of play or family event. After all, disciplining will nurture patience and tenacity, which are indispensable to lead a good life.

【Conclusion】It is parents’ responsibility to make children participate in doing housework so that they can function well in society when they grow up. (179 words)

 

【Thesis】I am concerned about exploitation and abuse in disguise of discipline when parents order their children to housework even though I admit that learning to do housework has fundamentally positive effects on children.

【Supporting Details】Unfortunately, many children are still forced to help with housework at the expense of other essential activities they need to go through for their development and even exposed to physical damage. This is not just because of poverty but because of ignorance or negligence. Parents are human beings and imperfect and thus can take advantage of their children for their convenience or pleasure. My mother made me wax the whole floor of my father’s office with bear hands alone for hours at least twice when I was around eight. I still remember the chemical smell of the wax. The chemical my hands and respiratory organs absorbed could have negatively affected my physical condition. Also, while I was doing the task, my mother spent time with my little sister. I remember feeling isolated.

【Counterargument-treatment】Even though the task may have instilled me with patience and sense of responsibility, its overall gain on my development is questionable. My mother was not a bad person. In fact, she was respected and loved by her family and friends, which means that most children of average parents are vulnerable to parental ignorance, abuse, and exploitation.

【Conclusion】Thus, prudence is necessary in assigning chores to children. (234 words)

Write your draft on this topic. Give feedback to other people’s drafts, asking questions and making suggestions.

 

 

DRAFT