TOEFL iBT independent writing, Being always in a hurry or taking your time? -partly rewritten-

Writing Topic

Some people are always in a hurry to go places and get things done. Other people prefer to take their time and live life at a slower pace. Which do you prefer? Use specific reason and examples to support your answer.

 

 

☆Let’s think

Preferences seem easy to explain while they are often difficult for others to understand, especially for those who do not know you well. This is probably because preference is personal. Without background information, things become difficult to understand. Those who rate your essays do not know you at all, so you have to provide as much background information related to your preference as possible to convince your reader, to get good scores.

 

 

☆Paragraph Development

Paragraph development is a key to providing sufficient background information. If a paragraph has only one sentence or two, it lacks some essential sentences such as supporting details (background information), or the main idea. A sample of a paragraph development is as follows:

【Main Idea】  A sentence which represents the paragraph briefly

【Explanation】  A sentence which explains what you mean by the main idea

【Detail / Example】 A sentence which provides a specific example

【Follow up】  A sentence which makes up for some information lacking in the example

【Conclusion】 A sentence which wraps up the paragraph briefly

                                            

Sample paragraph development:

1)【Main Idea】 Don’t do today what you can do tomorrow.

【Explanation】 Things change, and doing things a little too early will often turn out to be just a waste of time, while time is life as the author of Momo says.

【Detail / Example】 For example, even if you review the next two chapters of a textbook because you think your teacher may finish two chapters in one class on a whim, she might actually digress and would not even finish one chapter.

【Follow up】 Although the extra preparation itself is not a waste because you can use it later, you could have used the time for something you could have done only on that day such as communicating with your family and friends. Textbooks won’t change but you and your folks change day by day.

【Conclusion】 Tomorrow will be a totally new day full of the unpredictable while today will never come back. All you need to do is make the most of what you have today.

 

2)【Main Idea】 Make hay while the sun shines.

【Explanation】 I try to avoid letting hesitation or procrastination ruin my life.

【Detail / Example】 If I think of doing something and do not do it, thinking now is not the time for it or I could do it later, I will never do it and regret not doing it in most cases.

【Follow up】This is because things will not stay the same, and so now is usually the best time to do what you are up to.

【Conclusion】Taking my time often costs me my precious moments of life and I do not want to miss them.

 

Your test paragraph development:

【Main Idea】

 

【Explanation】

 

【Detail / Example】

 

 

【Follow up】

 

 

【Conclusion】

 

 

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

Life is short. Haste makes waste. What’s your hurry? These three sayings characterize the way I manage my day-to-day chores. I don’t want to rush through things; I prefer to take my time.

 

Life is short. You never know what may happen tomorrow, so it is important to enjoy today. By doing just a few things slowly and doing them well, you can savor the experience. You can truly enjoy what you are doing.

 

Haste makes waste. We are not machines. We can’t just rush through our chores. If we do, we might forget something. We might take shortcuts and do a poor job. Then we’ll have to do the job all over again. That certainly doesn’t save us any time. By going more slowly, we can do a chore carefully, completely, and correctly.

 

What’s your hurry? Where’s the fire? I don’t see any need to rush to the next experience. There’s still al lot to see and learn from the chores around you. Taking care of your baby brother, for instance, can be very rewarding. If you are in a hurry to get many things done, you can just keep the baby near you while you work on other chores. Or, you could devote your whole attention to him and observe his reactions to the environment. You can’t observe carefully if you are rushing to do other things at the same time.

 

To twist a common saying, “Don’t just do something, sit there!” Take life easy and savor each minute. Life is shorter than you think.

(Barron’s, Writing for the TOEFL iBT, pp. 278)