TOEFL iBT Academic Discussion and Writing AI

１

☆Question

Does the potential of AI to improve our lives and boost economic growth outweigh the ethical and socio-economic concerns, or should we be more cautious in the adoption and development of AI?

 

 

☆Let’s Think

Do research on the following questions and discuss them with others.

1.        What is Sophie’s point? Provide a case in point.

2.        What is Liam’s point? Provide a case in point.

3.        Who do you agree with? Share your opinion.

 

☆Hints for Points

1.        In “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Stanley Kubrick shows how a computer program kills humans when it takes humans as obstacles of the task it has been programed to do.

2.        No one knows how artificial intelligence works.

3.        In 2015, world-renowned thinkers cautioned us about the threat of AI. According to them, since AI evolves much faster than humans do, it is possible that humans will lose control of AI in the near future.

4.        Military use of AI needs caution. Autonomous weapons must be banned.

5.        It was thought that computers are more morally correct than humans, but it has been known that they learn prejudice through interactions with humans.

6.        AI is a machine. It does not have the same biological body we have, so it’ll never have the same consciousness or workings of mind we humans have.

7.        People often prefer to interact with humans rather than to do it with machines.

8.        AI will do supplementary jobs such as routines and dangerous tasks.

9.        AI is an enhancement of our brain activities. Like other advanced devises such as electric dictionary and smart phones, our productivity will rise through the use of Ai.

 

☆Responses for Ideas and Expressions

Response 1: I’m all for utilizing AI in various aspects of our lives, because it performs much better than humans in some types of tasks. I’m not concerned about job displacement very much. AI needs human operators to watch and manage it. In cases of hiring, AI that sorts out job applications before the human resources manager sees them choses photos of the same type of faces that look like those of successful applicants in the past based on its data input. An AI-robot hotel in Tokyo, although it enjoyed many visitors who love to see new things at the beginning, started to hire humans several months after its opening because of malfunctions and lack of flexibility. As long as we watch security related to AI, there is no need to warry about it replacing us in offices. (136 words)

 

Response 2: My fear is that AI can transform our mental conditions. In “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, Phillip K. Dick predicted a future where androids are so similar to humans as to make it difficult to tell the difference. Although humas can tell androids lack something human, they sometimes act more humanely than real humans. He also predicted a world which is run by singularity, a consciousness that exist in a network of computers. There, humans are not allowed to make decisions. Although these things are yet to happen, I feel changes are already happening in such situations in which they translate a foreign language much better than us, making us lose confidence in ourselves and dependent on machine translation; hence loss of creativity from free working of our mind. (130 words)

 

 

☆Response plan

Topic Sentence:

Supporting Details:

Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                        

TOEFL iBT Academic Discussion and Writing Digital privacy - updated -

 

１

☆Question

Should individuals sacrifice a degree of privacy for the convenience and benefits of technology, or should stricter regulations be implemented to protect user data?

 

 

☆Let’s Think

Do research on the following questions and discuss them with others.

1.        What is Alyssa’s point? Provide a case in point.

2.        What is David’s point? Provide a case in point.

3.        Who do you agree with? Share your opinion.

 

☆Hints for Points

1.        The Internet is a wild west. Laws regulating activities that can do harm to people and the world are almost non-existent. It is wrong.

2.        We need laws to restrict some activities like cyberbullying, disseminating virus, plagiarism, and identity theft.

3.        It is too late. Personal information of most citizens is already out, and once it is out, it cannot be wiped out even if it is deleted.

4.        Strengthening technology to prevent problems is more practical.

5.        Hackers have enough skills to infiltrate almost any system. They do not bother most people because most of them are not so evil.

6.        It is a moral issue in the end. There is not key that cannot be broken. We must make a society where keys are unnecessary.

 

 

☆Responses for Ideas and Expressions

Response 1: I think that loss of personal privacy to some extent is a necessary evil. We cannot use basic internet services such as social media, online subscriptions, and online shopping without giving up some of our privacy. Especially, free online services are provided in exchange for our personal information. When we make an account of a social media, for instance, we type in our name, e-mail address, and some other information of ours. The company providing the free service sells the information we gave it as to other companies seeking customers. Then, a few days later, we start getting e-mail ads from shops we do not know. It is somewhat inconvenient to sort out the mailbox full of ads, but we cannot help using the services to stay informed, communicate, and do other activities, although we need to be careful about protecting our lives and financial data. (148 words)

 

Response 2: I believe that international laws regulating activities handling personal data is necessary for contingency situations. The case in point is recent Japanese administrations. They have been linking as many personal data as possible to MyNumber cards, digitalized social security number cards, while the system is vulnerable to data leak. The reason is corruption. Politicians are bought by the IT general contractors, which get huge IT projects from the government. Although the fundamental defect of the system has already been causing troubles to thousands of people, including potentially fatal ones, the government will not end this project. It even plans to link the card to the universal healthcare system by eliminating the paper card, which has no problem. This can expose all the citizens’ medical history to third parties like government officials, business personnel, ill-intentioned individuals or even spies. To avoid such situations, we need to set redlines. (147 words)

 

                                                                                 

☆Response plan

Topic Sentence:

Supporting Details:

Conclusion:

Write your response in 10 minutes. Show each other your responses. Write down questions or suggestions to each other’s response.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                        

TOEFL iBT Independent Writing History and literature or sicence and mathematics - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is more important for students to study history and literature than it is for them to study science and mathematics.

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.       If a statement says that A is more than B, and if you disagree with this statement, how would you demonstrate it?

 

$Note: You are to prove either A equals B or A is less than B:【A > B】⇔【A = B】or【A < B】.  If you disagree with the statement that it is more important for students to study history and literature than it is for them to study science and mathematics, you are to prove either both are equally important or the latter is more important than the former.

 

2.       Is studying science and mathematics equally important to or more important than studying history and literature? What if school taught neither science nor mathematics? Would there be any problems?

 

☆Hints for Points

Agree

1.       The humanities are related to all people while science is only for experts. A discovery of a 1-meter-long Cambrian shrimp fossil cannot be a common conversation topic while a Pyramid excavation can.

2.       An office worker without scientific knowledge is just boring, but a scientist without knowledge of human nature and historical lessons is dangerous.

 

Disagree

1.       Without basic knowledge of math and science, you could not lead a daily life with confidence. You would have no idea about how to use spreadsheet and neither would you understand the importance of vaccination or seat belts.

2.       Science and mathematics answer such important questions as what is life or what is universe.

3.       To have a good perception of current social problems, we need to have some basic knowledge of science and math. e.g. global warming, atomic energy, virus variants, etc.

 

 

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

While studying the humanities is essential for a fulfilling life as a human being and to make the world a better place to live, I do not think it is less important for students to study science and mathematics than for them to study history and literature. Without having some basic knowledge of science and mathematics, we cannot lead our daily lives, have better perception of ourselves and the universe, and face our future problems with determination.

   First of all, today’s world heavily depends on science. It is now difficult to survive or function well without knowing the meaning of basic scientific terms such as virus or electricity. Ignorance of these words will cause problems or even death. For an office worker, the fundamental idea of calculus is necessary to use the most prevalent computer programs like Excel. Science and math are now so finely woven into our lives that we do not even realize that we use them all the time. Even deniers of science cannot lead a life without basic knowledge of science and math.

   In addition, although it is generally believed that history and literature deal with humans while science and mathematics deal with the physical world, science and math help develop the study of the humanities in significant ways. For example, geology and chemistry help researches of human history, and astronomy, physics, and mathematics attempt to know the origin, the whole picture, and the future of the universe and life. Biology has made clear that all life is related (DNA, the theory of evolution, etc.), and zoology has questioned the conventional idea about the difference between man and animals (animals with behaviors that had been thought to be distinctively human). All these studies provide deeper understanding of who we are, where we are, and what will happen to us in the future, and these are the fundamental questions humans have always asked probably since primordial times. To understand the answers to these inquiries, we need at least the intermediate level of knowledge in science and mathematics.

   Moreover. science now plays the central role in predicting and saving our future. For example, global warming cannot be handled without initiatives of governments and general consensus, and to understand how serious the problem is, scientific knowledge is necessary. Another example is that, although we are in a hopeless situation in which politics is preventing politicians who are conscious of this problem from passing effective laws, perceptive business leaders have already started tackling the issue and many ordinary people have long been trying to help reduce CO2 emissions. This has been possible because most people can read graphs, know what CO2 is, and understand the significance of greenhouse effect. Another serious issue related to our future is the potential threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. Without spreading knowledge of how nuclear energy is dangerous, we cannot eliminate this negative legacy from the 20^th century that is moving the Doomsday Clock close to midnight, our end.

   In conclusion, science and mathematics cover not only materials but also humans. Therefore. it is as important for students to study them as for them to study history and literature for a better life.

 

 

☆Plans for Body Paragraphs

Body 1: Importance of history and literature

Body 2: Importance of science and mathematics

Body 3: My opinion

Body 1: Point 1

Body 2: Point 2

Body 3: Why the other choice is not so important.

 

Your plan for Body Paragraphs

Body 1:

 

Body 2:

 

Body 3:

TOEFL iBT Independent Writing Digital privacy

 

☆Response for Ideas and Expressions

We cannot use basic internet services such as social media, online subscriptions, and online shopping without giving up some of our digital privacy. Especially, free services are provided in exchange for our personal information. When we make an account of a social media, for instance, we type in our name, e-mail address, and some other personal information. The company that provides the free service sells the information we gave it as a commodity to other companies seeking potential customers. Then a few days later, we start getting e-mail ads from shops we do not know. It is somewhat inconvenient to sort out the mailbox full of ads, but we cannot help using the services to stay informed, communicate, and do other activities, although we need to be careful about protecting our lives and financial data.

                                                                                  (134 words)

☆Response plan

Topic Sentence:

Supporting Details:

 

Conclusion:

この講座の内容と良いエッセイを書くためのアドバイス - revised -

この講座の内容

この講座ではTOEFL iBTで2つあるライティングセクションのひとつIndependent Writing対策を行います。

（SNSの書式で教授が出した課題に関する議論に参加するという形で100語以上の解答をするというもので、クラスメート２名の回答の形で課題について対立する２つの視点があらかじめ提示されています）

 

☆授業内容

♦実践的な課題を解いて、書く内容の考え方や論証の仕方を学習し、具体例に使える知識を蓄えます。

♦実際にエッセイを書き、添削された答案を書き直すことで制限時間内に合格レベルの答案を書く力をつけます。

♦英文エッセイの基本構造を守り、きちんとした英文を書けるようにすると同時に語彙を増やし表現力をつけます。

 

☆授業の構成

授業はテキストの構成に従います。テキストは以下の2つの部分に分かれています。

１ 新形式模擬問題

２ 旧型式の過去問

どちらの問題も、Brainstorming, Research, Discussion, Sample Answers, and Supplementで準備後に１度目の答案を書いて互いに見せ合ってコメントしたのち、２度目の答案を書いて提出します。

 

☆復習

返却された答案は、評価と添削された部分を確認後、必ず書き直しをして下さい。遂行を重ねるほど上達します。答案によっては再提出をお願いする場合があります。（ほとんど書けていない、内容の大きな変更が必要な場合等です）

 

良い英文エッセイを書くためのアドバイス

まず、ETSの解説ビデオを観てIndependent Writingについて大まかな知識を得てから以下の点を実践してください。

URL: https://www.ets.org/toefl/test-takers/ibt/about/content/writing.html　

 

☆良い英文をたくさん習慣的に読み、英語のニュースやインタビュー番組を利用する:  文章の達人と言われる人たちが良い文章を書くコツを尋ねられて必ず言及するのが「良い文章をたくさん読む。」ということです。英会話でネイティブスピーカーの話をたくさん聞くと英語が口から出やすくなるのと同様、知的刺激のあるきちんとした文章を夢中になって読む習慣や英語のニュースやインタビュー番組およびそのPodcastなどを毎日聞く習慣があると、作文の際にふさわしい表現や内容の展開を思いつきやすくなります。覚えてやろうと思うのではなく感心し感動しながら読むことが大切です。

 

☆きちんとした英語を書く訓練をする:  エッセイの評価項目の一番下（文法、つづり、句読点他）がweakまたはsatisfactoryの下のほうの人はきちんとした英文を書く訓練が必要です。

♦評価がweakの人は文構造が崩れてしまうことが多いので、構文のしっかりした文を書けるようにしましょう。５文型や接続詞、関係詞を「文構造」という観点から勉強しなおしてみてください。また、これらの基本例文の和訳をみてもとの英文を言ってかけるようにする訓練をしておくと一生の財産になります。また、話し言葉と書き言葉は違うということを意識してください。日本語でも話し言葉と書き言葉を区別するように英語でもwritten Englishというものがあります。文法のテキストの英文がwritten Englishで、文法書は英語のマナー本に相当します。文法書にあるきちんとした言葉使い（特に構文の正確さ）を目指しましょう。

♦評価がsatisfactoryの下のほうの人は、構文はほぼできているのですが採点者のいう「明らかな文法ミス」が多数あります。これを無くすには文法の正誤問題（間違い探し問題）で典型的なミスをチェックする必要があります。また、不要なところに３単元のｓや複数形のｓを付けるなど癖になっているミスは、授業以外でもできるだけ友達などにチェックしてもらいましょう。ミスは他人の目で見ると見つけやすいのです。語法を覚えることも大切です。特に動詞は組み合わさる主語や目的語、呼応する前置詞（provide A with B等）を一緒に覚えましょう。

 

☆客観的で分かり易い内容を意識する: 内容の展開の仕方もエッセイは日常会話とは異なります。会話は言葉以外の要素（ジェスチャーや表情、共通認識、人間関係等）を含むので言葉足らずでも問題ない場合が多くあります。しかし文章を書く際は言葉だけを使って分かりやすく、誤解のないように説明しなければなりません。細かく説明すればするほど分かりやすく、誤解が少なくなります。これはエッセイを書くときに気をつけると同時に普段手紙や伝言、ブログを書く時などに意識すると効果があります

 

☆様々なWriting Topicでエッセイを書いてみる: ETSのTOEFL公式ガイドに掲載されている過去問の中から、書き難そうなものを選んで実際に書いてみましょう。賛成・反対両方の観点から命題を考え、実例をリサーチして書きましょう。その際、最低でも2回書きます。1回目は30分の時間制限をかけ、2回目は時間を気にせず書き直します。

 

☆推敲を重ねる: 何度も書き直すほど一度でよい文章を書くことができるようになります。返却された添削済み答案は、訂正されたところやアドバイスなどを参考にしながら書き直してください。最後にタイプして仕上げ、語数を確認しましょう。文法のミスはノートを作り、ミスした英文を和訳して元の英文を書く練習をし、ミスがなくなるまで繰り返し練習しましょう。

 

☆手本の書写と要約:  文法・表現力の評価が３になることが多い人はテキストやBarron’sのWriting for the TOEFL iBT等のsample essayをタイプで書写してみられるのも良いと思います。意味単位ごとに写すと表現が身につきやすくなります。ただ写すのではなく内容を取りながら行ってください。最後に内容を要約します。最初は各段落のMain Ideaを抜き出し、次に自分の言葉で言い換えます。声に出して言ってから書くようにするとSpeakingの練習にもなります。

 

☆英文読後日記をつける:  英字新聞・雑誌の記事を読んだ後、要約・感想を各1~2文の英文にします。表現力がつくと共に書く材料集めにもなります。まず口で言ってみて次に書いて確認をしましょう。Speakingの訓練にもなります。　（裏もあります→）

 

 

--- チェックしておくと参考になる本・雑誌・新聞・番組・ホームページなど ---

 

以下は全くの私の独断で選んだサイトや本です。よかったら参考になさってください。

（一番下の２つ以外はインターネットにサイトがあり全て無料で閲覧・ダウンロードできます。）

♦MICHAELMOORE.com: アカデミー賞、スタインベック賞などを受賞した映画監督のホームページです。政治・社会問題をユーモアを交えて取り上げたessayやpodcastが掲載されています。Transcriptもリンクが後日掲載されます。

♦Democracy Now!とThe Real News: インディペンデント放送局。主流メディアでは聞けない課題を取り上げます。

♦The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times などは比較的骨太の新聞社で、オンタイムで時事問題を学習できると同時に興味深い記事も読むことができます。

♦BBC のpodcast: ”The Inquiry”は専門家・関係者に問い合わせる形式で時事問題を分析します。

♦NatureとScience のpodcast: 科学雑誌NatureとScienceのpodcast では一般の人にも分かる形で科学関連ニュースを発表しています。温暖化、食料・水危機、公害、幹細胞研究、宇宙探査、米政府の科学研究援助方針など地球・人類にとって重要な問題を多数取り上げています。Transcriptもあります。

♦Vice News: 「テロとの戦い」や人種差別など現代社会の暗部を取り扱ったニュースやドキュメンタリーがあります。

♦National Public Radio / Voice of America：アメリカのラジオ局。HPでニュースを閲覧したりPodcastをダウンロードしたりできます。ニュースが簡潔にまとめられています。

♦The Young Turks: YouTube上のニュース局。 頭脳明晰で人間的で面白い元弁護士Cenk氏がホストです。

♦Al Jazeera English: 中東の英語放送局。CM無し。world newsもあります。

♦In These Times:不正・不平等・人権問題等に関して一般の人々の視点からの取材を丁寧に行っています。

♦Newsweek/Time格調高い英語で時事問題を詳しく報じています。

♦The Economist: 現実主義的な教養が身に付きそうな経済新聞です。

♦The New Yorker on the Web: 週代わりで現代作家の短編小説が掲載されます。時事問題も取り上げます。

♦The Best American Essays: 前年に出版されたエッセイのベスト版です。編者が毎年変わります。

♦Writing for the TOEFL iBT, Barron’s: 実際のTOEFL Writing の課題を使ったsample essaysが100以上掲載されている参考書兼問題集。構成・内容・語彙の参考になります。

 

The Inquiry Selection

 

以下はBBC Podcast “The Inquiry”のバックナンバーの抜粋です。

時事問題・一般教養のフォローに使えると思います。（Is Inequality About to Get Unimaginably Worse?はほぼ同じ内容のものが2017年度早稲田国際教養学部のAO入試で使用されました。但し、BBC以外にもCNNやThe Economist, The Guardian等様々なメディアから出題されますので毎日ニュースに目を通すようにして下さい。）アンダーラインのあるものは特に最近の話題や日本の問題、普遍的な問題に関連が大きいものですので優先的に聞いてみられると良いと思います。ひとつが20分ぐらいの長さです。Googleで検索すれば見つかります。スクリプトがあるものもあります。聞いている途中でlostになっても、区切りごとにナレーターのまとめが入っているので内容理解はしやすいです。要約かナレーター部分のディクテーションor書写をするとさらに良いです。

Can We Teach Robots Ethics?

How Do We Stop People Dying in Floods?

How Has Ku Klux Klan Lasted So Long?

How Do You Fix Someone Else’s Election?

Does Poverty Change the Way We Think?

Is Inequality About to Get Unimaginably Worse?

Do We Need a Plan B for Climate Change?

Are Famines Always Man-made?

Can We Eat Our Way Out of Climate Change?

Should We Give Homeless People Homes?

Who Wins a Cashless Economy?

Are We Really About to End World Poverty?

What Kind of Person Becomes a Violent Jihadi?

Should We Solar Panel The Sahara?

Should Governments Drop Money Out of

Helicopters?

Is Japan Abandoning Pacifism?

Can We Learn to Live with Nuclear Power?

Why do Tax Havens Still Exist?

Is Opposition to GM Crops Irrational?

Is There a New Nuclear Arms Race?

Should We Fear Artificial Intelligence?

Why Aren’t More Dishonest Bankers in Jail?

Is Plastic Doomed?

What’s Killing Black American Babies?

What’s the Real Difference between Sexes?

How can we feed 11 billion people?

Are smart cities dumb?

What’s so scary about Huawei?

Why can’t so many children read?

Can We Stop a Mass Extinction?

Are We Heading for another Mass Extinction?

How Did We Mess up Antibiotics?

Can Delhi Clean Up Its Air?

Why don’t we care about Yemen?

Why do we care about statues?

Can we make the super-rich pay more tax?

Do we need more nuclear power to help deal with climate change?

Are *killer robots* the future of warfare?

Is Antifa the threat it’s made out to be?

Will Q-Anon survive?

Is online censorship going too far?

Is recycling broken?

Why are boys academically underperforming?

How will Hollywood respond to the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements?

Why are murder rates in Chicago so high?

Why aren’t countries doing more to stop climate change?

Why have military coups returned to West Africa?

Why are so many people dying on America’s roads?

Can Putin be prosecuted for war crimes?

Has the war in Ukraine sparked the world food crisis?

Is Africa’s Great Green Wall failing?

Why are there millions of empty houses in Japan?

Can Ron DeSantis win the White House?

Will hydrogen solve our energy needs?

Can seawater save Venice from flooding?

 

《補足》以下はTOEFL・国際教養関連AO受験生用に私が作成しているBlogです。よかったらお勉強の参考になさってください。Google → Friends with Wings, TOEFL /早稲田AO, Writing TopicのKey Words