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TOEFL Writing Task 2
For the second task of the TOEFL writing test, you will need to write an opinion or experience-based essay. So, you will be able to write about a topic that you know well. You will see a writing task question. You will type your response on a computer.
TOEFL Writing Question
Instructions: Describe a difficult situation that you faced in your personal or professional life and explain how you ultimately worked out the problem to your advantage.
You will have 30 minutes to write your response. You should write at least 300 words.
TOEFL Writing – Sample Response
When I received word that my application for college had not been accepted, I thought life as I knew it was going to end. “How could life be so unjust?” I mused, as I saw the upcoming academic year stretch out in front of me like a deserted highway. Little did I know that this delay in my academic path would ultimately lead to something truly wonderful.
If I had realized that a simple administrative error on my part was going to delay my studies, I certainly would have been more careful in submitting the necessary forms. I was so self-assured that I was going to be accepted that I had not even bothered to look for work. Nor had I taken into account where I was going to live. Hence, I embarked upon what could have been a year of self-doubt and recrimination.
However, instead of sinking into a quagmire of depression, I decided to take that year as an opportunity to rethink my options. I began to ask myself some hard questions. Did I really want to study in the degree program I had chosen? How committed was I to the idea of financing my own higher education?
I spent weeks scouring the internet for various degree programs and requested a plethora of course catalogues from institutions of higher learning in other states. I then narrowed down my options to nine or ten different colleges.
Invigorated by a new sense of optimism, I requested financial aid and scholarship information from the colleges I had chosen. In the end, three colleges looked the most promising, so I decided to submit applications for admissions, as well as scholarship applications to those places.
Then came the really tough part: waiting for a response. Much to my delight, I was accepted for study at a university in California. I was informed that I would receive a decision about my scholarship application within two months.
The joy I felt when I found out that I had received a full scholarship more than outstripped the agony I had experienced less than a year earlier. Had I not had that setback, I never would have decided to pursue a degree in education.
TOEFL Writing – Useful Phrases
When you have finished, study the useful phrases that have been underlined in the essay above.
You can use similar phrases in your task 2 essay response.
TOEFL Writing – Further Practice