People should sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. (Full Score)

TOEFL Writing Sample: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. (Full Score)

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One day I was doing a job with my father that I did not like doing at all. My father noticed my hesitation and he spoke to me gently. He said that it was a job we needed to do for our family. I was only ten years old, but the way he said it impressed me and even today I can remember his kind words.

For three days every week I go to work in a factory making shoes. I am studying English because I want to find work overseas after I graduate. Because I got a scholarship to the small university in my region of the country, I do not need to work full time in the shoe factory. But the money I can save working is always sent to my family. So I cannot worry about not liking my job. It will only be for a short time.

It is also important to be able to work with other people doing simple things. For that reason I think it is important for everyone to work at some jobs they don’t like. Anyway, the workers can make a game of their jobs and try to win. Then doing something that isn’t much fun would be more fun.

I do not want to do something I don’t like for very long. My father also once said to me that being poor is not a bad thing, but he also said that it is always important to try to make your life better.

So, I think my answer is both yes and no. Yes, I sometimes have to do jobs I don’t like and I think it is not such a bad thing, but I definitely do not want to do work at those jobs forever.

[296 words]

Notes:

1. All of the prompts are from former TOEFL exams.
2. The information available online, i.e., Google search results, is either misleading or wrong relative to length: [an organization] states independent essays should be between 280-320 words. More words than needed is equivalent to more opportunities to make a mistake. Students should be informed re: word count, i.e., MORE WORDS does not mean a higher score.
3. Information concerning paragraphs/content available from [a TOEFL training school], etc. is also wrong: the number of paragraphs is irrelevant and the only important issue re: content is to RESPOND DIRECTLY to the prompt, i.e., the raters/software doesn’t care about structure or content except the latter must Make sense and Must directly respond to the prompt [to preclude prepared essays].
4. UK usage/spelling is entirely acceptable.
5. AVOID complex grammar; avoid ‘Chinese English’ usage; 5 tenses: present, past, future, present perfect [have done/has been], and conditional [would go/could do it] are OPTIMAL.
6. Don’t rewrite the prompt in the first paragraph of your essay…it’s okay to paraphrase [use words that mean the same thing].
7. Recent TOEFL change…students found test takes too long, so there are fewer multiple-choice questions, i.e., essays are now more heavily ‘weighted’]