TOEFL writing practice : interview with a famous person

If you could ask a famous person one question, what would you ask? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

2:01

If I have a chance of interviewing a celebraty, I would meet  one of the most successful woman throughout the world, Oprah Winfri. And I want to how much she is satisfied with her life.  This question is for being awaring of a degree of satisfaction with her life and the pros and the cons of the suceessful life. Although many people admire her as the one who led to a successful and still is living a meaningful life, it was likely to be so challenging for her to live in a great fame because it lays as much of responsibility on her. Through it I want to see her real mind behind a shown luxury life and what is meaningful life.

It is very well known that she had suffered from sexual abuse and had been discriminated due to the three miserable components of race, sex, poor. She was born in  black , women and extreme poverty. Although she had overcome all the difficulties she faced with, if she is asked whether or not she wants to born in such a dreadful condition again when she get another chance of living, it would not be easy to say “yes”. Nevertheless, It is certain she would say “yes” in reflection of her path she has walked on so far. I want to hear her reason and special purpose of life of what gave her such huge courage and pride through the question.

Secondly, I want to know about the either side of famousness. No matter how much she pleased with her life or success, she either regret at least one thing or were taken her odinary life away. Nowadays too many adolescents are just following  a way of being a superstar,  watching only bright side of success. However, actually much of the luxury life is considerably false. It is just illusion made by media.  In fact, many of celebraties miss their mundane daily life before being star. It is because they cannot meet their friends in public place and many people always observe star’s life in everything with so close look. There is no such thing “free”. By casting into question, I expect to know real their life.

It is clear for me that meeting one of the celebrity in the world is very precious  and rare oppotunity. Listening to thier honest answer of how much they satisfy their life  may deserve to more than one miliion dollar because we can experience a successful life in an indirect manner from meeting with the person. Furthermore, in converstion, the person  would inspire us of having a dream and even will change our mind like the person. If we had some sort of illusion toward the superstar, it can get rid of false.

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TOEFL writing practice : communication methods

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement？ Face－to－face communication is better than other types of communication，such as letters，e－mail，or telephone calls. Use specific reason and details to support your answer.

9:02

The technique of communication has been developing since man began to live together in the form of community. It is because human beings are impossible to live alone in terms of social being. However, while the means of communication diversified with telecommunication technology and social network service (SNS) based on web led to a considerable progress in communication, people lost closeness of between the neighbors and intimacy between friends and family by replacing the face-to-face talk to other telecom devices.

To begin with, face-to-face communication provide people with more a sense of stability and intimacy between friends and family than other means of communications. “Touch”, which is the most distinguishing trait in face-to-face communication, has been a key subject in modern society because people gradually have lost it. Here is the point of it. No other evolved devices can substitute the own function of touch. Either holding a hand or taming hair is possible only when people are in the same place. According to the recent researches, children departed from face-to-face communication suffer more difficulties in communication with others than other children who have grown up in family environment where people touch naturally each other with eye and hand and body.

On the top of that, the way of meeting people on site can deliver more information and emotions accurately as they intend. When people speak, they communicate with others by means of all senses of body. It is all for , people There are limitations to communicate with others by e-mail or telephone. People often either misunderstand the context of e-mail by mere one word or fail to read a counter partner’s mind by telephone because they cannot see their face and depend on only the channel which the method offers. 

(Unfinished)

TOEFL writing practice : successful life

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Only people who earn a lot of money are successful. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

9”06- 10”09

Nowadays, it goes without saying that money is the most powerful means of being successful. Having plenty of money means he can buy whatever he desire for and he can go wherever he hope for. Money gives many advantages up to attaining to their goals. However, not are only the rich successful. The meaning of success is countless. According to value in person or region where he lives or atmosphere of the time he belongs, it can be differently defined. What the success is rely on the person who says this.

To begin with, the person who achieves their dream is successful regardless of the amount of money. Although the job which he has is trivial, if he is fully satisfied with what he is doing, he can say “I do succeed” In the other hand, no matter how much he has money or how good well-paying job he get, if he had given up what he wanted to be because of money and he just live letting his life goes without purpose, he would say “I didn't succeed” Needless to say, the person who is doing the work of what he has dreamed of is a successful one.

On the top of that, the person who dedicates his life to the valuable things such as helping the needy or involving in religion is also successful. People are willing to give up the chance to make much money for the values they have pursued though it asks them much of sacrificing. They dare to sacrifice themselves for the values. Such people may regard themselves the unsuccessful. It likely sounds irony, but the people who pour everything in him out on the meaningful purpose are truly successful.

I have introduced only two different cases of successful person but there are more cases of life of being successful having nothing to do with money. As an extreme example, if one poor person without job and family and even house regards himself as the successful, he is successful. No one can judge the others with saving balance or one standard which the majority has. The statement of which only people who earn a lot of money are successful is a very narrow definition because it is just one case of a lot of successful lives. 

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** Success，like beauty，is in the eye of the beholder for some，money is a measure of success，but that is a very narrow definition. I do not think all people who earn a lot of money are successful. Success，in my opinion，is measured by how we live our lives，not by what we obtain.

Often，to be successful means to realize a goal that one has set for himself or herself. If that goal were to be a good student，a high grade point average would be the measure of success. If the goal is to be able to run eight miles in under an hour，success would be measured by being able to perform that feat. As we are all individuals with individual goals and aspirations，there are as many definitions of success as there are people with goals. However，money does maintain a very special place in our society. In the United Sates，under a capitalist economic system，we are encouraged to set goals that obtain wealth. Thus，when someone sees another person driving the streets of Beverly Hills behind the wheel of a Rolls Royce，he or she might assume that the person is successful. That would only be true，however，if that person had set as a goal to own a Rolls Royce. He may be a failure in other areas of his life，and may even be drowning in debt，but because he is able to display wealth，many people think he is successful.

In conclusion，appearances can sometimes be deceiving when it comes to money. It is important to remember that success is always measured on an individual basis. If you feel that you are successful because you have realized a goal，then you are. If you feel like a failure，however，no amount of money will be able to make you feel like you are a successful person. Certainly，money is only one of a number of ways to determine success.

TOEFL writing practice : being an adult

Q. People recognize a difference between children and adults. What events (experiences or ceremonies) make a person an adult? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.

There is no such thing that children turn to adults in a day. However, anyone experiences a couple of times specific moments when they feel I become an adult. People have their own experiences, but there is something in common among those experiences.

First of all, at the moment people feel a sense of responsibility; people recognize they grow up. Children are always under the protection of their parents. Parents either decide something instead of their kids or are responsible for what their children did. However, from one moment, children can no longer depend on them. For example, when people have their baby, they realize they become an adult. From the moment, they have to protect their baby from a lot of situations coming to them. The sense of responsibility engraves people to become adults for sure.  

Secondly, people say they realize it when they feel sympathy toward their parents. We used to demand many things to our parents even over 20 years old. It means age is not a measure of being adult. We consider our parents as the one who cares about us and should give everything as we ask. If you are thinking of yourself so, people might regard you still children, you do as well. However, people used to say that the moment when parents look like the one whom we should care of comes at least once in our life. Although I’ve never experienced such emotion yet, when the day comes, I am likely to say the same thing as others did.

To be honest, being an adult is not a big deal. It is because everyone becomes adult. However, once again being an adult is a big deal. In the world there are numerous people just who having only old age. Namely, being an adult is like having a responsibility on their life. Also, only after you grow up as much as you can take care of people around you, you can say that you became an adult. 

아래는 이블린 킴 선생님의 수업에서 사용된 예시 에세이 입니다.  

There are so many differences between children and adults, such as adults made decisions independently, while children often deal with things under the supervision of adults. Although it is a course that a child grows up and become an adult, I believe that many events play a significant role in it. Based on the experience and life style of my own, leaving parents and living alone is the event that turns a child into an adult.

Main reason of my argument I support is that living independently could develop the ability of thinking and doing independently. In family, parents always prepare everything and create a comfortable condition for children. So, children at home are mostly carefree, and need not to worry about cooking, washing, making cleaning. The only thing they have to care of is study. However, Children, for example, who live in the dormitory of school, have to study how to deal with house work and how to get on with others. It is more important that they should not only think without the help of parents but also make decisions like adults.

Another reason which is proven by many children is that by living independently children learn how to deal with many problems which happen unexpectedly. To resolve problems faced with, they need courage and the capability to cope with without the help from parents. For example, when a freshmen move into dormitory they have to learn to change the light bulb, clean the house, how to get on well with roommate and so on. At this time, making friends and helping each other are very important for them to resolve the troubles which may happen in the future. In addition, the frustration and even failure in life is very significant in the course of growth. An experience, example, or observation imparts beneficial new knowledge and wisdom. In the same way, failures bring children lessons and make their thought and behaviors mature and sense.

Generally speaking, living independently will develop the ability of dealing with things of children, test the courage of cope with difficulties of them, and bring them many lessons. Taking into account of all these factors, we may reach the conclusion that living by own make a child mature and wise, and turn a child into an adult. 

TOEFL_ writing practice : a reliable friend

아직도 한시간이 걸린다.  이블린 킴 선생님의 "30분만에 써내야 한다."는 말이 계속 마음에 남는다. 써내야 한다. How...

Q. What do you want most in a friend - someone who is intelligent, or someone who has a sense of humor, or someone who is reliable? Which one of these characteristics most important to you? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your choice.

10:57- 11:50

People look for friends who are in mutual interest or benefit them when they need. However, it cannot be the necessary condition of being a friend. Also,we can make friends with a variety of characteristics but the ones who are not reliable cannot be a real friend. Namely friends for lifetime should be reliable. Trust is the most important virtue of relationship between all the people as well as friends because it keeps the relationship firmly and help people overcome their hardship.

 To begin with, no matter what situations I have gone through, a reliable friend will be together and support me. Actually this belief that he or she will be with me forever is based on the trust regardless of who the friend is.  While they have gotten along with for a long time, naturally it has been built up. None of scientists can explain precisely how the kind of strong band was established or what backgrounds affect them to trust each other. However, there is one thing for sure that friends based on trust don’t forsake their friends in any difficulty even at the moment when everyone abandons them.  

On the top of that, the friends who can trust in lead us to a right way. They are the ones who are willing to advice us the right things at any given moment. From my personal experience, I was in trouble because I made a big mistake. I couldn't tell even my parents it because i was afraid of disappointing them. At that time one friend came in my mind and I turned to her to confess my fault. She didn't judge what I committed  Instead she comported me that everyone makes mistake at least once or more in their life. And she encouraged me with her truly warm and honest advice that an important thing is not to do again the same thing. Unless I had the friend who can tell honestly what I did wrong, I might intend to hide it into my deep soul and eventually it would hurt somebody else and even spoil me. I could be free from my fault because of the true friend.

Someone said having one friend who is reliable is the same as having a whole world. How awesome having a true friend who is always standing on my side and walking together on the same road is! Therefore, a reliable friend is the friend for lifetime.   

* 영향을 미치다. 

1. have an influence on / have an effect on 
 ex) Taylor's ideas had a significant influence on the industrial life of all modernized countries.

2. have an impact on / make an impact on
ex)The Beatles alone had an enormous impact on culture.

3. affect
ex) How will these changes affect us?

TOEFL_writing practice : the help of technology

여전히 한시간이 걸린다. 흠.. 안되는데..370자를 썼다. 

Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? With the help of technology，students nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 

3:31- 4:31

There are two sides to everything. It goes through technology as well.  While some people claim that they lost a sort of close connection between people such as neighbors because of replacing much of their daily life to technology, some are thankful to the cell-phones and computer devices which connected them to people who live in the distance. However, I think that as long as we use it in a proper manner, we can gain much more benefits of what we are about to do. Also, our life would be abundant with the help of technology, which is less limited by either places or time and does a lot of works at a high rate.

To begin with, people can share information and knowledge they have with students who are living throughout the world because technology is not limited by places where people are. One of famous website cousera.org can be the good example of this case. Whoever wants to gain qualified lectures from prestige universities in the world can feel free to access to the website and can take classes as much as they want for nothing. Moreover, distance learning technology enabled student to discuss diverse issues of society on each place as if they are in class. They are available to exchange their thoughts and opinions on the web.

On the top of that, students can save their time with the help of technology. Looking back at my childhood, finding materials and making notes had taken a long time until it all was done. However, nowadays, students use a computer and advanced software to do their researches and assignments. It reduce much of time of the work just that had been wasted. We can get a prompt response as soon as we put data into the analysis program. Even the data was gathered by on-line poll.

Due to the advantages of technology mentioned above, we can learn more information and even faster. Although it is dangerous for us to rely on technology too much, if we control the usage of the technology and be careful to be addicted to some technologies, it would bring more benefits rather than the disadvantages of technology into our life. 

* 초래하다 / 야기하다
cause, bring about, lead to, result in (좋지 않은 일을) (formal) give rise to

* 유발하다 
(흥미 등을) arouse, cause, trigger, lead to, give rise to, set off, touch off induce

* 발생하다
(사건 등이) occur, happen, arise, come about, take place (전쟁·질병 등이) break out (효력 등이) take effect, (빛, 생산) generate

모범답안은 아래의 링크를 참조. 

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TOEFL_ writing practice : onelong vacation? many vacations?

오랜만에 번역이 아닌, 순수 작문에 도전.
아.. 시간도 많이 걸리고, 맘에 안든다. 글자수는 좀 많이 오버됐다. 440자?

Q. Some people believe that students should be given one long vacation each year.
others believe that students should have several short vacations throughout the year.
which viewpoint do you agree with？Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.

When it comes to the vacation, the issue should be considered in a variety positions of people such as teacher, parents as well as students. Unless we consider the interest of each group, it can cause a serious conflict among them. I think one long vacation satisfies with as many members of our community as it can in terms of the efficiency in time for family plan and the benefits  from extra acitivies. Therefore, being given one long vacation benefits to students.

To begin with, through a long vacation, students have a chance to experience extra activities beside regular course of school. For example, if students have three months vacation, it is enough time to go abroad in order to experience the other culture or language. Also, If they are interested in music instrumentals, they can concentrate on mastering the music instrument during the time. When I was in high school, in Korea, I had only four weeks vacation twice a year. And even during vacation, most of time, I had to come to school due to the vacation class.I used to think that If I had three months of full vacation, I would have spent my time experiencing other activities. Since I got into univetsity, I could have full time of vacation. At that time, I spent most of the time traveling and voluntiring, going around all the world, America, China, Mongolia etc. This experiences and memories actually influenced on establishing my character and left in itself as my precious asset and unique knowledge in my mind.

Secondly, It is much easier to make a family plan than having short-term vacations throughout the year. Nowadays, the increasing number of household in which both parents work have been a social issue. During the vacation, there need public supports for taking care of our children. Whenever vacation comes, finding a center or an alternative school is bothersome for parents as well as children felt tiresome  I saw one good example of the United America. They have long vacation, so they often send their children to a summer camp during their vacation  It seems be good both children and parents. Children can experience other culture and meet a variety of friends off-site classroom and parents also have a real vacation for summer.

To achive something in our mind, enough time to be able to focus on should be given. Moreover, family issues need to be considered in abroad view. Whether how much our children spend their time in a proper manner counts on the right decision we makes. We need to creat a comfortable environment around them and other social members. One long vacation is the better environment where we have expected.

모범답안은  이블린킴의 신문연재 기사에 실려있는  Essay를 참고 해주시길...
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TOEFL_writing practice : unqualified

Q. School should ask students to evaluate their teachers. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific example to support your answer.

2:47-3:13

Nowadays, It seems that many teachers who  do not prepare for their classes well or are inadquate to teach thier students. Such teachers prevent students from learning many things and subjects. These days, some people insist that school has to ask students to evaluate their teachers. I agree with the idea because the type of evaluation can lead to the elimination of unqualified teachers.  The system will compel teachers to teach well and cause them to think how they can teach their students in an efficient way.

To begin with, the evaluation system will be effective to make the teachers below evaluation standards leave school. Once again I say, there are too many unqualified and unwilling teachers. Such teachers  does not deserve to teach what student wants. Furthermore, students  who learn from teachers who are not up to standards are likely to get an education which falls short of students’s expectaions (live up to their expectations)  compared to ones who learn from always prepare for their class and teach students skillfully.  Thus, teachers who do not meet the requirements of the system sholud step down from school.

Secondly, the system not only gets rid of the unqualified teachers, but remind the remaining teachers of keeping researching and seeking for the lectures with a high quality. It is because they can also be fired the next time unless they make an effort.   Therefore ,teachers should keep doing their best, and students who learn from these teachers will be able to easily understand what is being taught and obtain a great amount of knowledge from them.

The rule is simple. Teacher who are qualified to teach students should teach students and those who are unaualified should not do so. This system is very good because it can eliminate teachers who are unqualified to teach students and make teachers keep thinking how to teach students more efficiently.

·         자격이 되지 않다

-          are inadquate to

-          does not deserve to

-          below evaluation standards

-          do not meet the requirements of the system

-          are unqualified to

·         기대에 미치지 못하다

-          falls short of students’s expectaions

-          live up to their expectations

writing expression 3. different thoughts

"I have some different thoughts."

* argument
syn. dispute, controversy, debate
neutral. opinion(of/about/on), point of view(on/about),
            perspective(in/into~/from the ~of/~on), attitude(toward)

* sentence
1. Opinion was clearly divided into two.
2. There are rival (opposing) opinions on this problem.
3. Business is being delayed due to the conflict of opinion among the partners.
4. It has not been possible to reach an argreement so far.
5. Abortion is a highly controversial issue(subject).
6. There is a stark contrast between Westen and Asisan ways of thinking.

* the gains and the losses / the pros and the cons / the positive and negative side (~of)/ the advantage and the disadvantage/ the merit and the dismerit(faults) / its light and its dark sides
- with verb (consider, has, weigh (up),  research, examine)

writing expression 2. one by one

* One by one 하나씩, 한 사람씩
- ex: I am going to go through the items on the list one by one.

- syn. one at a time : Take one pill at a time 한번에 하나, 따로따로
- syn. piece by piece : The girl complete the work piece by piece. 조금씩, 하나하나
- syn. one thing each day : Do at least one thing each day whose only purpose is to make you feel extraodinarily happy, energized, and alive.
- syn. once a day/ once a month/ once a year 하루 한번, 한달에 한번, 일년에 한번

* Each to each  각각
- ex: Their score were equal each to each
- expression : each
1. each tree/ each year
2. Each has faced investigation.
3. Each has gotten the results
4. They are 12 dollars each for adults and 7 dollars each for children.
5. Each of you is as different as your fingertips.

writing expression 1. nowadays

* nowadays: ad. 요즘에는
- ex: Nowadays most kids prefer watching TV to reading
- syn. recently, lately, these days(과거와 비교해서)

* nowaday : adj. 요즘의, 오늘날의
-ex: We should develop our language ability to get a job nowaday

* in the past: 과거에, 옛날에
-ex: Physical education in the past is much like it is in the present.
- 활용
1. far back in the past 아득한 옛날에
2. as in the past 전처럼
3. in the past twelve months/ in the past few years 지난 얼마동안
4. for three weeks in the past 지난 3주간
5. in the dim and distant past  망막한 과거에

*in (the) future:  미래에
- ex: I hope that we can be of service to you in the near future
- syn. in days to come