TOEFL writing test 101 2 parts

PART 1 In this part of the test, you have to read an article and listen to a lecture on the same topic. Typically, the author and lecturer disagree with each other and give arguments that support their position. You have 3 minutes to read the article and take notes And then you will listen to a lecture on the same topic and you will only be allowed to listen to it once, so take as many notes as you can while listening. Your job is to contrast the two sides of the debate in a 200 word essay. Make sure to include each side of the debate in your introduction and state which side the author is on as well as the lecturer. Once you have written your introduction. You have to contrast the arguments in more details by stating the reasons and examples given by both. Usually, it is easy to find which argument is in opposition to which. For example: The reading passage might talk about how eco-tourism is good for a countrys economy because it provides local populations with income. The lecturer would then tell you that most jobs created by eco-tourism are held by foreigners and therefore do not provide locals with extra income. Your task is to tell who said what and present the details and examples provided by each. NB: It is VERY IMPORTANT that you DO NOT give your opinion on the topic. (Unless they specifically ask for it.) Here is the text for the first task (Instructions for PART 2 will follow the reading passage) The number of people in the US who are quitting their corporate jobs to start their own businesses is growing. One recent best-selling book entitled Fire your Boss! seems to reflect the growing discontent with company life. Why are so many people going into their own businesses? One of the most frustrating things about corporate life is the bureaucracy. This is the administrative system of paperwork and red tape that keeps track of everything in the corporation. Any decision must be agreed upon by many people in different departments and levels of the company. This can be very frustrating for individual employees who want to have control over their own work. They can become exasperated when their good ideas get tied up for months in the bureaucratic machinery. Employees often long the freedom of being their own boss. Another depressing aspect of working for a corporation is the lack of job security. Contrary to business owners, employees in a large company can be fired at any time, for almost no reason. If there is a downturn in the economy, layoffs are likely to come. Even if a worker has done his best to serve the corporations, he could find himself fired without warning or explanation. When a person works for himself, however, he cannot be fired. The traditionally attractive fringe benefits of a corporate position have been decreasing in recent years as well. There was a time when landing a job at a top corporation meant the employee was assured of a good retirement. More and more these days, however, pension benefi