TOEFL Independent Writing Task
TWE Topic: A Human Or A Computer
类似雅思中国2013-08-29作文真题
Example Essay by Jeenn Lee Hsieh
ielts360toefl@hotmail.com 谢振礼
TOEFL Essay Prompt: (Similar IELTS Topic 20130829 China)
>Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? "Scientists believe that computers will soon become more intelligent than humans." Is it a positive or negative development?
Use specific reasons and examples (based on your knowledge or experience) to support your answer.
Sample Essay by Jeenn Lee Hsieh:
Which is smarter, a computer or a human? To answer the question, perhaps it is appropriate to remember this: humans program computers, not the other way round. That said, in mostly the quantitative tasks a computer may be more intelligent than a human whereas the contrary is true in mostly the qualitative tasks.
To begin with, computers might be able to beat human brains every time when it comes to mathematical calculations and game show questions and so on. However, it does not mean they are smarter overall. In relative terms, humans are better at analyzing new situations by recalling past experiences and making inferences about a new challenge. As well, humans are capable of qualitative analysis and particularly emotional intelligence. Also, humans usually outdo computers at recognizing and adapting to complicated patterns across the board. In sum, given a very narrow field of specifically quantified tasks, computers perform better, but in any broad context, humans are more intelligent than computers because machines can work but cannot think like human brains, at least not now.
Generally speaking, computers have only artificial intelligence which falls short of possessing human intelligence, although it is not known if that will always be the case. It is worth noting one of the most remarkable emotional characteristics of human minds: creativity. On the one hand, a robotic computer can easily outperform, say, over 100 persons in a variety of non-creative tasks, but it is doubtful whether even 1,000 persons, being busy on the keyboards, can equal the creative quality of the masterpieces of William Shakespeare. On the other hand, with its growing artificial intelligence the computer can manage to defeat the most outstanding human opponents at a blistering pace in chess matches and 'Jeopardy' games, as seen on the TV shows in recent years, for example. So, with today's accelerating computer science, it is hard to predict how long it would take the machine intelligence to roughly reach the human-level intelligence. Who knows?
On balance, quantitatively a computer is almost sure to excel while qualitatively a human can still call the shots. Therefore, it is an open question whether the consequence would be for the better or worse. Then, is it possible to conclude that biological intelligence is smarter when a human tells a computer what to do and that artificial intelligence is smarter when a computer tells a human what to do? (Essay created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh, 谢振礼 ielts360toefl@hotmail.com pigai auowen)
>一言以蔽之，托福独立写作或者雅思大作文都是讨论意见(opinion)的英文作文。发表意见来回答作文题目， 先是提出立场(观点)。或同意，或不同意;或赞成，或反对。回答问题的立场就是主题。
主题主宰作文的内容。内容则安排于逻辑的结构--“起承转合”。所以，作文=主题+结构+内容。作文的口诀：主题有焦点，结构有组织，内容有支持。
写作考试：英文的应用难度超过作文的技巧。难于修辞的效率，句法的变化，词汇的恰当。英文作文的基本单位是句子，造句必须合乎基本文法;不过，合乎文法的造句未必全部合乎修辞。修辞可以说决定句子的强弱优劣。另外，词汇的灵活可以说胜过词汇的多少。
英文=修辞+句法+词汇。估计：考试的成绩，七成看英文，三成看作文。
>猫头鹰的提示--Tips and Guidance: ielts360toefl@hotmail.com
Relax and have confidence.
Timing.
Make sure you answer the question.
Use mind-mapping to outline your essay.
Present your position (opinion) to establish the thesis statement.
Narrow down the scope of the topic and focus your thesis.
Create two signposts A/B out of the focus.
Use signpost A for body A; signpost B for body B.
Change signpost A into a topic sentence A in body paragraph A.
Change signpost B into a topic sentence B in body paragraph B.
The topic sentence is an opinion, not fact.
Write as much as you can, or create 6 sentences for each body paragraph.
Make up data to support your opinion (thesis) in each body paragraph.
Always stick to four paragraphs--introduction, body A, body B, conclusion
Avoid one-sentence paragraphs.
Use basically the same introduction paragraph, whatever the question is.
Use lots of linking words and phrases.
Use passives when necessary.
Avoid "I", "me", and "my".
Leave about 5 minutes for editing.
Add another sentence at the end if you are short of words.
