Is it better to take a job you enjoy or one that pays more? Explain.
A strong Task 1 answer states the choice immediately, gives two supports or one support with an example, and lands its last word around forty seconds. Fifteen seconds of preparation is enough for the plan, not for the wording.
The prompt and the clock
Is it better to take a job you enjoy or one that pays more? Explain.
15 seconds to prepare, up to 45 seconds to speak
A model answer at the right length
107 words — what 45 seconds actually holds.
Answer it yourself first
Record yours first. A memorised TOEFL answer is audible in the rhythm, and raters mark delivery, which is exactly what memorisation damages. Read this afterwards for the shape and the vocabulary.The honest answer is that the question changes depending on how much money is involved. Below a certain level, money is not one consideration among several, it is the only one, because financial anxiety affects everything including whether you can do the interesting job well. Above that level the calculation flips quickly, since an additional amount of salary buys very little and forty unhappy hours a week costs a great deal. So I would say take the money until you are stable and then stop optimizing for it. What I would avoid is treating this as a question about character. It is a question about your circumstances.
The words that carry it
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- consideration
five syllables with the stress on the fourth
- anxiety
four syllables with the stress on the second
- calculation
four syllables with the stress on the third
- additional
four syllables with the stress on the second
- optimizing
American spelling, four syllables
- circumstances
four syllables with the stress on the first
How to build the 45 seconds
- 1Refuse the general answer and name the variable.
- 2Describe the low-income case.
- 3Describe the case above that threshold.
- 4State your rule and reject the moral framing.
Sounds to watch
Straight answers
How long should this answer be?
Forty-five seconds, which is roughly 110 to 130 words at a natural pace. The model below is 107. If your version runs past fifty seconds the recording cuts off, and raters hear an answer that stops mid-sentence.
Does it matter which side I take?
No. Raters mark delivery, language use and topic development, never which opinion you chose. Pick one in the first second and spend the preparation time on two supports rather than on deciding.
What does sayit score here?
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar. The transcript is shown in full, so you can judge your own wording and development yourself.
What the score on your result means
An estimate from fluency and pronunciation only — not an official band, and not a mark for vocabulary or grammar.Drill it until the clock stops mattering
A free account keeps every take, so you can watch your pace settle and your filler count fall across a fortnight.