Should students be required to do volunteer work? 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
Should students be required to do volunteer work? Explain.
15 seconds to prepare, up to 45 seconds to speak
A model answer at the right length
110 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.I am genuinely uncertain about this one. The case for requiring it is that most students will never encounter anybody outside their own background otherwise, and a year of that changes people in ways nothing in a classroom does. The case against is that required volunteering is not volunteering, it is unpaid labor with a different name, and students resent it and the organizations receive unmotivated help they then have to supervise. Where I land is that it should be strongly encouraged and built into the schedule, so that a student who wants to do it is not choosing between that and their grades. Required is a step too far.
The words that carry it
Each one links to how it is pronounced.
- uncertain
three syllables with the stress on the second
- background
compound noun, precise about social origin
- labor
American spelling of the economic noun
- resent
two syllables with the stress on the second
- unmotivated
five syllables with the stress on the second
- supervise
three syllables with the stress on the first
How to build the 45 seconds
- 1Admit the difficulty honestly.
- 2State the case for.
- 3State the case against, just as fairly.
- 4Say where you land and why.
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 110. 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.