This is entire test of TOEFL Writing Section, extracted from a real TOEFL test. It has both 2 writing tasks, and a sample response for each task. While you're working on Task 1, you can check back the reading passage and lecture transcript below.
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READING PASSAGE (3 minutes)
In the past decade, concerns regarding the safety of traditionally grown produce have arisen. Many chemicals are being used to control pests on crops, which have prompted some consumers to begin purchasing “organic” produce - fruits and vegetables that are grown without the aid of man-made chemicals. In the past several years, organic produce has become widely popular as it is healthier than traditionally grown produce for humans and for the environment.
Most consumers who purchase organic fruits and vegetables do it for their own personal health. They know that when they purchase organic produce, they do not run the risk of ingesting any of the potentially harmful chemicals used with traditionally grown produce. Many people feel safer feeding their families produce that has been grown without these man-made chemicals.
There are environmental reasons to buy organic produce as well. Farms that grow organic produce tend to pose less of a risk to the water sources near the farm than traditional farms do. Traditional farms use chemicals that can run off of the plants and make their way into nearby sources of water, which can cause water pollution. Since organic farms do not use these chemicals, they pose little risk to nearby sources of water.
Also, organic farms tend to impact their surrounding ecosystems less than traditional farms do. The chemicals used on plants can hurt the populations of vegetation and animals near traditional farms, creating imbalances and disturbances in the surrounding ecosystem. On the other hand, the lack of chemicals on organic farms results in far less negative impact on nearby ecosystems. For people concerned about their own safety and the well-being of the environment, organic produce is the obvious choice.
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LECTURE AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
I want to clear up a little debate that’s been going on recently. You’ve all probably noticed the appearance of organic fruits and vegetables in supermarkets, right? Well, people tend to believe that organic produce is healthier than traditionally grown produce. After all, that’s why they purchase them. However, contrary to popular opinion, traditionally grown produce isn’t any less healthy than organic produce is.
There’s this common belief that the chemicals used on traditionally grown produce are harmful to us, but in reality, your typical vegetable or piece of fruit in a supermarket contains just a tiny amount of chemicals. Produce is always washed before going to the market, and then it’s washed again when it’s put on the shelves. On top of that, most people wash their fruits and vegetables before they eat them, too. All of this washing, it removes pretty much all of the chemicals that you might find on produce. And even if the produce wasn’t washed all of these times, it would still probably be OK for you to eat—see, these chemicals haven’t even been shown to be harmful to humans in huge doses. Either way, you’re not likely to ingest harmful chemicals from traditionally grown produce.
In addition, in order to protect the environment from being negatively affected by these chemicals, there are lots of laws that limit the type and amount of chemicals that can be used on produce. In fact, really strict laws will: penalize farmers if they happen to pollute any water sources with their chemicals. There are also very few recorded instances of agricultural pollution and, in general! farmers are extremely careful with this kind of thing. The concerns about chemical pollution are understandable, but they’re not very likely to occur.
Finally, the chemicals of traditionally grown produce don’t have much of an effect on the environment around them. They are designed to target only specific weeds and insects, not other plants and animals in the area. Studies have even been performed which have proven that these chemicals are not that harmful to the surrounding ecosystems. Now I will admit that farms that are not managed properly can have a huge impact on the surrounding areas, but this goes for organic and traditional farms alike. The chemicals themselves really don’t make a farm’s "environmental impact any worse at all. When you look at all of the factors involved, you’ll realize that the chemicals used on traditionally grown produce are virtually harmless to all but certain pests. So the next time that you’re all out shopping for food, don’t worry about choosing traditionally grown produce over organic produce. They’re both just as good.
