目次
TOEFLライティングの問題傾向の分析
出題傾向
下記は、2017年上半期すべてのTOEFL iBT試験のライティング問題を分析した団体からの情報を整理したものとなる。
Independent Writingについて、2017年7月まで22回の試験のうち、12回は新しい問題で10回は過去に出題された問題であった。
この過去から出題された10問の過去問のうち、2017年は1問、2016年から2問、2015年から2問、2014年から4問、2011年から1問が出題された。
難易度
2016年と比べて難易度はあまり変わらず、しかし、問題の長さは大幅に増加し、時には問題だけでコンピュータ画面の半分弱を占めていた。
受験者にとってストレスになりやすいが、速く問題文を読む、トピックのポイントをつかむようになるため、普段からより多くの過去問を練習することがおすすめだ。
テーマ/トピック
最も重要なテーマは、教育（Education）、活動(Activity)、家族と友人(Family/Friend)、そして価値観(Value)のカテゴリーである。
Independent Writingテーマはますます広くなり、社会的な話題も増えてきた。これは、受験者に、社会の動きについて普段から関心と独自の洞察力を持つこと、より高い思考能力と作文能力を求めていることだ。
模範解答集
ライティング重要過去問
2019年（15問）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Scientific discoveries should be shared around the world. Government should not keep it privately.（1月5日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Some students have poor study habits when they enter a university or college. All students should take required courses to develop good habits.（2月24日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The most important problems of the society can be solved during our lifetime.（3月9日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Students do not respect their teachers as much as they did in the past.（4月14日）
Some people think that older children should be required to take care of the younger children. Others think that this should be done by parents or other adults. Which one do you prefer?（5月11日）
Some people prefer to take small classes in which the professor can remember every student’s name. Other people think it is better to take big classes. Which do you prefer and why?（5月26日）
One company plans to prohibit employees from working through emails and text messages during weekends and holidays. Some people believe that by doing this, the company can reduce employees’ dissatisfaction with the company; while others believe this does not work. What is your opinion and why?（6月15日）
In high school classes, which of the following way is the most effective way to stimulate students’ interest.（6月29日）
- using technology in the classroom more often
- more group work
- introduce how knowledge is related to daily life
Which of the following values is the most important to share with a young child (5-10 years old)?（7月7日）
- Being helpful
- Being honest
- Being well organized
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In modern society, parents should learn more from children than children learn from parents.（8月3日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Even if science and technology would continue to advance and improve the quality of people’ lives, the most significant improvements have already taken place.（8月25日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The most important characteristic of a successful politician or a leader is good communication skills.（9月7日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents should restrict young students’ time spent on technology.（10月19日）
Celebrities, such as actors, musicians and athletes, sometimes express their political views in public. Some people appreciate knowing the political views of celebrities. Others think it is not appropriate or useful to know the political views of celebrities. Which opinion do you agree with?（11月2日）
Some people say that kids age 5 – 10 should be allowed to play outside once every hour, while others say that they should be allowed to play outside only during the noon break. Which one do you agree with, and why?（11月17日）
2018年（14問）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is important to read or watch the news presented by people whose views are different from your own rather than the news presented by people whose views are similar to your own.（1月6日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It’s a waste of money for Government to fund space travel or space exploration.（1月13日）
Which one do you think is the most important factor for a student to success college or university?（1月27日）
- Tutors in university
- The encouragement from family and friends
- High-quality education from high school
The government want to improve education levels. Which of the following do you think is the best way?（1月28日）
- hire more teachers to teach in a small class
- preschool education before kindergarten
- to provide some training courses so that teachers can be more professional
Which one is the most important factor to help you work productively: （3月10日）
- Having an environment free of noise and distractions;
- Knowing that you will receive a reward;
- Doing something you are interested in.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should relax with the ways related to their hobbies and physical activities which are different with their work.（3月24日）
Some lessons for young students (5~8 years old)increase their interest to learn by video games, but some people believe it will distract young students. Which idea do you prefer and why?（5月6日）
Schools always collect information about teaching performance and give rewards to those teachers who perform well. Which way do you think is more useful? Why?
- to evaluate teachers’ performance by students.
- to evaluate teachers’ performance by teachers.
Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.（6月2日）
If you want to get a promotion at work, which of the following measure would you take?
- do more extra additional jobs.
- participate more actively or state more personal opinions in group discussions.（8月26日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It’s the best way for teachers to help students become more interested in a subject by explaining how this subject can help students live better outside the school.（9月2日）
Nowadays, people are busy with many things. If you were given a short period of time, what would you choose? （9月16日）
- Learn to play a new sport you never played;
- Learn to cook food in a different way;
- Learn to do some hand-made work like clothes.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
The job has a greater effect on one’s overall happiness than the social life does.（10月13日）
One of the most challenge problems in modern society is to have the most up-to-date skills for workplace. For solving this, government decides to give all adults over the age of 25 a training course to learn new skills. Do you think it is an effective way for government to spend its money?（11月4日）
Is it as important for older people to learn and study new things as young people to do so.（12月1日）
2017年（14問）
As a student of university that has a long break between university semesters, the university requires all students to do one of the following for one month during the break:
1、Students must take a course on the subject that has no direct connection to their majors of study ( For example, a student majoring in engineering may take course in fine arts or social science.)
2、Students must volunteer to work in the university’s city or their hometowns to improve some aspects of life of the city or their own town. (For example, students may help local primary school children with their homework.)
Which one do you think is more beneficial for students in their university?Why?
Given detailed examples and reasons. Use your OWN words, do NOT use memorized examples.（1月14日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Universities should require every graduation students to take public speaking courses. Give specific examples and details to support your answer.（1月29日）
Do you agree or disagree: The way people dresses is a good indication of his or her personality or character.（2月25日）
Do you agree or disagree: It is impossible to always be completely honest with your friends?（5月6日）
Some people think that we should keep away from others to improve our relationship, because being away from people reminds us of how important they are. Others think we should always stay with others to have good relationship because we can communicate with them more often. What do you think?（7月8日）
The university has provided students who are going to enter university with two summer vocation programs. Which one do you think is better for students?（9月24日）
- 1) Take some college courses in advance. e.g. some courses that are related to students’ major.
- 2) Visit some history museums or historical relics.
Children rely too much on the technology, like computers, smart phones, video games for fun and entertainment. Playing simpler toys or playing outside with friends would be better for children’s development.（9月16日）
You have long been friend with someone. If they do something that you don’t like, should you still be friends with him or her?（4月1日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement. It is better to make friends with intelligent people than with the people who have a good sense of humor.（4月15日）
Sometimes we are assigned to work in a group on a project. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The group will be helped more by person who will be willing to do what other group members want than by person who often strongly insists that things should be done in a way that is different from what the group wants to do.（2月18日）
Nowadays, many movies or films are based on books. Some people prefer to read the original book before they watch the movie, other prefer to watch the movie before reading the book. Which one do you prefer?（3月4日）
Some young people are free in the evenings or have days off at school, which way can bring them the most benefit?（4月23日）
- to accumulate work experience by a part-time job or volunteering in a community
- learning to play a sport
- learning to play a musical instrument
At some universities, students take part in making decisions about the issues that affect daily life of everyone on campus, such as how many hours that the libraries should be open each day or what kinds of food should be served in the cafeteria. But at some universities, experts are hired to make these decisions, students almost never involved. Which approach do you prefer and why.（5月20日）
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement : Sometimes people think nowadays the media (TV, newspaper, Internet) are less concerned about the accuracy of news than in the past, and the incorrect information may cause more problem to the public.（8月27日）
2016年（14問）
1 Which of the following three activities do you prefer to do with a group of people rather than alone?
- A. Eat a meal
- B. Listen to music
- C. Do homework
2 It’s difficult for teachers to be both popular (well liked) and effective in helping students learn. Agree or disagree?
3 Some people think it is the best approach for students to learn if school start the day at an early time in the morning. But someone thinks the school should start the day at a late time. Which one do you prefer? Use specific reasons and detailed examples to support your answer.
4 Some people believe that video games could inspire young students’ interest and make their study more efficient rather than distracting them and a waste of time, so young students should be allowed to play video games.
5 High school students should be required to study many different subjects at the same time or they should study only three or four subjects at a time.
6 Students in a university club want to help others, but they can only choose one project a year, which one of the following is the best?
- A. Help those students in a nearby primary school with reading and mathematics
- B. Help people who cannot afford to build or rent a home to build a house
- C. Visit and assist elderly people with daily tasks.
7 The most important thing the government should do to improve health care is to clean the environment.
8 The government can take a variety of actions to help protect the environment. Which one of the following do you think is the most important for the nation’s government to take to protect the environment.
- A. Fund the research to develop environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar and wind energy.
- B. Preserve the natural places like forests and protect the animals that live there.
- C. Enforce laws to prevent the pollution of air and water by large companies.
9 If you were offered two jobs, one has an average paid and you work normal hours (40 hours a week), the other one has a much higher salary but you need to work long hours. Which one would you choose? And state your reasons.
10 Taking a lot of time to make an important decision is viewed as a bad quality for a person to have. But now it’s considered as a good quality of a person. Do you agree or disagree with the statement?
11 University students are often encouraged to study fields in which significant job growth (a large increase in job opportunities) is expected; these fields currently include science, technology, engineering, and math, do you believe students should consider studying fields related to these subjects even if they are more interested in other subjects? Why or why not?
12 Do you agree or disagree: It is better to travel abroad to visit different countries when you are younger rather than when you are older.
13 Some teenagers took part in kinds of activities，such as musical classes, sports classes and so on, but others only focus on one activity which is important to them, which idea do you support, provide ideas and give some examples.
14 Do you agree or disagree: it is better to use your own knowledge and experience to solve problems than to ask other people for advice.
2015 年（35問）
1 Do you agree or disagree with the statement? All university students should be required to take history courses no matter what field they study in.
2 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: All university students should take basic science courses regardless of their fields of study.
3 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The most important characteristics for a politician or leader is good communication ability.
4 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The rules that the whole societies today expect young people to follow and obey are too strict.
5 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Movies and televisions have more negative influences than positive influences on young people’s behavior.
6 Some people think that it is an important part of a child’s education to go on field trips (for example, museums), other people think a child’s time is better spent learning in a classroom at school. What is your opinion?
7 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? More and more people are spending money on their pets unnecessarily when the money could be spent on something better.
8 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It’s better to complete a project and then start another one than to do several things at the same time.
9 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The government should spend money helping more people access the Internet instead of improving public transportation.
10 Some people always follow their dreams even if the dreams are ambitious. Some think we should focus on achieving realistic goals. Which do you agree with? Why?
11 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? When people spend a lot of time watching sports on television or following their favorite team, does it have negative effects on their lives?
12 Which way do you think is the best for a student to make new friends. a. joining a sports team, b. participating in community activities, c. traveling.
13 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It’s better to spend money enjoying life like going on vacation than to save money for the future.
14 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The best way for parents to teach their children about responsibility is to have them care for animals.
15 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Teachers should be paid at least as much as doctors, lawyers or business leaders.
16 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? These days, children spend more time on doing homework or participating in organized activities related to school or sports. However, they should be given more time to do whatever they want.
17 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The best way to reduce air pollution is for the government to raise the cost of fuel (petrol).
18 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is important to have rules about the types of clothes that people wear in their workplace and at school.
19 In order to attract more tourists, the government could either improve safety by hiring more police or improve its appearance by repairing old buildings and streets. Which way do you think is more effective?
20 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In order to succeed, it is better to be more like others than different from everyone else.
21 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?Grandparents cannot give useful advice to their grandchildren because the world of today and the world of 50 years ago are too different.
22 Nowadays, students do many things like surfing the internet, listening to music when they are learning. Do you agree or disagree that doing other things impose a bad effect on learning?
23 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?Which is better for children’s education: 9-month study and 3-month break or 3-month study and 1-month break?
24 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is a waste of money for the government to spend money on space travel or space exploration.
25 Which one is the most important for a teacher of high school? The ability to help students plan for their future; the ability to find the student who needs the most help and to give that help; or the ability to encourage students to learn on their own outside of the classroom.
26 A school used to offer three after-class activities.1)sports 2)art 3)volunteering，but this year, school’s extra money only can offer one activity. Which one do you choose and why?
27 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?The more money a person has, the more he or she should give away to the charities.
28 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?It is more important for the government to spend money on art museum and concert halls than on recreational facilities such as swimming pools and playgrounds.
29 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? One quality that a successful leader must have is to make decisions quickly; when a leader takes too much time to make decisions, he will be seen as inefficient to the people he leads.
30 If you want to change one aspect to improve your health, which would you choose? Why?
A. The kinds of food you eat
B. The amount of the exercise you do
C. The amount of the stress in your life
31 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People now can better protect the environment than they could in the past.
32 Do you agree or disagree with the parents should let children make mistake and let them learn from their own mistakes
33 Agree or disagree: people nowadays spend much more time than they should use text messages and new technologies such as social media to communicate with each other.
34 Some people prefer doing sports on their own, such as running, while others like to do sports in groups. Which one do you prefer?
35 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The food we eat today is much healthier than in the past.
2014年（29問）
1 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is often not a good thing for people to move to a new town or a new country because of the loss of old social connection. (2014年3月1日)
2 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It’s necessary to put a lot of money into a business to make it successful. (2014年4月19日)
3 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is more important for the government to provide money for things that are beautiful than things that are practical. (2014年5月24日)
4 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents should set strict rules to their children if they want them to succeed in the future. (2014年5月25日)
5 Which do you prefer, to buy new technological devices immediately after they become available or to wait till many people have adopted (=accepted and started to use) them? (2014年6月15日)
6 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People who cannot accept the criticism from others will not be successful at working in a group. (2014年6月21日)
7 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is commonly believed that in life, success is not the most important thing; it is more important to remain happy and optimistic when we fail. (2014年6月29日)
8 People should take time to relax with hobbies or physical activities that very different from what they do at work. (2014年7月6日)
9 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The most important investment of a company is to improve the skills of its employees. (2014年8月16日)
10 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Although science and technology will continue to improve, the most significant improvements in the quality of people’s lives have already taken place. (2014年8月23日)
11 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The ability to maintain a small number of friends for a long time is more important to happiness than the ability to make new friends easily. (2014年8月30日)
12 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Modern agriculture does damage the environment, but providing food for the growing population around the world is more important than protecting the environment. (2014年10月11日)
13 It is important for everyone to know about what happening all around the world even though the events have not affect our daily life. (2014年10月18日)
14 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? As modern life gets more and more complex, it is essential for young people to have the ability to plan and organize. (2014年10月26日)
15 Do you agree with the following statement? People often buy products not because they really need them but because other people have them. (2014年11月2日)
16 When making a major purchase (for example, car or laptop), our decisions can be influenced by different sources of information. Explain how each of the following sources of information can influence your decision. (2014年11月9日)
(1) Recommendations from friends or colleagues
(2) Information from media (for example, TV, magazines, newspapers)
(3) Recommendations from salesperson in the store
17 Some people like to record their life by sharing pictures and other information on social-networking sites. Others keep this information to themselves and never share it online. Which do you prefer? (2014年11月29日)
18 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Being creative is more important in finding the best solution to a problem than planning carefully. (2014年12月6日)
19 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Students are more interested in politics than before. (2014年12月13日)
20 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The way a person dresses reflects his/her characters.(2014年12月14日)
21 Some parents do not agree with the way teachers are teaching their children. Do you think that parents should express their disapproval to the teachers?(2014年12月5日)
22 Some people say that teachers and parents should decide what assignment or activities children should do after school. Others say that children should make these decisions on their own. Which view do you agree with and why?(2014年2月8日)
23 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People in the past are more interested in improving their neighborhood (the area where they live) than now.(2014年4月5日)
24 Some people think it would help students to learn if teachers give time for discussion in class, others think that class discussion is unnecessary. What is your opinion and why?(2014年5月10日)
25 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? While parents have the responsibility to educate young people about healthy eating habits, schools should also be responsible for this. (2014年5月23日)
26 Someone thinks that scores should be the sum total of the scores of many assignments while others think that the scores should be the results of 1 or 2 exams. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. (2014年6月8日)
27 The community you live in is planning on setting up new facilities, which of the following do you think would benefit the community most and why? (2014年9月10日)
1. a shopping mall
2. an art center
3. a hotel
28 A leader should have strong opinions and do not change his or her mind on these opinions. (2014年10月25日)
29 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A person who plans well and works carefully is more likely to succeed than a person who takes risks. (2014年12月12日)
toeflで100点を目指して勉強中なのですが、ライティングのindependent taskを時間内に終わらせることが難しいです。アイディアはすぐ浮かぶのですが、書くのに手こずっているように感じます。攻略法を教えてほしいです。
アイディアは思いつくけど書くのに手こずっているということは、書く練習が足りないということだね。
まずはじっくり書いてみてよいけど、徐々に時間制限をつけて書いていく練習をしてみよう。
また、アイディアからうまく構成にそって議論を展開していくことが重要だよ。書く前に全体の構成を簡単に考えてみるのもおすすめ。
ライティングに関しては、添削やフィードバックも高得点獲得には必要だと思うので、そういったサービスも検討してみよう！