How hungry they are. b. How much they like Chinese food.

T h e T O E F L E x a m W r i t i n g S e c t i o n : W h a t t o E x p e c t On the computer-based TOEFL exam, the Writing Section is part of the test; everyone must complete an essay. The paper-based TOEFL exam, however, doesn’t include an essay section. The writing test is a separate exam called the Test of Written English™ TWE®, which is offered in the United States five times a year. The fact that the new computer-based test requires all test takers to write an essay reflects just how essential good writ- ing skills are to college success. While there are some differences between the computer-based writing test and the TWE exam, the task and the test procedures are essentially the same. You will be asked to write a short essay in response to a prompt—a general topic and question about that topic. A lot of people are intimidated by essay exams. And on the TOEFL exam, you are not only being asked to write well under pressure—you are being asked to write well in another language. But there’s good news about the TOEFL writing exam. First, the essay doesn’t have to be long. In fact, because you only have 30 minutes, you are only expected to write about five paragraphs. In contrast, most of the essays you will be assigned in college will require you to write three to five pages. Sec- ond, if you are taking the computer-based test, you can view in advance all of the possible writing prompts that you may be given on the TOEFL exam see sidebar below. There are too many possible topics for you to practice them all, but you can certainly get a good idea of the kind of questions you will be asked, and you can practice with as many prompts as you like. If you are lucky, when you take the exam, you will get a topic that you have already written about. And here’s more good news: On both the computer-based exam and the TWE exam, you are only given one essay prompt. That means you don’t have to spend any time deciding which question to answer. You only have to decide how you will answer that question. In addition, whatever writing prompt you get on your test, you will be able to answer the question. All of the essay topics are general enough for anyone to write about. None of them will require you to have any kind of specialized knowledge or experience. On both tests, you will have a half an hour to plan, write, and edit your essay. You will be given a sheet of paper to organize your thoughts before you write. This paper will not be graded, and you can use your native language to brainstorm ideas and outline your essay. TO view the TOEFL computer-based test writing prompts online: 1. Go to www.toefl.org. 2. Click on “Test Preparation.” 3. Click on “Writing Topics and Writing Tutorial.” 4. Click on “Writing Topics.” The essay prompts are also listed in the TOEFL Information Bulletin for Computer-Based Testing. Essay Prompts Online – W R I T I N G – 1 0 8