The Integrated Writing Task

    You will read a passage about an academic topic for three minutes, and then you will hear a short lecture related to the topic. Then you will be asked to summarize the points in the listening passage and explain how they relate to specific points in the reading passage.

    This task gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to show that you can communicate in writing about academic information you have read and listened to.

    As you read:

    A.  Take notes on your scratch paper.

    B.  Look for the main idea of the reading passage. The main idea often has to do with some policy or practice or some position on an issue. Or it may have to do with proposing some overall hypothesis about the way some process or procedure works or should work or how some natural phenomenon is believed to work.

    C.  See how this main idea is evaluated or developed. Usually it will be developed in one of two ways:

    1.  Arguments or explanations are presented that support the main position; for example, why there are good reasons to believe that some policy or practice will be beneficial or prove useful or advisable or perhaps why it has been a good thing in the past.

    2.  Arguments or explanations or problems are brought up concerning why some policy or practice or position or hypothesis will not or does not work or will not be useful or advisable.

    D.  You do not need to memorize the reading passage. It will reappear on your computer screen when it is time to write.

    E.  Note points in the passage that either support the main idea or provide reasons to doubt the main idea. Typically the main idea will be developed with three points.

    As you listen:

    A.  Take notes on your scratch paper.

    B.  Listen for information, examples, or explanations that make points in the reading passage seem wrong or less convincing or even untrue. For instance, in the example just given, the reading passage says that working in teams is a good thing because it gives individuals a chance to stand out. But the lecture says that often everyone gets equal credit for the work of a team, even if some people do not do any work at all. The reading says that work proceeds quickly on a team because there are more people involved, and each person brings his or her expertise. But the lecture completely contradicts this claim by stating that it may take a long time for the group to reach consensus. The lecture brings up the idea that the whole team can be blamed for a failure when the fault lies with only a few team members. This casts doubt on the claim in the reading that teams can take risks and be creative because no one individual is held accountable.

    托福专家终极解读:

    根据官方的说法，新托福写作中的“综合任务”考试的形式比较特殊，要求考生先用3分钟阅读一段学术文章，然后再听一段和阅读文章内容相关的听力文章，最后在20分钟内将两片文章之间的关系用书面写作的方式表达出来。这个写作任务的考试目的事实上对考生日后在国外大学的学术生活很有帮助：考生看到的书本中的内容和教授上课的解释之间是什么关系呢？支持？相悖？考生要学会分辨和表达。所以，不能单纯的为了应考而准备托福考试，应该将其视为出国深造的“前站”。

    在阅读和听力过程中，考生都能得到一张草稿纸供记笔记使用。事实上，合理高效的笔记方法确实是在最后“写”的过程中能否写的全面，写的正确的最关键因素之一。但是，记笔记是有技巧的。一般来说，阅读文章会有一个中心思想和由此中心思想延伸出的三个“点”。而这三个点，又是考生将会在之后的听力中听到的将会被支持或者驳斥的。但是在阅读文章中的三个点，有时是出现在段落第一句，有时是隐藏在文章内容中，需要考生迅速作出判断，将这三个点尽快提炼出来。而备考技巧充分的考生，将懂得如何在稍后的听力笔记中将讲话者如何支持或驳斥的这三个点的笔记结合在阅读笔记中，在提笔开始写之前，已经搭建好了文章的框架，而不用额外的时间再去打写作文章的草稿。因此，朗阁海外考试研究中心在此可以毫不夸张的说，决定考生综合写作命运的，记笔记是至关重要的第一步。

    在以往的官方指南中，都不曾明确指出阅读和听力各有三个点。但是，改革后近四年的考试中，不仅出现的都是三个点，以听力中的点驳斥阅读中的点为主要考点。这样一来，备考时间有限的考生将更加明确综合写作的备考方向。三个点在阅读中用三个段落进行标示，而在听力的语段中则有各种不同的连接手法来表现这三个点，因此，朗阁海外考试研究中心建议考生要熟悉各类表并列，递进，列举等的连接手法，以确定自己能够将听力中的三点找出来。正确找到阅读和听力语段中的三个点，并且表达他们之间的关系是能否在综合写作中得到高分的关键。如果这点没有做到，语法再严丝合缝，词藻再华丽，也无法获得令人满意的分数。

    综合写作要求考生描写的，都是基于阅读和听力语段信息的内容，考生不能将自己的观点加入其中，否则将会因为不符合考试要求而被扣分。

    特别提示考生，“综合考试”的考试方法在各类海外语言类考试中都比较少见，要求考生在听、读、写三方面的综合语言实力。但是考生一般对提炼信息的环节都比较弱，尤其是在考试时间短的情况下，更是会手忙脚乱，导致最后信息表达的错误。因此需要找到适合自己的高效记笔记的方法。