TOEFL Writing Task 1 [Integrated Task] – Practice Test #021

This TOEFL Writing Task 1 (Integrated Writing) practice test provides an authentic experience with a real reading passage and a corresponding audio lecture. Follow the instructions carefully to simulate the exam and assess your skills accurately.

TOEFL Integrated Writing Detailed Instructions

Read the passage: You will read an academic passage on a topic, usually about 3 minutes.
Listen to the lecture: After reading, you will hear a lecture on the same topic, presenting a different perspective or additional information. You will not be able to see the reading passage while listening.
Take notes: While reading and listening, take notes on the key points and main ideas. Most of your focus should be on the lecturer since the passage is already available for reference.
Refer back to the reading: You can review the reading passage after the listening portion is complete.
Stay objective: Avoid adding personal thoughts, agreeing or disagreeing with the speaker, or evaluating the quality of their arguments. The key is to remain neutral and accurately report what each source says. Think of yourself as a reporter: your task is to explain what each side claims, how their points relate to each other, and how the lecture challenges the reading.
Organize clearly and have a plan: Use clear structure with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Personally, I prefer writing a concise introduction that presents both sides and briefly states their main reasons, followed by three body paragraphs, each focusing on one point and discussing it from both perspectives. If done properly, there’s no real need for a conclusion, especially since this isn’t a personal or opinion-based essay.
Write your response: Summarize the main points from the lecture and explain how they relate to or challenge the points in the reading passage.
Stay within the word limit: Your response should be 150-225 words.
Proofread: Ensure your grammar, spelling, and sentence structure are accurate.
Submit your writing: Use the form below to privately submit your writing for review, or post it publicly in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
Feedback (optional): Order detailed written analysis or a video session to review your response using the official TOEFL writing criteria and identify specific areas for improvement.

Reading Passage

Did bees (a type of insect) exist on Earth as early as 200 million years ago? Such a theory is supported by the discovery of very old fossil structures that resemble bee nests. The structures have been found inside 200-million-year-old fossilized trees in the state of Arizona in the southwestern United States. However, many skeptics doubt that the structures were created by bees. The skeptics support their view with several arguments.

No fossil remains of actual bees have ever been found that date to 200 million years ago. The earliest preserved body of a bee is 100 million years old—only half as old as the fossilized structures discovered in Arizona.

A second reason to doubt that bees existed 200 million years ago is the absence of flowering plants in that period. Today’s bees feed almost exclusively on the flowers of flowering plants; in fact, bees and flowering plants have evolved a close, mutually dependent biological relationship. Flowering plants, however, first appeared on Earth 125 million years ago. Given the bees’ close association with flowering plants, it is unlikely bees could have existed before that time.

Third, while the fossilized structures found in Arizona are somewhat similar to nest chambers made by modern bees, they lack some of the finer details of bees’ nests. For example, chambers of modern bee nests are closed by caps that have a spiral pattern, but the fossilized chambers lack such caps. That suggests the fossilized structures were made by other insects, such as wood-boring beetles.