TOEFL Writing Task 1 [Integrated Task] – Practice Test #036

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

Over 2,200 years ago, the Roman navy launched an attack on the Greek port city of Syracuse. Ancient historians claim that the Greeks defended themselves using a remarkable weapon known as a “burning mirror.” This device was said to be a polished copper surface, curved in such a way that it focused the Sun’s rays onto Roman ships, setting them on fire. However, there are several reasons to doubt this account, leading many to believe that the story of the burning mirror is likely a myth, and the Greeks of Syracuse never constructed such a device.

Firstly, the technological capabilities of the ancient Greeks likely were not advanced enough to create such a mirror. To focus sunlight intensely enough to set ships ablaze, the mirror would need to be several meters wide and have a precise parabolic curvature—a shape derived from geometry. The ability to produce a large copper sheet with these exact specifications was beyond the technology available in the ancient world.

Secondly, even if the Greeks had been able to create such a mirror, it would have been extremely inefficient in practice. In modern experiments designed to test the feasibility of a burning mirror, it was found that concentrating sunlight on a wooden target 30 meters away took around ten minutes to ignite the object. During this time, the target had to remain perfectly still, which would be highly unlikely in the case of moving Roman ships. This makes the burning mirror impractical as a weapon.

Lastly, there is little reason for the Greeks to have developed the burning mirror at all, considering they already had an effective weapon for setting ships on fire—flaming arrows. The burning mirror and flaming arrows would have had a similar range, so the Greeks would have had no advantage in using the mirror over the much simpler and readily available flaming arrows.