Hi, continuing from our last lecture on TOEFL speaking, today we'll do hands-on work on how to develop a topic. Topic development is the key to moving your score from the low 20s to the high 20s in TOEFL writing and speaking.
In the previous lecture on TOEFL speaking, I exemplified this with a student's response. The person spoke at a native level, yet scored only a 23 because the response showed a lack of topic development. Topic development means presenting a strong argument. In other words, if you have not convinced your reader or listener to come to your side by the end of your response, you have failed in your topic development.
To explain how to make your audience come to your side, let's consider this question: Some believe success is measured by wealth and power. What's your opinion?
The student in the last lecture provided a response highlighting a successful businessman lacking loving relationships. He concluded by repeating his personal preference, deeming such a person unsuccessful. Now I ask you. Were you persuaded by his argument? Not to me. Even after listening to his response, some may still think that a person with great wealth and power is successful, like Iron Man who can do whatever he wants to do and has supermodel girlfriends and a garage full of Italian cars.
To be persuasive, we need to provide reasons that highlight the dark side of power and money. Because of these reasons, you can conclude that power and money do not make a person truly successful since they do not make one happy. Then you can go on to say that successful people are those who pursue and obtain what makes them happy.
So the question is what are the problems with the life that soly pursues power and money. I can think of at least three problems.
First, chasing wealth and power is a never-ending race. Consider Iron Man. Although he is powerful,Thanos is even more powerful. Wealthy figures like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are yesterday's news, replaced by Elon Musk, who has said that he sleeps only four hours a day. Soon enough though he will be replaced by someone else for the richest person position. This constant race will inevitably lead to mental and physical exhaustion, envy, jealousy, discontent and dissatisfaction. This clearly is not a happy life.
Secondly, a person with power and money often has superficial relationships. While someone with wealth and power may attract followers, these relationships are seldom genuine or fulfilling. These people are drawn to those with power and wealth for their own benefits, seeking connections that advance their careers, social status, or access to resources. Naturally, the rich and powerful person will always be suspicious of the intentions of the people around him. The person will be leading a life of suspicion, distrust and insecurity. This clearly is not a happy life.
Third, achieving significant wealth and power requires immense dedication and time. This often leaves little time and energy for nurturing family relationships. Moreover, as a person becomes consumed by the pursuit of wealth and power, his priorities shift. Family life can become less important in the face of career ambitions and personal achievements. This shift in priorities can lead to neglect and a sense of abandonment within the family, who in turn abandons him. So his later life will be filled with remorse, regret, loneliness, emptiness and isolation. This clearly is not a happy life.
When you can paint any of these pictures of a rich and wealthy but unhappy man, you have shown why wealth and power are not the ultimate measures of success. Ergo, you did a great job in topic development. These are some sample responses based on the above reasons.
Sample response 1
Success is something we all value because we believe it will bring us happiness. For this reason, I don't believe that a person's success can be solely measured by their wealth and power. To illustrate this point, consider someone who believes wealth and power are the only measures of success. They pursue these relentlessly throughout their life, eventually becoming incredibly rich and powerful. But are they happy? Since their own measure of success is wealth and power, they constantly compare themselves to others. They can always find someone richer and more powerful, leaving their life consumed by envy and jealousy. In the pursuit of greater success, they chase more money and power, feeling trapped in a never-ending race. This constant striving makes them deeply dissatisfied and miserable both physically and mentally. This example clearly shows that success cannot be solely measured by wealth and power.