TOEFL Writing Class 3 Homework－Holly老師的英語新天地

Hey "aspiring writers",

How's it going? Here is your homework material. Meanwhile, always stay INSPIRED.

p.1 to 6 Integrated Writing

1. edmontosaur

2. cane toad

Script:

The cane toad won't be as easy to get rid of as the reading suggests. The measures proposed by the reading are likely either to be unsuccessful or to cause unwanted environmental damage.

First of all, a national fence probably won't stop the spread of the toad. That's because young toads and toad eggs are found in rivers and streams. No matter where the fence is located, at some point there will be rivers or streams flowing from one side to the other. These waterways will be able to carry the young toads and their eggs to the other side. Since it's only necessary for a few young toads or eggs to get through the fence in order to establish population on the other side, the fence is unlikely to be effective.

Secondly, a massive group of volunteers could have success trapping and destroying toads. But it's likely that these untrained volunteers would inadvertently destroy many of Australia's native frogs, some of which are endangered. It's not always easy to tell the cane toad apart from native frogs especially when it's young.

Third, using the virus is a bad idea because it could have terrible consequences for cane toads in their original habitat in Central and South America. You might be wondering: How can a virus released in Australia cause harm in the Americas? Well, Australian reptiles and amphibians are often transported to other continents by researchers or pet collectors for example. Once the animals infected by the virus reach Central and South America, the virus will attack the native cane toads and devastate their populations. That would be an ecological disaster because in the Americas, cane toads are a native species and a vital part of the ecosystem. So if they are eliminated, the whole ecosystem will suffer.

本篇另有 sample essay 在 Bonus Material 裡 ! <點擊連結>

3. burning mirror

Script:

The claims that the burning mirror would have been impractical and technologically impossible are unconvincing.

First, the Greeks did not need to form a single sheet of copper to make a large, burning mirror. An experiment has shown that dozens of small individually flat pieces of polished copper could be arranged into a parabolic shape and form a large, burning mirror. The Greek mathematicians know the properties of the parabola and so could have directed the assembly of many small mirror pieces into the parabolic shape.

Second, about how long it would take to set a ship on fire with a burning mirror: the experiment the reading selection mentions assumes that the burning mirror was used to set the wood of the boat on fire. That's what takes ten minutes. But the Roman boats were not made just of wood. There were other materials involved as well. For example, to seal the spaces between wooden boards and make them waterproof, the ancient boat-builders used a sticky substance called pitch. Pitch catches fire very quickly. An experiment showed that pitch could be set on fire by a burning mirror in seconds. And once the pitch was burning, the fire would spread to the wood even if the ship was moving. So a burning mirror could have worked quickly enough to be an effective weapon.

Third, why bother with a burning mirror instead of flaming arrows? Well, Roman soldiers were familiar with flaming arrows and would have been watching for them and were ready to put out the fires they might cause. But you cannot see the burning rays from a mirror. You just see the mirror. But then suddenly and magically a fire starts at some unobserved place on the ship. That would have been much more surprising and therefore much more effective than a flaming arrow.