- Take a side in your first sentence and never hedge; the scorer rewards a defended position, not a balanced survey of both classmates.
- Name one classmate, then push past their point with a new reason; agreeing without adding anything reads as filler.
- Skip memorized template openers; the ETS engine is tuned to detect canned phrasing and marks it down.
- Develop one reason with a concrete example instead of listing two thin ones; depth outscores coverage on this task.
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Write for an Academic Discussion
TOEFL Writing Task - 10 minutes
Time Remaining
In your response, you should do the following:
- Express and support your opinion
- Make a contribution to the discussion in your own words
An effective response will contain at least 100 words.
Smart city initiatives use networks of sensors, cameras, and data analytics to improve urban services—optimizing traffic flow, reducing energy use, and enhancing public safety. However, these systems collect massive amounts of data about residents' movements and behaviors. Privacy advocates express concerns about government surveillance capabilities. What do you think? Should cities widely implement smart city technologies despite privacy concerns?
I support smart city technologies because the benefits outweigh privacy concerns. These systems make cities more efficient, sustainable, and safe. They can reduce traffic congestion, lower emissions, and help emergency services respond faster. With proper regulations and oversight to prevent abuse, smart cities represent the future of urban living and shouldn't be rejected due to theoretical privacy worries.
I'm very concerned about smart city surveillance. Once infrastructure for mass data collection exists, it's extremely difficult to prevent abuse. We've seen governments misuse surveillance technology to track dissidents and suppress protests. The efficiency gains aren't worth creating systems that could enable authoritarian control. Cities should prioritize privacy-respecting improvements instead.
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