The reading introduces turtle excluder device (TED) as an invention which is incorporated into the nets and allows turtles to escape from the net through a passage. In this regard, the author believes that the TEDs' functionality is under question and accordingly discusses some criticisms. However, the lecturer finds the idea dubious and casts doubt on the reasons discussed in the reading passage.
First, the author argues that since turtles rarely get stuck in the nets and providing TEDs for the shrimpers would cause them to lose some of their catch, the cost of losing shrimp isn't worth to save a single turtle. Conversely, the lecturer brings up the idea that although catching turtles while spreading nets is a rare thing, taking all boats into account will lead us to the fact that thousands of turtles are endangered every time. Since the population of the turtles is small, thousands of them is considered a significant number for such endangered species.
Furthermore, the reading passage holds the view that alternative methods like limiting the time which shrimp boats are allowed to keep their nets underwater and releasing the turtles from the nets would be more effective. In contrast, the speaker dismisses the issue due to the fact that the proposed method is not practical since the boats' activities are hard to be monitored. While enforcing TEDs is much easier by checking each boat before going for the catch.
Finally, the reading asserts that TEDs are not effective for larger species of turtles and the passage of TED is not large enough for such turtles to escape from the net. On the contrary, the professor underlines the fact that the TEDs' design could be modified so that the nets could be utilized for such species. Doing so, TEDs would still have the same functionality as before.
- TPO 30 Writing IndependentDo you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is more enjoyable to have a job where you work only three days a week for long hours than to have a job where you work five days a week for shorter hours. 73
- TPO 48 Writing IndependentDo you agree or disagree with the following statement?Because modern life is very complex, it is essential for young people to have the ability to plan and organize. 70
- TPO 32 Writing IndependentDo you agree or disagree with the following statement?Young people today have no influence on the important decisions that determine the future of society as a whole 73
- TOEFL TPO 37 integrated writing question 80
- TPO 30 Integrated WritingA little over 2,200 years ago, the Roman navy attacked the Greek port city of Syracuse. According to some ancient historians, the Greeks defended themselves with an ingenious weapon called a “burning mirror”: a polished copper 80
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 24 in 30
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 12 12
No. of Words: 305 250
No. of Characters: 1481 1200
No. of Different Words: 159 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.179 4.2
Average Word Length: 4.856 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.465 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 101 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 76 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 47 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 33 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 25.417 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 8.949 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.833 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.372 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.596 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.101 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 4