TOEFl Integrated writing Task The Pluto War

In the lecture, the speaker presents the controversy over the lost of Pluto as a planet in our solar systems – the "Pluto War". The speaker rejects the International Astronomical Union Conference decision presented in the reading passage, and provides several points to doubt the validity of the conference's decision.

The first point the speaker addresses is the statement from the reading passage that astronomers from all over the world participated in the vote. However, the speaker presents data which contradicts this statement. The speaker claims that less the 10% of the astronomers participated in the conference, and only half of the actually voted. According to the speaker, this cast a doubt on the right of that small group of people to make this decision. The speaker even offered a solution to the attendance problem by voting an electronically. More than that, the speaker also asserts that the same definition that was used for Pluto to lose his position as a planet can be used to role out other planet, such as earth.

The speaker also presents a non scientific point of view on the "Pluto war" debate. For example, she mentioned that Mexico, the state in which Pluto was discovered, announced the "Pluto day" in order to fight this decision. The speaker also mentions that Pluto has a special place for children since the name of the planet was offered by a 10 years old girl.

To summarize, the speaker in the lecture doubts the specific points raised in the passage regarding Pluto's lost of planet position. It can be inferred from her words that the "Pluto war" debate was not addressed seriously enough, and that Pluto should gain his planet status back.