TOEFL Sample essay : integrated essay from TPO 10

The lecturer and the reading passage suggest two competing theories, the predation theory vs. the pollution theory, to explain why the sea otter population is in rapid decline.

The professor reasons that the absence of dead sea otters washed up the coast suggests that their decline is not caused by sea pollution but rather by sea predators who consume their bodies after Killing them. In contrast, the reading passage attributes the death of sea otters to pollution, citing evidence of increased sources of ocean contaminants which lead to greater vulnerability to infections.

Furthermore, th...