TOEFL Sample essay : integrated essay from TPO7

The lecture and the reading passage give contradictory opinions on the topic of ecocertification, a form of accreditation conferred by on international agency in recognition of a company's eco-friendly practices. The passage explains that it is not necessary for American wood companies to pursue ecocertification while the lecture provides several counterarguments to this view.

First, the lecturer argues that the reading passage is too general in its statement that American consumers reject advertising completely. He asserts that Americans do not trust advertising claims for a product only when these claims are made by the company that sells the product. When a claim is made by an independent third party such as a wood certification company, he posits, consumers respond very positively with strong acceptance of the certified product.

The lecturer also refutes the second point in the reading - that price-sensitive American consumers are likely to choose cheap wood products without certification. The professor contends that certified wood is only slightly (less than 5%) more expensive than uncertified wood, and therefore, he argues, consumers will tend to ignore the price difference and choose the eco-friendly product.

Finally, receiving eco-certification is, according to the professor, an important strategy used by American wood companies to ensure that their products can compete against ecocertified wood products imported into the domestic market from foreign countries. According to the reading, however, this strategy is unnecessary because American consumers are likely to be content with domestically manufactured products, even if they are not ecocertified.