作为一名托福写作教师，笔者经常告诉学生，写作之难无非在于“理屈词穷”四字，对初学者而言尤以前者为甚。中国传统英语教学更多专注于词汇、语法等纯粹的言语层面，而对学生的批判性思维培养乏善可陈，加之学生个人知识结构和阅历的局限性，在托福独立写作中就反映为brainstorming中的各种问题。
1. 观点不合理
虽然《官方指南》告诉我们“评分人员经过培训能够接受所有不同类型的观点”，但这绝不意味着考生能够天马行空随意表达，一些明显不合常理或不逻辑的观点是难以接受的。如以下几例：
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Visiting museum is the best way to learn about a country.
学生习作：Going sightseeing is cheaper than visiting museum which will pay a lots on the tickets.
点评：虽然现在流行“穷游”，国内外也不乏免费景点，但若作为“了解一个国家的最好方式”的话，旅游观光的总体花费一般远高于博物馆的票价。
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Young people today are less dependent on their parents than in the past.
学生习作：Because of one-child policy, children become more and more self-oriented. They always do something on their own, rather than depend on their parents.
点评：姑且不论“一胎化政策”作为论点是否合适，这个表达显然严重前言不搭后语：“自我中心”和“独立自主”是两个完全不相关的概念，决不能混同。
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People today do not respect teachers as much as they did in the past.
学生习作：Teachers have competition, students have the right to choose their teachers.
点评：当前学生权利得到了更多的保障，教师之间存在竞争关系，这都不假，但“学生拥有选择权”和“学生不再尊敬老师”是否相关？
2. 观点重复
学术议论文要求作者从不同的角度对自己的论点进行充分证明，但有时学员由于思路不够开阔，行文又欠谨慎，导致分论点之间没有拉开足够的区分度，出现一定程度的重复。如下例：
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Young people today are less dependent on their parents than in the past.
学生习作：
Young people can make money today by themselves and they can handle many things themselves.
Young people are now more independent than ever.
Young people are more mature compared with youngsters 30 years ago.
点评：这三个观点的重复性就非常严重。“自己赚钱并且能自己搞定许多事”不正是“独立”的具体表现吗？“独立”和“成熟”又要如何区分？
以上是老师在教学实践中发现的两种典型情况。学员只有积极扩大阅读量，熟悉英语作者的思维方式，并注意积累素材，坚持做构思和大纲写作练习，才能在考试中有良好的发挥。
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