Should poor quality farmland be returned to forest and wetland?

A band 6 model answer to a real TOEFL iBT writing question in the official format, with notes on why it scores. Write your own version below it and get an instant rater-style score.

The question

Your professor is teaching a class on land use. Write a post responding to the professor's question. In your response, express and support your opinion and add to the discussion in your own words. A strong response has at least 100 words. Professor Boateng: Several countries now pay farmers to return poor quality farmland to forest and wetland. Is retiring farmland from production a responsible policy? Ingrid: It is. Thin, steep, waterlogged land produces very little food, and as woodland or marsh the same field stores water, holds soil and supports species that have nowhere else to go. Diego: I am uneasy. Food has to come from somewhere, and land retired here usually means forest cleared in a country with weaker protections.

Write my answer and get scored

Band 6 model answer

Diego's objection is the serious one, so I want to answer it rather than talk past it. Ingrid is right about what marginal land does when it is left alone, but the word marginal is carrying the weight of her argument. The fields under discussion are steep, thin or waterlogged, they produce very little at high cost, and that is precisely why they are available. Retiring them costs the food supply almost nothing, so the displacement Diego fears is small in exactly the cases where the policy applies. It would be a fair objection to retiring good land, and that is a policy nobody is proposing. Where I part company with Ingrid is on who pays. The farmer loses an income this year, while the flood protection and the returning species benefit everyone slowly, so the public purse should carry it rather than one household.

Why this answer earns band 6

Takes the strongest opposing point first and shows exactly where it does and does not apply.
Interrogates a single word in the prompt, which is a precise way to add to a discussion.
Separates whether to do it from who should pay, a distinction neither student drew.

Do not memorise model answers; raters recognise recycled essays instantly. Study the moves, then make them with your own ideas, and check where you stand with a scored practice.

Questions about this answer

What band is this model answer?

It is written to band 6, and the notes under it quote the answer's own words to show why.

How long should my answer be?

This model answer is 145 words, and the task asks for at least 100.

What is the most common mistake with a model answer?

Memorising it. Raters recognise recycled answers instantly, so study the moves, then make them with your own ideas.