Hi everyone, I would like to practise writing with the given TOEFL topics.
Will appreciate if anyone could give me some comments, thanks!
Question:
What is your approach to problem-solving, and how does it work for you? Use specific details to support your response.
-----my answer (word count: 391)-----
When I solve problems, I follow two steps - look into the cause and search for solutions.
Finding the cause is important in solving problems because without a cause, there would not have been a problem at all. Once I received a score in a physics test, and I didn't understand why I got a particular question wrong. The papers were not distributed back to us, so I couldn't find out why I was wrong. To find out the cause, I went to the physics teacher and asked about the question. It turned out that I was on the right track for solving that question, except I mistakenly circled a wrong answer. If I had not looked into the cause, which was the reason for picking the wrong answer, I would have never realized that I had only mistakenly chosen the wrong answer while bearing the right concept in mind.
After having identified the cause, I look for solutions to the problem, or else it will continue to annoy me. I always have a habit of making silly mistakes like the one I have mentioned above, and to thoroughly get rid of this bad habit, I decide to look for a solution. Now I read a question twice before answering it, and proofread my answers before handing in the papers. Although I still make silly mistakes at times, I feel that I have decreased the number of silly mistakes made.
Sometimes seeking advice is also an important step, because your own knowledge may not enable you to think of the best solution to the problem. One of my friends used to have a problem of constantly overlooking silly mistakes too, but she got rid of this problem within a year, while it took me almost three years to figure out what to do with this nasty habit. She adviced me to slow down and read the question word by word, and even use a highlight pen to underline keypoints. When I followed her advice, my number of silly mistakes went further down.
Therefore, by splitting the problem into pieces and analyzing it part by part can be an efficient way of solving a problem. In my opinion, if one can identify the cause of the issue correctly and then figure out a useful solution to it, problems are not problems anymore.
I'm really amazed, great work, however, try to be a little clearer in the second paragraph. But overall, I liked it.
hi crystal
u use some daily-life examples. that's a good try.
good luck!
@ zailn: Your work is great. However, 'silly mistakes' is repetitive several times. Should it be paraphrased or cut off?
She adviced me >> advised
keypoints >> key points
I also would like to post here my experience on problem-solving:
I have studied approximately 60 subjects for 4 years of my university degree. After graduated, almost of them have gone away from my mind. However, it is worth me to go studying university because I have learned how to solve a problem here.
In order to solve a problem, we must identify its root causes first. For instance, if we are supposed to boost the declining sales of a retail outlet, we need to know why customers are keeping away from the store: whether it is located far away from the main roads, whether buying force is inadequate, or whether goods are positioned in an inappropriate way. That is worth to keep in mind: cause is the root, problem is a leaf.
There are numerous tools for us to identify the causes of a problem like fish-bone diagram, cause-effect chart or mind-map. However, users are more crucial than tools. Firstly, it is better for us to work in team rather than to work alone in order to explore brains of crowd as much as possible. Secondly, try to have brainstorm first, and do not reject or evaluate any idea at this stage. Finally, freely discuss and give unanimous conclusion.
The next step is to specify the cost and the procedure to carry out problem-solving actions. Many people, in fact, do not take cost and tangible risks into consideration, and fail as a consequence. For instance, we could save the great deal of money if we hire a machine in lieu of buying it for using only a short period of time. In addition, steps to actually solve the problem should be prioritized and scheduled into a procedure, which would help us avert from target confusion, overlap or redundant actions and so on.
Finally, if necessary and if any, we should ask for others' help. If you do not know anything about finance, it probably takes you much more time to study by your own than to ask for advice of a friend mastering at this field. Advices of outsiders are sometimes so critical that we would be never successful without them.
'silly mistakes' is repetitive several times. Should it be paraphrased or cut off?
I think that is good advice!
Although I still make silly mistakes at times, I feel that I have decreased their number.
When I followed her advice, my number of
silly mistakes errors went further down.---It is best not to repeat the same phrase over and over unless you are doing it on purpose to drum that phrase in the reader's mind.
I like the ending!!
