Mandatory history courses for students? Relying on the outcomes of the past events is not useful.

TOEFL: All university students should be required to take history courses

Even though everyone needs to know a little about history, I think if we have to choose one course to have all students take, it won't be history. History is good, but not the most important thing that we have to learn about. In addition, it can also negatively affect students' interactions inside the university.

I think history as a field of study is overvalued. As they say, people who don't learn from their mistakes in the past will inevitably repeat those mistakes in the future. However, I don't think this phrase necessarily is true. We are living in a completely different world from the past. The issues we are struggling with at this time are more complicated and we can't rely on what we have learnt from the past. For instance, the Internet affected almost all aspects of our lives in the modern era. Today, thanks to the world wide web connection, it's not easy to deceive people with wrong information about other parts of the world. It's just a matter of minutes to scroll down on the internet and find out about the reality. On the dark side, the internet made it possible for different groups to practice cyber spying without running the risk of endangering their lives. Now the question is how we can use past experiences to solve these issues while the nature of problems has changed so dramatically? I think, exposing the students to more practical courses such as modern economics, information processing, psychology and sociology equips them with more vital knowledge to survive in new conditions.

Not only learning about history is not the most important knowledge that one can acquire, but also it can negatively affect the friendly atmosphere of the universities. Today, every university tries to increase diversity among students and absorb many students from different cultures. Even if we logically accept that we all are equal, in the end, we can't deny our sense of belonging to our ethnicity, race and nationality. I strongly believe repeating the story of wars between old nations triggers people coming from two sides against each other, even when they seem to be best friends. That's why I think it's better to forget about the past and focus more efforts on fortifying friendships.

Overall, I think life always keeps changing and every time has its properties. To some extent, it would be beneficial to learn a little about the past so that we realize where our problems stem from. However, we can't apply the results of previous experiences directly to new situations. To me, enhancing our general perspective of human beings and their interactions, and analyzing each situation independently based on the existing data, seems to be more useful than relying on the outcomes of the past events.

This phrase made your opinion statement less than convincing. You are uncertain of your opinion in a set up that requires you to have the strength to back up your opinion with facts and strong personal references. If you had skipped this statement of doubt, your opinion presentation would really be convincing and strong. You have to present your opinion that shows you standing by your statement, regardless of what other people think. Your uncertainty is reflected more than once in this essay, which really makes your discussion even weaker and unimpressive.


You are writing an academic essay. You cannot use contractions. Alwayse use both words for formalities sake.

In reference to the understandability of your essay, it is understandable overall, regardless of the incorrect grammar and sentence structures. You have done an almost acceptable job in this test. More practice is still required. You have the potential to get a high score because you can make yourself understood even with imperfect English. Work on perfecting your sentence presentation and word usage to achieve that.