Sample Question: Yes or No

Your professor is teaching a class on marketing. Write a post

responding to the professor’s question. In your response, you
should:

 express and support your personal opinion

 make a contribution to the discussion in your own words

An effective response will contain at least 100 words.

Professor: Hello class! Next week we will be discussing

the impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior.
With the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and
YouTube, we’ve seen the emergence of a new type of celebrity:
the social media influencer. These influencers have large
followings and can sway consumer behavior by endorsing
products or services. Here’s a question for the discussion board:

Do social media influencers have a major impact on consumers?

Why or why not?

Jack: I think social media influencers have a significant

impact. When young people start admiring these influencers and
trust their recommendations, they are more likely to buy
products or services that they endorse. However, I also think
there are some concerns about the authenticity of these
endorsements, as some influencers may promote products that
they don’t actually use or believe in.
Emily: I’m not convinced that social media influencers have a

significant impact on consumer behavior. While they may

have large followings, most people are smart enough to make
their own purchasing decisions based on their needs and
preferences. Plus, there are so many influencers out there
promoting different products that it can be hard to know who to
trust.

Sample Answer 1
Here’s a possible response to the above question. It directly
addresses the responses given by the other students. As you
can see, it elaborates on and challenges the arguments they
made. Some test-takers find this approach easiest.

This is a challenging topic, but I think that social media

influencers aren’t as significant as some people suggest. I
strongly agree with Emily’s idea that people are too smart to be
influenced by them. I’d add that twenty years ago a
charismatic person might have convinced us to buy something
we didn’t really need, but I think that doesn’t happen so much
nowadays. That’s because we can thoroughly research
whatever we are interested in using blogs, consumer magazines
and social media. We can use these sources of information to
find products that exactly suit our needs, so we aren’t swayed by
the exaggerated claims of social media influencers. While Jack
raised the relevant point that young people are especially
vulnerable, he didn’t mention that parents these days take the
time to educate their kids and monitor their internet use. As a
result, young people aren’t likely to make rash decisions about
what to buy.

Sample Answer 2
Here’s a slightly different approach to the question. It mostly
ignores the responses given by the other students. Instead, I
just focused on my response. Some test-takers like this
approach.

While I appreciate the points mentioned by Jack and Emily, I

think that social media stars aren’t particularly influential
nowadays. Nowadays consumer behavior is affected by many
different things, not just what we see on the Internet. Twenty
years ago a charismatic person might have convinced us to buy
something we didn’t really need, but I don’t think that happens so
often today. Remember that the choices people make are also
impacted by their peers, by their family members and even by
traditional advertising, so the Internet isn’t a dominant force in
their lives. Some people may feel that influencers are more
powerful than ever, but I think their impact is actually declining.

Both of my answers includes a few key features:

 A very clear thesis statement at the beginning which makes

my opinion totally clear.
 Coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.
 Some challenging vocabulary choices like “dominant” and
“mass media.”

Sample Question: State a Preference

Your professor is teaching a class on political science. Write a
post responding to the professor’s question. In your response,
you should

 express and support your personal opinion

 make a contribution to the discussion in your own words

An effective response will contain at least 100 words. You have

ten minutes to write.
 Professor: Today we’re going to talk about the debate
between economic growth and protecting the environment.
Economic growth creates new jobs and gives people money they
can use to improve their lives. On the other hand, if we protect
the environment it can be enjoyed both by ourselves and future
generations. If you had to choose between prioritizing economic
growth or protecting the environment, which one would you
choose. Why?

Alex: I would prioritize the environment. We only have one

planet and if we don’t take care of it, we won’t have pleasant
lives in the future. Economic growth can be important, but not at
the expense of the environment. I think we need to shift towards
more environmentally-friendly economic practices, such as
investing in renewable energy and promoting environmentally-
friendly technologies. We’ll all live much healthier lives if the
world around us is clean.

Maggie: While I agree with Alex that environmental

sustainability is important, I think that economic growth is the
only way to solve many of the social and economic problems we
face. We need a strong economy to create jobs, reduce poverty,
and improve standards of living. Not only that, but when
companies grow stronger and more profitable, they can develop
new technologies that solve our environmental problems.

Sample Answer 1
This is a challenging topic, but I think we should prioritize the
environment at this time. I strongly agree with Alex’s idea that our lives
will be unpleasant if we focus entirely on economic growth. I
would add that if the environment is damaged by industrial
development we’ll all be more likely to suffer from serious
ailments like cancer and lung disease. These sorts of illnesses
can be a real strain on our medical systems. Maggie raised the
relevant point that it’s possible that profitable companies will
someday solve all of our problems using new technology, but she
doesn’t mention that they might arrive far too late to be of
use. For example, it could take decades for an innovative
company to create a clean energy source, but people are
suffering from environmental catastrophes right now.

Sample Answer 2
While I appreciate the points mentioned by both Maggie and Alex, I
think that we should mainly focus on economic growth. This is because our
lives will become unpleasant if the economy slows down. We all have bills to
pay and those require us to earn an income. Remember that many people
have families to take care of, so they need to earn a regular income. That is
only possible if the economy continues to grow at the same rate year after
year. Some people may feel that preserving the environment is more
important than maintaining our current standard of living, but I tend to
disagree. My main focus is on the quality of life that people enjoy at this
exact moment, not the lives that future generations will lead.