TOEFL® Essay Sample: When people succeed, it is because...

[Aria]

TOEFL Essay Sample

“When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has
nothing to do with success.” Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

“Hardwork is the key to success “ is a proverb all of us are too familiar with. But is it that hardwork is the only thing that spells success ? I’m sure that looking at it from the theoretical point of view we would all agree, however, our practical experiences lead us to different conclusions.
For every task we undertake, lady luck also plays an important part. For example, no matter how hard one has worked for a particular exam, it is ultimately the type of questions that come which really makes someone the topper. This game of chances and odds has reached such a level in my country that people consult astrological charts to even apply for a job !
Working hard is a virtue, but, for the fruits of one’s efforts to be given their due recognition, we have to depend on chance. For instance, if two scientists have discovered a certain comet at the same time, then, the comet will be named after the scientist who reports the sighting first.
For certain professionals like stock brokers, businessmen, gamblers, etc luck has far more important role in their success stories. Stock brokers, especially, have to be able to correctly guess the market trends. For a gambler, his profession is entirely based on luck. If he gets the lucky draw one particular day, he becomes an instant millionaire.
A study report published in a well known magazine mentioned that most successful people considered themselves to be lucky. What the study concluded was that it was their attitude which was always grabbing opportunities at the right time made them feel that way and that anyone who adopted this policy could ‘become’ lucky.
Thus to conclude, I strongly believe that for any successful project there’s always 99% hardwork involved but at the same time the leftover 1% can be attributed to luck.

[Alan]

Hi,

I have made some suggestions in CAPITAL letters:

“

[Hema]

As we all know Hardwork is the key to success. I also believe this truth, however I cannot ignor the importance of luck in getting success. I disagree with the given statement that " it is the hardwork when people succeed not their luck.

First, I believe that just like birth and death are not in our control, luck is something that we cannot contorl or change as we want. I think that 100% of succedss is build up when it combines 60% of hardwork and 40% of person's luck. When we perform any critical work, we always cross our fingers, what does that indicate? Ofcourse good luck right?

for example, famouse celebrities like Donald trump, george w. bush and many others. I believe that their stars must be extraordinary to make them worldly famous.
If you think about american idol, there are thousands of people go for an audition and few of them get selected because of their goodluck and hard work.

Lastly, I strongly deny this belief that luck has nothing to do when person succeed.

[Aria]

First of all, thanks Alan for the suggestions.
Secondly, everything that I have posted is self composed. I prefer doing it that way.