TOEFL® essay samples: If you could travel back to some time and place in...

[OanaI]

If you could travel back to some time and place in the past, when and where would you go? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice.

During its fast evolution, humankind has discovered many things that would be considered not only of extreme importance, but also a progress, something that a while ago, would not have been hoped for. Let’s take the mobile communication, thorough phones or wireless computers, connected to the internet. Not too many years ago, something like that would have been just a far fetched dream, an illusion, or, at best, a vision. Today, this communication is part of everyday life, a way of paying our bills, sending documents to work, even though we are on a tropical island, drinking pina colada and enjoying the beautiful sun.

Traveling in time is still a “to do” on some inventor’s list, and this will defying the time, actually, reason for which we believe that some things should never be possible. Still, everyone thought about the possibility of traveling in time, and along with that, came the question: “If I could do that where would I want to go?”

Personally, I think that my travel would be really long, because I would like to go all the way back, to when Jesus was walking on this earth, I would consider it the ultimate experience one could have. So, I believe that my traveling in those years, back in Asia Minor, where Jesus was teaching the crowds, would be the one thing I would choose.

It has been said that from all the books that people wrote, only one had the power to travel so fast and so far away throughout the entire world, for only one book did the people willingly died, and only that book is sure to survive any kind of trial. I am talking about the Bible, of course. This Bible was written after Jesus was in Heaven, based on the facts that happened while He was walking on this earth. Many of the things He did we can write about in the Holy Book, but still, there are things that the writers, for one reason or another, didn’t mention. All these things I consider to be of a great importance, and I would love to be there, walk close to Him, and just listen to His wisdom, His voice, His words, words that changed, words that healed, words that encouraged, words that have such a powerful echo, 2000 years after He said them. Let’s take for instance the miracle when He was able to feed a few thousand people, just with some fish and bread, that He multiplied: what was the reaction, what was the atmosphere, how were people praising Him, how did they left that place? Were they walking on streets, telling everybody what just happened there? One thing is clear to me: they were changed forever. Even if not all of them embraced a righteous life, I believe that they could not have been the same ever again.

The things that Jesus did while on earth are too many to fit in a book, like John the Apostle said. Great things that we will never know, never imagine. If I could travel back in those times, I would consider myself the owner of the biggest and most valuable treasure ever!

TOEFL listening lectures: Why do the Lascaux cave paintings probably not qualify as graffiti?

[Alan]

HI,

During its fast evolution, humankind has discovered many things that would be considered not only of extreme importance, but also a SORT OF progress, something that a while ago, would not have been hoped for. Let’s take tmobile communication, THROUGH phones or wireless computers, connected to the internet. Not too many years ago, something like that would have been just a far fetched dream, an illusion, or, at best, a vision. Today, this communication is part of everyday life, a way of paying our bills, sending documents to work, even though we are on a tropical island, drinking pina colada and enjoying the beautiful sun.

Traveling in time is still a “to do” on some inventor’s list, and this will MEAN defying time, actually, THE reason for which we believe that some things should never be possible. Still, everyone thought about the possibility of traveling in time, and along with that, came the question: “If I could do that where would I want to go?”

Personally, I think that my JOURNEY would be really long, because I would like to go all the way back, to when Jesus was walking on this earth, I would consider it the ultimate experience one could have. So, I believe that my traveling in those years, back in Asia Minor, where Jesus was teaching the crowds, would be the one thing I would choose.

It has been said that from all the books that people wrote, only one had the power to travel so fast and so far away throughout the entire world, for only one book people willingly died, and only that book is sure to survive any kind of trial. I am talking about the Bible, of course. This Bible was written after Jesus was in Heaven, based on the facts that happened while He was walking on this earth. Many of the things He did we can write about in the Holy Book, but still, there are things that the writers, for one reason or another, didn’t mention. All these things I consider to be of a great importance, and I would love to be there, walk close to Him, and just listen to His wisdom, His voice, His words, words that changed, words that healed, words that encouraged, words that have such a powerful echo, 2000 years after He said them. Let’s take for instance the miracle when He was able to feed a few thousand people, just with some fish and bread, that He multiplied: what was the reaction, what was the atmosphere, how were people praising Him, how did they LEAVE that place? Were they walking on streets, telling everybody what just happened there? One thing is clear to me: they were changed forever. Even if not all of them embraced a righteous life, I believe that they could not have been the same ever again.

The things that Jesus did while on earth are too many to fit in a book, like John the Apostle said. Great things that we will never know, never imagine. If I could travel back in those times, I would consider myself the owner of the biggest and most valuable treasure ever!


Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple