2018年托福写作模拟试题：是否应该保护土拨鼠

　　托福综合写作范文Sample answer:

　　The reading puts forward three reasons to illustrate the bad effects brought by those prairie dogs. However, the professor refutes these three strongly.

　　Firstly, the reading claims prairie dogs are agricultural pests because they will compete with cattle for grass. In contrast, the professor argues that the agricultural pests view is outdated. On the one hand, prairie dogs have changed their diets. On the other hand, cattle now feed on some specific areas. So there is no competitive relation between them. What’s more, the burrowing of prairie dogs does not harm the growth of grass, but in fact makes the land fertile, which facilitates the grass growth.

　　Secondly, in the reading, it suggests the fleas they carry can cause bacterial disease. However, the professor disagrees, for the incidence of a disease is very low. In the past 15 years, only 10 people got infected.

　　Finally, the reading suggests that protecting them hardly brings benefits to the ecosystem, so it is more worth protecting large mammals. But the professor argues that they do goods to the ecosystem. First, the burrows underground prairie dogs big are habitats of other animals such as snakes. Second, they are also food resources of large animals such as foxes. The disappearing of prairies dogs will endanger those species.