TOEFL integrated writing communal online encyclopedia

The reading and the lecture are both about communal online encyclopedias, which could be altered by anyone on the Internet. While the reading lists three disadvantages of the online encyclopedias, the professor in the lecture casts doubt on all the disadvantages. She contends that the reading displays the ignorance of the writer; and the so-called drawbacks are small price of the convenience.

Firstly, the passage contains the digital version encyclopedias lack academic rigor due to the users' lack of academic credentials. However, the lecturer challenges the writer's stance and continues to say that it is not fair to order online encyclopedias to keep wholly correct and comprehensive. This is because the same errors could be found in both online and offline books.

Secondly, the author holds an opinion that unscrupulous users and hackers might abuse the chance to edit the originally right version. Nevertheless, the teacher of the speech refutes his concern by pointing out there are many measures to protect the content on pages. She gives some examples like a special format and a particular editor, which could ensure the accuracy of contents in encyclopedias.

Thirdly, according to the article, online encyclopedias would mislead the public concerning of what is important and what is not since they merely focus on limited popular topics. In contrast, the lecturer points out the inherent drawbacks within printed media is restricted space, so it has to decide what to reserve and what to abandon. But the online encyclopedias provide an opportunity for human to express themselves without the limitation of space. Besides, every group obtain the chance to write something meaningful for itself, instead of listening to some experts to tell them what is of importance, which is the strongest advantage of Internet encyclopedias.