A student asked me about something mentioned in the Princeton Review's Cracking the TOEFL iBT (p.327 of the 2011 ed.):
The "characteristics" referred to here are the three main points of the lecture in the example given.
I'm very worried about this statement, as it seems to indicate that you can just talk until the end of the time limit, without mentioning all the main ideas in the lecture, and without properly concluding your response, and that's no problem. Comparing this to the emphasis ETS places on the completion of the task and its organization, I'm afraid that according to the ETS rubrics, this kind of response would only earn a 3 out of 4 at best, with a missing or partially developed main idea. I know that a conclusion for a #4 response is not so important, but a missing main idea?!
Looking forward to some valuable input from the TOEFL teachers here. Thanks in advance.