托福独立写作虽然不要求大家要应用多复杂，多高级的词汇，但是能拿到托福独立写作高分的考生都是尽量避免初级词汇的，下面通过五个例子来说明。
1.Original: We know that sometimes success is measured by how much money you earn.
Revised: It does not surprise us to discover that sometimes success is measured in terms of the money you earn.
专家点评：know是非常初级的词汇，作文中出现I believe that…，I know that…这样的表达只能体现考生写作技巧的稚嫩，用It does not surprise us to discover that…替换We know that…并没有改变原句的含义，却使全句顿时增添了亮点。
2.Original: We all know that most factories would be of no use if there were not clean water supply.
Revised: It goes without saying that most factories would be of no use if there were not clean water supply.
专家点评：同上例一样，know这样的初级词汇应避免在作文中使用，It goes without saying that…是一个固定结构，意思是“……是不言而喻的”，常在作文中用来引经据典或表明一个尽人皆知的道理，类似的表达还有：
An old saying goes that…
Proverb goes that…
It is universally acknowledged that…
It is generally accepted that…
3.Original: Some other people think that people should read extensively.
Revised: Another position says that people should read extensively.
专家点评：同know一样，think也应该尽量避免使用，修改后的句子中是用Another position says that…代替think提出另一种观点，也可以用hold a point of view，hold the opinion这样的短语替换。
4.Original: The unexpected win of the match give us confidence.
Revised: The unexpected win of the match boost our confidence.
专家点评：give也属于英语中最初级、最基本的词汇，也是中国学生最喜欢在托福独立写作中应用的词。这个词只表示“给，给予”这个动作，不涉及动作的性质和状态，若表示增添信心，增强士气，比较地道的说法是用boost confidence/morale，如：The change of management has boosted morale throughout the company. 管理模式的改变使整个公司上下士气倍受鼓舞。
5.Original: The use of drugs has increased greatly in the last ten years.
Revised: The use of drugs has increased significantly in the last ten years.
专家点评：greatly是一般用语，表示程度高，“很，非常”，使用相当普遍而没有新意，在托福独立写作中应尽量避免使用这些通俗而又陈旧的词汇，应换用一些更加正式，更有说服力的`词语，例如significantly表示达到了非常重要的或可观的程度，“重大的，可观的”，能够具体说明药品使用方面，增长幅度巨大。significantly还可以替换成considerably，tremendously等，同样具有不错的表达效果。
通过以上五个例子的对比，大家就可以发现避免初级词汇在托福独立写作中占据的重要地位。但是这些都是需要大家在平时对词汇进行大量的积累和不断地练习才能达到的。